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 Fr Marco Frisina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fr Marco Frisina. Show all posts
In Ireland, England & Wales the Solemnity of the Epiphany is a Holy Day of Obligation and is celebrated this year on Tuesday, 6 January, the traditional date. In many countries the Epiphany is celebrated on this Sunday, 4 January. The readings below are those for the Second Sunday After the Nativity, observed in Ireland, England & Wales. You will find Sunday Reflections for the Solemnity of the Epiphany here.
Readings(English
Standard Version, Catholic Edition: (England & Wales)
GospelJohn 1:1-18 or 1-5, 9-14(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him
was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the
light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it.
[There was a man
sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about
the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came
to bear witness about the light.]
The true light,
which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world,
and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to
his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive
him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who
were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
[John bore witness about him, and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He
who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.” ’For from his
fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the
only begotten God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.]
In The Ascent of Mount Carmel St John of the Cross writes: When [God] gave us, as he did,his Son, who is his one Word, he spoke everything to us, once and for all in that one Word. There is nothing further for him to say . . .
Consequently, anyone who today would want to ask God questions or desire some vision or revelation, would not only be acting foolishly but would commit an offence against God by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ, without wanting something new or something besides him.
God might give him this answer, '"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." I have already told you all things in my Word. Fix your eyes on him alone, becuse in him I have spoken and revealed all. Moreover, in him you will find more than you ask or desire.'
This passage is used in the Office of Readings, Advent, Week 2, Monday.
In England & Wales and in Ireland the Solemnity of the Epiphany is a Holy Day of Obligation and is celebrated this year on Monday 6 January. In many countries, including Australia, Philippines, Scotland and the USA, the Epiphany is celebrated on this Sunday, 5 January.
The readings below are those for the Second Sunday After the Nativity, observed in England & Wales and in Ireland.
The link to Sunday Reflections for the Epiphany is here.
Readings(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,)
Readings(English
Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales)
GospelJohn 1:1-18 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him
and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.
The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through him,
and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain
and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to all who believe in the name of him
who was born not out of human stock
or urge of the flesh
or will of man
but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
‘This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me ranks before me
because he existed before me.’
Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received –
yes, grace in return for grace,
since, though the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
In The Ascent of Mount Carmel St John of the Cross writes: When [God] gave us, as he did,his Son, who is his one Word, he spoke everything to us, once and for all in that one Word. There is nothing further for him to say . . .
Consequently, anyone who today would want to ask God questions or desire some vision or revelation, would not only be acting foolishly but would commit an offence against God by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ, without wanting something new or something besides him.
God might give him this answer, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. I have already told you all things in my Word. Fix your eyes on him alone, because in him I have spoken and revealed all. Moreover, in him you will find more than you ask or desire.'
This passage is used in the Office of Readings, Advent, Week 2, Monday.
GospelMatthew 5:38-48 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus said to his
disciples:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is
evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the
other also.And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[a] let him have your cloak as well.And if anyone forces you to go one
mile, go with him two miles.Give to the one who begs from you, and do not
refuse the one who would borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall
love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you,so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on
the just and on the unjust.For if you love those who love you, what reward do you
have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than
others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?You therefore must be perfect, as
your heavenly Father is perfect.”
FrRufus Halley was one year behind me in the Columban seminary in Ireland. We were close friends. He came to the Philippines in 1969, two years before I did. He spent his early years in the country in Tagalog-speaking parishes in an area of the Archdiocese of Manila south of the metropolitan area, now the Diocese of Antipolo. He was fluent in the language. After about ten years he began to feel a clear call from God to leave the security of working in an area overwhelmingly Christian and mostly Catholic to a part of Mindanao where Columbans had worked for many years that is overwhelmingly Muslim, the Prelature of Marawi. There he became fluent in two more Filipino languages, Meranao, spoken by the majority of Muslims in the area, and Cebuano, spoken by most of the Christians. Both Muslims and Christians saw Father Rufus as a man of prayer, a man of peace, a man of God. He spent an hour each day before the Blessed Sacrament. Over the years he earned the trust of some Muslim leaders despite the long history of distrust between Muslims and Christians that sometimes led to outright conflict. Because of the trust he had built up he, a foreigner, a Christian and a Catholic priest, got an extraordinary request: to mediate in a feud between two groups of Meranaos. Father Rufus saw this as another call from God and agreed. He also sought the advice of a Muslim elder who wasn't involved in the conflict. Over a period of many weeks he was going back and forth between the leaders of the two factions until eventually they agreed to meet. The morning of the meeting was filled with tension but when the leaders arrived they agreed to end the feud. A week or so later Father Rufus dropped into the house of one of the leaders of the conflict and, to his delight, saw a leader of the other faction having coffee with him, the two men engaged in a lively, friendly conversation into which they invited the Irish priest. Father Rufus used to speak about this event as the highlight of the twenty years he spent living among Muslims, a period when tension was seldom absent from his life and where there was often danger. Though a person who had a naturally optimistic disposition - five minutes in his company would get rid of any 'blues' you might feel - that didn't keep him going. His Christian hope and faith did.
Father Rufus with young friends
On the afternoon of 29 August 2001 while returning on his motorcycle from an inter-faith meeting in Balabagan, Lanao del Sur, to Malabang, maybe five or six kilometres away and where he was assigned, Father Rufus was ambushed by a group of men who happened to be Muslims and shot dead.
Both Christians and Muslims were devastated by his death.
Father Rufus came from a privileged background and could have entered any profession. But he chose to answer God's call to be a missionary priest. Our Columban superiors sent him to the Philippines.
He later chose, in answer to God's call and with the blessing of our superiors, to go to a very difficult mission. That choice led to twenty years of joyful service there to Catholics and Muslims. It also led to his death.
Father Rufus wasn't the enemy of anyone. Because of that and because they saw him as a man of God, two groups of Muslims who were enemies accepted him as a mediator. He wasn't a man to greet only your brothers and sisters but one who crossed barriers.
The closing words of Jesus in today's gospel are You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. For years my understanding of becoming perfect in this sense was of a blueprint like that of an architect. If you found this blueprint and built according to its specifications then you'd have a perfect product.
But a building is inanimate.
However, I found a very different image of perfection in Story of a Soul, the autobiography of St Thérèse of Lisieux: Perfection consists simply in doing his will, and being just what he wants us to be.This is an image of a living being, of a unique being. God's will gradually unfolded in the life of Father Rufus, as a flower unfolds, the growth being silent and hardly noticeable most of the time.
I see in the stages of the life of Father Rufus, whose baptismal name was Michael, a testimony of the truth of the words of St Thérèse and a model of how we can follow the words of Jesus. Through his daily prayer, his daily faithfulness, his responding to God's will at crucial moments in his life, he became what God willed him to be: a Catholic priest who as he laid in death on the side of a road in a remote area of the southern Philippines, became an even stronger bridge between Christians and Muslims, a man who in life and death showed the true face of Jesus Christ, God who became Man out of love for all of us.
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Author of the original Latin unknown; English translation below by St John Henry Cardinal Newman
Ánima Christi, sanctífica me.Soul of Christ, be my sanctification; Corpus Christi, salva me. Body of Christ, be my salvation; Sanguis Christi, inébria me. Blood of Christ, fill all my veins; Aqua láteris Christi, lava me. Water of Christ's side, wash out my stains; Pássio Christi, confórta me. Passion of Christ, my comfort be; O bone Iesu, exáudi me. O good Jesus, listen to me; Intra tua vúlnera abscónde me. In Thy wounds I fain would hide; Ne permíttas me separári a te. Ne'er to be parted from Thy side; Ab hoste malígno defénde me. Guard me, should the foe assail me; In hora mortis meæ voca me. Call me when my life shall fail me; Et iube me veníre ad te, Bid me come to Thee above, ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te With Thy saints to sing Thy love, in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen. World without end. Amen.
Traditional Latin Mass
Quinquagesima Sunday
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 02-19-2023 if necessary).
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Gospel: Luke 18:31-43.
In England & Wales and in Ireland the Solemnity of the Epiphany is a Holy Day of Obligation and is celebrated this year on Thursday 6 January. In many countries, including Australia, Philippines, Scotland and the USA, the Epiphany is celebrated on this Sunday, 2 January.
You will find Sunday Reflections for the Epiphany here.
The readings below are those for the Second Sunday After the Nativity, observed in England & Wales and in Ireland.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
GospelJohn 1:1-18. Shorter form: John 1:1-5, 9-14 [omitted] (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition )
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.]
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. [(John bore witness to him, and cried, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.’”) And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.]
In The Ascent of Mount Carmel St John of the Cross writes: When [God] gave us, as he did,his Son, who is his one Word, he spoke everything to us, once and for all in that one Word. There is nothing further for him to say . . .
Consequently, anyone who today would want to ask God questions or desire some vision or revelation, would not only be acting foolishly but would commit an offence against God by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ, without wanting something new or something besides him.
God might give him this answer, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. I have already told you all things in my Word. Fix your eyes on him alone, because in him I have spoken and revealed all. Moreover, in him you will find more than you ask or desire.'
This passage is used in the Office of Readings, Advent, Week 2, Monday.
Sung by Choir of the Diocese of Rome directed Fr Frisina
Refrain. Verbum caro factum est. Alleluia.
The Word was made flesh. Alleluia.
Hodie Christus natus est et laetantur Angeli.
Hodie Christus, Salvator mundi, in terra apparuit.
Today Christ is born and the angesl rejoice.
Today Christ, the Saviour of the world, has appeared on earth.
Refrain. Verbum caro factum est. Alleluia.
The Word was made flesh. Alleluia.
Lux fulgebit hodie, quia Dominus natus est.
Exulta, Filia Sion; lauda, Filia Jerusalem.
Light shines today, because the Lord is born.
Rejoice, Daughter Zion, rejoice Daughter Jerusalem.
Refrain. Verbum caro factum est. Alleluia.
The Word was made flesh. Alleluia.
Revelavit iustitiam ante cospectum gentium,
et nos vidimus gloriam eius, gloria quasi Unigeniti.
He has revealed his justice to all peoples
and we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son.
Refrain. Verbum caro factum est. Alleluia.
The Word was made flesh. Alleluia.
Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)
Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
I do not know if any
readers looked at this addition to Sunday Reflections before. But I have
resumed it out of a sense of solidarity with priest-friends and others who are
deeply hurt, discouraged and disillusioned by recent restrictive and petty
legislation in the Church about the celebration of the Mass that nourished my
faith as I was growing up and during my seminary years and the faith of
countless generations of our ancestors and the many who died as martyrs for
celebrating it or enabling it to be celebrated.
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-31-2021 if necessary).
,%20Toledo,%20WGA.jpg)
.jpg)
