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 The Tallis Scholars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Tallis Scholars. Show all posts
GospelMatthew 3:13-17(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
At that time: Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John,
to be baptised by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be
baptised by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so
now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he
consented. And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water,
and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from
heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’
El Greco painted the Baptism of Christ a number of times. In the painting above he shows Jesus kneeling before his cousin St John the Baptist, as does Pasolini in his film The Gospel According to Matthew, with nothing, just as John had nothing. Both were totally open to the will of God the Father.
For me one of the most astonishing realities in the baptism of Jesus is that he lined up with everyone else, all of whom were sinners. All those present, except John, would have presumed that Jesus was just another sinner like themselves. This shows the extent of God’s love for us as sinners, that God who became Man, Jesus, allowed himself to be seen as a sinner.
It is here that God the Father proclaims, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. The Father uses the very same words at the Transfiguration, with the words listen to him added (Mt 17:5). In the latter Peter, James and John the Apostle had caught a glimpse of the reality that Jesus is God. At the baptism the people saw someone they presumed to be a sinner.
Lawrence Wren, a former head of the Irish police who died in 2016, lived near my brother in Dublin. I remember that when he held that position he used to stand outside the parish church after all the Masses on one Sunday of the month with other members of the St Vincent de Paul Society collecting money to help the poor. There was nothing to indicate who he was or the very important position he held. I was always struck by that and that he and his family lived in an ordinary house just like everyone else.
The fact that Jesus identified himself, in effect, as a sinner shows that God is not ashamed of us despite our sins. He identifies himself with us even though he is pure love, utter sinlessness.
And just as God the Father proclaims Jesus as my Son, the Beloved, at his baptism, he does the same with us at our baptism which, unlike the baptism of John, makes us God’s very own sons and daughters, brothers and sisters of Jesus and therefore brothers and sisters of one another. This is our deepest identity.
GospelLuke 2:22-20 or 22-32 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
When the time came for their purification according
to the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male
who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a
sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of
turtle-doves, or two young pigeons’.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was
Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s
Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the Temple, and when the parents brought
in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took
him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
‘Lord, now you are letting your
servant depart in peace, according
to your word; for
my eyes have seen your salvation that
you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a
light for revelation to the Gentiles and
for glory to your people Israel.’
[And his father and his
mother marvelled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said
to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of
many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed — and a sword will pierce through
your own soul also — so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’
And there was a prophetess,
Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in
years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the
Temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at
that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who
were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
And when they had performed
everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to
their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with
wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.]
The late Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-Hwan, Archbishop of Seoul, with a young friend. The cardinal's paternal grandparents were sentenced to death during the last persecution of Catholics in Korea, in 1869. His grandfather was killed but the persecutors spared his grandmother because she was pregnant. The child in her womb was the Cardinal's father. Cardinal Kim died on 16 February 2009.
Renante and Christine Alejo-Uy with Kiefer Thomas, their first born
About 15 years ago while celebrating Sunday Mass in St Brigid's Parish, Blanchardstown, just north-west of Dublin city, where my brother and his wife live, I saw a young couple coming in at the back of the church a few minutes late. I smiled inwardly when I realised they were Filipinos. But then they came right up to the front pew and I was really touched to see the husband/father carrying their little child.
In the video of the Presentation in the Temple, produced by 'Rosary Priest' Fr Patrick Peyton's Family Theater, it is St Joseph who carries Jesus. St Luke doesn't specify this. But he does tell us that Simeon took him in his arms. The photo of the late Cardinal Kim above evokes this scene for me. What fills me with awe is the fact that his grandmother was spared by the persecutors in 1869 because she was pregnant, while his grandfather wasn't spared. In Jewish law the man who named a child was considered his legal father. When I was a child I always heard St Joseph spoken of as the foster-father of Jesus. But St Matthew tells us: Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins' (Matt1:19-21). You are to name him Jesus means that St Joseph is being called by God to be a true father to the Son of his wife Mary. And the Church honours St Joseph above all as the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And it is through Joseph, son of David being his legal father that Jesus is of the line of David as God had promised. Pope Francis has spoken a number of times about the faith of one of his grandmothers and how she helped to form him. The God-fearing mother, facing all kinds of adversity as she brings up her children in the faith has become almost a cliché. I don't mean any disrespect whatever to such mothers or to any mothers. But the emphasis on the role of the mother and grandmother in the raising of children in the faith tends, I think, to take away from the equally important role of the father and of the grandfather. When I was a small child it was my father who brought me to Sunday Mass while my mother would stay at home with my brother, three years younger, when he was an infant. She would go to a later Mass. I saw my father, who spent his working life on construction sites, where he was a highly respected general foreman, get up very early every morning, go to Mass, come home and prepare my mother's breakfast and bring it to her in bed. (For many, breakfast in bed is a treat. I hate the idea!)
I saw how deeply Dad respected my mother, even when they had disagreements, never raising his voice to her or to anyone else, including us his two sons. I saw the same when I worked with him on a construction site the summer before I was ordained. He never raised his voice there either and he never swore. He led by example and the men had profound respect for him. Some of those told me how great a mentor he was when they were still young and learning their trade. He had been blessed in a similar way when he started as an apprentice carpenter at 15. My father taught me how to swim and how to ride a bicycle, letting go when he judged that I could go solo. I can still recall the joy in each instance when I realised that I was indeed going solo. As I said above, St Luke doesn't specify that it was St Joseph who carried Jesus into the Temple. But the director of the video of the Presentation gives us an insight into the role of St Joseph. He was, as her husband, to be the protector of Mary and of her Son and he was, as his legal father, to be the mentor/teacher of Jesus in how to grow into manhood and in how to be a carpenter. There is one telling scene when Simeon reaches out to take Jesus in his arms. Joseph doesn't hand him over without looking at Mary and getting her approval. As I grew older I could see that my parents made important decisions together such as which school they should send us to.
Simeon and Anna show us the importance of older persons in the lives of young parents and of children. When we are children the most significant older persons are our grandparents. Each Sunday morning my father would bring us to meet our grandfather who was widowed a couple of days after my brother was born. And very often I saw my maternal grandmother, widowed when I was less than two. When I was in secondary school I often dropped into our parish church on my way home in the afternoon. There were always old people, including my grandfather, praying silently in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I sometimes dropped into other churches and would find the same. There are many things we can reflect on as we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. But for me it stirs up once again immense gratitude to God for my late father and an appreciation of the great responsibility that the vocation to be a husband/father carries, something, I think, that we as Church need to emphasise more. The young Filipino husband/father carrying his child right up to the front of the church in Dublin, even though he and his wife were a little late, reminded me of the wonder of that vocation. And when my editorial staff and I were choosing a photo of the Uy Family for the cover of Misyon, of which I was editor from 2002 until 2017, I simply had to go for the one above. (I had decided even before I consulted my staff!)
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine,
secundum verbum tuum in pace:Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum Quod parasti ante faciem omnium
populorum:Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et
gloriam plebis tuae Israel (Luke 2:29-32, Latin Vulgate).
Lord, now you are letting your servant
depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your
salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a
light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
Words of the Communion Antiphon highlighted.
Traditional Latin Mass
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This is same as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The two readings below are used in the 'New Mass'.
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 02-02-2025 if necessary).
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Luke 2:22; Gospel).
Where the Epiphany is celebrated this year on its
proper date, Friday 6 January, e.g.,England & Wales and in Ireland, the
Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on Sunday 8 January this year, bringing the
Christmas Season to an end, with the First Week of Ordinary Time beginning on
Monday 9 January.
In countries where the celebration of the Epiphany
is transferred to Sunday 8 January this year the Baptism of the Lord is
celebrated on Monday 9 January and Ordinary Time begins on Tuesday 9 January.
These countries include Australia, Philippines, Scotland and the USA
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales,
Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
GospelMatthew 3:13-17 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to
be baptized by him.John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be
baptized by you, and do you come to me?”But Jesus answered him, “Let
it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented.And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from
the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;and behold, a voice from heaven
said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
El Greco painted the Baptism of Christ a number of times. In the painting above he shows Jesus kneeling before his cousin St John the Baptist, as does Pasolini in his filmThe Gospel According to Matthew,with nothing, just as John had nothing. Both were totally open to the will of God the Father.
For me one of the most astonishing realities in the baptism of Jesus is that he lined up with everyone else, all of whom were sinners. All those present, except John, would have presumed that Jesus was just another sinner like themselves. This shows the extent of God’s love for us as sinners, that God who became Man, Jesus, allowed himself to be seen as a sinner.
It is here that God the Father proclaims, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. The Father uses the very same words at the Transfiguration, with the words listen to him added (Mt 17:5). In the latter Peter, James and John the Apostle had caught a glimpse of the reality that Jesus is God. At the baptism the people saw someone they presumed to be a sinner.
Lawrence Wren, a former head of the Irish police who died in 2016, lived near my brother in Dublin. I remember when he held that position he used to stand outside the parish church after all the Masses on one Sunday of the month with other members of the St Vincent de Paul Society collecting money to help the poor. There was nothing to indicate who he was or the very important position he held. I was always struck by that and that he and his family lived in an ordinary house just like everyone else.
The fact that Jesus identified himself, in effect, as a sinner, shows that God is not ashamed of us despite our sins. He identifies himself with us even though he is pure love, utter sinlessness.
And just as God the Father proclaims Jesus as my Son, the Beloved, at his baptism, he does the same with us at our baptism which, unlike the baptism of John, makes us God’s very own sons and daughters, brothers and sisters of Jesus and therefore brothers and sisters of one another. This is our deepest identity.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
GospelLuke 2:22-40 [or 2-32] (New
Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)
When the
time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought
him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn
male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in
the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’
Now
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous
and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit
rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he
would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came
into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him
what was customary under the law, Simeon took him
in his arms and praised God, saying,
‘Master,
now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you have prepared in the
presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people
Israel.’
[And the child’s father and mother were
amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed
them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and
the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a
sword will pierce your own soul too.’
There was also a prophet, Anna the
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having
lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left
the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to
speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of
Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of
the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and
the favour of God was upon him.]
The late Stephen
Cardinal Kim Sou-Hwan, Archbishop of Seoul, with a young friend. The cardinal's
paternal grandparents were sentenced to death during the last persecution of
Catholics in Korea, in 1869. His grandfather was killed but the persecutors
spared his grandmother because she was pregnant. The child in her womb was the Cardinal's father.
Renante and Christine Alejo-Uy with Kiefer Thomas, their first born
About ten years ago while celebrating
Sunday Mass in St Brigid's Parish, Blanchardstown, just north-west of Dublin
city, where my brother and his wife live, I saw a young couple coming in at the
back of the church a few minutes after Mass had begun. I smiled inwardly when I
realised they were Filipinos. But then they came right up to the front pew and
I was really touched to see the husband/father carrying their little child.
In the video of the Presentation in
the Temple, produced by 'Rosary Priest' Fr Patrick Peyton's Family Theater,
it is St Joseph who carries Jesus. St Luke doesn't specify this. But he does
tell us that Simeon took him in his arms. The photo of the late
Cardinal Kim above evokes this scene for me. What fills me with awe is the fact
that his grandmother was spared by the persecutors in 1869 because she was
pregnant, while his grandfather wasn't.
In Jewish law the man who named a child was considered his legal father. When I
was a child I always heard St Joseph spoken of as the foster-father of Jesus.
But St Matthew tells us: Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and
unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her
quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.She
will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins' (Matt1:19-21).
You are to name him Jesus means
that St Joseph is being called by God to be a true father to the Son of his
wife Mary. And the Church honours St Joseph above all as the Spouse of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. And it is through Joseph, son of David being
his legal father that Jesus is of the line of David as God had promised.
Pope Francis has spoken a number of times about the faith of one of his
grandmothers and how she helped to form him. The God-fearing mother, facing all
kinds of adversity as she brings up her children in the faith has become almost
a cliché. I don't mean any disrespect whatever to such mothers or to any
mothers. But the emphasis on the role of the mother and grandmother in the
raising of children in the faith tends, I think, to take away from the equally
important role of the father and of the grandfather.
When I was a small child it was my father who brought me to Sunday Mass while
my mother would stay at home with my brother, three years younger, when he was
an infant. She would go to another Mass. I saw my father, who spent his working
life on building (construction) sites, where he was a highly respected general
foreman, get up very early every morning, go to Mass, come home and prepare my
mother's breakfast and bring it to her in bed. (For many, breakfast in bed is a
treat. I hate the idea!)
I saw how deeply he respected my mother, even when
they had disagreements, never raising his voice to her or to anyone else,
including us his two sons. I saw the same when I worked with him on a building
site the summer before I was ordained. He never raised his voice there either
and he never swore. He led by example and the men had profound respect for him.
Some of those told me how great a mentor he was when they were still young and
learning their trade. He had been blessed in a similar way when he started as
an apprentice carpenter at 15.
My father taught me how to swim and how to ride a bicycle, letting go when he
judged that I could go solo. I can still recall the joy in each instance when I
realised that I was indeed going solo.
As I said above, St Luke doesn't specify that it was St Joseph who carried
Jesus into the Temple. But the director of the video of the Presentation gives
us an insight into the role of St Joseph. He was, as her husband, to be the
protector of Mary and of her Son and he was, as his legal father, to be the
mentor/teacher of Jesus in how to grow into manhood and in how to be a carpenter.
There is one telling scene when Simeon reaches out to take Jesus in his arms.
Joseph doesn't hand him over without looking at Mary and getting her
approval. As I grew older I could see that my parents made important
decisions together such as which school they should send us to.
Simeon and Anna show us the importance of older persons in
the lives of young parents and of children. When we are children the most
significant older persons are our grandparents. Each Sunday morning my father
would bring us to meet our grandfather who was widowed a couple of days after
my brother was born. And I saw my maternal grandmother, widowed when I was less
than two, very often. When I was in secondary school I often dropped into our
parish church on my way home in the afternoon. There were always old people,
including my grandfather, praying silently in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I
sometimes dropped into other churches and would find the same. There are many things we can
reflect on as we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. But for me it stirs up
once again immense gratitude to God for my late father and an appreciation of
the great responsibility that the vocation to be a husband/father carries,
something, I think, that we as Church need to emphasise more. The young Filipino
husband/father carrying his child right up to the front of the church in
Dublin, even though he and his wife were a little late, reminded me of the
wonder of that vocation. And when we were choosing a photo of the Uy Family for
the cover of Misyon,of which I was editor from 2002 until 2017, I simply had to go for the one above.
Nunc
dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia
viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti
ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad
revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel (Luke 2:29-32, Latin
Vulgate).
Master, now
you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes
have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for
revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your
people Israel (NRSVCE).
Baptism of Christ, 1596-1600
Christ Among the Doctors
