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).
Gospel Matthew 16:21-27 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)
At that time: Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’
Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.’
A Man for All Seasonsis a movie made in 1966, written by Robert Bolt and based on his stage play with the same title. It is based on the life of St Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England during the time of King Henry VIII. His position would be similar to that of Prime Minister today. More refuses to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of the King to Catherine of Aragon who had not borne him a son. Eventually More is found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death.
Gospel Matthew 16:21-27 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England &
Wales, Scotland, India)
At that time:
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the
third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,
‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But he turned and
said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are
not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’
Then Jesus told
his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man
if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in
return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the
glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he
has done.’
A Man for All Seasonsis a movie made in 1966, written by Robert Bolt and based on his stage
play with the same title. It is based on the life of St Thomas More, Lord
Chancellor of England during the time of King Henry VIII. His position would be
similar to that of Prime Minister today. More refuses to sign a letter
asking Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of the King to Catherine of
Aragon who had not borne him a son. Eventually More is found guilty of high
treason and sentenced to death.
During his trial Sir Thomas More discovers that
Richard Rich, who had given perjured testimony against him, had been made
Attorney General for Wales as a reward for this. The laws of England were about
to be extended to Wales, a country of 20,779 square kilometres in the west of
the island of Britain which also includes England and Scotland. More says to
Rich, Why,Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his
soul for the whole world - but for Wales? [3:30 - 4:20 in the video
above].
On Sundays
in Ordinary Time the First Reading and the Gospel are linked thematically
whereas the Second Reading is from one of the Letters of St Paul read over the
course of a number of Sundays. But this Sunday it is closely related to the
other two readings in that it reminds us that as followers of Jesus we are
called to be living sacrifices:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is
good and acceptable and perfect (Romans
12:1-2).
The Prophet Jeremiah discovers the cost of doing
God's will: I have become a laughing-stock all the day; everyone
mocks me . . . For the word of the Lord has become for me a
reproach and derision all day long (Jeremiah 20:7,8).
St Peter cannot abide the thought of any such thing
happening to Jesus: God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.
He receives an extraordinary rebuke from Jesus: Get behind me, Satan!
You are a hindrance to me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of
God but on the things of man.
The Crucifixion of St Peter
Caravaggio [Web Gallery of Art] If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
St Peter in giving unwanted and unhelpful 'advice'
to Jesus had no idea of the price he himself would pay for following in the
footsteps of the Lord. He was following human thinking, not God's. This
incident shows that our thinking has consequences. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in
Christ Jesus, says St Paul in
Philippians 2:5. This is what our baptism calls us to. Everything we do is
meant to be in accordance with God's thinking, with God's will. Since 2019 here in the Republic of Ireland which has an estimated population of about five-and-a-half million, about 60,000 children have been legally killed before birth. The law allowing this
came into effect on New Year's Day 2019, the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God.
The law was the foreseen consequence of a referendum in May 2018 when
two-thirds of those who voted chose to 'repeal' Article 8 of the Constitution
that protected the life of the unborn child and of the mother. Based on the
census of 2016 nearly eighty per-cent of the voters identified themselves as
Catholic. The majority of legislators who legalised abortion-on-demand were
Catholics by background, one of them a regular lector at Sunday Mass in her
parish.
This is a glaring example of what the late Fr Jaime Bulatao SJ, a Filipino,
labelled in 1966 Split-level Christianity. (I took some classes under Fr
Bulatao in the summer of 1974). Promoting or supporting abortion is
incompatible with the Catholic Christian faith.
In his encyclical Laudato si'No 120, Pope Francis states: Since
everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also
incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the
importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or
inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its
presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? 'If personal and social
sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of
acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away'.
Some politicians who identify themselves as Catholics are now promoting
abortion as a 'right'. And many people who work for the dignity of every human
life from conception to death are condemned as persons with no interest in the
welfare of children and others after birth, a total lie. Mary Wagner is a Canadian woman who has spent much time
in prison for peacefully proclaiming the humanity of the unborn child and for
trying to offer mothers an alternative to abortion. Another Canadian who has
spent much time in prison for totally silent witness outside abortion centres
is Linda Gibbons. I am sure that these two extraordinary
witnesses to our Christian faith must have experienced what the Prophet
Jeremiah expresses in today's First Reading: If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any
more in his name”, there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my
bones and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. Please pray for them. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me.
Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these (Matthew 6:28-29; 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).
The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; Second Reading).
Corpus Christi Sunday, Year A
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year A
In most countries this solemnity, formerly celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, is now observed on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday, this year replacing the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Readings(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand)
Readings(English
Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)
Gospel John 6:51-58 (English
Standard Version, Anglicised)
At that time:
Jesus said to the Jews, ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If
anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. And the bread that I will
give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
The Jews then
disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’
So Jesus said
to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For
my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me,
and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live
because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread
the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.’
John and Pam are a couple who live in the parish of the Assumption, Howth, in the Archdiocese of Dublin whom I have come to know very well through Worldwide Marriage Encounter since I came back to Ireland from the Philippines nine years ago. John was seriously ill in hospital three years ago and shared some reflections with me in emails which I thought would be good to share on Sunday Reflections with his permission for the feast of Corpus Christi. He has kindly given me permission to use his reflection again this year. Please pray for Stephen, the sone of John and Pam who is recovering from serious surgery.
From a small swelling below my left knee I developed sepsis and suffered septic shock late at night in which my vital signs: heartbeat, pulse, disappeared. My guardian angel must have been watching over me because Pam, my beloved of 53 years [now 56], was sitting beside me and her nursing training acquired 60 years ago, sprang into action as she gave me the kiss of life and applied CPR.
Fortunately, Pam’s action was successful. I came to and the ambulance brought me to Beaumont Hospital where I received extraordinary care from a dedicated team for 3½ weeks as they worked to bring the infection under control, which has been a slow business. Thankfully I have now been discharged and continue to recover at home under Pam’s dedicated care.
It has been a time for reflection. Our wonderful parish community - the Body of Christ - has been praying for me as has our faithful Marriage Encounter family.
53 years ago, Pam and I vowed to live as one body as Jesus called us in Matrimony to do. Now Pam, who is an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion in our parish, has been bringing me the Body of Christ, broken for us on the Cross and risen to Easter glory, to receive in my hospital bed and now at home. It has been extraordinarily profound for both of us. St Paul links the various meanings of ‘body’ together.
I have to assume that the Lord still has some task for me that I may neither know nor understand at this moment.
I was pretty poorly in hospital and had some dark nights of the soul, unable to sleep and wondering if I would ever really recover. However there were always others more ill than me in the ward.
As expected, we’ve had extraordinary love and prayers from our Marriage Encounter Family. One couple, Mike and Rose, have kindly been keeping everyone up-to-date on my faltering progress.
However what has been perhaps less expected has been the outpouring of love and prayers from our daily 10:00 Mass community in our parish church in Howth that I join every day via the webcam. I have had a real tangible experience of belonging to a community who truly love me and Pam. It has been an alive experience that St Luke describes so vividly in Acts referring to the early Christian communities. Both Pam and I feel humbled by it all and this outpouring of love, prayer and support has so buoyed me up especially through the darker moments.
The idea of Body is a strong theme running through St Paul’s letters. There is Jesus offering his Body broken on the Cross to be gloriously raised on Easter Day. Jesus himself tells us [in today’s gospel] that unless we eat his Body and drink his Blood we shall not have his life in us. He it was who raised marriage to be a Sacrament by calling Pam and me and countless others to live as One Body.
Paul develops this by identifying the Christian Community as Christ’s Body with the members looking out for other members. We have experienced this in huge and tangible measure pressed down and over-flowing.
Pam and I are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and if asked, we stand in the middle of the church and it has often occurred to me that we as a married couple called to be one body by Jesus, are serving his Body to the Body of Christ in our parish. This became a deep thought in my present illness, watching Pam receive the pyx with the Blessed Sacrament in it at the end of Mass to bring the Lord to me on my sick bed.
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