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 Théodule-Augustin Ribot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Théodule-Augustin Ribot. Show all posts
Jesus left
Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a
Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David,
take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not
a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’
they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent
only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and
was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not
fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted,
‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their
master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let
your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.
My late mother, whose name was Mary, loved to bargain when buying clothes and when buying fruit and vegetables. She usually bought the latter at the store of a woman named Chrissie Caffrey, whose sister Maggie had a similar store across the road in Stoneybatter, then just a short street but now the name of the district in Dublin where I grew up. There were usually a few cats around Chrissie's store but the vegetables and fruit on sale were fresh. Sometimes as a child, listening to my mother, I would think that she was insulting Chrissie the way she spoke to her. But they both would end up happy, my mother having got a bargain - or thinking that she had - and Chrissie having got a sale.
What my mother and Chrissie did a couple of times a week was a form of banter with a serious purpose. My mother wasn't insulting Chrissie; she was simply looking for a good price. Chrissie didn't take any offence at my mother's words, gave as good as she got - and sold her produce.
One commentary I read on this gospel suggests that Jesus and the Canaanite woman were engaged in something similar to Chrissie and my mother, a form of banter, but with a serious purpose. The words of Jesus comparing the Canaanites, non-Jews, to dogs were insulting at their face value. But the woman didn't take offence, She wanted her daughter healed and that's all that mattered to her. She probably hadn't been among those who heard Jesus' Sermon on the Mount when he said, among many other things, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you (Mt 7:7). But clearly she had heard something about Jesus, of his love for the poor, for the sick, for the tormented. Because she persisted, giving as good as she got: Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table. She then heard the astounding words of Jesus, Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.
It wasn't the first time Jesus responded to a non-Jew and remarked on that person's faith. Before we receive Holy Communion we pray the words of the Roman centurion who had come to Jesus with a similar plea to that of the Canaanite woman, not on behalf of his daughter but of his servant: 'Lord, I am not worthy . . .'
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened(Mt 7:8).
There is something very down-to-earth about the meeting of Jesus and the Canaanite woman. The Assumption (celebrated on the 15th in most countries) too is a down-to-earth celebration. Pope Benedict reminds us: The Solemnity of the Assumption, so dear to popular tradition, serves as a useful occasion for all believers to meditate on the true sense and value of human existence in view of eternity.
Dear brothers and sisters, Heaven is our final dwelling place; from there, Mary encourages us by her example to welcome God's will, so as not to allow ourselves to be seduced by the deceptive attraction to what is transitory and fleeting, and not to give in to the temptations of selfishness and evil which extinguish the joy of life in the heart.
In the Nicene Creed, which we pray at Mass on Sundays and Solemnities, we say, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. The equivalent in the Apostles' Creed is, I believe in . . . the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Part of the humanity of Jesus, God who became Man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and of Mary herself is their Jewishness. They remain Jewish for all eternity.
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine (Luke 10:33-34; Gospel)).
GospelLuke 14:1, 7-14 (English Standard
Version, Anglicised)
One Sabbath,
when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were
watching him carefully.
Now he told a
parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of
honour, saying to them, ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do
not sit down in a place of honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be
invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, “Give
your place to this person”, and then you, with shame, will take the lowest place.
But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your
host comes he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher.” Then you will be
honoured in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’
He said also to
the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not
invite your friends, or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich
neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you
give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will
be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the just.’
Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion at Holy Family Home for Girls, Bacolod City
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed . . .
Nine years ago I experienced this in a striking way after Mass at Holy FamilyHome for Girls (HFH) in Bacolod City, Philippines. I was based in Bacolod City from 2002 until 2017. Kathy Chua wished to share her birthday joy with the girls at Holy Family Home along with her family and co-workers. Most of the girls living in Holy Family Home - there are usually more than 30 there - have had traumatic experiences in their lives and the majority are from poor families.
Kathy and her husband Hernan have been celebrating her birthday for many years now - and continue to do so - with the girls at HFH and the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family who run it. There are other families who have been doing the same, some in HFH, some in orphanages or homes for the aged in Bacolod City.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you . . .
Kathy, whose father died suddenly when she was only three months old, spoke briefly at the end of the programme after the catered lunch but asked Hernan to take over. (The programme included a magician, some games and dances by the girls.) He told us how blessed his whole family was simply by the joy they saw in the faces of the girls. That was my own experience over the more than 14 years I was involved with HFH. That involvement has been one of the greatest blessings of my life, an ongoing one that I carry with me now in Ireland, and all the greater because it was something I had never expected when I returned to the Philippines in 2002 after a two-year stint in Britain that was supposed to be a four-year one.
Most of these girls have had experiences that no child or young person should ever have. But in HFH they get the best of truly caring professional care that enables them to feel the healing power of God's love. Much of that healing comes from their interaction with each other and from their shared responsibilities. For example, each cubicle for personal hygiene is used by three girls, who also have to maintain it. And something that touched me when I first began to go to HFH and given the 'grand tour' was to learn that each new girl, whether still a child or already an adolescent, is given a cuddly toy which she keeps on her bed. There are two large dormitories, each maintained by the girls. And they make their bed first thing in the morning, have an early breakfast, gather for prayers and then go off to the local elementary and high schools, both within walking distance.
Columban Fr Michael Sinnott visits HFH
The girls had been praying their hearts out for Fr Sinnott, then 79, after he was kidnapped in October 2009. (He died unexpectedly here in Ireland on 23 November 2019, St Columban’s Day.) He visited HFH after his ordeal to thank the girls, the Sisters and the staff for their prayers. This was the reaction of the girls when I told them of his release:
Hernan reminded us in his 'few words' of Jesus and children: Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14).
The First Reading and the Gospel remind me of a line in the Handbook of the Legion of Mary: Always will the legionary bear in mind that he is visiting not as a superior to an inferior, not as one equal to another, but as an inferior to his superior, as the servant to the Lord. This is the opposite of what I have heard many well-meaning people say: We must go down to the level of the poor (or whoever). Jesus identifies himself with the 'outsider', with the 'other', whoever the 'other' may be. And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me' (Matthew 25:40).
by Ronald Raz, Conducted by Maria Theresa Vizconde-Roldan
Hail Mary the Queen Children's Choir
Quezon City, Philippines
Traditional Latin Mass
What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful (Benedict XVI).
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 08-31-2025 if necessary).
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3:4-9. Gospel: Luke 10:23-37.
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him (Luke 10:33-34; Gospel).
GospelMatthew 15:21-28 (English Standard Version
Anglicised, India)
Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of
Tyre and Sidon.And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came
out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter
is severely oppressed by a demon.”But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came
and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”He answered, “I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”But she came and knelt before him,
saying, “Lord, help me.”And he answered, “It is not
right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs
eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me' (Matthew 15:25; Gospel).
On Friday the fourth of August I concelebrated at the funeral Mass of my friend Betty in the Church of the Holy Family, Aughrim Street Dublin, the parish in which we both grew up. Betty and I lived on the same street, though both our families moved to different streets in the area in the late 1950s. Betty spent her whole life in the parish. We were just friendly neighbours until one summer's afternoon when I was home from St Columban's seminary where I'm living once again, though there are no more seminarians here but mostly retired Columban missionary priests. We happened to be on the same 72 bus from Dublin city centre to the area where our families lived. From that conversation on the bus I became a good friend of Betty and her family rather than just a friendly neighbour.
Houses in Finn Street, Dublin
We lived in the house on the right while
Betty’s family lived on the other side of the street. These houses had two
bedrooms upstairs and one room downstairs with a small kitchenette and an
outdoor toilet. They were built by the Dublin Artisans’ Dwellings Company.
When Betty and I were young our parish had five priests. Now it has two, the curate (assistant priest) being from Romania, Fr Coriolan Rumesan, known as 'Father Corri'. He is also chaplain to the Romanian-Greek Catholics in the Archdiocese of Dublin. Back in the 1950s we could not have imagined that there would be only two priests in our parish by the 2020s. Nor could we have imagined that a priest from Romania would be the celebrant at Betty's funeral Mass.
Betty was very much involved in the parish for many years and was an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. This sometimes involved bringing Holy Communion to the sick. She and Jerry were both involved in the chaplaincy in McKee Barracks, very near where they lived and within the parish. Jerry had been in the Defence Forces for many years.
When Father Corri arrived in Ireland eight years ago, a stranger, Jerry and Betty befriended him, helped him get settled into his house beside the parish church and adjust to life in Ireland. He became a close family friend. Betty sometimes accompanied him on his Communion calls.
Father Corri tended to Betty during her last illness, bringing her the sacraments and helping her family cope with the situation. In his homily at the funeral Mass he pointed out aspects of Betty's life that were a living out of the Scripture texts read at the Mass. His homily wasn't a eulogy but a call to the congregation to faithfully follow Jesus Christ. He pointed out some of the ways in which Betty had done this while asking us to pray for her soul and the souls of all who had died.
The friendship of Jerry and Betty with Father Corri has been a precious gift for him. Such a friendship is a grace from God for any priest, as I know from happy experience with married couples.
A central theme running through the readings in this Sunday's Mass is welcoming the foreigner. In the First Reading Isaiah tells us: And the
foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,and to be his servants . . . these I
will bring to my holy mountain,and make them joyful in my house of prayer;their burnt offerings and their
sacrificeswill
be accepted on my altar;for my house shall be called a house of prayerfor all peoples.
One of those 'foreigners' was offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in our parish church at Betty's funeral and it was truly a house of prayerfor all peoples.
It is only in the last 25 years that immigrants, some of them refugees, have been coming to Ireland in large numbers. Before that the percentage of people from overseas in the country was negligible. Recent censuses in both parts of Ireland show that around twelve per cent of people living in the whole of Ireland are from other countries.
The altar is the original one, moved forward. I celebrated my First Mass
on this altar in its original position on 21 December 1967, the old feast of
St Thomas the Apostle.
The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 66 [67] and the response is taken from it: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. It is a very joyful psalm, foreshadowing the universality of the Church.
I had a very personal experience of that as June turned into July this year. I spent a weekend at Knock Shrine in County Mayo, Ireland, where our Blessed Mother appeared in 1879. ('Knock' is an anglicised form of the Irish word cnoc, meaning 'hill'. The place is now known in Irish as Cnoc Mhuire, 'Mary's Hill'.) With me were William and Nina Cimafranca, a Filipino couple whom I have known for many years and who now live in Sydney, Australia. While there I went to confession in the Chapel of Reconciliation to an African priest, probably a Nigerian. Again, this is something I simply could not have imagined when I was young.
William and Nina went back to Dublin on Sunday afternoon while I stayed on to make a retreat for priests to be given by Fr Eric Lozada, a priest of the Diocese of Dumaguete in the Philippines. Father Eric has been a friend for many years and is currently the International Responsible of Jesus Caritas Fraternity of Priests, a movement inspired by the spirituality of St Charles de Foucauld. William, Nina and I were able to have lunch with Father Eric before they left and the retreat began. It turned out that he knew some of William's relatives in Dumaguete.
During my stay in Knock I met members of a large contingent of pilgrims from the African Chaplaincy in Dublin and Syro-Malabar Catholics from Kerala, India. Knock is a place that lets all the peoples praise you.
The feisty Canaanite woman in the Gospel, an 'outsider' whose faith in Jesus and love for her sick daughter touched his heart, foreshadows that our fundamental identity comes from our baptism through which we become sons and daughters of our loving Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus and, through him, of one another. Betty and Jerry welcomed Father Corri as a brother in Christ. They supported him in his ministry as a priest in what was initially for him a strange land. Father Eric in his retreat talks repeatedly addressed us as Brothers.
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine (Luke 10:33-34; Gospel)).
GospelLuke 14:1, 7-14 (English Standard Version
Anglicised: India).
One
Sabbath, when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of
the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he
noticed how they chose the places of honour, saying to them,“When you
are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of
honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,and he who invited you both will come and say
to you, ‘Give your place to this person’, and then you will begin with shame to
take the lowest place.But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest
place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up
higher.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at table with
you.For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
He said also to the man who had invited
him, “When
you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or
your relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and
you be repaid.But when you give a
feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,and you will be blessed, because they cannot
repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion at Holy Family Home
for Girls, Bacolod City
But
when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the
blind, and you will be blessed . . .
Six years
ago I experienced this in a striking way after Mass at Holy
FamilyHome for Girls (HFH) in Bacolod City, Philippines. I was
based in Bacolod City from 2002 until 2017. Kathy wished to share her birthday
joy with the girls at Holy Family Home along with her family and co-workers.
Most of the girls living in Holy Family Home - there are usually more than 30
there - have had traumatic experiences in their lives and the majority are from
poor families.
Kathy and
her husband Hernan had been celebrating their birthdays for some years with the
girls at HFH and the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family who run it.
There are other families who have been doing the same, some in HFH, some in
orphanages or homes for the aged in Bacolod City.
And you will
be blessed, because they cannot repay you . . .
Kathy, whose
father died suddenly when she was only three months old, spoke briefly at the
end of the programme after the catered lunch but asked Hernan to take over.
(The programme included a magician, some games and dances by the girls.) He
told us how blessed his whole family was simply by the joy they saw in the
faces of the girls. That was my own experience over the more than 14 years I
was involved with HFH. That involvement has been one of the greatest blessings
of my life, an ongoing one that I carry with me now in Ireland, and all the
greater because it was something I had never expected when I returned to the
Philippines in 2002 after a two-year stint in Britain that was supposed to be a
four-year one.
Most of
these girls have had experiences that no child or young person should ever
have. But in HFH they get the best of truly caring professional help that
enables them to feel the healing power of God's love. Much of that healing
comes form their interaction with each other and from their shared
responsibilities. For example, each cubicle for personal hygiene is used by
three girls, who also have to maintain it. And something that touched me when I
first began to go to HFH and given the 'grand tour' was to learn that each new
girl, whether still a child or already an adolescent, is given a cuddly toy
which she keeps on her bed. There are two large dormitories, again maintained
by the girls. And they make their bed first thing in the morning, have an early
breakfast, gather for prayers and then go off to the local elementary and high
schools, both within walking distance.
Columban Fr Michael Sinnott visits HFH
The
girls had been praying their hearts out for Fr Sinnott, then 79, after he was
kidnapped in October 2009. (He died unexpectedly here in Ireland on 23 November
2019, St Columban’s Day.) He visited HFH after his ordeal to thank the girls, the Sisters and the staff for their prayers. This was the
reaction of the girls when I told them of his release:
Hernan reminded us in his 'few words' of Jesus and
children: Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them;
for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14).
The First Reading and the Gospel remind me of a line in the Handbook of the Legion of Mary: Always
will the legionary bear in mind that he is visiting not as a superior to an
inferior, not as one equal to another, but as an inferior to his superior, as
the servant to the Lord. This is the opposite of what I have heard
many well-meaning people say: We must go down to the level of the poor
(or whoever). Jesus identifies himself with the 'outsider', with the
'other', whoever the 'other' may be. And the King will answer them,
‘Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you
did it to me' (Matthew 25:40).
