Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 18 January 2026

The Gospel of John (1:29-34)

Directed by Philip Saville

I am posting this on Sunday night. We had no WiFi from Friday afternoon until tonight.

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

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 1:29-34 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptising with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John bore witness: ‘I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptise with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptises with the Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.

 

           Léachtaíi nGaeilge

 L

Fr Barry Cairns and Mr  Dismas Shigeru Kato 

Fr Barry Cairns, a Columban priest born in New Zealand in 1931 who is still enthusiastically  testifying in Japan that this is the Son of God tells a story in a number of our Columban magazines of one of his parishioners, Mr Dismas Shigeru Kato, who is doing the same in his 90s.He became a Catholic as an adult. Only about one person out of 200 in Japan is a Catholic.  Father Barry tells us about his parishioner when they were both younger.

I would like to introduce Mr Dismas Shigeru Kato. He was born 91 years ago in a small fishing village called Kushimoto in Wakayama Province of Japan. In his youth and when drafted into the wartime army he built up a massive debt for alcohol at different bars.

Then he got married. His wife was very patient with him. Mr Kato worked for the Kansai Electric Power Company. He cared for external power lines. He was paying off his debts bit by bit.

Then Mr Kato became a Christian, first with the local Protestant Church and later the Catholic Church where he was baptized. He chose as his baptismal name Dismas, which is the traditional name of the penitent brigand on a cross beside Jesus at his crucifixion.

At this time I was pastor of Kushimoto which was one of the smallest parishes in Japan. It was definitely a mission of primary contact to the un-evangelized! At Sunday Mass we had 5-10 people attending. However after Mass, 50 non-Christian children from the village came for Sunday school. Mr Kato's daughter, Majimi, was the only Christian.

It was here that Mr Dismas Shigeru Kato really shone in the darkness. For the children we used a projector showing a film strip about a small Catholic boy in Africa. Remember this was before TV came into the village. The film strip was in colour and most extensive with many episodes. Mr Kato would study each episode during the week and in the darkness needed for the projector could tell the story without looking at the script. Each character in the story was given in its own distinctive voice. It was a masterful and captivating presentation. I often heard the children discussing both the developing story and its Christian message.

At this time too Mr Kato was giving witness in another field. The Kansai Electric Company had a trade union seminar. The subject was traffic safety. During the open discussion Mr Kato stood up and said: ‘As many of you know I am a Christian. You have probably heard that Christ 2,000 years ago was strong on love of others. A modern aspect of love of neighbour is safe driving. Let the driver be concerned and respectful for others who use the road. Aggressive, dangerous driving can be a form of self-centredness. Careful, considerate driving is a form of love of neighbor. Let this be our motive for safe driving.’

A moment of spontaneous reflective silence was followed by massive applause. This was a new, different, and appealing approach.

The provincial section of the newspaper featured Mr Kato and his talk emphasising motivation for safe driving instead of just keeping rules for their own sake.

At 91 Shigeru Kato has moved into a Catholic-run retirement home. Here he is a leader of a group who pray the Rosary together.

I pray for more like Mr Kato to evangelize this nation of Japan.

+++

Mr Kato's life, where his Catholic Christian faith permeates everything he does, reflects the spirit of the Letter to Diognetus, written in the second century, which speaks of how we Christians are meant to live in the world. We can get a flavour of it here.

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe . . . They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed.

People in many countries, and many here in Ireland itself, were utterly shocked and disheartened at the many voters here in recent referendums  - one in 2015 that re-defined marriage as no longer necessarily involving a man and a woman, the other in 2018 to do with the sacredness of the life of the unborn child - who saw no connection between their faith and the way they voted. We can never separate the reality that through our baptism we become the beloved sons and daughters of God the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and of one another, from the reality of our daily lives and our lives as citizens. Everything is meant to be permeated by that marvellous truth in which we find our deepest identity, the truth that by baptism we are the beloved sons and daughters of God the Father.

Kinasai-omoniwo-oumono

Composed by Saburo Takada

This Japanese hymn is based on Matthew 11:28-30. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

  Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday After the Epiphany

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 1-18-2026 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 12:6-16. Gospel: John 2:1-11.

Marriage at Cana (detail)

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

The steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now' (John 2:9-10; Gospel).

'This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday of Lent

 

Transfiguration of Christ

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah (Luke 9:30; Gospel).

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

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 9:28-36 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah’ — not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

         

Fr Edward Allen

1906 - 2001

The line in today's Gospel, as [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face was altered reminded me of an incident late in 1988 or early in 1989 in the Philippines involving two Columban priests in their late 80s, Fr Edward Allen and Fr Aedan McGrath. They were both born in Dublin in 1906, Father Aedan early in the year and Father Eddie, as he was known to us, later in the year. Father Aedan was ordained in December 1929 and Father Eddie twelve months later. Each had two brother who were priests. Father Aedan's were both Columbans. One of Father Eddie's was a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin, the other a Vincentian. Another, a Discalced Carmelite, died not long before he was to be ordained priest. Both these two great friends were small in stature and both, in different ways, were what we Irish call 'mighty men'. 

Father Aedan had spent most of the early years of his priesthood in China where the Cofounder of the Columbans, Bishop Edward Galvin, asked him to get involved with the Legion of Mary which had been introduced there by another Columban from Dublin, Fr Joseph Hogan, ordained in 1925. Archbishop (Later Cardinal) Antonio Riberi, then the Apostolic Nuncio to China, asked Father Aedan in the late 194os to spread the Legion of Mary throughout the country. The Chinese Communist government put him in prison in 1951 and he spent nearly three years there, mostly in solitary confinement in a tiny cell. I remember his homecoming to Ireland in 1953 when the President, the Prime Minister and thousands of people were at Dublin Airport to greet him. He once told me that when he saw the crowds from the plane he said to himself, There must be somebody important on board. He had no idea that he was the somebody important. He became a household name in Ireland and was one of God's signposts pointing me towards being a Columban priest..

Father Aedan spent the rest of his life working for the Legion of Mary, in his latter years based in Manila but travelling to most of the countries in the Pacific Rim and the Pacific island nations. He died suddenly on Christmas Day 2000 at a family gathering. I've written about his funeral in A Heavenly Farewell. (Video form of the article here).

Fr Aedan McGrath with Pope St John Paul

I am all yours, my Queen, my Mother, and all that I have is yours.

Totus Tuus

The late Fr Niall O'Brien, who was imprisoned in the Philippines in the 1980s on a trumped-up charge of murder, wrote an article about Father Eddie after the latter's death in 2001: He Taught Us How to Love.

Father Niall wrote: There is a little mystery about Father Eddie. He never learned to drive or at least he never drove here in the Philippines; he never built any churches or organized schools; he lived a quiet life in the convento (presbytery / rectory), going out when called. But he was never into initiating any evangelizing projects or social projects. Yet, he was the most popular and sought-after Columban priest in Negros. I don’t think the word 'popular' is the right word. He was not interested in popularity; maybe I should say 'loved', the most loved Columban priest.

Father Niall gives an example of this: As an old priest in Himamaylan he was blessing a vehicle for someone; after the blessing he said to the woman who had requested it, 'And how are you yourself?' She responded by sitting down with him and pouring out her problems for a long time. And she became one of his special friends, just like that.

We read in Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. This to me means, among other things, that it is possible to see something of God in another person, just as Peter, James and John caught a glimpse of the reality that Jesus was God when as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered. 

Late in 1998 Father Eddie had a major stroke in the Columban house in Batang, Himamaylan City, where both of us were living at the time. This affected his speech and he also had to be fed through a tube. This was a great deprivation for him. Though small and wiry, he had the appetite of a teenager. However, his mind was still as clear as a bell.

He didn't know that Father Aedan was coming down from Manila to see him. I met Father Aedan at Bacolod Airport, about 90 minutes away by car. We arrived at nightfall and went straight to Father Eddie's room. When he saw his friend of more than 75 years his face lit up like the rising sun - and I caught a glimpse of the joy that only God can give. My experience was similar to that of Peter, James and John on Mount Tabor.

I had a similar experience some months later when the nurse on duty in our house called me around midnight and told me that Father Eddie was very ill. I went to his room immediately to give him the Last Rites, something I had done before. He said in a very clear voice, I'm dying. We recited the prayers for the dying, sang some hymns and said our farewells. Then we realised that he wasn't ready to go just yet and I went back to bed, though I expected he would go within a few days.

The following day and for a few days after there was a tangible joy around the house, again a joy that could only come from God. The nurses on duty were even joking with Father Eddie , You were only practising last night, Father! They had a profound love and respect for him and he was giving them strength in their faith through his physical weakness. He lived on until 3 March 2001 when he died peacefully in the Columban house. I was based in Britain by then.

The Transfiguration was a moment when Peter, James and John got a glimpse of true reality, a glimpse of who Jesus really was, a glimpse of heaven to which we are all called. It was a moment that strengthened them when Jesus was crucified, that strengthened Peter and James to be martyred for Christ and John to spend the rest of his long life bringing people to Jesus Christ. It was a moment when they saw Truth in all its beauty - in all His beauty. It was a moment of truth when they knew that the love of God is stronger than any evil force.

In those two experiences with Fr Eddie Allen I experienced the truth of the words of Jesus to the Apostles at the Last Supper: These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11). Today's Gospel tells us: A voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’ The Father's Chosen One reveals himself unexpectedly to us in so many ways. 

Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear (Matthew 13:16).

Bishop Patricio Buzon SDB of Kabankalan blessing statue of St Columban in Batang in 2009

Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-16-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7.  Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9. 

Transfiguration

Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him (Matthew 17:5; Gospel).

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Sunday Reflections, 1st Sunday of Lent, Year C

 

Baptism and Temptation of Christ

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

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

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 4:1-13 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were over, he was hungry.

The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” ’

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” ’

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” ’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

     

Filling station, Romania

[Wikipedia; photo]

From 1973 till 1976 I was chaplain in the college department of a school run by religious sisters in Mindanao, Philippines. Part of my job was to teach religion, four semesters of which every student had to take. I remember one student in particular, Bernadette (not her real name), who was taking a two-year secretarial course. She was the eldest of a large family and her parents earned just enough money to get by. They were both actively involved in the parish.

When Bernadette graduated she got a job as a bookkeeper in a filling station. Her salary, though small, was a great help to the family. Her employer instructed her to keep two different sets of books. She realised after some time that this was a way of avoiding paying taxes. Her conscience bothered her and she spoke to her parents about it. The three of them saw that Bernadette was being asked to take part in a sinful activity, stealing. So she, still in her late teens, resigned from her job. She had the full support of her parents who knew that the loss of her salary was a sacrifice for the whole family. Man shall not live by bread alone.

On the Thursday after Ash Wednesday the First Reading of the Mass (Deuteronomy 30: 15-20) says, I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days . . .

Jesus, the Word [who] became flesh and dwelt among us, suffered temptation on our behalf in the desert and it is in his strength that we can find the grace to resist temptation in whatever way it may come. We can take to heart the words of Deuteronomy 6:13 that Jesus quotes to Satan in today's gospel: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. That is what enables us to do what Bernadette and her parents did: choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him . . .

Kyrie eleison

Sung by Kyiv Chamber Choir

Kyrie eleison - Christe eleison - Kyrie eleison

Lord, have mercy - Christ, have mercy - Lord, have mercy

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Many people try to attend Mass each day during Lent where that is possible. When I was growing up in Dublin our parish church was full every weekday morning at the seven o'clock Mass, with workers and with students at primary and secondary level. Each was there by choice, making a sacrifice by getting up earlier than usual. At Mass we hear the word of God and can receive the Lord Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion

Lent is a time for repentance. The Lord Jesus left us a beautiful way to experience that: the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession Penance). The Church requires us to go to confession at least once a year and to receive Holy Communion at least once during the Easter period. In some countries the latter may be done between the First Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. However, this is a bare minimum and not a level of commitment to be recommended no more than joining a family meal only once a year when one is living at home would seem to be recommended.

It is up to us priests to make it possible for people to confess their sins so that they can receive absolution with the words I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The priest is not forgiving us in his own name but in the Name of the Holy Trinity. The priest, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, is acting in persona Christi, to use the Church's traditional Latin expression, 'In the Person of Christ'.

Fasting can take many forms: eating less, reducing our time on the internet, abstaining from alcoholic drinks. etc. None of this is for show but to share in the forty days of fasting of the Lord Jesus in the desert before he began his public ministry. And it does bring life to others.

There are endless needs to be met by almsgiving. 

Queen of Peace, pray for us.

 

Our Lady of Banneux / Our Lady of the Poor / Queen of Nations

[Wikipedia; photo]

Traditional Latin Mass

First Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-09-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.  Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11.

The Temptation of  Christ,

Juan de Flandes [Web Gallery of Art]

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him (Matthew 4:11; Gospel).

'Be fruitful and multiply.' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

John 2:1-11 from The Gospel of John

Directed by Philip Saville

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

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 2:1-11 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)  

At that time: There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding seventy or one hundred litres. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.’

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Marriage at Cana

Tintoretto [Web Gallery of Art]

Back in the 1960s when I was in the seminary here in St Columban's, Dalgan Park, now the residence of about 70 retired Columbans, I contacted Molly and Jimmy who lived about ten minutes by car from here. I knew that Molly was related to me through my maternal grandmother and I remembered attending the funeral of her mother, known to my mother as Aunt Jane of Tara, in 1950 when I was seven. As far as I know Jane was a first cousin of my grandmother Annie Dowd, who married William Patrick Collins, my maternal grandfather. When my mother was young she would spend part of the summer with her Aunt Jane and her husband Owen. It was great for a child form the inner city in Dublin to be out in the countryside of County Meath. She often spoke of those days and would always smile when she mentioned her Uncle Owen. Jane was the stricter one and Owen was the 'softie'. But she loved both of them.

When I wrote to Molly and Jimmy I got an immediate response and they invited me to their home for Sunday dinner. Over the next few years I enjoyed many Sunday dinners with them. Molly's unmarried sister Maggie lived with them in a cottage near Tara, where the High Kings of Ireland once lived and which can be seen from the front of St Columban's.

Molly had been in very poor health since the birth of her second child Mary, known as Mae. Her first was William, known as Billy. He died in December 2017. Molly had spent three years on her back from some time after the birth of Mae. She never enjoyed robust health and in her latter days, when she lived in a nursing home, she had become blind.

What I remember most from visiting Molly and Jimmy was the warmth of their welcome and Molly's radiant smile. Jimmy worked for the Irish Land Commission, as I recall, and his salary was a modest, though adequate one. I remember him saying to me one time that he was happier in his cottage than Lord Dunsany was in his home, the nearby Dunsany Castle. The family name of the Lords Dunsany is Plunkett and they are related by ancestry to St Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, executed at Tyburn, London, in 1681, the last Catholic to be martyred in England.

For most of their married life Jimmy and Molly lived  the sickness part of their vow in sickness and in health. As I get older more and more do I see couples living that vow to the full. Such couples to me are radiating God's love for us. The Sacrament of Matrimony is a reflection of the love of Christ as the Bridegroom for his Bride, the Church. The First Reading of the Mass, from Isaiah, tells us, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 

The response to the Responsorial Psalm is, Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples. That is what Jimmy and Molly were doing for me, without being aware of it. That is the vocation of every couple who have bestowed the Sacrament of Matrimony on each other. It is the bride and groom who do that, not the priest. He, as an official witness of the Church, does indeed bless the couple during the ceremony with the Nuptial Blessing but it is they who give Jesus Christ to each other as the foundation of their marriage, till death do us part.

The Marriage at Cana (detail)

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

In recent decades in the formerly predominantly Christian Western world both marriage and family have been undermined and even ridiculed. Marriage is the foundation of the family. Marriage is between man and woman. In the first chapter of the Bible we read, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Genesis 1: 27-28). The next chapter tells us, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Jesus repeats this teaching in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:8 as does St Paul in Ephesians 5:31.

The science of biology tells us that each of us is either male or female and that it is impossible for anyone to change their sex.

It is only a man and a woman who can be fruitful and multiply. In recent decades many countries have rejected the truth of this reality, lived since we humans first emerged, and proclaimed as a 'right' that two persons of the same sex can marry. Such a relationship is intrinsically sterile and, objectively, is an affront to God the Creator who made us male and female. But our consciences have been dulled and corrupted by the powerful international lobby that promotes and celebrates this dangerous nonsense.

The profoundly intimate act of love that enables a couple to express their commitment to be one till death do us part and that enables them to be fruitful and multiply belongs only within marriage. In God's plan a couple marry before they have children. In God's plan if they are still of fertile age they pledge, at least in Catholic weddings, to be open to new life.

It has to be acknowledged that in most of the Western world it has become more and more difficult for a couple to welcome and raise children because of the prohibitive cost of housing. Decisions about house-building by national and local authorities are a moral issue, not a utilitarian one. And in many places dues to poverty and/or war living conditions are dire, making it impossible for families to live decently.

Jesus' miracle of changing the water into wine is a sign of God's unbounded generosity. The six stone water jars each held a large amount of water, as the video above correctly shows. The good wine that Jesus produced amounted to the equivalent of more than 400 bottles of wine according to Scripture scholars.

The gospel passage ends with, This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. St John uses the word 'sign' for miracle'.

Jesus did this to manifest his glory, that is, to enable people to see who he really was so that they would believe in him as God who became Man and so that each of us would have eternal life. Every married couple is called to manifest the glory of Jesus by the way they live their marriage, founded on the love of Jesus Christ whom they gave to each other on their wedding day. The Lord delights in such a couple and rejoices over them, as Isaiah tells us today. I know that God delights in couples like Jimmy and Molly because I saw in them their delight in one another as husband and wife. That grace remains with me to this day.

For Me and My Gal

Gene Kelly and Judy Garland

This song, written in 1917, was used in the 1942 movie with the same title. For me it reflects how most Western people a hundred years ago saw weddings and marriage. A wedding normally took place in a church: The parson's waiting for me and my gal. A couple was open to having children: We're gonna' build a little home for two or three or more. It involved the community: For weeks they've been sewing, every Susie and Sal.

These were the aspirations and hopes of most people then. They no longer are. We are all the poorer because of that. But the Alleluia verse gives us a clear direction: God called us through the gospel, so that we may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Santo Niño de Cebú

[Wikipedia; photo]

Feast of the Santo Niño, Philippines

On the third Sunday of January the Church in the Philippines celebrates the Feast of the Santo Niño, the Holy Child. You will find Sunday Reflections for that Feast here. 

Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday After the Epiphany

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 01-19-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 12:6-16. Gospel: John 2:1-11.

This Sunday the Mass in both forms uses the same Gospel.

    

In