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 18:21-35 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England &
Wales, Scotland, India)
At that time:
Peter came up and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against
me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not
say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
‘Therefore the
kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with
his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten
thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be
sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, “Have patience with me, and I
will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the master of that servant
released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he
found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing
him, he began to choke him, saying, “Pay what you owe.” So his fellow servant
fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” He
refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his
fellow servants saw what had taken place they were greatly distressed, and they
went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master
summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt
because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow
servant, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his master delivered him to the
jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do
to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.’
Today's gospel brings us in touch with what is perhaps the most difficult demand for Christians: to forgive. El Greco's painting shows us St Peter praying with hope and trust in God's merciful and forgiving love.
An example of forgiveness is found in an extract from a letter of Fr William Doyle SJ, an Irish priest who died in August 1917 in Passchendaele, Belgium, while serving as a chaplain in the British Army in World War I. The extract is taken from a post on the website The Father Willie Doyle Association, the official site for the canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ.
Father Doyle wrote to his father in Dublin about events of 5 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme in France [emphasis added]:
In the bottom of one hole lay a British and a German soldier, locked in a deadly embrace, neither had any weapon, but they had fought on to the bitter end.Another couple seemed to have realised that the horrible struggle was none of their making, and that they were both children of the same God; they had died hand-in-hand praying for and forgiving one another. A third face caught my eye, a tall, strikingly handsome young German, not more, I should say, than eighteen. He lay there calm and peaceful, with a smile of happiness on his face, as if he had had a glimpse of Heaven before he died. Ah, if only his poor mother could have seen her boy it would have soothed the pain of her broken heart.
To Father Doyle no German soldier was an enemy. Indeed, one of the remarkable things in the literature that came out of the Great War, as the First World War was known until the Second World War began, is that soldiers didn't seem to have hatred for the official 'enemy'. It was more often against their own generals and bullying corporals. Photos and videos from the war show prisoners of war, especially wounded ones, being treated with the same kindness and consideration as others.
Father Doyle's description of the British and German soldiers holding hands in death illustrates poignantly and powerfully what Jesus asks of us in this Sunday's Gospel. Pray for the souls of all who died in that terrible conflict.
The Banks of Green Willow
Composed by George Butterworth
Played by the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Sir Neville Marriner
George Butterworth, an officer in the British army, was killed in the Battle of the Somme. 5 August 1916, a month before the event described by Fr Willie Doyle in his letter to his father. Pray for the souls of all who died in that terrible conflict, The Great War / First World War.
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).
GospelMatthew 16:13-20 (English Standard Version Anglicised)
At that time: When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’
And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I
am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And
Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you
are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he strictly charged the disciples to
tell no one that he was the Christ.
This week I'm using what I've used before, with some slight editing. Again I fall back on Pope Benedict XVI. This is the Angelus talk on today's gospel that he gave on 24 August 2008 in Castel Gandolfo. I have highlighted parts of it, something I found difficult to do as it is so deep and rich - and yet so clear and simple.
Brothers and Sisters, This Sunday's liturgy addresses to us Christians but also at the same time to every man and every woman the double question that one day Jesus put to his disciples. He first asked them: ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?’ They answered him saying that some of the people said John the Baptist restored to life, others Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. The Lord then directly questioned the Twelve: ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter spoke enthusiastically and authoritatively on behalf of them all: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’. This solemn profession of faith the Church continues to repeat since then. Today too, we long to proclaim with an innermost conviction: ‘Yes, Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God!’ Let us do so in the awareness that Christ is the true ‘treasure’ for whom it is worth sacrificing everything; he is the friend who never abandons us for he knows the most intimate expectations of our hearts. Jesus is the ‘Son of the living God’, the promised Messiah who came down to earth to offer humanity salvation and to satisfy the thirst for life and love that dwells in every human being. What an advantage humanity would have in welcoming this proclamation which brings with it joy and peace!
‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answers Peter's inspired profession of faith: ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven’. This is the first time that Jesus speaks of the Church, whose mission is the actuation of God's great design to gather the whole of humanity into a single family in Christ. Peter's mission, and that of his Successors, is precisely to serve this unity of the one Church of God formed of Jews and pagans of all peoples; his indispensable ministry is to ensure that she is never identified with a single nation, with a single culture, but is the Church of all peoples - to make present among men and women, scarred by innumerable divisions and conflicts, God's peace and the renewing power of his love. This, then, is the special mission of the Pope, Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter: to serve the inner unity that comes from God's peace, the unity of those who have become brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.
In the face of the enormous responsibility of this task, I am increasingly aware of the commitment and importance of the service to the Church and the world that the Lord has entrusted to me. I therefore ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to support me with your prayers so that, faithful to Christ, we may proclaim and bear witness together to his presence in our time. May Mary, whom we invoke with trust as Mother of the Church and Star of Evangelization, obtain this grace for us.
Pope Benedict's short reflection touches on so many fundamental things. Our faith as Christians is in the Person of Jesus Christ, God who became Man. Jesus calls us into a personal relationship with him, not in an exclusive 'You and I only' sense but in an intimate 'You, I and all of us' sense as members of the Church with a common mission given by Jesus to the Church.
As members of the Church we share in the mission given us by Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict says, I therefore ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to support me with your prayers so that, faithful to Christ, we may proclaim and bear witness together to his presence in our time.
Our common mission is to proclaim and bear witness together to his presence in our time. That means that Jesus calls each of us to realise that every person we meet is meant to meet Jesus in us - in every aspect of our lives, private and public.
Yet so many politicians, for example, who announce to the world that they are faithful Catholics promote the evils of abortion and the genital mutilation of confused minors who think they want to be the opposite sex. Many voters who see themselves as faithful Catholics support them in this. This, in effect, is saying that Jesus Christ our Saviour promotes the killing of unborn children and the physical/sexual abuse of minors.
Pope Benedict by addressing us as Dear brothers and sisters, reminds us of our deepest identity: we are sons and daughters of God the Father through our baptism. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus through our baptism. As such, we are brothers and sisters of one another through baptism.
Our baptism, through which we have received our Christian faith, is pure gift from God. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. We are called by baptism to proclaim the presence of Jesus in the world so that others may come to know Him. Pope Benedict doesn't mention baptism specifically but everything he says makes sense only in the context of our having been baptised.
Jesus through his Church does not identify himself with any particular nation or with any particular ethnic group. Yet he speaks to each nation, to each group, to each individual within their own culture. Some years ago in the Philippines when celebrating Sunday Mass in a home for girls most of whom had been abused before going there, I showed during my homily a very poor black-and-white reproduction of Rembrandt's painting above. One girl, aged about 14, asked me if she could have the picture. (I later had a proper copy made and framed for her). I asked her what had attracted her in the painting. He is so human, she said. This painting done in Amsterdam nearly 400 years before spoke to her heart. Rembrandt, through his painting in which he had a Jewish refugee from Spain as a model, was able to proclaim and bear witness to the presence of Jesus in our time to a young girl in the Philippines in the 21st century who had suffered greatly.
These are some random thoughts. Pope Benedict's Angelus message has so much in it and can be a source of prayer and contemplation in trying to answer the question Jesus puts before us today: But who do you say that I am?
Collect from the Mass for the Pope
O God, who in your providential design
willed that your Church be built
upon blessed Peter, whom you set over the other Apostles, look with favour, we pray, on Francis our Pope
and grant that he, whom you have made Peter's successor, may be for your people a visible source and foundation
of unity in faith and of communion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Tu es Petrus
Setting by Palestrina
Sung by Yonsei University Concert Choir, South Korea
conducted by Hae Ock Eunice Kim Bang
Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversum eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.
You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:18-19; today's gospel).
Traditional Latin Mass
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English ishere. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 08-23-2026 if necessary).
Stretcher Bearers, Passchendaele, Belgium, 1917
Madonna of Mercy
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