'But in the end, my life is a grace, filled with surprises.' Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Easter, Year A

 

The Good Shepherd

Marten van Cleve the Elder [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel: John 10:1-10 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Jesus said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

  

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Brother Richie Fernando SJ

27 February 1970 - 17 October 1996

I remember vividly reading of the death in Cambodia on 17 October 1996 of Brother Richard Michael R. Fernando SJ, known as ‘Richie’. As a missionary priest in the Philippines I felt both pride and sorrow that a young Filipino preparing for the priesthood had given his life for others without a moment’s hesitation at the Jesuit-run Banteay Prieb, 'Centre of the Dove', in Phnom Penh where the residents were young Cambodians who had lost limbs from the many landmines scattered around the country.

A young man named Sarom, who had been asked to leave the Centre, came that day to a meeting. He entered a classroom where there were many young people and took a hand-grenade out of his bag, intending to throw it. Brother Richie, who had been assigned to Cambodia for two years as part of his preparation for the priesthood, grabbed Sarom from behind. But the grenade fell on the floor. Brother Richie covering it with his body. He died instantly but nobody else was even injured.

The one word used by those who knew Brother Richie well was ‘joy’, the joy that Jesus spoke about the night before he died: I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete (John 15:11). These words echo those at the end of today’s Gospel: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10).

On 12 October, five days before his death, BrotherRichie wrote this letter to his friend, Fr Totet Banaynal SJ, who was then a brother:

I only have the will to cause things to happen. Maybe my will is powerful enough. I know where my heart is...it is with Jesus Christ, Jesus who gave His all for the poor, the sick, the orphan. I feel as if I’m beginning to understand more when I say: I want to be like Christ; I will follow Jesus; I’m Jesus’ friend and companion; I am a Jesuit; I know where my heart is.

I remember you shared before that ‘I can die for Cambodia.’ I honestly believe that to die for our poor friends here will be the greatest gift that God can give us. And I continually pray for that grace every day.

I discovered my life is not a project nor a programme. I know I can choose and will things to happen. But in the end, my life is a grace, filled with surprises. It becomes sweeter when I accept and appreciate my life as it is... and our friendship... it wasn’t a project. It was grace and we build on that grace.

Brother Richie wrote in his retreat diary on 3 January 1996: I wish, when I die people remember Not how great, powerful, or talented I was But that I served and spoke for the truth, I gave witness to what is right, I was sincere with all my works and actions, in other words I loved and I followed Christ. Amen.

The Jesuits in the Philippines have now initiated the process that may lead to the beatification and canonisation of Brother Richie. There is quite an amount of material about Brother Richie on the internet.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

This Sunday is World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Nico Lariosa SJ, the young Filipino in the video above who entered the Jesuits in Australia, gave an interview some time after he was ordained deacon. He spoke of learning about Brother Richie when he was 15: When I was 15 and in the seminary, during a retreat, the retreat director spoke to us about the young Jesuit missionary (Richie Fernando SJ) who had died in Cambodia. The story, his humanity, really spoke to me. He was a jokester, he liked to tease people and pull pranks on people. That spoke to me, because I’m that type of personality too.

I just remember saying to myself after hearing his story and later reading a book about his life, ‘Whatever this guy had that enabled him to give up his life like that I want for myself, too’.

Another young Jesuit martyr who was a 'jokester' was Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, executed in 1927 in Mexico. Another Jesuit who liked to play pranks was Fr Willie Doyle SJ who was killed in the Great War in 1917 in Flanders, Belgium, where he was serving as chaplain to Irish soldiers in the British army. His cause for canonisation was officially launched last year. He wrote a book on the vocation of the priesthood which led many to answer God's call after the 1914-18 war. Another Irishman who liked to play gentle pranks was the Servant of God Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary. (Father Willie and Frank Duff both had a life-long struggle with their tempers, a struggle that with God's grace was part of their becoming saintly persons.)

Fr Christopher F. Amoroso MSP, who grew up in a Columban parish in the Philippines, tells how an article about Brother Richie in Misyon, the Columban magazine that I edited in the Philippines from 2002 until 2017, was one of the signs that led him to the priesthood. He joined the Mission Society of the Philippines and was assigned to Japan after his ordination. Father Christopher's story illustrates what Brother Richie wrote: But in the end, my life is a grace, filled with surprises.

Alleluia from Exsultate Jubilate

Composed by Mozart

Sung by Leontyne Price

Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan

Traditional Latin Mass

Third Sunday After Easter

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 04-30-2023 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Peter 2:11-19. Gospel: John 16:16-22.

Apostle St John the Evangelist

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

'Then I felt a huge weight lift away from me.' Sunday Reflections, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Church Interior with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican

Dirck van Delen [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 18:9-14 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

Model of The Second Temple

[Wikipedia; photo]

The tax collector ('publican' in older translations) acknowledges his sinfulness when he prays, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! Jesus tells us, This man went down to his house justified. That means that God had forgiven him and lifted the burden of his guilt from him.

The tax collector asked God for mercy and received it. The parable calls us to ask for mercy and to give it when we are asked for it, in that way sharing God's mercy with another. The act of asking for mercy and the act of showing mercy both lead us to an inner freedom.

The story below from Rwanda is a powerful witness to God's mercy shown through a murderer begging for forgiveness from the daughter of the man he killed and through her forgiving him. 

Ntarama Church, Rwanda

[Wikipedia; photo]

Over 5,000 people seeking refuge here were killed by grenade, machete, rifle, or burnt alive during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

A religious sister from Rwanda, Sr Genevieve Umawariya, speaking during the Synod on Africa held in Rome in 2009, the theme of which was The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace, spoke of an incident that parallels today's gospel. Here is what she said:

I am a survivor of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda 1994.

A large part of my family was killed while in our parish church. The sight of this building used to fill me with horror and turned my stomach, just like the encounter with the prisoners filled me with disgust and rage.

It is in this mental state that something happened that would change my life and my relationships.

On August 27th 1997 at 1 p.m., a group from the Catholic association of the 'Ladies of Divine Mercy' led me to two prisons in the region of Kibuye, my birthplace. They went to prepare the prisoners for the Jubilee of 2000. They said: 'If you have killed, you commit yourself to ask for forgiveness from the surviving victim, that way you can help him free himself of the burden/weight of vengeance, hatred and rancor. If you are a victim, you commit yourself to offer forgiveness to those who harmed you and thus you free them from the weight of their crime and the evil that is in them'.

This message had an unexpected effect for me and in me . . .

After that, one of the prisoners rose in tears, fell to his knees before me, loudly begging: 'Mercy'. I was petrified in recognizing a family friend who had grown up and shared everything with us.

He admitted having killed my father and told me the details of the death of my family. A feeling of pity and compassion invaded me: I picked him up, embraced him and told him in a tearful voice: 'You are and always will be my brother'.

Then I felt a huge weight lift away from me . . . I had found internal peace and I thanked the person I was holding in my arms.

To my great surprise, I heard him cry out: 'Justice can do its work and condemn me to death, now I am free!'

I also wanted to cry out to who wanted to hear: 'Come see what freed me, you too can find internal peace'.

From that moment on, my mission was to travel kilometers to bring mail to the prisoners asking for forgiveness from the survivors. Thus 500 letters were distributed; and I brought back mail with the answers of the survivors to the prisoners who had become my friends and my brothers . . . This allowed for meetings between the executioners and the victims . . .

From this experience, I deduce that reconciliation is not so much wanting to bring together two persons or two groups in conflict. It is rather the re-establishment of each in love and allowing internal healing which leads to mutual liberation.

And here is where the importance of the Church lies in our countries, since her mission is to offer the Word: a word that heals, liberates and reconciles.

Pope Francis echoes this last sentence of Sr Genevieve in his message for World Mission Day 2016: Mercy finds its most noble and complete expression in the Incarnate Word. Jesus reveals the face of the Father who is rich in mercy.

[This Sunday is World Mission Day and the theme of the message of Pope Francis is You shall be my witnesses,]

Nyina wa Jambo (Mother of the Word)

You can read about Our Lady of Kibeho here

The man who killed Sister Genevieve's father experienced God's mercy through her as she did through him. Each was freed of the very different but related heavy burdens that they carried. And the man had no more fear of whatever punishment he might receive for his crime. Like the tax-collector in the gospel, he made no excuses. He simply asked for mercy.

The tax-collector in the parable, Sr Genevieve Umawariya and the man who had killed her father experienced the truth of the First Beatitude (Matthew 5:3) usually translated into English as Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. For years I never quite understood what this meant until I read the translation in the New English Bible: How blest are those who know their need of God; the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

May each of us, like the tax collector, like Sister Genevieve, like the man she forgave and who accepted her forgiveness, know our need of God and of his mercy. 

Alleluia from Exsultate jubilate

Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Sung by Leontyne Price

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan

[If the video above does not work try this link]

Traditional Latin Mass

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 10-23-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-21. Gospel: John 4:46-53.

St Paul

Pierre Etienne Monnot [Web Gallery of Art]

'Now little children barely know / About Midnight Mass and mistletoe . . .' Sunday Reflections, Christmas Day 2021

 

Adoration of the Shepherds

Murillo [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Linus's Speech from A Charlie Brown Christmas

 Linus quotes Luke 2:8-14 (Authorized [King James] Version):

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men.

Charlie Brown finds satisfaction in Linus’ answer. He is made joyful. So why is this television special so enduring? Linus’ answer is the perfect Advent message for Christians awaiting the birth of Christ during a time taken over by commercialism. That’s what Christians who watch this special take away from it [emphasis added]. 

The above is a quotation from an article by Clemente Lisi, Why 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' Remains Beloved by both Christians and Non-believers. A very perceptive comment on the article reads: I watched the original airing of the show in 1965 as an 8-year-old. Many, many times since then. It just occurred to me as I read your story that one of the main reasons for the profundity of Linus' speech is the silence before and after he quotes Luke. No piano, no laughter, no groaning. Just silence. It sets in our minds the importance of what is about to be said and subsequently what was said [emphasis added].

Adoration of the Shepherds

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

In his book Jesus of Nazareth, The Infancy Narratives, Pope Benedict XVI writes on pages 66-67 as follows [emphases added].

'And while they were there [Bethlehem], the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7, RSV).

'Let us begin our exegesis with the concluding words of this passage: there was no room for them in the inn. Prayerful reflection over these words has highlighted an inner parallel between this saying and the profoundly moving  verse from St John's Prologue (read in the Mass During the Day): He came to his own home, and his own people received him not (1:11). For the Saviour of the World, for him in whom all things were created (cf Col 1:16), there was no room. Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20). He who was crucified outside the city (cf Heb 13:12) also came into the world outside the city.

'This should cause us to reflect - it points toward the reversal of values found in the figure of Jesus Christ and his message. From the moment of his birth, he belongs outside the realms of what is important and powerful in worldly terms. Yet it is this unimportant and powerless child that proves  to be the truly powerful one, the one on whom ultimately everything depends. So one aspect of becoming a Christian is having to leave behind what everyone else thinks and wants, the prevailing standards, in order to enter the light of the truth of our being, and aided by that light to find the right path.'

+++

Both Rembrandt's painting above and Murillo's at the top beautifully show this unimportant and powerless child to be truly the light of the truth of our being.

The last two years have been dark for all people throughout the world and very dark for many. Most of us have felt powerless at times, in varying degrees. May the words of St John's Gospel be a beacon of hope for all of us:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).

Agus tá an solas ag taitneamh sa dorchadas, ach níor ghabh an dorchadas é (Eoin 1:5).

Alternative Santa

Written and read by Roger McGough

Roger McGough, from Liverpool, is a poet of the people. This poem, written before Covid-19 hit us, whimsically captures some of the realities of modern life that have since become part of our Covid experience, online shopping in particular. But there is a poignancy in the closing lines of the poem below that describe what we in the Western world have largely lost as social beings and as people of Christian faith in modern times, perhaps accelerated by the pandemic. 

And that was years and years ago / Now little children barely know / About Midnight Mass and mistletoe / Christmas carols and candle glow / Sleigh bells ringing across the snow / And  Santa singing Yo ho ho /  For that was years and years ago / For that was years and years ago.

Note: In the opening lines of the poem Roger McGough refers to 'Father Christmas', a name for Santa Claus used in England, though with different origins from St Nicholas. It has come into the Irish language as Daidí na Nollag.

O Holy Night

Sung by Leontyne Price

Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan

At the risk of 'overloading' I've included this. The voice of Leontyne Price is for me a proof of both the existence and the beauty of a loving God and that we are made in God's image.

A Blessed Christmas to All!

Juan Diego Flórez sings Cantique de Noël / O Holy Night

I don't recall hearing O Holy Night in my childhood, though I'm sure I did. In the early 1960s, as I recall, a young singer from Limerick, Ireland, named Tommy Drennan recorded it and it became a big hit in my country. I was in the seminary then.

There are many recordings of this song. Some are quite wonderful while some are not. Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez sing in the original French, by Placide Cappeau, and in the English version by John Sullivan Dwight that most of us are familiar with. You can find the words of both versions here. Adolphe Adam set Cappeau's poem to music in 1847. Cappeau had written the poem at the request of his parish priest but some years later the Church in France banned the use of the song for a while. You can read about it here. (That page gives the surname of the composer as 'Adams' but elsewhere he is 'Adam'.)

I have always liked the version of American soprano Leontyne Price best. She recorded it with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. He was born in Salzburg, Austria, where Mozart was also born, and the most beautiful city I have ever visited. I was there for a few days in the spring of 1988. (Silent Night originated in the village of Arnsdorf, in the province of Salzburg of which the city of that name is the capital.)

The video of Juan Diego Flórez was made at a Christmas concert in Vienna in 2008 while the recording of Leontyne Price was made in 1961. I have always found it difficult to make a final choice of favourites of anything. I hope you enjoy the glorious tenor voice from Lima, Peru,  and the sublime soprano voice from Laurel, Mississippi, USA.

Adoration of the Shepherds, Rembrandt, 1646 (Web Gallery of Art)