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).
Showing posts with label Servant of God Jérôme Lejeune. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Servant of God Jérôme Lejeune. Show all posts
GospelJohn 9:1-41 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
[For the shorter form (9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38) omit
the text in brackets.]
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man
blind from birth.[And his disciples
asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the
works of God might be displayed in him.We must work the works of him who sent me while it
is day; night is coming, when no one can work.As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world.”]Having said these things,] he
spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the
man's eyes with the mudand said to him, “Go, wash
in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So
he went and washed and came back seeing.
The neighbours and those who had
seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to
sit and beg?”Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but
he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”[So they said to him, “Then how were your
eyes opened?”He
answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to
me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I
do not know.”]
They brought to the Pharisees the
man who had formerly been blind.Now it
was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.So the Pharisees again asked him how he had
received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed,
and I see.”Some of
the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep
the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such
signs?” And there was a division among them.So they said again to the blind man, “What
do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a
prophet.”
[The Jews did not believe that he
had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the
man who had received his sightand asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born
blind? How then does he now see?”His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that
he was born blind.But
how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he
is of age. He will speak for himself.”(His parents said these things because they feared the
Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess
Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)Therefore his parents said, “He is of
age; ask him.”
So for the second
time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory
to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he
is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now
I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your
eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not
listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his
disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple,
but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses,
but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man
answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he
comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not
listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will,
God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that
anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God,
he could do nothing.” ] They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you
teach us?” And they cast him out.
Jesus heard that they had cast
him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of
Man?”He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in
him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is
speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”, and he worshipped
him. Jesus said, “For judgement I came into this world, that
those who do not see may see, and those who see may become
blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to
him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were
blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see’, your
guilt remains."
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”, and he worshipped him.
The blind man met Jesus, heard him and believed.
Our Christian faith is a gift that can be lost by an individual and by a whole community. The Church flourished in North Africa and in the Middle East before Islam came into being but the vast majority lost the gift of our faith. In our own lifetime the faith has been rapidly disappearing from places such as Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Quebec. Sixty years ago these places were still sending missionaries to every part of the world and their seminaries were full. Now most of those seminaries have been closed. Just over 100 years ago CICM brothers and priests (Scheut Missionaries, Missionhurst) and ICM Sisters went to the mountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines from a part of Europe that is as flat as a billiard table, most of Belgium and the Netherlands. In February 2014 Belgium made it legal for sick children to be killed, to be put down like sick animals. There was little international reaction to this, though there was to the putting down of a healthy giraffe in a zoo in Denmark a few days earlier.
There still are people in these places and others like them who are living the Christian life faithfully, often heroically. Martyrs such as Fr Ragheed Ganni of Iraq and politician Shahbaz Bhatti of Pakistan are outstanding examples. Another is the late Professor Jérôme Lejeune, doctor and researcher, who in 1958 discovered the cause of Down Syndrome (trisomy 21).
In so many places in the gospel we find Jesus going out to those considered unimportant such as the blind man in today's gospel. In what is now largely a post-Christian Western world the opposite is happening. Children in the womb who are considered 'defective' in one way or another are aborted. Because of pre-natal testing the number of children being born with Down Syndrome has gone down considerably - because they have been killed in the womb. (See here.)
At the recent Oscar awards ceremony a short movie from Northern Ireland, An Irish Goodbye, won an Oscar. Its star, James Martin was celebrating his 31st birthday the same day. He is the first person with Down Syndrome to share in an Oscar award.
Dr Lejeune cared passionately for the lives of persons with Down Syndrome and feared that society would see them as worthless, not worthy of being born. He said, The real danger is in mankind; in the increasingly worrisome imbalance between its power, which grows daily, and its wisdom, which sometimes seems to regress.
Some of the people around the blind man in today's were the ones who were truly blind, who could not see what was truly real. They could not see God's love for the man born blind. They saw the blind man as being punished for his sins and Jesus as a sinner for breaking the sabbath laws. Jesus overturned their very narrow world.
The video below invites us to overturn our own world, as the Gospel invites us to do, and to see it as Jérôme Lejeune did, with the eyes of Jesus as He saw the man born blind. And may we always treasure the gift of our Christian faith that gives us that sight.
Solemnity of St Joseph
This year the Solemnity of St Joseph is moved to Monday 20 March. The Sundays of Lent take precedence over solemnities.
Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted (John 6:11; Gospel).
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
For the shorter form of the Gospel omit the passages [in square brackets].
GospelJohn 9:1-41 [9:1, 6-9, 13-17,
34-38] (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. [His
disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he
was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the
works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’] When he had
said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud
on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which
means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The
neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others
were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ [But
they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The
man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam
and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to
him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’]
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now
it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then
the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to
them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the
Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the
sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’
And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you
say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’
[The Jews did
not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called
the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this
your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His
parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but
we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes.
Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this
because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that
anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the
synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’
So for the second time they called the man who had
been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is
a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I
do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did
he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told
you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you
also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You
are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has
spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The
man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes
from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to
sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never
since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person
born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They
answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’
And they drove him out.]
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he
said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’He answered, ‘And who
is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to
him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said,
‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. [Jesus said, ‘I came
into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those
who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this
and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them,
‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”,
your sin remains.]
In his homily on the
Solemnity of the Annunciation in 2014 Pope Francis said, Salvation
cannot be bought and sold; it is given as a gift, it is free . .
. We cannot save ourselves, salvation is a totally free gift.
The Pope continued: Since it cannot be bought, in order for this
salvation to enter into us we need a humble heart, a docile heart, an obedient
heart like Mary's. Moreover, the model on this journey of salvation
is God himself, his Son, who did not count equality with God something to be
grasped, but emptied himself, and was obedient unto death, even death on a
cross.
All of the people in this Sunday's gospel had been
given the gift of faith but only the man who received the gift of sight from
Jesus professed his faith openly, his faith in Jesus: Lord, I believe.
Not only that, he began to share the gift of his faith with others, most
especially the Pharisees who were trying to intimidate him. They proclaimed
themselves as disciples of Moses. As such, they should have been prepared for
the coming of the Messiah who was now among them.
But they had developed a sense of 'proprietorship'
of their faith, a righteous complacency that blinded them to the extent that
they dismissed a man who was born blind as a sinner with nothing from which
they could learn. The man born blind, on the other hand, has an acute sense of
being gifted, by the gift of sight and by the gift of faith. He is an
embodiment of the thrust of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel.
Our Christian faith
is a gift that can be lost by an individual and by a whole community. The
Church flourished in North Africa and in the Middle East before Islam came into
being but the vast majority lost the gift of our faith. In our own lifetime the
faith has been rapidly disappearing from places such as Belgium, Ireland, the
Netherlands, Quebec. Fifty years ago these places were sending missionaries to
every part of the world and their seminaries were full. Now most of the
seminaries have been closed down. Just over 100 years ago CICM brothers and
priests (Scheut Missionaries, Missionhurst) and ICM Sisters went to the
mountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines from a part of Europe that is as flat as a billiard
table, most of Belgium and the Netherlands. In February 2014 Belgium made it legal for sick children to be killed, to be put down like sick
animals. There was little international reaction to this, though there was to
the putting down of a healthy giraffe in a zoo in Denmark a few days
earlier.
There still are people in these
places and others like them who are living the Christian life faithfully, often
heroically. Martyrs such as Fr Ragheed Ganni of Iraq and politician Shahbaz Bhattiof Pakistan are outstanding examples.
Another is the late Professor Jérôme Lejeune, doctor and
researcher, who in 1958 discovered the cause of Down Syndrome (trisomy 21).
In so many places in the gospel we find
Jesus going out to those considered unimportant such as the blind man in
today's gospel. Pope Francis met with thousands of persons who are blind or
profoundly deaf on Saturday 29 March 2014, the first ever such gathering
in the Vatican. And there were probably some present who were both deaf and
blind.
John Milton, who went blind as an adult, in his
poem On His Blindness (below) shows an acceptance of what he
calls his mild yoke and a sense of our sight and everything
else being gifts from God.
We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to
open our cold hearts and shake up our lukewarm and superficial existence . . .
How good it is to stand before a crucifix, or on our knees before the Blessed
Sacrament, and simply to be in his presence!
The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes
from contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages and reading it with
the heart.
Sometimes we lose our enthusiasm for mission
because we forget that the Gospel responds to our deepest needs, since we were
created for what the Gospel offers us: friendship with Jesus and love of our
brothers and sisters.
The words of Pope Francis suggest a basic attitude
of gratitude to God such as we see in the man who tells everyone, One
thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.
Somewhat different from the Pharisees' Surely
we are not blind, are we?
Which statement/question reflects my stance before
God?
On His
Blindness by John
Milton
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light
denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
Being different, it's normal
This video, posted by the Jerome Lejeune Foundation USA, is, I think, an eye-opener.
Pope Francis’ Prayer to Mary during the coronavirus pandemic
O Mary, you always shine on our path as a sign of salvation and of hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm. You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need, and we are sure you will provide so that, as in Cana of Galilee, we may return to joy and to feasting after this time of trial. Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus, who has taken upon himself our sufferings and carried our sorrows to lead us, through the cross, to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
As Jesus
walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.[His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’Jesus
answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that
God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me
while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.As long as
I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’]When he had said this, he spat on the ground and
made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,saying to
him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and
washed and came back able to see.The
neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?’Some were
saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He
kept saying, ‘I am the man.’[But
they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’He
answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me,
“Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’They said
to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’]
They brought to the
Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.Now it was a
sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his
sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’Some of the
Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the
sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’
And they were divided.So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do
you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’
[The Jews did not believe that he
had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the
man who had received his sightand asked
them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’His
parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;but we do
not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask
him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’His
parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had
already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesusto be the Messiahwould be put out of the synagogue.Therefore
his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’
So for the
second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give
glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’He
answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see.’They said
to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’He
answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you
want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’Then they
reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.We know
that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he
comes from.’The man
answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from,
and yet he opened my eyes.We know
that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him
and obeys his will.Never
since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person
born blind.If this
man were not from God, he could do nothing.’They
answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’
And they drove him out.]
Jesus heard that they
had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son
of Man?’He answered, ‘And who is he, sir?Tell me, so that I may believe in
him.’Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the
one speaking with you is he.’He said, ‘Lord,I believe.’ And he worshipped him.[Jesus
said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may
see, and those who do see may become blind.’Some of
the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind,
are we?’Jesus said
to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We
see”, your sin remains.]
In his homilyon the Solemnity of the Annunciation in 2014 Pope Francis said, Salvation cannot be bought and sold; it is given as a gift, it is free . . . We cannot save ourselves, salvation is a totally free gift. The Pope continued: Since it cannot be bought, in order for this salvation to enter into us we need a humble heart, a docile heart, an obedient heart like Mary's. Moreover, the model on this journey of salvation is God himself, his Son, who did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
All of the people in this Sunday's gospel had been given the gift of faith but only the man who received the gift of sight from Jesus professed his faith openly, his faith in Jesus: Lord, I believe. Not only that, he began to share the gift of his faith with others, most especially the Pharisees who were trying to intimidate him. They proclaimed themselves as disciples of Moses. As such, they should have been prepared for the coming of the Messiah who was now among them.
But they had developed a sense of 'proprietorship' of their faith, a righteous complacency that blinded them to the extent that they dismissed a man who was born blind as a sinner with nothing from which they could learn. The man born blind, on the other hand, has an acute sense of being gifted, by the gift of sight and by the gift of faith. He is an embodiment of the thrust of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation,Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel.
Our Christian faith is a gift that can be lost by an individual and by a whole community. The Church flourished in North Africa and in the Middle East before Islam came into being but the vast majority lost the gift of our faith. In our own lifetime the faith has been rapidly disappearing from places such as Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Quebec. Fifty years ago these places were sending missionaries to every part of the world and their seminaries were full. Now most of the seminaries have been closed down. Just over 100 years ago CICM brothers and priests (Scheut Missionaries, Missionhurst) and ICM Sisters came to the mountains of northern Luzon from a part of Europe that is as flat as a billiard table, most of Belgium and the Netherlands. In February 2014 Belgium made it legal for sick children to be killed, to be put down like sick animals. There was little international reaction to this, though there was to the putting down of a healthy giraffe in a zoo in Denmark a few days earlier.
There still are people in these places and others like them who are living the Christian life faithfully, often heroically. Martyrs such asFr Ragheed Ganni of Iraq and politicianShahbaz Bhatti of Pakistan are outstanding examples. Another is the late Professor Jérôme Lejeune, doctor and researcher, who in 1959 discovered the cause of Down syndrome (trisomy 21).
In so many places in the gospel we find Jesus going out to those considered unimportant such as the blind man in today's gospel. Pope Francis met with thousands of persons who are blind or profoundly deaf on Saturday 29 March 2014, the first ever such gathering in the Vatican. And there were probably some present who were both deaf and blind.
John Milton, who went blind as an adult, in his poem On His Blindness (below) shows an acceptance of what he calls his mild yoke and a sense of our sight and everything else being gifts from God.
We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to open our cold hearts and shake up our lukewarm and superficial existence . . . How good it is to stand before a crucifix, or on our knees before the Blessed Sacrament, and simply to be in his presence!
The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages and reading it with the heart.
Sometimes we lose our enthusiasm for mission because we forget that the Gospel responds to our deepest needs, since we were created for what the Gospel offers us: friendship with Jesus and love of our brothers and sisters.
The words of Pope Francis suggest a basic attitude of gratitude to God such as we see in the man who tells everyone, One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.
Somewhat different from the Pharisees' Surely we are not blind, are we?
Which statement/question reflects my stance before God?
On His Blindness by John Milton
When
I consider how my light is spent
Ere
half my days in this dark world and wide,
And
that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd
with me useless, though my soul more bent
To
serve therewith my Maker, and present
My
true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth
God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I
fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That
murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either
man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear
his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is
kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And
post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They
also serve who only stand and wait."
This video, posted by the Jerome Lejeune Foundation USA, is, I think, an eye-opener.
Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes
