Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Advent, Year B; Christmas Day

 

Annunciation

Alessandro Allori [Web Gallery of Art]

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  (Luke 1:38; Gospel)

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 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.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

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).

Adoration of the Shepherds

Caravaggio [Web Gallery of Art]

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)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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!”

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

From a Christmas Homily of Pope Benedict XVI

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  

The name 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).

Epistle: Romans 1:1-16. Gospel: Matthew 1:18-21.

Christmas Day

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.

First Mass at Midnight

Epistle: Titus 2:11-15. Gospel: Luke 2:1-14.  

The Second Mass at Dawn

Epistle: Titus 3:4-7. Gospel: Luke 2:15-20.

Third Mass During the Daytime

Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-12. Gospel: John 1:1-14.

Adoration of the Shepherds (London)

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art] 

And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger (Luke 2:16; Gospel, The Mass at Dawn). 

 

'With a little bread you provided for the multitude.' Sunday Reflections, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Lambert Lombard [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 6:1-15 (English Standard Version, Anglicised: India)

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place.

So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

 

San Alberto Hurtado SJ 

(1901 - 1951)

St Alberto Hurtado SJ is a man who took today's gospel very seriously, He established the first Hogar de Cristo, Home of Christ, in Chile in 1944 to care for the many in Santiago who were homeless or had little to eat. There are now many such homes, not only in Chile and in other countries in South America but in the USA. Canonised in 2005 by Pope Benedict, he is still venerated in Chile as he was loved in his lifetime by the simple title of 'Padre Hurtado'.

He can speak to us with authority, as he does in this meditation he gave many years ago. His reference to the Venerable Matt Talbot comes from the time he spent in Dublin learning English.

The Multiplication of the Loaves  

Meditation during a retreat on the gift of self and cooperation.

Indecision, faintheartedness is the great obstacle in the plan of cooperation. We think: 'I’m not worth all that much', and from this comes discouragement: 'It makes no difference whether I act or fail to act. Our powers of action are so limited. Is my unpretentious work worthwhile? Does my abstaining from this have any meaning? If I fail to sacrifice myself nothing changes. No one needs me . . . A mediocre vocation?' How many vocations are lost. It is the advice of the devil that is partly true. The difficulty must be faced.

The solution

Five thousand men along with women and children have been hungry for three days . . . Food? They would need at least 200 denarii to feed them and this is the approximate yearly salary of a labourer.

In the desert! 'Tell them to go!' But Andrew, more observant says: 'There are five loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?' Here we have our same problem: the disproportion.

And the loaves. Made of barley, hard as rocks (the Jews used wheat). And the fish. They were from the lake, small, rather mushy in texture, carried by a young boy in a sack that had lain on the ground for three days in the heat . . . not much of a solution. 

Did the Lord despise this offering? No, and with his blessing he fed all the hungry and had leftovers. Neither did he despise the leftovers: twelve baskets of the surplus were gathered, fish heads and bones, but even this he valued. 

The young boy consented to give Christ his poor offering, not realizing that he would feed the multitude. He believed that he had lost his small possession but he found instead that there was even a surplus and that he had cooperated for the good of the others. 

And me . . . like those fish (less than those loaves) bruised and perhaps decomposing but in the hands of Christ my action may have a divine scope a divine reach. 

Remember Ignatius, Augustine, Camillus de Lellis, and Matt Talbot, base sinners whose lives were converted into spiritual nourishment for millions who will continue to feed on their witness. 

My actions and my desires can have a divine scope and can change the face of the earth. I will not know it, the fish did not know it either. I can do a great deal if I remain in Christ; I can accomplish much if I cooperate with Christ . . 

A Workman's Meal-Break

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Ó Aithrí an Reachtaraigh / from Raftery’s Repentance

Le / by Antoine Raiftearaí

A Rí na Glóire atá lán de ghrása,

is tú a rinne beoir is fíon den uisce;

le beagán aráin do riar Tú and sló;

Och! Freastail fóir agus slánaigh mise.

 

O King of Glory full of grace,

You made beer and wine from water;

With a little bread you provided for the multitude;

Oh! Attend to, help and save me.

Raiftearaí (1779 – 1835) was one of the last of the wandering Irish bards. He was the youngest of nine children. Some time between 1786 and 1786 all except Antaine died at the same time from smallpox and he became blind. His poetry was in Irish, though not written down when composed. The poem from which the stanza above is taken shows a knowledge of Scripture, including a familiarity with today's Gospel, along with a deep faith in God's mercy and that of our Blessed Mother and an awareness that his life was drawing to a close. He died on Christmas Day 1835. His surname, which has a number of variations in Irish, is usually Anglicised as 'Raftery'.

Ave, Regina caelorum

Setting by Palestrina, sung by Chanticleer

Ave, Regina caelorum, / Ave, Domine Angelorum: / Salve, radix, salve, porta, / Ex qua mundo lux est orta.

Gaude, [Virgo] gloriosa, / super omnes speciosa, / vale, [o] vale decora, / et pro nobis Christum exora.

Hail, Queen of Heaven, / hail, mistress of the Angels, / root of Jesse; hail, the gate / through which the LIght rose over the earth. 

Rejoice, [Virgin] most renowned  / and of unsurpassed beauty. / Farewell, [Lady] most comely. Prevail upon Christ to pity us.

This is Palestrina's setting of this antiphon to the Blessed Virgin, traditionally sung at the end of Compline (Night Prayer) from 2 February till Wednesday of Holy Week. It is also sung on other occasions.

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 7-25-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13.  Gospel: Luke 19:41-47.

 

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Blue Skies

Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin

Arranged by Joseph Jennings, sung by Chanticleer

As I prepare this we are getting plenty of blue skies here in Ireland and temperatures in the high 20Cs and even over 30C. The song includes the line Nothing but blue skies from now on. That's very unlikely in Ireland at any time of year but we are grateful for blue skies we're having at the moment. 

I saw Chanticleer in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in December 2018. They have an extensive and varied repertoire as they show in Ave, Regina coelorum and Blue Skies. In Joseph Jennings's arrangement of the latter there are musical allusions to Johann Sebastian Bach, to Christmas and to weddings.

Columban Fr Bernard Toal RIP

Fr Bernard E. Toal

(17 October 1915 - 14 November 2016)

The greeting above was for his 100th birthday on 17 October 2015. He was the first Columban to reach that age.

Fr Bernard E. Toal died at St Elizabeth’s Manor, Rhode Island, on November 14, 2016.  Please remember him in your Masses and prayers. 

Fr Toal was born on 17 October 1915 in Gloucester, New Jersey, USA.  There he attended the local parish school. Thinking of becoming a missionary priest, he entered St Columban's Minor Seminary, Silver Creek, New York, for high school studies in 1931. After graduating in 1937, he entered the Columban Fathers spiritual formation program in Bristol, RI. Back in Silver Creek he studied Philosophy 1938-1940. He completed his theological studies in St Columbans, Nebraska, and was ordained a priest on 18 December 1943 at the Cathedral of St Joseph in Buffalo, NY.

A baptism in Ozamiz City

Because of World War II he did not immediately go to the missions but did parish work in California and Arizona. At the end of hostilities in 1945 he went to the Philippines where, in Ozamiz City, he taught in the parish high school.

In 1951 he returned home for vacation. He was then appointed as Spiritual Director and Bursar of the seminary in Bristol, RI. In 1957 he became Director of Probationers there, a position he held until going to Lima, Peru, in 1968.

Fr Toal (L) with Columban seminarians in Bristol, 1962-63

Fr Toal worked in Peru for eleven years and spent most of that time in the parish of 'The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary' in Reynoso, Callao. Before he left, he had just completed a new parish church and rectory and had built up a thriving parish community.

In Peru

Returning to the USA in April 1979 he was appointed assistant pastor in Blessed Sacrament Parish, Westminster, California. After seven years there he was assigned to Immaculate Conception parish in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Then, in the summer of 1992, he was assigned to Immaculate Conception in Grand Prairie, Texas, where he served with Columban Fathers, Dennis O'Mara and Gerald Wilmsen.

In Fontana, CA

In 2001, Fr Toal was asked to move to Los Angeles while waiting for his assignment to St Mary’s Parish in Fontana, California.  He enjoyed serving at St Mary’s for almost ten years and was beloved by the parishioners. In the fall of 2011 he moved to the Columban House in Bristol, RI. In the last few years he suffered from declining health. He was cared for at St Elizabeth Manor in Bristol, where he remained cheerful and did not complain. He was 101 when he passed away. 

Fr Toal (R) 26 September 2015

Thanks to his gentle spirit and genuine interest in all those who crossed his path, Fr Toal touched the lives of a great number of people and maintained personal contact with many of them for several decades up until the end of his life.

100th Birthday Mass, 17 October 2015, with Fr Charles Lintz

Funeral Mass will take place at 10:30am on Friday, 18 November at St Columban’s Retirement Home (65 Ferry Rd, Bristol) in Rhode Island. After lunch, burial will take place at the cemetery of St Mary’s, Bristol.  May he Rest In Peace.

Thanks to Fr Timothy Mulroy, Columban Regional Director, USA.

The great Russian-born American songwriter, Irving Berlin (1888 - 1989), like Fr Toal, lived to be 101. The year the latter was born Berlin wrote When I Leave the World Behind. This version, sung by Al Jolson, is from a radio broadcast in 1943, the year Fr Toal was ordained.