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).
GospelMark 9:30-37(English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed through
Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know,for he
was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The
Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill
him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”But they did not understand the saying, and
were afraid to ask him.
And they came to Capernaum. And when
he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”But they
kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was
the greatest.And
he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”And he took a child and put him in the midst
of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Bishop Perry is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
In most parts of the world since March 2020 people have not been able to take part in Mass in church on Sunday or on weekdays. Parish priests have been celebrating Mass in empty churches. Funeral Masses here in Ireland were open only to the immediate families of the deceased during the strict lockdown periods. As I write this, churches in the Republic of Ireland may now be filled to 50 per cent of their capacity. More recently, under 'less restrictive' regulations, fifty persons were allowed to attend religious services, no matter how large or small the building was.
Many have become used to online Masses. These have been a great comfort to people. But have we come to see this as a normal way of participating in the Holy Sacrifice?
Families have been communicating by Zoom, Facebook and the like, and these have been truly a blessing in the situation we have all been going through. But this is not the same as meeting in person.
In the video above Bishop Perry is talking about Sunday Mass in the context of the family. A number of times he says husbands and fathers or husband and father emphasising that in God's plan a man is meant to be a husband before he becomes a father. The same holds for a woman. She is meant to be a wife before she becomes a mother. Marriage is the primary vocation of a couple. They are first called by God to be spouses. As spouses they are then, in most cases, called to be parents. The Church honours St Joseph above all as the Husband of Mary. It was as such that in a very real sense he fulfilled the role of being a father to Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary.
Bishop Perry speaks of the importance of the husband/father leading the family by taking part in Sunday Mass. Though I have memories of my mother taking me to Mass when I was a young child, my abiding memories are of my father taking me to Sunday Mass and seeing him attend Mass every weekday morning before preparing my mother's breakfast and then going off to work.
We want to be Christ's witnesses here. Words of Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of Mosul. He belongs to the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the Eastern churches in full communion with Rome.
Mass had been celebrated in Qaraqosh without break since the early days of Christianity until ISIS drove out its Christians - the majority in the town - in 2014. ISIS gave Christians three coptions: pay a tax, convert to Islam or be executed.
When churches were closed because of the pandemic none of us were faced with those choices.
Pope Francis visited Qaraqosh this year on 7 March. Here is
part of his address to the people there in the Church of the Immaculate
Conception.
Our gathering here
today shows that terrorism and death never have the last word. The last word
belongs to God and to his Son, the conqueror of sin and death. Even amid the
ravages of terrorism and war, we can see, with the eyes of faith, the triumph
of life over death. You have before you the example of your fathers and mothers
in faith, who worshipped and praised God in this place. They persevered with
unwavering hope along their earthly journey, trusting in God who never
disappoints and who constantly sustains us by his grace.
As we slowly return to a form of normality, maybe we can reflect on what it means to us to take part in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, particularly in Sunday Mass, whether we attend it on Saturday evening or on Sunday itself. We have before us the example of our fathers and mothers in faith. In the words of Bishop Perry, Sunday is the day when husbands and fathers can lead their families to the Lord.
Visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, 5-8 March 2021
Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 9-19-2021 if necessary).
But the Pharisees hearing that he
had silenced the Sadducees, came together:And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him:Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? (Matthew 22:34-36).
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.
When some were speaking about the temple,
how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus
said,‘As for these things that you see, the
days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown
down.’
They asked him,
‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to
take place?’And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many
will come in my name and say, “I am he!”and,
“The time is near!”Do not
go after them.
‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be
terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow
immediately.’Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom;there will be great earthquakes, and in various places
famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from
heaven.
‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and
persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will
be brought before kings and governors because of my name.This will give you an opportunity to testify.So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in
advance;for I will give you wordsand a
wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by
relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.You will be hated by all because of my name.But not a hair of your head will perish.By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Earthquake destroys Basilica of St Benedict on 30 October 2016
Norcia (or Nursia) is the place where St Benedict was born c.480
This Sunday falls between two celebrations of church buildings in Rome, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica on 9 November and the Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul on 18 November. When the former falls on a Sunday its celebration takes precedence over the Sunday. The official name of the Lateran Basicilica is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist and is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.
In the gospel Jesus speaks of the future destruction of the Temple where he had worshipped all his life, where he had been presented to the Father as an infant by Mary and Joseph, from which he threw the moneylenders because they were turning it into a market.
On 30 October the Basilica of St Benedict in his birthplace Norcia in Italy was destroyed in seconds by a powerful earthquake as if fulfilling the words of Jesus today, all will be thrown down.
In today's gospel Jesus warns us of wars and insurrections . . . great earthquakes . . . famine and plagues . . . You will be hated by all because of my name.
We are seeing all of these things in our time. They can lead us to lose hope - if we forget the closing words of Jesus in today's gospel: But not a hair of your head will perish.By your endurance you will gain your souls.
On 4 October this year Hurricane Matthew caused great destruction in southwestern Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. But the Sunday Examiner, the weekly newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong carried the following report in its issue for 30 October.
Port-au-Prince. Survivors of Hurricane Matthew put on their Sunday finest as they picked their way through rubble and downed power lines to gather in ruined churches on October 9, just three days after the devastating storm ravaged their homes.
Photographs posted on news websites show pews in the open air, with the rubble from the hurricane piled to one side, as a neatly clad congregation in suits and ties, smart slacks and dresses made a colourful scene in what had once been churches with roofs.
Mass celebrated in Qaraqosh, Iraq, after its recent liberation
In 2104 Christians were driven out of Mosul and
nearby cities in Iraq by ISIS, also known as Daesh. For the first time in
nearly 2,000 years Mass could not be celebrated in the area. But on Sunday 30
OctoberMass was celebrated againin the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Qaraqosh, near Mosul.
A church building is where Christians gather to celebrate the Eucharist, the Holy Mass, where they meet and receive the Risen Lord. Down the centuries Christian communities have built churches that are beautiful in order to draw people into the beauty and life of the Blessed Trinity. And even if the building is destroyed by an earthquake as in Norcia, by a hurricane as in southwestern Haiti, or by persecution as in Qaraqosh, Iraq, the Lord is still present to and among the Christian community, especially when believers come together on Sunday, as Jesus Christ has asked us to do, to celebrate his life, death and Resurrection, and our hope in eternal life, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Grave of Bishop Edward Galvin
St Columban's, Dalgan Park, Ireland
'But the spiritual edifice is, I think, intact.'
Since posting this week's Sunday Reflections I received the November 2016 issue of Far East, the magazine of the Columbans in Ireland and Britain, which has the following story that is connected so much with this Sunday's gospel.
After being expelled from China, September 1952
In the January/February 2006 issue of Far East, Fr Dan Fitzgerald recalled the following of Bishop Edward Galvin (Co-founder of the Columbans with Fr John Blowick):
Bishop Galvin was my bishop in China for six years. Three of us Columban priests arrived in Hanyang in central Chine in July 1946. We were the first Irish priests to arrive there after the war had ended in 1945.
The man we met on that July day looked older and more worn than his 64 years would suggest. He didn't look like a bishop either. He was in an old crumpled cotton Chinese shirt and pants, with perspiration running down his face and chest. Only for the plain episcopal ring he had on his finger, he might have been the gate-man. There was something about him that suggested one who had lived through a lot, had suffered and had survived.
His exile for Christ ended in September 1952. As he arrived in Hong Kong he said, They have taken our churches, schools, hospital and mission compounds, but the spiritual edifice is, I think, intact. I blessed the compound and the cathedral, the whole diocese, its Sisters, priests and people. I put then under the protection of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, and of St Columban, the patron of the diocese and the cathedral. It was all I could do, but it was enough.
Complaining
Pharisee
