'God's real presence in the inner sanctuary of my soul imposes on me a threefold duty.' Sunday Reflections, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Altar of St Ignatius of Loyola, Il Gesù, Rome

Andrea Pozzo SJ [Web Gallery of Art]

Very rightly the fine arts are considered to rank among the noblest activities of man's genius, and this applies especially to religious art and to its highest achievement, which is sacred art. These arts, by their very nature, are oriented toward the infinite beauty of God which they attempt in some way to portray by the work of human hands; they achieve their purpose of redounding to God's praise and glory in proportion as they are directed the more exclusively to the single aim of turning men's minds devoutly toward God (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, No 122).

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 12:13-21 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge  

St Paul

Jusepe de Ribera [Web Gallery of Art]

Second Reading Colossians 3:1-5; 9-11 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

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I will give some quotations from The Presence of God, a 68-page astonishingly rich booklet, by Fr Anselm Moynihan OP that for me are connected with the Second Reading. They are from Chapter 7, The Hidden Sanctuary.

It cannot be overstressed that the presence of God in the soul by grace is a real and substantial presence. God is present in the tabernacle of the heart as really and truly and substantially as he is present in the tabernacle of the altar, although in a different manner . . .

If I fail to honour the Son of God as he is present with the Father and Holy Spirit in the Tabernacle of my own heart, no man can compensate for my indifference. The inner sanctuary of my own heart is utterly and eternally inaccessible to any except myself and God . . .

Yet without devotion to the real presence of God within our souls there can be no full development of our spiritual life, which is essentially an interior life . . .

God's real presence in the inner sanctuary of my soul imposes on me a threefold duty. I must defend the sanctuary: I must adorn and enable it; I must enter frequently to worship him who dwells there . . .

I must, first of all, defend the inner sanctuary of my soul, for during this life it is always under siege . . . Mortal sin destroys the sanctuary completely, leaving the soul ruined and desolate.

God in his mercy has given the Church the beautiful Sacrament of Reconciliation / Penance / Confession so that that sanctuary can be restored.

In Chapter 6, Guest of Our Soul, Father Anselm tells the beautiful story of St Leonidas, martyred in 202. He was the father of Origen, the great theologian of the early Church. Every night, we are told, Leonidas used to kiss the breast of his sleeping child out of reverence for God who was really present in the living tabernacle of the child's heart.

What a beautiful expression of faith and of fatherhood!

Christ is all, and in all.

St Ignatius of Loyola

Juan Martínez Montañéz [Web Gallery of Art]

As the Sunday Mass takes precedence, the Memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola, 31 July, is not observed this year on the universal calendar of the Church.

Deus in adiutorium meum intende

Sung by the Batavia Madrigal Singers

Setting by Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla

Deus in adiutorium meum intende; Domine ad adiuvandum me festina.

O God come to my assistance; O Lord make haste to help me!

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nnc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Alleluia.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.

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The text in bold above, the first verse of Psalm 69 [70], is the opening of today's Entrance Antiphon. We pray these words at the beginning of the Rosary and also at the beginning of most of the hours of the Divine Office (Breviary).

What struck me about this video is that some of the singers are Muslims, singing a verse from the Psalms with a prayer in honour of the Blessed Trinity.

The Batavia Madrigal Singers are based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia was the name for Jakarta until 1945 when independence from the Dutch was declared.

Traditional Latin Mass

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 7-31-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 8:12-17. Gospel: Luke 16:1-9.

Wheatfield with Reaper at Sunrise

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty’  (Luke 18:7; Gospel).

Who is involved in 'active participation' in 'Gabriel's Oboe'?

Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy.

So states Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Liturgy, in No 14. This was the first document of Vatican II to be promulgated, by Blessed Pope Paul VI on 4 December 1963.

Where is that fully conscious, and active participation to be seen in the video above? Clearly Henrik Goldschmidt, the oboist, is. Clearly too the members of The Faroe Islands Philharmonic Orchestra.

But so is the audience. And not just by clapping at the end. Their fully conscious listening to the music is true active participation, just as much as that of the musicians.

Both musicians and audience showed deep respect for the music of Ennio Morricone. The musicians played exactly what he had composed, though not mechanically. The audience listened in silence until the end, totally involved.

This was a performance but there are parallels with the liturgy, especially that of the Holy Mass. The musicians weren't casually dressed. The men all wore ties, the conductor a bow tie. Rituals were followed - the soloist bowing to the audience and the orchestra at the end of the performance, a young girl giving him a bouquet of flowers, the audience applauding.

First Holy Communion

No 34 of Sacrosanctum Concilium reads: The rites should be distinguished by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear, and unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the people's powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation.

Some time ago I was at a parish fiesta Mass here in the Philippines. After the priest's greeting at the beginning, a commentator read out a not too short but prepared introduction. When she was finished the main celebrant gave another. Before each reading the commentator gave a brief, prepared introduction, which is allowed. 

Four different readers lined up to read the petitions of the Prayer of the Faithful. This is not uncommon on big occasions.

Where was the noble simplicity? I should add that the Mass was celebrated reverently. There was nothing 'wild' or untoward.

Like many a priest - and bishop - I have been guilty on occasion of preaching far too long, and of sometimes not being prepared. But I find so many celebrations of Mass 'deadening' with all the words, all the unnecessary 'explanations' and introductions, the 'wall-to-wall' sound, even though the Missal itself directs us to have periods of silence. I find most concelebrated Masses I take part in to be burdensome.

My sentiments on these occasions are often those of Eliza Doolittle/Julie Andrews: Words, words, words! I'm so sick of words!