'In worldly terms, Chiara Corbella’s life was not a success story.' Sunday Reflections, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo

(9 January 1984 - 13 June 2012)

[Photo from official website]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 10:2-16 or 10:2-12 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,  and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

[And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.]

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Pope Benedict XVI with young friends

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it (Mark 10:15; Gospel). 

 

I have been involved with Worldwide Marriage Encounter since 1981, initially in Canada and then from 1984 until 2017 in the Philippines and now in Ireland. The most important reality that I have come to see very clearly through Marriage Encounter is that the relationship between husband and wife in the Sacrament of Matrimony is the foundation of the Christian family.

Nineteen or twenty years ago we in Worldwide Marriage Encounter in Bacolod City, Philippines, held a family day. One of the last activities was for the pre-teen children. They were asked to share what they loved most about their parents. One boy, aged about ten or eleven, told us that what he loved most about his parents was that they were always together.

He didn't mean, of course, that they were tied to each other 24/7. But he saw that for his father and mother the most important reality in their lives was to be husband and wife and he felt drawn into the love that they had for each other. Jesus in today's Gospel quotes from today's First Reading: Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). 

In my closing remarks at the family day I picked up on what the boy had said and pointed out that he had articulated that the foundation of the family is the relationship between husband and wife. If that relationship is sound the other relationships in the family will normally be sound too. Children won't feel left out but rather will feel drawn into the love their parents have for each other, the very love that brought them into life in the first place. In God's plan, it is as husband and wife that a man and a woman are called to become father and mother. It is God's plan that their children be drawn into the love they have for one another. This is the foundation of the family. And perhaps this can give us some idea of the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit draw us into the circle of their life, having given us life through our parents.

A young journalist, a single man, happened to be present at our family day that afternoon and approached me afterwards. He had never heard marriage being described that way before and really wanted to know more. For him it was truly an experience of hearing the Good News for the first time in this context.

It is God who joins together a man and a woman when they exchange their marriage vows. In the Sacrament of Matrimony they are giving Jesus Christ himself to each other. This is far more than a 'blessing by the priest', as so many misunderstand the Sacrament. It is the bride and groom who confer the sacrament on each other, who give Jesus himself to each other. This is such a profound and sacred union, as Jesus teaches us so clearly today: What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. Today's gospel is very clear on that. Jesus spells out what the sin of adultery is: Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.

So often in visiting Catholic schools in the Philippines I was struck by the fact that so many students in their teens knew by heart the words that the bride and groom exchange: For better, for worse; for richer . . . These words, etched into their hearts, express their deep-down sense of the words of Jesus in the gospel today, God made them male and female . . . so they are no longer two but one flesh. They also express their dreams and aspirations for their own future, dreams and aspirations that have been placed in their hearts by God himself. For to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Enrico and Chiara: 

loving spouses and parents, witnesses to joy

Enrico and Chiara Petrillo

Here is an extract from an article by  Marie Meaney in Crisis Magazine in 2014, Chiara Corbella: A Witness to Joy.

In worldly terms, Chiara Corbella’s life (1984 - 2012) was not a success story: two children dying shortly after birth, herself ravaged by an aggressive cancer, which killed her at the young age of 28, leaving a beloved husband and a small son behind. This is not the kind of material dreams are made of. Yet when one listens to the testimonies of her friends, husband, and spiritual director, and hears more about her story and looks at her radiating, beautiful face on photographs and in video clips, one can’t help but feel that hers was an extraordinary life. Each saint has a special charisma, a particular theme, some facet of God, which he reflects, due to his particular character, call and story. Hers, I’d say, is to be a witness to joy in the face of great adversity, the kind which makes the heart overflow despite the sorrow over loss and death.

Meet Chiara Corbella Petrillo: A Story of Joy & Hope

Salut d’Amour (L0ve’s Greeting)

Composed by Sir Edward Elgan

Played by Esther Abrami, violin, and Iyad Sughayer, piano

In the photo at the top Chiara is holding a violin. She would have been familiar with Salut d'Amour, composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1888 as an engagement present for his future wife Alice. She was disinherited by her family for 'marrying beneath her' and for marrying a Catholic.

Maybe Chiara played this accompanied by Enrico on the piano.

The official website of Chiara is here.

Traditional Latin Mass 

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 10-06-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-21.  Gospel: John 4:46-53.

Christ (Toledo Cathedral)

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

Jesus said to him, 'Go; your son will live' (John 4:50; Gospel).