Sunday Reflections, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 6 September 2026

 

Fr Rufus Halley

1944-2001

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand)  

Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) 

Gospel Matthew 18:15-20 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.’

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

 Death of my brother

Please pray for the repose of the soul of my brother Paddy, baptised Patrick Nicholas after our two grandfathers, who died peacefully at 00:30 today, Saturday, Irish time. He turned 80 on 15 June this year but had been ill for a long time. May he rest in peace.

+++

Fr Rufus Halley with friends in Mindanao

It is 25 years since the death of Fr Rufus Halley in the Philippines on 28 September 2001.  He was from County Waterford in Ireland and was one year behind me in the seminary. We both worked in the Philippines. After working in Luzon for many years, where he had become fluent in Tagalog, he asked to be transferred to the predominantly Muslin Prelature of Marawi in Mindanao where we Columbans had worked for many years. There he became fluent in two more Filipino languages, Cebuano-Visayan, spoken by the Christians in the Prelature, and Maranao, spoken by the majority of Muslims in that area. Over the years he built up great trust with many Muslims. There was a long history of mistrust between the two communities. At times this broke out into warfare.

Because of the trust he had built up he received an extraordinary request: to mediate in a dispute between two Muslim clans that could become violent. This was an extraordinary request at three levels: he was a foreigner, a Christian and a priest. He agreed to the request but sought the advice of a Muslim elder who wasn't involved in the dispute.

There was much going back and forth between the two leaders, and visits to the elder for guidance, but it finally reached the point where the two leaders agreed to meet in the presence of Father Rufus. There was still an air of tension when they came together. However, they agreed to end the dispute. A few days later the Columban priest happened to drop by the house of one of the two leaders. He found the other there, the two of them drinking coffee and laughing together. 

This whole event was one of the highlights of Father Rufus's life and his face would light up whenever he would recount it.

For me, Father Rufus was living out today's gospel in a very difficult situation. His goal was, with God's grace, to bring about peace and reconciliation. The leaders of the two clans were also men of faith and the words of Jesus were realised: For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

On the afternoon of 28 August 2001, the feast of St Augustine, Father Rufus was ambushed while on his way home on his motorcycle from an interfaith meeting with Muslim religious leaders and shot dead. 

Where did Father Rufus draw his strength from? His close friend Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop Emeritus of Manila, wrote in an article for Misyon, the magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines of which I was editor at the time. In the last two paragraphs of his article Cardinal Rosales wrote:  

I knew of the intensity with which Father Rufus lived his own Christian faith, how he began each day with an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, the centrality of the Mass in his life. A big influence on him was the life of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, 1858-1916, beatified on 13 November 2005. This Frenchman was also from a privileged background. Unlike Pareng Rufus, he lost his Catholic faith and became a notorious playboy before re-discovering it, partly through the example of Muslims living in North Africa. He spent many years as a priest living among the poorest Muslims in a remote corner of the Sahara, pioneering Christian-Muslim dialogue by discovering himself as the Little Brother of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and as the Little Brother of the Muslims who came knocking at his hermitage door.

(Pope France canonised Charles de Foucauld in 2022. Pareng is a Tagalog word expressing respect for a male friend.)

St Charles de Foucauld, c.1907

[Wikipedia; photo]

The Cardinal continued: 

On 1 December 1916 Charles de Foucauld died at the hands of a young gunman outside his hermitage and on 28 August 2001 Pareng Rufus died at the hands of gunmen who ambushed him as he was riding on his motorcycle from a meeting of Muslim and Christian leaders in Balabagan to his parish in Malabang. The local people, both Christian and Muslim, mourned for him deeply. The grief of the Muslims was all the greater because the men who murdered my Pareng Rufus happened to be Muslims. The death of this great missionary priest brought both communities together in their shared grief for a man of God, a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lá Breithe na Maighdine Beannaithe Muire

High Altar of St Mary

St Mary’s Church, Kraków, Poland

Veit Stoss [Web Gallery of Art]

What a magnificent and worthy setting for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!

Tuesday 8 September is the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Below is a setting of the Hail Mary and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Litany of Loreto, by Sam C. Ezugwu, and performed by Trinity Choir and Amemuso Choir in St Luke's Catholic Church, Kubwa. The full credits are at the end of the video. Kubwa is located in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

Traditional Latin Mass

Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 09-06-2026 if necessary).

Epistle: Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-10. Gospel: Luke 7:11-16.

The Raising of the Young Man at Nain

German Miniaturist [Web Gallery of Art]

And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother (Luke 7:15; Gospel).

'Shared grief for a man of God, a true follower of Jesus Christ.' Sunday Reflections, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

Fr Rufus Halley

1944-2001

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Matthew 18:15:20 (English Standard Version Anglicised, India)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Fr Rufus Halley with friends in Mindanao

Fr Rufus Halley, from County Waterford in Ireland, was one year behind me in the seminary. We both worked in the Philippines. After working in Luzon for many years, where he had become fluent in Tagalog, he asked to be transferred to the predominantly Muslin Prelature of Marawi in Mindanao where we Columbans had worked for many years. There he became fluent in two more Filipino languages, Cebuano-Visayan, spoken by the Christians in the Prelature, and Maranao, spoken by the majority of Muslims in that area. Over the years he built up great trust with many Muslims. There was a long history of mistrust between the two communities. At times this broke out into warfare.

Because of the trust he had built up he received an extraordinary request: to mediate in a dispute between two Muslim clans that could become violent. This was an extraordinary request at three levels: he was a foreigner, a Christian and a priest. He agreed to the request but sought the advice of a Muslim elder who wasn't involved in the dispute.

There was much going back and forth between the two leaders, and visits to the elder for guidance, but it finally reached the point where the two leaders agreed to meet in the presence of Father Rufus. There was still an air of tension when they came together. However, they agreed to end the dispute. A few days later the Columban priest happened to drop by the house of one of the two leaders. He found the other there, the two of them drinking coffee and laughing together. 

This whole event was one of the highlights of Father Rufus's life and his face would light up whenever he would recount it.

For me, Father Rufus was living out today's gospel in a very difficult situation. His goal was, with God's grace, to bring about peace and reconciliation. The leaders of the two clans were also men of faith and the words of Jesus were realised: For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

On the afternoon of 28 August 2001, the feast of St Augustine, Father Rufus was ambushed while on his way home on his motorcycle from an interfaith meeting with Muslim religious leaders and shot dead. 

Where did Father Rufus draw his strength from? His close friend Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop Emeritus of Manila, wrote in an article for Misyon, the magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines of which I was editor at the time. In the last two paragraphs of his article Cardinal Rosales wrote:  

I knew of the intensity with which Father Rufus lived his own Christian faith, how he began each day with an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, the centrality of the Mass in his life. A big influence on him was the life of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, 1858-1916, beatified on 13 November 2005. This Frenchman was also from a privileged background. Unlike Pareng Rufus, he lost his Catholic faith and became a notorious playboy before re-discovering it, partly through the example of Muslims living in North Africa. He spent many years as a priest living among the poorest Muslims in a remote corner of the Sahara, pioneering Christian-Muslim dialogue by discovering himself as the Little Brother of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and as the Little Brother of the Muslims who came knocking at his hermitage door.

(Pope France canonised Charles de Foucauld last year. Pareng is a Tagalog word expressing respect for a male friend.)

St Charles de Foucauld, c.1907

[Wikipedia; photo]

The Cardinal continued: 

On 1 December 1916 Charles de Foucauld died at the hands of a young gunman outside his hermitage and on 28 August 2001 Pareng Rufus died at the hands of gunmen who ambushed him as he was riding on his motorcycle from a meeting of Muslim and Christian leaders in Balabagan to his parish in Malabang. The local people, both Christian and Muslim, mourned for him deeply. The grief of the Muslims was all the greater because the men who murdered my Pareng Rufus happened to be Muslims. The death of this great missionary priest brought both communities together in their shared grief for a man of God, a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lá Breithe na Maighdine Beannaithe Muire

High Altar of St Mary

St Mary’s Church, Kraków, Poland

Veit Stoss [Web Gallery of Art]

What a magnificent and worthy setting for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!

I am preparing Sunday Reflections on the Feast of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Last week I came across the video below on Facebook and shared it. It is a setting of the Hail Mary and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Litany of Loreto, by Sam C. Ezugwu, and performed by Trinity Choir, St Luke's Catholic Church, Kubwa, and Amemuso Choir. The full credits are at the end of the video. Kubwa is located in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

Columban Ordinations in the Philippines

On Saaaturday 9 September at 4:00PM local time Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco of Cubao will ordain two Columban seminarians to the diaconate in the chapel of our formation house in Quezon City. One is Iowane Naio from Fiji, the other Nbwi La Aung, Francis Xavier from Myanmar, the first Columban from that country to become a deacon. The Columbans first went to Fiji in 1952 and to Myanmar, then Burma, in 1936.

Please remember our two young deacons in your prayers.

Traditional Latin Mass

Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 09-10-2023 if necessary).

Epistle: Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-10. Gospel: Luke 7:11-16.

The Raising of the Young Man at Nain

German Miniaturist [Web Gallery of Art]

'Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.' Sunday Reflections, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Farmer in a Field

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62, today's Gospel).

I am posting this early because I will be in Lourdes from 20 to 27 June and will not be doing any work on the computer. The post for 19 June, Corpus Christi Sunday, 19 June, is here.

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 9:51-62 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Columban Fr Rufus Halley (1944 - 28 August 2001) with friends in Mindanao

Jesus speaks clearly to us in Sunday's gospel about the cost of following him. Christians are still prepared to give up their very lives to follow Jesus. One example is Fr Rufus Halley, killed on 28 August 2001 in the Philippines. He was a close friend of mine and a Columban confrere. Father Rufus was from County Waterford in Ireland. He entered the Columbans one year after me, in 1962, and was from a relatively wealthy family. But he lived very simply and chose to spend the last 20 years of his life in a predominantly Muslim area in Mindanao, an area where for centuries there has been distrust, and sometimes open hostility, between Christians and Muslims. 

Many of us tend to react as James and John did in a 'them and us' situation. Not Father Rufus. He chose the path of dialogue, learning two new Philippine languages in order to do that - he was already fluent in Tagalog, the language spoken in central Luzon where he had worked for many years - Maranao, the language of most of the Muslims in Lanao del Sur where he was based, and Cebuano, the language of most of the Christian minority there.

He was ambushed and shot dead while riding back to his parish in Malabang from the neighbouring parish of Balabagan. He had been at a meeting of Christian and Muslim leaders. Though the killers happened to be Muslims, both Christians and Muslims mourned him.

Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, then Archbishop of Manila, now retired, wrote an article about Father Rufus, who was known to many as ‘Father Popong’, published in Misyon in July-August 2006. 

Fr Rufus Halley

In the last two paragraphs of his article Cardinal Rosales writes:  

I knew of the intensity with which Father Rufus lived his own Christian faith, how he began each day with an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, the centrality of the Mass in his life. A big influence on him was the life of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, 1858-1916, beatified on 13 November 2005. This Frenchman was also from a privileged background. Unlike Pareng Rufus, he lost his Catholic faith and became a notorious playboy before re-discovering it, partly through the example of Muslims living in North Africa. He spent many years as a priest living among the poorest Muslims in a remote corner of the Sahara, pioneering Christian-Muslim dialogue by discovering himself as the Little Brother of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and as the Little Brother of the Muslims who came knocking at his hermitage door.

St Charles de Foucauld, c.1907

[Wikipedia; photo]

Pope Francis canonised St Charles on 15 May this year.

On 1 December 1916 Charles de Foucauld died at the hands of a young gunman outside his hermitage and on 28 September 2001 Pareng Rufus died at the hands of gunmen who ambushed him as he was riding on his motorcycle from a meeting of Muslim and Christian leaders in Balabagan to his parish in Malabang. The local people, both Christian and Muslim, mourned for him deeply. The grief of the Muslims was all the greater because the men who murdered my Pareng Rufus happened to be Muslims. The death of this great missionary priest brought both communities together in their shared grief for a man of God, a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Plaudite Manibus (Psalm 46[47]:2-3, 6-7, 2-3)

Composed by Branko Stark, performed by Thai Youth Choir conducted by Dr Pawasut Piriyapongrat

Branko Stark is a contemporary Croatian composer. Only 1.13 per cent of the population of Thailand is Christian so it is quite possible that there are no Christians in this choir. 

The setting above includes the words of today's Entrance Antiphon, in bold below, taken from the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible.

Antiphona ad introitum  Entrance Antiphon Ps 46[47]:2

Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus; jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis: quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribilis, rex magnus super omnem terram.

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

Ascendit Deus in jubilo, et Dominus in voce tubae. Psallite Deo nostro, psallite; psallite regi nostro, psallite;

God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus; jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis: quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribilis, rex magnus super omnem terram.

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

 

Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) 36. 1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.

Vatican II, while it introduced the use of the mother tongue, did not banish Latin from the Mass and other liturgies!

Traditional Latin Mass

Third Sunday after Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 06-26-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: 1Peter 5:6-11. Gospel: Luke 15:1-10.

Parable of the Lost Drachma

Domenico Fetti [Web Gallery of Art]

'Shared grief for a man of God, a true follower of Jesus Christ.' Sunday Reflections, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Call of the Sons of Zebedee, Marco Basaiti [Web Gallery of Art]

The Sons of Zebedee were James and John, mentioned in today's gospel.

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Luke 9:51-62 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)  

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Columban Fr Rufus Halley (1944 - 28 August 2001) with friends in Mindanao

Jesus speaks clearly to us in Sunday's gospel about the cost of following him. Christians are still prepared to give up their very lives to follow Jesus. One example is Fr Rufus Halley, killed on 28 August 2001 in the Philippines. He was a very close friend of mine and a Columban confrere. Father Rufus was from County Waterford in Ireland. He entered the Columbans one year after me, in 1962, and was from a relatively wealthy family. But he lived very simply and chose to spend the last 20 years of his life in a predominantly Muslim area in Mindanao, an area where for centuries there has been distrust, and sometimes open hostility, between Christians and Muslims. 

Many of us tend to react as James and John did in a 'them and us' situation. Not Father Rufus. He chose the path of dialogue, learning two new Philippine languages in order to do that - he was fluent in Tagalog, the language spoken in Nabuka and in central Luzon where he had worked for many years - Maranao, the language of most of the Muslims in Lanao del Sur where he was based, and Cebuano, the language of most of the Christian minority there.

He was ambushed and shot dead while riding back to his parish in Malabang from the neighbouring parish of Balabagan. He had been at a meeting of Christian and Muslim leaders. Though the killers happened to be Muslims, both Christians and Muslims mourned him.

Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, then Archbishop of Manila, now retired, wrote an article aabout Father Rufus, who was known to many as ‘Father Popong’, published in Misyon in July-August 2006. 

Fr Rufus Halley

In the last two paragraphs of his article Cardinal Rosales writes: 

I knew of the intensity with which Father Rufus lived his own Christian faith, how he began each day with an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, the centrality of the Mass in his life. A big influence on him was the life of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, 1858-1916, beatified on 13 November 2005. This Frenchman was also from a privileged background. Unlike Pareng Rufus, he lost his Catholic faith and became a notorious playboy before re-discovering it, partly through the example of Muslims living in North Africa. He spent many years as a priest living among the poorest Muslims in a remote corner of the Sahara, pioneering Christian-Muslim dialogue by discovering himself as the Little Brother of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and as the Little Brother of the Muslims who came knocking at his hermitage door.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld, c.1907 [Wikipedia]

On 1 December 1916 Charles de Foucauld died at the hands of a young gunman outside his hermitage and on 28 September 2001 Pareng Rufus died at the hands of gunmen who ambushed him as he was riding on his motorcycle from a meeting of Muslim and Christian leaders in Balabagan to his parish in Malabang. The local people, both Christian and Muslim, mourned for him deeply. The grief of the Muslims was all the greater because the men who murdered my Pareng Rufus happened to be Muslims. The death of this great missionary priest brought both communities together in their shared grief for a man of God, a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Composed by Branko Stark, performed by Thai Youth Choir conducted by Dr.Pawasut Piriyapongrat.

Psalm 46[47]:2-3, 6-7, 2-3

The setting above by contemporary Croation composer Branko Stark includes the words of today's Entrance Antiphon, in bold below, taken from the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible.

Antiphona ad introitum  Entrance Antiphon Ps 46[47]:2

Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus; jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis: quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribilis, rex magnus super omnem terram.

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

Ascendit Deus in jubilo, et Dominus in voce tubae. Psallite Deo nostro, psallite; psallite regi nostro, psallite;

God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus; jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis: quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribilis, rex magnus super omnem terram.

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) 36. 1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.

Vatican II, while it introduced the use of the mother tongue, did not banish Latin from the Mass and other liturgies!

.