'We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life.' Sunday Reflections, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

Man with Two Loaves of Bread

Jean-François Raffaëlli  [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 6:24-35 (English Standard Version, Anglicised: India)

When the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Fr Ragheed Aziz Ganni

(20 January 1972 - 3 June 2007)

[Photo: Wikipedia, Arabic]

I have featured Fr Ragheed Ganni a number of times on Sunday Reflections. As a priest and as a Catholic Christian I am truly inspired by this man who was less than half the age I am now when he was assassinated.

He was a raconteur par excellence and a font of knowledge - we discussed everything and anything from the metaphysical to the trivial. A young and gauche student at the time, I learnt about Iraq and about theology; about the workings of the college in the summer and the best places to eat pizza. I was amazed at his command of English and Italian and his perennial good spirits and big smile - he was and will always be an inspiration.

That is how an Irish student at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome described Fr Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean Catholic priest murdered along with three subdeacons, Basman Yousef Daud,Wahid Hanna Isho, and Gassan Isam Bidawed, on 3 June 2007 just after the young priest had celebrated Mass in Holy Spirit parish, Mosul, Iraq. (The cause for the canonisation of these four men has now officially opened). Fr Ganni, an engineer, studied theology in Rome before and after ordination, and stayed at the Irish College, where he was known as 'Paddy the Iraqi', 'Paddy' being a generic term for Irishmen, derived from the name of Ireland's - and Nigeria's - patron saint, St Patrick.

Pope Benedict XVI, 20 January 2006

[Wikipedia; photo by Sergey Khozhukhov]

Dear young people, do not be satisfied with anything less than Truth and Love, do not be content with anything less than Christ. Pope Benedict spoke these words at the prayer vigil on 20 August 2011 during the Madrid World Youth Day. He also said, we need to speak with courage and humility of the universal significance of Christ as the Saviour of humanity and the source of hope for our lives.

In these words he is echoing the answer of Jesus to the question put to him in today's gospel, What must we do, to be doing the works of God? His reply: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.

In Verbum Domini (2010) the Pope wrote, We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for everyone, for every man and woman . . . It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God's grace, we ourselves have received. 

In his Angelus talk on 29 October 2006 Benedict said, The rediscovery of the value of one's own Baptism is at the root of every Christian's missionary commitment, because as we see in the Gospel, those who allow themselves to be fascinated by Christ cannot fail to witness to the joy of following in his footsteps. [Emphasis added].

In that same talk, in which he commented on the gospel of that Sunday which tells the story of the meeting between the blind Bartimaeus and Jesus, Mark 10:46-52, Pope Benedict said, The decisive moment was the direct, personal encounter between the Lord and that suffering man. They found each other face to face:  God with his desire to heal and the man with his desire to be healed; two freedoms, two converging desires. 

One theme that comes through repeatedly in the teaching of Pope Benedict is that our faith is in a person, Jesus, God who became man. Jesus tells us clearly that it is his Father's will that we believe in him.

Another theme of Benedict is the joy that Jesus promised those who follow him. This was the theme of the Pope's message for World Youth Day 2012 held on Palm Sunday in Rome. Benedict insists so often that our faith is faith in the person of Jesus, not in a set of doctrines, though they come to us from Jesus through his Church and are central to the deposit of faith.

Just over a year before his death Father Ragheed spoke at the Eucharistic Conference in Bari, Italy. He said, Mosul Christians are not theologians; some are even illiterate. And yet inside of us for many generations one truth has become embedded: without the Sunday Eucharist we cannot live.

In the context of the war in Iraq he spoke eloquently about the Sunday Eucharist: It is among such difficulties that we understand the real value of Sunday, the day when we meet the Risen Christ, the day of our unity and love, of our (mutual) support and help. There are days when I feel frail and full of fear. But when, holding the Eucharist, I say 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world', I feel His strength in me. When I hold the Host in my hands, it is really He who is holding me and all of us, challenging the terrorists and keeping us united in His boundless love.

In normal times, everything is taken for granted and we forget the greatest gift that is made to us. Ironically, it is thanks to terrorist violence that we have truly learnt that it is the Eucharist, the Christ who died and risen, that gives us life. And this allows us to resist and hope. 

This martyr of our times was clearly fascinated by Christ and understood that it is the Risen Lord himself whom we meet when we come together for Sunday Mass.

Jesus chides the people and questions their real reason for coming after him: Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Yet he doesn't regret having fed them and he sees that for at least some of them their reason is somewhat deeper. He gives a straight answer to their question about the work of God: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. It is not being 'good', it is not being 'nice'. It is in accepting him for who he is, God who became man, who lived among us, died for us on the Cross, rose from the dead on Easter Sunday and is with us in an intimate and challenging way when we celebrate Mass, especially on Sunday.

All who met Father Ragheed described him as a joyful person. There is something very joyful, in the sense that Jesus meant, in a person who can not only tell you where the best pizza in Rome is, who is not content with anything less than Christ and who is prepared to go back to a very dangerous situation in order to be able to celebrate Mass with his people and to stay with them in the midst of war.

 

Read more about Fr Ragheed Ganni here and here.

Iesu, Panis Vitae - Jesus, the Bread of Life

Music by Fr Manoling V. Francisco SJ, words by Fr René

 Javellana SJ.

A production of Bukas Palad Music Ministry, Philippines.

The refrain of this Communion hymn is in Latin. Here it is with an English translation.

Iesu, panis vitae, donum patris.

Iesu, fons vitae, fons vitae acquae.

Cibus et potus noster, Cibus et potus noster

In itinere, in itinere ad domus Dei.

 

Jesus, bread of life, gift of the Father.

Jesus, source of life, source of the water of life.

Our food and drink, our food and drink

On the journey, on the journey to the house of God.

The verses are, successively, in Tagalog, English and Spanish.

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 8-1-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:2-11.  Gospel: Luke 18:9-14.

Church Interior with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican [Luke 18:9-14]

Dirck van Delen [Web Gallery of Art]

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Someone to Watch Over Me

Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Singer: Lea Salonga; guitarist: Cesar Aguas

The Broadway Concert, Manila, 2002

 

 

'With a little bread you provided for the multitude.' Sunday Reflections, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Lambert Lombard [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 6:1-15 (English Standard Version, Anglicised: India)

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place.

So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

 

San Alberto Hurtado SJ 

(1901 - 1951)

St Alberto Hurtado SJ is a man who took today's gospel very seriously, He established the first Hogar de Cristo, Home of Christ, in Chile in 1944 to care for the many in Santiago who were homeless or had little to eat. There are now many such homes, not only in Chile and in other countries in South America but in the USA. Canonised in 2005 by Pope Benedict, he is still venerated in Chile as he was loved in his lifetime by the simple title of 'Padre Hurtado'.

He can speak to us with authority, as he does in this meditation he gave many years ago. His reference to the Venerable Matt Talbot comes from the time he spent in Dublin learning English.

The Multiplication of the Loaves  

Meditation during a retreat on the gift of self and cooperation.

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

Five thousand 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 five loaves and two 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: twelve 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 Workman's Meal-Break

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Ó Aithrí an Reachtaraigh / from Raftery’s Repentance

Le / by Antoine Raiftearaí

A Rí na Glóire atá lán de ghrása,

is tú a rinne beoir is fíon den uisce;

le beagán aráin do riar Tú and sló;

Och! Freastail fóir agus slánaigh mise.

 

O King of Glory full of grace,

You made beer and wine from water;

With a little bread you provided for the multitude;

Oh! Attend to, help and save me.

Raiftearaí (1779 – 1835) was one of the last of the wandering Irish bards. He was the youngest of nine children. Some time between 1786 and 1786 all except Antaine died at the same time from smallpox and he became blind. His poetry was in Irish, though not written down when composed. The poem from which the stanza above is taken shows a knowledge of Scripture, including a familiarity with today's Gospel, along with a deep faith in God's mercy and that of our Blessed Mother and an awareness that his life was drawing to a close. He died on Christmas Day 1835. His surname, which has a number of variations in Irish, is usually Anglicised as 'Raftery'.

Ave, Regina caelorum

Setting by Palestrina, sung by Chanticleer

Ave, Regina caelorum, / Ave, Domine Angelorum: / Salve, radix, salve, porta, / Ex qua mundo lux est orta.

Gaude, [Virgo] gloriosa, / super omnes speciosa, / vale, [o] vale decora, / et pro nobis Christum exora.

Hail, Queen of Heaven, / hail, mistress of the Angels, / root of Jesse; hail, the gate / through which the LIght rose over the earth. 

Rejoice, [Virgin] most renowned  / and of unsurpassed beauty. / Farewell, [Lady] most comely. Prevail upon Christ to pity us.

This is Palestrina's setting of this antiphon to the Blessed Virgin, traditionally sung at the end of Compline (Night Prayer) from 2 February till Wednesday of Holy Week. It is also sung on other occasions.

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 7-25-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13.  Gospel: Luke 19:41-47.

 

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Blue Skies

Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin

Arranged by Joseph Jennings, sung by Chanticleer

As I prepare this we are getting plenty of blue skies here in Ireland and temperatures in the high 20Cs and even over 30C. The song includes the line Nothing but blue skies from now on. That's very unlikely in Ireland at any time of year but we are grateful for blue skies we're having at the moment. 

I saw Chanticleer in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in December 2018. They have an extensive and varied repertoire as they show in Ave, Regina coelorum and Blue Skies. In Joseph Jennings's arrangement of the latter there are musical allusions to Johann Sebastian Bach, to Christmas and to weddings.

'He had compassion on them.' Sunday Reflections, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

Prophet Jeremiah and Christ

Master of the Aix Annunciation [Web Gallery of Art]

I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 23:4; First Reading).

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 6:30-34 (English Standard Version, Anglicised: India)

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Bible of Borso d'Este: Opening of Book of Jeremiah

Italian Miniaturist [Web Gallery of Art]

In 2018 I attended a meeting of a Catholic movement I have been involved in for many years in a country in western mainland Europe. The local bishop came to visit us and spoke at one of our sessions. His talk utterly disgusted me. He was boasting about the fact that the diocese employed people in pastoral work and administration who were living in situations that were objectively gravely sinful: adulterous relationships, same-sex relationships - I don't mean normal and healthy friendships - and so on. He spoke of how 'welcoming' the diocese was to everyone. To me he showed no concern whatever of someone who wanted the people God had called him to serve to know Jesus Christ and to follow him according to the Gospel, to take up their cross and to be with him for ever in heaven.

There was no mention of the true welcome that the Church of Jesus Christ gives to sinners, especially through the sacrament of confession, no mention of the first words of Jesus in St Mark's Gospel, the first gospel to be written, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).

I have friends who lived in that same diocese with whom I stayed for a couple of days before the meeting. They told me that they were planning to emigrate to North America because of their concern that they were not getting any spiritual nourishment from the Church and were not getting the teaching of the Church in their local parish. They were particularly anxious that their teenage daughter get the Catholic formation at home, in school and in the parish that she ought to have. The family have since left that country.

Esztergom, Hungary

[Wikipedia; photo by Thaler Tamas]

Our meeting took place in the white building in the centre. This is part of the complex that includes the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Adalbert. Across the River Danube is Slovakia.

Later in the year our movement met in Esztergom, Hungary, where we had a talk from Bishop László Bíró of the Military Ordinariate of Hungary. He was not in great health but spoke the gospel of Jesus Christ as given to the Church so clearly and so hopefully that it lifted my heart. He grew up in a country that had been ruled by the Communist party for decades after World War II and where the Church experienced persecution. The way our movement was initially introduced secretly to Hungary during Communist times was truly inspirational and an expression of Christian courage, hope and faith. It flourishes there now.

Cathedral Basilica of Esztergom

[Wikipedia; photo by Kriccs]

I cannot but see Bishop Bíró in the context of part of today's First Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah: I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord [Jeremiah 23:4].

These words, and the harsh words of Jeremiah at the beginning of the First Reading, challenge every one of us who has the responsibility of forming others in the Christian faith and in informing others about Jesus Christ, bishops, priests, catechists, teachers and parents in particular

Last week I quoted the words of Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary, in 1948: an inert laity is only two generations removed from non-practice. Non-practice is only two generations away from non-belief. That is what has happened in the first country above. And in so many parts of the Western world it is not only an inert laity. The Lord speaks scathingly to religious leaders through Jeremiah in the First Reading: You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them [Jeremiah 23:2].

About two years ago I saw last Sunday's gospel, when Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and this Sunday's gospel, when the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught, being fulfilled in my presence. It was at a conference organised by the Legion of Mary at the Legion's headquarters in Dublin. There were maybe 30 or 40 Legionaries present and at one stage they were sent out two by two to a nearby plaza to approach people there and tell them about Jesus Christ and Mary. This is a work that the Legion has been doing for years in many parts of the world. After 45 minutes or an hour the Legionaries came back to report all that they had done and taught. 

Miraculous Medal

[Wikipedia; photo by Xienne]

They had met some who had lapsed from the Church or from the Christian faith altogether and others who had no connection with the faith. But most were happy to be approached and to accept a Miraculous Medal. The Legionaries were gently reminding all those they met that God loved them and that God had sent his Son Jesus Christ, God and Man, into the world through Mary. They were also taking seriously the mission Jesus Christ gave to the whole Church: Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15).

This is what the first part of the Prologue to the Catechism of the Catholic Church  says: All Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer. The last line of today's Responsorial Psalm (Ps 22 [23]) below sums up our hope in this: In the Lord's own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.

Those Legionaries were living out that and were focusing on the reality that the purpose of our life is to know, love and serve God here on earth and to be with him for ever in heaven. They were sharing in what Jesus does in today's gospel: When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

El Señor es mi Pastor

The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 22 [23])

This Spanish version of The Lord is my Shepherd was produced by Kerigma de Amor in Iquitos, Peru. The Greek word Kerygma, as it is spelled in English, means 'The proclamation of the Gospel'.

Fr Peter J. Cronin

(28 February 1930 - 10 July 2021)

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Columban Fr Peter Cronin who died peacefully on 10 July. He was ordained in 1954 and went to Korea in 1955 where he spent eight years. For the rest of his life he worked in the USA where he was Regional Director froom 1983 to 1987.

You will find a brief obituary of Father Peter here. 

Solas na bhFlaitheas ar a anam uasal - The Light of Heaven on his noble soul.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 7-18-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 8:12-17.  Gospel: Luke 16:1-9.

 

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

The Blue Danube

Composed by Johann Strauss II

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

'You have the message of eternal life.' Sunday Reflections, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St Bartholomew and St Thomas

Unknown Bohemian Master [Web Gallery of Art]

Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two.

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 6:7-13 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

High Street, Pewsey

[Wikpedia; photo by Nigel Cox]

Today's gospel reminds me of experiences as a seminarian while on Peregrinatio pro Christo with the Legion of Mary, in St Anne's Parish, Edge Hill, Liverpool, in 1963, in St Fergus' Parish, Paisley, Scotland in 1965 and in Holy Family Parish, Pewsey, Wiltshire, England, in 1966. Peregrinatio pro Christo, or PPC, is a programme of the Legion of Mary that began in 1958. Legionaries give up a week or two of their summer vacation to do full-time Legion work in another country. The name comes from the motto that inspired St Columban and many Irish missionary monks, Peregrinari pro Christo, 'to be a pilgrim for Christ'. Saint Pope John XXIII quoted this in a letter to the Irish Hierarchy in 1961 on the occasion of the Patrician Year, commemorating 1,500 years of the Catholic faith in Ireland. In the same letter he specifically referred to the involvement in this spirit of the Society of St Columban in Latin America. (Thanks to Shane for the link). 

Many of us in the seminary, including some of the priests, used to go for a week or two during our summer break. Like the apostles, we depended on the hospitality of parishioners for board and lodging. In my three experiences I was in parishes and the main work was going from house-to-house in pairs, rather like what the Apostles were sent by Jesus to do in today's gospel. Legionaries never work alone. Occasionally people would close their door once we announced who we were but very few were impolite. Some would give us a warm welcome. 

I remember one family we visited in Liverpool. They were lapsed Catholics and the parish records showed they were rather hostile to the Church. However, when the man who opened the door heard our Irish accents he called his wife and began to tell us about their pleasant experiences on visits to Ireland. I suggested that the friendliness and warmth of the Irish people was  an expression of their Catholic faith. We had a very friendly conversation with the couple and when we were leaving they seemed to have let go of their hostility to the Church.

Garrard County Courthouse, Lancaster, Kentucky

[Wikipedia; photo by W. Marsh]

As a young priest studying in the USA I had similar experiences in Lancaster, Kentucky, during the summers of 1969 and 1970. The parish priest, Fr Ralph Beiting, had college - and some high schoool - students from other parts of the USA work on various projects in his parish that covered nearly four counties and that had very few Catholics. There was still a lingering prejudice against Catholics. 

One of the projects was to visit each home, in pairs, just as the Legion does, and introduce ourselves as being from the Catholic Church, and telling the people about our programmes. Again, the response was generally positive. In some rural homes we'd meet older people sitting on their rocking chairs on the veranda. They'd invite us to sit down and relax and would sometimes share a bit about their Bible-based faith. As we'd leave we'd hear the friendly farewell so common in the area, 'Y'all come back!'

Fr Ralph Beiting

[Source]

Some of the programmes we invited children to were summer Bible schools and five-day vacations for poor children in a summer camp, boys one week and girls another week. Black and white children would be together at a time when this was rare in that part of the USA.

Only God knows what can result from going from house to house as a way of carrying the mission that Jesus gave to the Twelve and that he gives to us. He doesn't guarantee 'success' but simply sends us out in trust.

One of Father Beiting's summer apostolates for many years was street-preaching, very often with seminarians. On one occasion years ago he was driven out of one town at gunpoint but returned the next day, not to preach but simply to show himself. Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there . . . and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” (First Reading).

Fr Beiting was eventually not only accepted but welcomed. He, a Catholic priest, was continuing an old tradition in the area, that of the travelling preacher. He was one of the very few left. Fr Beiting, born on 1 January 1924, was ordained in 1949 and up to his late 80s he was still going strong. In the video above he is preaching during the summer of 2011. He died the following summer on 9 August 2012. What a wonderful example he was as a disciple of Jesus and as a Catholic priest!

My experience with Fr Beiting was similar in many ways to that with the Legion of Mary. The Handbook of the Legion, written by the Servant of God Frank Duff, who founded the Legion in 1921, states: The object of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active co-operation, under ecclesiastical guidance, in Mary's and the Church's work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ.

The urgency of such work is highlighted in a letter Frank Duff wrote to my late Columban confrere Fr Aedan McGrath in 1948 where he stated that where the laity did not fulfil its role, the Church would fail. He insisted that 'an inert laity is only two generations removed from non-practice. Non-practice is only two generations away from non-belief'. (Frank Duff, A Life Story by Finola Kennedy, p.8).

That is what has happened in the Western world, including Ireland, in the last 73 years. More than ever each of us needs to joyfully proclaim Christ is there with me . . . Christ has promised me . . . I'll give you myself as the 87-year-old Fr Beiting, with many serious illnesses, was doing in the video above.

The words of the Gospel Acclamation, based on John 6:63, 68, put everything in focus: Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.

Spaséñiye, sodélal (Salvation is created) 

Composed by Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov

Sung by Voces8 in the Cathedral Basilicia of Saint Louis, St Louis, Missouri.

Russian: Spaséniye sodélal yesí posredé ziemlí, Bózhe. Allilúiya.

English: Salvation is made in the midst of the earth, O God. Alleluia.

Fr Paul Kenny

(29 June 1930 - 29 June 2021)

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Columban Fr Paul Kenny who died peacefully on his 91st birthday.

You will find Father Paul's obituary here.

Solas na bhFlaitheas ar a anam uasal - The Light of Heaven on his noble soul.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 7-11-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 6:19-23.  Gospel: Matthew 7:15-21.

 

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

Sung by Voces8

Music by Manning Sherwin, lyrics by Eric Maschwitz

Arrangement by Jim Clements

Berkeley Square Gardens, London

[Wikipedia; photo by Richard Croft]