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).
GospelJohn 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.
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).
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).
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.(John 21:18, today's Gospel).
Readings(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,)
Readings(English
Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, India, Scotland)
GospelJohn 21:1-19 [or 21:1-14] (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
After this Jesus revealed himself again to
the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.Simon
Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in
Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were
together.Simon
Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with
you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught
nothing.
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the
disciples did not know that it was Jesus.Jesus
said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”He said to them, “Cast the net on
the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So
they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity
of fish.That
disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When
Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for
he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.The other disciples came in the boat,
dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a
hundred yards off.
When they got out
on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.Jesus said to them, “Bring
some of the fish that you have just caught.”So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the
net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many,
the net was not torn.Jesus said to them, “Come
and have breakfast.” Now none of the
disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.Jesus came and took the bread and gave
it to them, and so with the fish.This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to
the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
[When they had finished breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than
these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you
know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He
said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”He said to him the third
time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third
time, “Do you love me?” and
he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were
young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when
you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and
carry you where you do not want to go.”(This he said to show by what kind of death he was
to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”]
Fr Keith Gorman was a Columban priest from Australia who worked for many years in Japan. I met him a number of times and was always struck by his delightful sense of humour and how he had grown old gracefully. In one of the articles he wrote for Columban magazines he said that his idea of heaven was having breakfast with Jesus on the shores of eternity. He clearly had today's gospel in mind.
This is a gospel I often return to. Imagine being served breakfast by Jesus himself, as the seven apostles were on that blessed morning! And the second part, which will surely and unfortunately be omitted by many priests who will choose the shorter gospel, is for me one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. Jesus is calling us into a deep intimacy with him. He addresses his question Do you love me? not only to St Peter but to each one of us today.
It is in that context that he tells Peter Feed my lambs . . . Tend my sheep . . . Feed my sheep. Jesus emphasises the relationship of intimacy with him as being fundamental, not the mission on which he sends us. Being sent on mission is a consequence of being invited into a deep, personal and intimate relationship with him.
For me as a priest today's gospel tells me that I must put prayer at the very centre of my life, not only the official prayer of the Church - the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Breviary, the Sacraments - but personal prayer. The same applies to all who are called by God to the single life as priests, as religious, as lay persons.
Today's gospel is a call to married persons to put their spousal relationship at the centre of their lives. Through the Sacrament of Matrimony Jesus himself is the foundation of that relationship. And it is the bride and groom who confer that sacrament on each other, not the priest. He is a witness on behalf of the Church to their exchange of vows.
The first question Jesus puts to Peter is, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? I understand this to mean 'Do you love me more than the others love me?' Husbands and wives are called by God to love each other more than anyone else loves them - including their children and their parents. And I take it to mean also that God calls them to love each other more than they love their children and their parents.
This does not mean loving anyone less, but rather drawing their children, especially, into their love for each other, a love that is based on God's love for them as a couple.
I truly believe that when their children become more important for spouses than they do for each other their marriage is heading for trouble. The same applies, I believe, to priests and religious who place their work, no matter how important and good in itself it may be, above their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
I once heard a boy of around 11 in the Philippines say, What I love most about my parents is that they are always together. He felt drawn into their love for each other, the same love that led to his being born.
A teenage girl in the Philippines who had been abused told me how she was drawn to Jesus by a very poor black-and-white copy of Rembrandt's painting below that I showed during a Sunday homily. She said to me, He looks so human. She was basically expressing a desire to be close to Jesus, which is the desire Jesus has for her and for each of us. (I brought her coloured, framed copy the following Sunday).
For married couples, if God grants them children, Feed my lambs means primarily taking care of their children until they are ready to take on the responsibility of being adults. My mother often reminded me that when I'd be 21 - the then legal age of majority in Ireland, now 18 - I would be responsible for myself. I never took this to be an admonishment but rather as her giving me something valuable to aspire to. This, along with how I saw her and my father carrying out their responsibilities, was also a way in which they carried out the words of Jesus, Feed my lambs.
Countless single individuals, never married or widowed, with a deep sense of the love of Jesus for them have 'fed the lambs and sheep' because of that relationship. Many of us have been strengthened in our faith or have grown in our awareness of God's love for us through such persons. Often enough I have written here about Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati. St John Paul II, who beatified him, said of him, I, too, in my youth, felt the beneficial influence of his example and, as a student, I was impressed by the force of his Christian testimony.
The First Reading expresses in a different way the centrality of our invitation from Jesus to enter into an intimate relationship with him: But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men'. In other words, as Christians we are meant to live the values of Our Lord Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.
As it happens, there are elections in the Philippines on Monday 12 May. Will those involved in these elections allow the values of the gospel to determine how they vote? How we vote is also a way to Feed my lambs . . . Tend my sheep . . . Feed my sheep. How we vote is meant to be a consequence of the intimate relationship into which Jesus calls us within the Church. And when it comes to legislators making laws that are contrary to God's will, as some laws are, we need to make our own the words of St Peter in the First Reading: We must obey God rather than men.
How do we do this? By accepting the invitation of Jesus: Follow me.
Worthy is the Lamb
from Messiah by Handel
Performed by Academy of Ancient Music with Voces8
Conducted by Barnaby Smith
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by hisblood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour,and glory, and blessing.
Blessing and honour, glory and power, be untoHim that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever (from Apocalypse/Revelation 5:12-13, today’s Second Reading).
[Handel used the King James translation, slightly adapted.]
Collect from the Mass for the Election of a Pope
O God, eternal shepherd, who govern your flock with unfailing care, grant in your boundless fatherly love a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
The conclave to elect the successor of Pope Francis begins on Wednesday 7 May.
Traditional Latin Mass
Second Sunday After Easter
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 05-04-2025 if necessary).
GospelJohn 8:1-11 (English Standard
Version, Anglicised)
At that time: Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the
morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat
down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had
been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him,
‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law,
Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to
test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent
down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him,
he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the
first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the
ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the
older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus
stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’
She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and
from now on sin no more.’
More than 40 years ago I did a number of brief supplies in parishes in one of the western states of the USA. In one parish, where I stayed only from Saturday till Monday morning, the Sunday gospel was one showing the mercy of Jesus. I forget which one, but know it wasn't today's. In my homily I emphasised God's love for us as sinners and how he wants to welcome us back when we turn away from him, partly or fully, by sinning.
On Monday morning I found an anonymous note that had been shoved under the front door of the priest's house. The style was that of a teenage girl. But the message was one for which I thanked God.
The writer said that for years she had hated God, thinking that God hated her. But whatever was in the gospel that Sunday and whatever I said in my homily had touched her deeply, making her aware of God's unconditional love for her precisely as a sinner, a love that led her to let go of the hatred she had been carrying.
Today's gospel shows so clearly the profound, merciful love that Jesus has for the sinner. We tend to focus on his mercy for the woman taken in adultery. She is indeed the main focal point. But we also see the merciful love of Jesus for those who had accused her. Jesus often spoke harshly to and about hypocrites. But on this occasion he brings the men who had wanted to execute the woman to reflect on their own sinfulness.Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And the men did respond:But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.
Today's gospel reflects that of last Sunday, the parable of the Prodigal Son. The older son couldn't see beyond the great sins of his younger brother and failed even to see his father's love shown to himself each day. But the father gently points out,Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
The men in the gospel could see only the sin of the woman. And she had committed a grave sin. Adultery is never a 'peccadillo', a 'little sin'. It is among other things a grave sin of injustice and causes grief to the other spouse and to their children, as I know only too well from listening to individuals over more than 57 years as a priest. One person I knew, in her late teens attempted suicide because of her father's adultery. Fortunately, she discovered through the care they took to help her to recover that her parents truly loved her, despite the sin of her father.
We live in a time when it is considered a 'grave sin' to be 'judgmental'. The 'grave sin' is not against God but against current 'thinking' and 'feeling'. Yet certain persons are called by their very professions to be judgmental: judges, teachers, doctors, referees and umpires, for example.
And Jesus in this instance is judgmental in that sense. He first asks the woman, Has no one condemned you? He then goes on to say, Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.
Jesus judges the woman - but doesn't condemn her. He acknowledges her sin - but sends her away forgiven. By this he calls her to conversion as he does to each of us and to the whole Church through this gospel and through the season of Lent Jesus has given us through the Church a powerful way of experiencing what the woman in today's gospel did: the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession/Penance. We're not usually dragged to the confessional by people condemning us. But we acknowledge there our sins while acknowledging God's mercy and its power that is greater than the power of sin. Among other things, 'The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.' Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation 'is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation.' Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true 'spiritual resurrection,' restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No 1468).
GospelJohn 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.
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.
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.
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).
