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).
Showing posts with label Alessandro Allori. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alessandro Allori. Show all posts
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).
GospelLuke 1:26-38 (English Standard Version
Anglicised, India)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a
city of Galilee named Nazareth,to a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David. And the virgin's name was Mary.And he
came to her and said, “Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with
you!”But she
was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting
this might be.And
the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour
with God.And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus.He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father
David,and he will
reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be
no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I
am a virgin?”
And the angel answered
her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be
called holy—the Son of God.And behold,
your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is
the sixth month with her who was called barren.For nothing will be impossible with
God.”And Mary
said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to
your word.” And the angel departed from her.
The human being who came to life in her womb took Mary’s flesh, but his existence derived totally from God. He is fully man, made of clay — to use the biblical symbol — but comes from on high, from Heaven. The fact that Mary conceived while remaining a virgin is thus essential to the knowledge of Jesus and to our faith, because it testifies that it was God’s initiative and, above all, it reveals who the conceived being was. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus talk, 4th Sunday of Advent 2011).
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped
in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12; Gospel, Mass During the Night).
Christmas Day, Years
ABC
The Solemnity of the
Nativity of the Lord has
four different Mass formularies, each with its own prayers and readings. Any of
the four fulfils our obligation to attend Mass. These are:
Vigil Mass, celebrated 'either before or after
First Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Nativity'; that means starting between
5pm and 7pm.
Mass During the Night, known before as 'Midnight Mass'.
.Mass at Dawn.
Mass During the Day.
The readings from the
Jerusalem Bible for the four Masses are all on one page but with links to each
individual Mass. When you click on 'Readings' below from the New American Bible
you will find links to the readings for each of the four Masses.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales,
Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel(Mass During the Night) Luke 2:1-14 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
In those days a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be registered.This was the
first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.And all went to be registered, each to his own town.And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth,
to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he
was of the house and lineage of David,to be
registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in
swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for
them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.And an angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were filled with fear.And the angel said
to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be
for all the people.For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the
Lord.And this will be a sign for you: you
will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among
those with whom he is pleased!”
Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts: a beauty that is the splendour of truth. Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love him, so that we may dare to love him, and as a child trustingly lets himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that my glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of my grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a child, so that you can accept me and love me . . .
. . . The shepherds made haste. Holy curiosity and holy joy impelled them. In our case, it is probably not very often that we make haste for the things of God. God does not feature among the things that require haste. The things of God can wait, we think and we say. And yet he is the most important thing, ultimately the one truly important thing. Why should we not also be moved by curiosity to see more closely and to know what God has said to us? At this hour, let us ask him to touch our hearts with the holy curiosity and the holy joy of the shepherds, and thus let us go over joyfully to Bethlehem, to the Lord who today once more comes to meet us. Amen. (Opening and closing of Pope Benedict's homily, Midnight Mass 24 December 2012).
Tichá Noc
(Silent Night in Czech)
Sung by Patricia Janečková
This recording was made about two years ago
in the Catholic church in the Czech Republic where Patricia’s funeral Mass took
place last October. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2022 and
was only 25 when she died. May she rest in peace.
White
Christmas
Words and music by Irving Berlin
Sung by Patricia Janečková
Thename of Christ is mentioned seven times in this song as is the Holy Sacrifice of Mass, since the word 'Christmas' means 'Christ's Mass', a name that goes back a thousand years in the developing English language.
Traditional Latin Mass
Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord or Christmas Eve
The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-24-2023, if necessary).
The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-25-2023, if necessary). Click on the circle in front of 'Missa prima', 'Missa secunda' or 'Missa tertia' for the specific Mass texts.
GospelMatthew 14:22-33 (English Standard Version
Anglicised, India)
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,[b] 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.”
Last Sunday, the Feast of the Transfiguration, I highlighted Fr Willie Doyle's description of two Masses he celebrated during World War One, the second just ten days before his death. 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 in 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 last year. 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).
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