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25th August >> Fr. Martin's Homilies/Reflections on Today's Mass Readings for The Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) (Inc. John 6:60-69) ‘You have the message of eternal life’.

Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Gospel (Except USA)John 6:60-69Who shall we go to? You are the Holy One of God.

After hearing his doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?

‘It is the spirit that gives life,the flesh has nothing to offer.The words I have spoken to you are spiritand they are life.

‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’

Gospel (USA)John 6:60–69To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Homilies (9)

(i) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

When I go into the primary school classes I am often struck by the questions that the children ask about God. At one level they are simple questions but at another level they can be very profound, questions like, ‘Who made God?’ ‘Will my cat go to heaven?’ I can struggle to come up with answers to these questions that make sense to the children. We all have questions about life and God that we struggle to answer. However, children have a great freedom around asking these questions in public. As adults we can keep our questions to ourselves.

There are lots of questions asked in the gospels. It can be interesting to read the gospels with an eye to the questions that are being asked. Many of these questions are asked by people of Jesus, such as the young man who came up to him and asked, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ or the scribe who asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Like a lot of the questions that are asked of Jesus, these are questions that we could all make our own. Jesus himself asks many questions throughout the gospels, as when he asked the blind Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ or when he asked the disciples of John the Baptise, ‘What are you looking for?’ Again, we can hear all these questions of Jesus as addressed to ourselves, to which we are being invited to give our own answer.

We find one of Jesus’ questions in today’s gospel reading. It has been described as one of the most moving questions in the four gospels. We are told that many of Jesus’ disciples had just stopped going with him. Having responded to his call to follow him, they walked away, because they found his language about the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood completely unacceptable. They said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ At this very moment when many of Jesus’ disciples stopped going with him, he turned to the Twelve and asked them, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ It was a courageous question to ask. Jesus was taking the risk of being left on his own. Yet, Jesus was respecting the freedom of his closest disciples to walk away, if they chose to do so. He wanted them to stay faithful to him, but he would not coerce them. He wanted them to continue believing in him, but he knew that faith in him was a gift that had to be freely accepted. No one would be forced to stay with him. How would the twelve disciples respond to Jesus’ question? It was Simon Peter who spoke up on behalf of them all, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God’. At this moment when so many of his disciples were leaving him, Jesus must have been very heartened by Simon Peter’s answer.

We can hear this question of Jesus as addressed to each one of us personally ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ We became the Lord’s disciples when our parents presented us for baptism. We confirmed our baptism for ourselves when we celebrated our Confirmation. On that day we made our own personal ‘yes’ to the Lord’s call to come to him, to receive him into our lives as the Bread of Life and to take him as our way, our truth and our life. Yet, as we go through life, we repeatedly need to confirm that ‘yes’ for ourselves. This is especially so because we live in a time when there are less supports for our faith in the Lord and the way of life that flows from our faith. It is said in the gospel reading that ‘many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him’. That is certainly true of today. The Lord and all he stands for has become a very distant horizon for many who have been baptized and confirmed. This makes the Lord’s question to us, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ all the more timely.

Jesus was offering his disciples something very precious in today’s gospel reading, ‘The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life’. All he has been saying about himself as the Bread of life who alone can satisfy the deepest hungers and thirsts of our hearts are Spirit-inspired words that, if responded to in faith, can bring us life to the full. This is true of all of Jesus’ words in the gospels. Jesus doesn’t simply give us the gift of his life-giving words. He also gives us the gift of his very self. He gave us this gift on the cross and he renews this gift of himself to us at every Eucharist. Yet, the Lord’s extraordinary gift of himself needs to be received. We need to continue choosing the one who has chosen to gift us so abundantly out of his love for us. That is why we need to keep making Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question our own, especially in these times, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life and we believe’.

And/Or

(ii) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

The story is told of a man who met an old school friend whom he hadn’t seen for years. There was an attractive woman by his side. Smiling, the man asked his friend, ‘By any chance, is this your wife?’ With a twinkle in his eye, the man replied, ‘Not by chance, my friend, but by choice’. We make choices every day. Some of these choices are deeply significant and shape the rest of our lives, as when a man and a woman choose to give themselves to each other in marriage for life. The more significant the choice we make, the more important it becomes to choose well. For us as followers of the Lord, to choose well is to choose as the Lord would want us to choose, to choose in a way that corresponds to his desire for our lives and for our world.

The readings today focus on significant moments of choice in the life of God’s people. In the first reading, Joshua put a fundamental choice before the people. They must choose either to serve the local gods of the land or to serve the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. Joshua was aware that the people had already chosen the Lord, but he also knew that their choice of the Lord, like every important choice in life, had to be renewed again and again. In the gospel reading Jesus faced his own disciples with a significant choice. They must choose either to follow him or to walk away from him and take another path. Jesus was aware that his disciples had already chosen to follow him, but, like Joshua, he also knew that this was a choice the disciples needed to renew over and over again.

The more significant the choice that we make, the more we need to remake that choice throughout our lives. The decision to serve the Lord, to follow the Lord, is the most significant choice we could make in life. In choosing the Lord, we are choosing a way of life, a way of looking at life and a way of living life. In making such a choice and re-making it over and over again, we are taking a fundamental stance in life, a gospel stance, one that influences a whole range of other choices we will make in life. That is not to say that everything we say and do will always be shaped by that stance. None of us are totally consistent. Yet, we will probably be aware when what we say and do is not in tune with our choice of the Lord, and we will at least have the desire to bring our choices more into line with our choice of the Lord.

It might seem strange to some that this very basic life-choice was initially made for us, by our parents when they brought us to the church for baptism. Yet, that choice they made for us was not any stranger than the many other choices they made for us out of love for us, such as their choice to feed us, to clothe us and to keep us warm. There comes a time in all our lives when we have to confirm for ourselves the choice of the Lord that our parents made for us. One of the key moments we make their choice our own is when we come to the Eucharist. In a sense, at every Mass, the Lord turns and says to us, ‘What about you, do you want to go away?’ At every Mass, we are given the opportunity to say with Simon Peter in the gospel reading, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God’. That is one of the reasons why the church, from earliest times, has given such a high priority to the Sunday Eucharist. It is at the Sunday Eucharist that we re-make the most fundamental choice we can make in life, the choice Jesus put before his disciples, and that Joshua put to the people of Israel. We come here week after week to say ‘Yes’, to say ‘Amen’ to our choice of the Lord.

When it comes to remaining faithful to that fundamental choice of the Lord, we are very dependant on each other. We need the example of each other’s faithfulness. Being with others who themselves keep coming back to re-make that choice of the Lord, helps me to keep making that same choice. The people of Israel must have been greatly supported in their choosing by Joshua when he came forward and said, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’. The other disciples in the gospel reading must have been enormously steadied when Peter stood up and said, on their behalf’, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the message of eternal life’. We need the likes of Joshua and Peter to give a lead, to encourage the rest of us. In a way, we are called to be a Joshua and a Peter for each other, to support each other in the re-making and living of our choice of the Lord. My faithfulness to my choice of the Lord makes it easier for everyone else to be faithful to theirs. My lack of faithfulness makes it more difficult for everybody else. Paul’s words to the church of Thessalonica about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus is as valid today as it was then, ‘Encourage one another, and build up each other, as indeed you are doing’.

And/Or

(iii) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Most of us were probably baptized as infants. Our parents presented us for baptism shortly after we were born. At some level, they sensed that being christened, becoming a Christian, was a blessing that they should open us up to at a very early age. At baptism we were united with Christ in a special way, becoming members of his body, the church, receiving a share of his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who prompted us to cry out ‘Abba, Father’ to God, as Christ did. In presenting us for baptism our parents were making a very fundamental decision on our behalf. They made that decision for us because they valued their own relationship with Christ and with his church.

I suspect that all of us who are at Mass here this morning are grateful to our parents for making such a fundamental decision for us so early in our lives. As we grew into childhood and then into adolescence and into adulthood, we will have had opportunities to make our own the decision our parents made for us. Your presence here at Mass today is a sign that you have done just that. The weekly Eucharist is our opportunity to renew our baptism, to keep on making for ourselves the choice of Christ that our parents made for us. The Eucharist has always been understood in the church since the earliest days as a sacrament of initiation, the third sacrament of initiation after baptism and confirmation. Of the three sacraments of initiation, the Eucharist is the only one that we celebrate repeatedly. We can only be baptized and confirmed once, whereas we can celebrate the Eucharist on a weekly or even a daily basis. Because the Eucharist is a sacrament of initiation, in coming to the Eucharist we are making a statement that we want to belong to Christ and to his church. Coming to Mass is a public statement that we want to remain in Christ and in his church.

There may be times in our lives when we are unsure whether or not we want to go on making that statement. Many members of Christ’s church find themselves asking at some point in the course of their lives whether or not they want to go on belonging. They can find themselves hesitating, and for a whole variety of reasons. We are given a good example of that kind of hesitation among believers in today’s gospel reading. The evangelist tells us that many of Jesus’ followers found his teaching on the Eucharist intolerable. They could not accept his talk about the need to eat his flesh and to drink his blood. Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist became a stumbling block for them. As a result, the evangelist tells us, ‘many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him’. Even in Jesus’ own lifetime, it seems, not everyone who became one of his disciples went on to remain one. Jesus did not hold on to people against their will. In the gospel reading he even turns to the twelve and says to them, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ He took the risk of loosing his key associates. Even though he had chosen them for a special mission, he waited on them to choose him freely, without compulsion. His teaching on the Eucharist was a moment of decision for his own disciples. It brought to a head where they stood – did they want to stay with him or leave him? Did they want to confirm their initial decision to be his followers or to reverse it? The Eucharist remains that kind of moment of decision today for Jesus’ disciples. Our presence or absence at the Eucharist is making an important statement about where we stand in regard to Christ and his church. Even though there may be people here this morning who wonder about the strength of their faith and who are very aware of the reality of religious doubt within them, your presence here is a sign that at some level you want to make your own Peter’s confession of faith in today’s gospel reading: ‘Lord who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God’. It is as if Peter was saying, ‘If I don’t give my life to you, who or what do I give it too?’

Many of those who were baptized into Christ have ceased to come to Sunday Eucharist, as we know. Yet, many of these do come to Mass at Christmas and Easter, or even just at Christmas. That too is a statement. They have not given up on the Eucharist completely or on Christ and his church, and he has certainly not given up on them. The Lord continues to draw us to himself, even when, like the disciples in the gospel reading, we stop going with him. A little later in John’s gospel, Jesus says of himself, ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself’. The Lord draws us to himself because he loves us with a greater love. ‘No one has greater love than this’, he says, ‘than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’. Yet, in drawing us he awaits our assent to being drawn. Genuine love is always respectful of freedom. Our assent to the drawing of the Lord can take time to mature and it can involve many twists and turns. Peter who made the wonderful confession of faith in today’s gospel reading went on to deny the Lord publicly. Yet, the Lord gave Peter the opportunity to renew his earlier public profession of faith. The Lord gives us the same opportunity and he will give it as often as we need it.

And/Or

(iv) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the more painful experiences of life is when we offer the gift of friendship to someone and that gift is not really received. We are drawn to someone, for whatever reason, and we feel a desire to befriend them. Yet, over time, we discover that our longing to befriend them is not matched by a corresponding desire on their part to befriend us. We then have to begin to deal with the sense of loss that follows on from that realization. It can also happen that those who do respond to our offer of the gift of friendship and become our friends do not remain our friends. They drift away from us over time, and that too can be a painful experience. At the end of the day, we cannot force our friendship on someone; we can make the offer and then it is up to the other person to freely respond or not. There is a sense in which we are helpless before the mystery of human freedom. We have all had our own experiences of the mystery of the freedom of the other person, and sometimes that experience can bring us a lot of joy; at other times it can bring us heartbreak.

The gospels suggest that Jesus himself experienced that sense of helplessness before the mystery of human freedom. He came to call men and women into a relationship of love with himself, and through him, with God the Father, who sent him into the world. Yet, many did not respond to his call; they saw his offer of God’s friendship as a threat to their way of life. Others did respond to his call, but they did not remain with him. They initially accepted him as the revelation of God’s love for the world, but over time they moved on from him. That is what we find happening in this morning’s gospel reading. Jesus had been speaking at length about himself as the bread of life; he declared that he would soon give his flesh as bread for the life of the world; he invited people to eat his flesh and drink his blood and, thereby, to draw life from him. According to this morning’s gospel reading, some of Jesus’ own followers who had been listening to this long teaching of Jesus could not accept it. ‘This is intolerable language’, they said, ‘how could anyone accept it?’ The gospel reading goes on to declare that, as a result, many of Jesus’ disciples left him and stopped going with him. Here Jesus stood before the mystery of human freedom.

Jesus might have succeeded in holding on to these disciples, if he had gone back on what he had said. Yet, he had to be true to himself, true to what he had received from God. As he says in the gospel reading, ‘the words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life’. Words that are full of God’s Spirit and that are life-giving have to stand, even if it means that the family of disciples that Jesus is gathering about himself is reduced in numbers. Jesus it seems was not prepared to compromise his teaching, his way of life, for the sake of having a larger number of followers. Indeed, the gospel reading suggests that he was even prepared to loose members of the twelve, those of his disciples who were closest to him, rather than compromise his message. He turns to the twelve and says, ‘What about you? Do you want to go away too?’ Although he wanted them to stay with him, he put it up to them to freely choose to stay with him. He did not try to hold on to them against their will. He left himself vulnerable to the mystery of human freedom. He was prepared to stand alone if the twelve had freely chosen to join the other disciples who were moving on from him. The Lord continues to make himself vulnerable to the mystery of human freedom today. He continues to speak words to us that are spirit and life. He continues to offer us the gift of God’s love and life. Yet, he waits for us to freely respond to his offer. He desperately wants us to follow him because he wants us to have life and have it to the full, but he will not force himself upon us. At some point in our lives, we have to make our own free response to the Lord’s question, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Our parents brought us to the church for baptism; we had no choice in that matter. Our parents did that for us because in some sense they wanted what they knew the Lord wanted for us. Yet, there comes a point in our lives when we have to say our own personal ‘yes’ to the baptism that we received, when, in one shape or form, we have to make our own the confession of Peter in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God’. Our coming to the Eucharist on a Sunday is one key opportunity to say our own personal ‘yes’ to the Lord’s call to be faithful to him and his message.

And/Or

(v) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our culture success can often be equated with large numbers. A successful television programme is one that has a very large viewing audience. If the numbers watching declines, the programme is in trouble. Democracy is based, to some extent, on the principle of numbers. The candidate with the most votes gets elected. Every political party is anxious to maximize their vote on election day. In all kinds of ways, numbers matter in our society. The schools with the biggest number of graduates going on to University are considered the better schools. If some event that is organized only attracts a small crowd it is considered a failure.

The gospel reading this morning suggests that Jesus was not too concerned about numbers. The gospels for the last four Sundays have been taken from chapter 6 of John’s gospel where Jesus speaks of himself as the Bread of Life and of the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have life. In this morning’s gospel reading some of Jesus’ own disciples express their unease with this language. ‘This is intolerable language’, they say, ‘How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus is portrayed in that reading as being very aware that some of his followers were complaining. Yet, he did not make any effort to soften his teaching in order to hold on to his numbers. Rather, he insists that the words he has been speaking, all his words, are spirit and life. As a result, the gospel tells us that ‘many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him’. Jesus suddenly lost a whole swathe of his following. From the perspective of the culture of the time and of our own culture he was suddenly less successful. According to the gospel reading, Jesus even turned to the Twelve apostles, his core group, and asked them, ‘What about you? Do you want to go away too?’ He was prepared to suffer a haemorrhage from that core group rather than compromise on the teaching that he had given. It seems that numbers were not important to him. What was important to him was proclaiming the truth as he had heard it from God his Father. On this occasion Jesus held onto the Twelve. Peter, their spokesperson, grasped the moment to declare their faithfulness to Jesus, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life’. Yet, Jesus would go on to lose even some the Twelve. At the time of his passion Judas betrayed him and Peter denied him. If success is to be measured by numbers, by the end of his earthly life, Jesus was a total failure.

The gospel reading this morning, and indeed the whole life of Jesus, shows that the value of something does not bear any necessary relation to the number of people who support it. Popularity is not necessarily a good indication of where truth is to be found. We can be tempted to think that because a lot of people reject some viewpoint that, therefore, it must be wrong. Numbers are not everything. We follow Jesus not because he was or is popular but because, in the word of Peter in the gospel reading, we recognize that he has the message of eternal life, or in the language of Jesus himself in that same reading, we acknowledge that the words that he speaks are spirit and life. We will find some of his teaching very challenging. We may be tempted to say, in the words of some of the disciples, ‘This is intolerable language. How can anyone accept it?’ We may not be troubled so much by his identification of himself as the Bread of Life or his call to eat his flesh and drink his blood. It may be some other aspect of his teaching, perhaps his challenging words in the Sermon on the Mount, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. Some people react negatively to some of Jesus’ parables. They feel sorry for the older son in the parable of the prodigal son and for the men who worked all day and who got the same wages as those who worked for the last hour in the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. It should not surprise us when we find ourselves struggling with some of what Jesus says. In the language of the prophet Isaiah, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; God’s ways are not our ways. It has been said that Jesus comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. We all need Jesus to do both for us. We need his comforting and sustaining presence when we are afflicted, but sometimes we need his disturbing presence in our comfort.

The teaching and the life of Jesus will always challenge us at some level of our being. There may even be times when we will feel like walking away from it. That is why it is so important for us to keep renewing our response to the Lord’s presence and invitation. The Eucharist is the primary moment when we commit ourselves again to the Lord’s vision for our lives; it is our weekly opportunity to make our own those words of Peter in today’s gospel reading, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life’.

And/Or

(vi) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Terry Anderson was an American journalist who was held captive in Lebanon for seven years during the civil war there. In spite of everything he went through, he continued to be a man of deep faith. He subsequently wrote a book of poems on his experience entitled Den of Lions. In one of those poems he describes a Eucharist in a Lebanese prison. ‘Five men huddled close/ against the night and our oppressors/ around a bit of stale bread/ hoarded from a scanty meal/ and a candle, lit not only as/ a symbol but to read the text by./ The priest’s as poorly clad/ as drawn with strain as any,/ but his voice is calm, his face serene’. The poem concludes, ‘The familiar prayers come/ straight out of our hearts./ Once again, Christ’s promise is fulfilled; his presence fills us./ The miracle is real’. His poem is a truly remarkable profession of faith in the Eucharist in an hour of great darkness.

This morning’s gospel reading is the conclusion of that long teaching in chapter 6 of John’s gospel on Jesus as the Bread of Life. Towards the end of that teaching Jesus says, ‘my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them’. Jesus is declaring there that he wants to give us the gift of his flesh and blood, the gift of himself. He gave that gift of himself to all humanity on the cross. At every Eucharist he renews this gift of himself to us. Saint Paul declares in his first letter to the church in Corinth, ‘As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’. Paul recognized very clearly the intimate connection between the Lord’s self-gift to us in his death on the cross and his self-gift to us in the Eucharist. It is evident from Terry Anderson’s poem that those five men in that Lebanese prison also deeply appreciated the extra-ordinary gift they were being given in that simple Eucharist. That same self-emptying love of Jesus on the cross was sacramentally present to them in the Eucharist. This is a love through which Jesus gathers people into communion with each other and with himself. It is fitting that one of the terms we have come to use for the Eucharist is ‘Holy Communion’. Through the Eucharist, we are brought into a deeply spiritual communion with each other and with the Lord.

The Eucharist is an extra-ordinary gift from the Lord to us, and, yet, today’s gospel shows that some of his own followers were slow to receive this gift. They struggled to accept Jesus’ self-gift of his flesh and blood. ‘This is intolerable language’, they said, ‘How could anyone accept it?’ When Jesus spoke of himself as the Bread of Life he had initially met opposition from the Jewish religious authorities. Yet, now, the opposition was coming from his own disciples. The gospel reading goes on to tell us that because of Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist, ‘many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him’. I often think that this is one of the more poignant verses in the gospels. It can resonate with some of us because there may have been times in our lives when we felt like walking away from the Eucharist. We can do so for a whole variety of reasons. Perhaps, like the disciples in the gospel reading, we cannot quite bring ourselves to believe in it.

Jesus was helpless before the decision of some of his disciples to leave him. He is profoundly respectful of the mystery of human freedom, even when that freedom expresses itself in ways that are not in keeping with his desire for us. When faced with the Lord’s gifts, we can always turn away. At its deepest level, faith is a gift; it is due to the working of God’s grace in our lives. Yet, at another level, faith is a choice. The Lord has chosen us first and having chosen us he keeps on investing in us. Yet, he waits for us to respond to his choice of us with our own personal choice of him, a choice we make not just as individuals but within a community. That is why in today’s gospel reading, after many of his disciples had ceased going with him, he turns to the twelve and says, ‘What about you? Do you want to go away too?’ It is a question that is addressed to all of us; it calls on us to make our own personal choice of the Lord who has chosen us. In response to that question, we can do no better than make our own the answer of Peter, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life’. We give expression to that answer of Peter every time we come to the Eucharist. Our decision to come to the Eucharist every Sunday is a very concrete way of choosing the Lord and all he stands for. In that sense, the Eucharist is both the sacrament of the Lord’s giving of himself to us and of our personal and communal giving of ourselves to him.

And/Or

(vii) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Terry Anderson was an American journalist who was held captive in Lebanon for seven years during the civil war there. In spite of everything he went through, he continued to be a man of deep faith. He subsequently wrote a book of poems on his experience entitled Den of Lions. In one of those poems he describes a Eucharist in a Lebanese prison. ‘Five men huddled close/ against the night and our oppressors/ around a bit of stale bread/ hoarded from a scanty meal/ and a candle, lit not only as/ a symbol but to read the text by./ The priest’s as poorly clad/ as drawn with strain as any,/ but his voice is calm, his face serene’. The poem concludes, ‘The familiar prayers come/ straight out of our hearts./ Once again, Christ’s promise is fulfilled; his presence fills us./ The miracle is real’. His poem is a truly remarkable profession of faith in the Eucharist in an hour of great darkness. Some of us will soon be on our way to a celebration of the Eucharist in a very different setting to that Lebanese prison. We will gather with 500,000 others in the Phoenix Park with Pope Francis as the main celebrant. Yet, it is the very same Eucharist that we will be celebrating as was celebrated in that Lebanese prison.

Just before today’s gospel reading, Jesus had said, ‘my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them’. Jesus is declaring there that he wants to give us the gift of his flesh and blood, the gift of himself. He gave that gift of himself to all humanity on the cross. At every Eucharist he renews this gift of himself to us. It is evident from Terry Anderson’s poem that those five men in that Lebanese prison deeply appreciated the extra-ordinary gift they were being given in that simple Eucharist. That same self-emptying love of Jesus on the cross was sacramentally present to them in the Eucharist, to us at our Eucharist in this church this morning. This is a love through which Jesus gathers people into communion with each other and with himself. It is fitting that one of the terms we have come to use for the Eucharist is ‘Holy Communion’. Through the Eucharist, we are brought into a deeply spiritual communion with each other and with the Lord.

The Eucharist is an extra-ordinary gift from the Lord to us, and, yet, today’s gospel shows that some of his own followers were slow to receive this gift. They struggled to accept Jesus’ self-gift of his flesh and blood. ‘This is intolerable language’, they said, ‘How could anyone accept it?’ Just prior to our gospel reading, when Jesus first spoke of himself as the Bread of Life come down from heaven, he had the Jewish religious authorities strongly objected to his language. Yet, now, the opposition was coming from his own disciples. The gospel reading goes on to tell us that because of Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist, ‘many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him’. I often think that this is one of the more poignant verses in the gospels. It can resonate with some of us because there may have been times in our lives when we felt like walking away from the Eucharist. We can do so for a whole variety of reasons. Perhaps, like the disciples in the gospel reading, we cannot quite bring ourselves to believe in this extraordinary gift of the Lord to us.

Jesus was helpless before the decision of some of his disciples to leave him. He is profoundly respectful of the mystery of human freedom, even when that freedom expresses itself in ways that are not in keeping with his desire for us. When faced with the Lord’s gifts, we too can always turn away. At its deepest level, faith is a gift; it is due to the working of God’s grace in our lives. Yet, at another level, faith is a choice. Yes, the Lord has chosen us first and having chosen us he keeps on investing in us. Yet, he waits for us to respond to his choice of us with our own personal choice of him, a choice we make not just as individuals but within a community. That is why in today’s gospel reading, after many of his disciples had ceased going with him, he turns to the twelve and says, ‘What about you? Do you want to go away too?’ It is a question that is addressed to all of us. In response to that question, we can do no better than make our own the answer of Peter, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life’. Peter spoke on behalf of the others who had chosen to stay; he speaks for us all. We give expression to that answer of Peter every time we come to the Eucharist. Our decision to come to the Mass on Sunday, wherever it is celebrated, expresses our desire to of keep on choosing the Lord and all he stands for. The Eucharist is not only the sacrament of the Lord’s giving of himself to us but also of our personal and communal giving of ourselves to him.

And/Or

(viii) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

We make all sorts of choices every day of the week. Many of them are not all that significant. Nothing much would change if we made a different choice. There are other choices that shape us for life, such as a man or woman’s choice of their future spouse, or our choice of a friend, or our choice of the course of studies or a career. These are fundamental choices that shape a lot of our other choices. There is an even more fundamental choice we have to make in life, which is the choice of the value system by which we will live. That level of choice can bring us into the realm of the spiritual or the religious. The choice we make at this deepest level of our being impacts on every other choice we make, everything we say and do. As believers who belong to the family of the church, our deepest choice is of the Lord. In the course of the gospels, Jesus says, ‘you did not choose me but I chose you’. The Lord has chosen us in love and we have responded to his choice of us by choosing him.

When did we make our choice of the Lord? We might find it hard to identify a particular moment when we made that fundamental choice. Our parents made that choice for us when they brought us to the church for baptism. As we got older, we had to confirm their choice for ourselves. We can associate the confirming of our parents’ choice with the Sacrament of Confirmation, when we claim our baptism for ourselves. Yet, as we go through life, we have to continually confirm our own choice of the Lord. We can drift from the Lord and his way, for all sorts of reasons. It is not always the case that we consciously turn away from the Lord and his community of faith, but he ceases to be a presence for us. We can then discover that there is something missing in our lives, and we come back to the Lord as the one who gives meaning and direction to our lives. The more fundamental the choice, the more we have to keep renewing it, especially in those moments when it is put to the test.

We find such a moment in today’s gospel reading. Jesus had been offering himself to his disciples as their Bread of Life who had come down from heaven, inviting them to eat his body and drink his blood. Those who had earlier chosen to follow him found this teaching difficult to accept. ‘This is intolerable language’, they said. They found that they could not confirm their earlier choice of Jesus. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘many of his disciples left him, and stopped going with him’. The Lord’s loving choice of them hadn’t changed, but they could not respond by continuing to choose him. When people leave a closely knit group, as the disciple of Jesus were at that time, it can have an unsettling impact on everyone else. Others can find themselves asking, ‘Why am I staying if so many are leaving?’ Jesus brought this question to a head for his remaining disciples by asking them, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Peter spoke up on behalf of the others, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life’. Peter and those for whom he spoke recognized that, even though Jesus’ teaching was challenging, his words had a life giving quality; they were words of spirit and life. They were shaped by the Holy Spirit who brings life to all.

There are moments in all our lives when the Lord can say to us, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ The Lord has chosen us out of love, but he wants our choice of him to be free. He wants it to be rooted deep within us. He recognizes that living by his values, following in his way, allowing his words of spirit and life to shape our lives, requires a deliberate choice on our part, a choice that needs to be regularly confirmed. Our faith, our relationship with the Lord, is a gift. He has first loved us; he has taken the initiative towards us in love. Yet, faith is also a human choice, a graced choice. The Lord who has chosen us waits for us to choose him and to do so over and over again. In today’s first reading, Joshua said to the people, ‘Choose today whom you wish to serve’. That is the fundamental choice before which we all stand throughout our lives. Whom or what do we wish to serve with our whole lives? Jesus who has given his whole life to us calls on us to give our lives to him, to love him with all our mind, soul, heart and strength. Choosing the Lord, in this fundamental sense, will involve choosing those whom the Lord has gathered around himself, the community of believers, the church, in all its frailty and weakness. In choosing to stay with Jesus, Peter was also choosing to stay with the other disciples, one of whom, Judas, would go on to betray Jesus. Today’s gospel reading invites us to hear the Lord’s question, ‘What about you?’ as addressed to each one of us personally.

And/Or

(ix) Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

We make choices every day. Some of these choices are deeply significant and shape the rest of our lives, as when a man and a woman choose to give themselves to each other in marriage for life. The more significant the choice we make, the more important it becomes to choose well. We carefully consider our significant choices, such as the choice young people make when they fill in their CAO form, or the choice people make when it comes to a place to live.

The readings today focus on significant moments of choice in the life of God’s people. In the first reading, Joshua put a fundamental choice before the people. They must choose either to serve the local gods of the land or to serve the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. Joshua was aware that the people had already chosen the Lord, but he also knew that their choice of the Lord, like many of the most important choices in life, needed to be renewed again and again. In the gospel reading Jesus faced his own disciples with a significant choice. They must choose either to follow him or to walk away from him and take another path. Jesus was aware that his disciples had already chosen to follow him, but, like Joshua, he also knew that this was a choice the disciples needed to renew over and over again.

The more significant the choice that we make, the more we need to remake that choice throughout our lives. The decision to serve the Lord, to follow the Lord, is the most significant choice we could make in life. In choosing the Lord, we are choosing a way of life, a way of looking at life and a way of living life. In making such a choice and re-making it over and over again, we are taking a fundamental stance in life, one that influences a whole range of other choices we will make in life. That is not to say that everything we say and do will always be shaped by that fundamental stance. None of us are totally consistent. Yet, if we are in any way self reflective, we will probably be aware when what we say and do is not in tune with our choice of the Lord, and we will at least have the desire to bring our lives more fully into line with our choice of the Lord.

It might seem strange to some that this very basic life-choice for the Lord was initially made for us by our parents, when they brought us to the church for baptism as infants. Yet, that choice they made for us as infants was not any stranger than the many other choices they made for us out of love for us at that age; we were simply not able to choose for ourselves. There comes a time in all our lives when we have to confirm for ourselves the choice of the Lord that our parents made for us. One of the key moments we make our parent’s choice our own is when we come to the Eucharist. In a sense, at every Mass, the Lord turns and says to us what he said to Peter, ‘What about you, do you want to go away?’ At every Mass, we are given the opportunity to say with Simon Peter in the gospel reading, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God’. That is one of the reasons why the church, from earliest times, has given such a high priority to our presence at the Sunday Eucharist. It is at the Sunday Eucharist that we re-make the most fundamental choice we can make in life, the choice Jesus put before his disciples, and that Joshua put before the people of Israel. We come to Mass Sunday and Sunday to renew our baptismal choice of the Lord. Past choices need to be kept alive by renewed commitment.

When it comes to remaining faithful to that fundamental choice of the Lord, we are very dependant on each other. We need the example of each other’s faithfulness. Being with others at Mass who themselves keep coming back to re-make that choice of the Lord, helps me to keep remaking that same choice. That is why our presence at Sunday is important for everyone else. The people of Israel must have been greatly supported in their choosing the Lord by Joshua who came forward and said, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’. In the gospel reading, the disciples must have been enormously steadied when Peter stood up and said, on their behalf, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the message of eternal life’. We all need the likes of Joshua and Peter to give a lead, to encourage the rest of us, when our own faith may be faltering. There are times in life when our faith in challenged, when we are tempted to wander off, as some of the disciples did in the gospel reading. It is above all then that we need each other’s witness, each other’s faithfulness. In that sense, we are all called to be a Joshua and a Peter for each other, to support each other in the re-making and living of our choice of the Lord.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

24th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for The Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle (Inc. John 1:45-51): ‘You will see greater things’.

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Gospel (Except USA)John 1:45-51You will see heaven laid open, and the Son of Man.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’

Gospel (USA)John 1:45-51Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Reflections (10)

(i) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew, one of the Twelve, is traditionally identified with Nathanael, who features in today’s gospel reading. Initially, Nathanael pours cold water on Philip’s witness to Jesus, whom Philip has come to recognize as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Nathanael’s refusal seems to be based on a kind of small town prejudice. We subsequently learn in John’s gospel that Nathanael was from Cana, which is not far from Nazareth. When Nathanael asks, ‘From Nathanael! Can anything good come from that place?’ he displays a dusty opinion of this neighbouring small village. Yet, Nathanael’s initial refusal of Philip’s witness to Jesus was not the end of Nathanael’s journey. He subsequently had a change of heart and responded to Philip’s invitation to come and see Jesus. However, Jesus had already seen Nathanael even before Nathanael’s initial dismissal of Philip’s witness. Jesus had a relationship with Nathanael before he had a relationship with Jesus and when Nathanael realized this he confessed his faith in Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, ‘You are the King of Israel’. He was continuing to make progress on his journey of faith. Jesus assures him that he will make further progress into the future; he will see ‘greater things’. He will come to recognize Jesus as the meeting place of heaven and earth, the one on whom the angels of God are ascending and descending. Nathanael’s journey of faith can speak to our own journey. The Lord is relating to us even when we are not relating to him. Our initial resistance to the Lord’s call need never have the last word. He continues to call us to come and see. If we respond in any way to the Lord’s call, he will affirm us in our journey and he will continue to open up new horizons on for us our journey of faith, until we come to see and appreciate him as God with us, the one through whom God’s love comes to us.

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(ii) Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew has traditionally been identified with Nathanael who features in this morning’s gospel reading. He is portrayed in that reading as someone who journeyed in a very short time from great scepticism to great faith. His initial response to Philip’s witness to Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah was to ask, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ Elsewhere in John’s gospel we are told that Nathanael was from Cana in Galilee. Cana was not that far from Nazareth, and wasn’t all that different from Nazareth, but, obviously the people of Cana did not think much of the people of Nazareth. Philip was not put off by Nathanael’s apparent resistance; he simply said, ‘Come and see’, and in fairness to Nathanael, he came and saw. Jesus was not put off either by Nathanael’s resistance, because as soon as he saw Nathanael he complemented him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name incapable of deceit. It was Jesus’ positive reception of Nathanael which brought Nathanael to make his great act of faith, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’. The gospel reading suggests that Jesus could look beyond the negative in people to see and to name what was positive. The Lord sees and names the good in us, and if we could become more aware of how the Lord regards us, we too, like Nathanael, would grow in faith.

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(iii) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Today we celebrate the feast of St Bartholomew. He has been traditionally identified with Nathanael who features in this morning’s gospel reading. Nathanael dismissed Philip’s initial witness to Jesus with the dismissive words, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ Nathanael had a dusty opinion of Nazareth and had no expectations of it. In this regard, he was probably not alone. Yet, in response to Philip’s persistence, Nathanael did make his way to Jesus. Upon seeing Nathanael Jesus paid him a high compliment. In spite of the fact that Nathanael had been dismissive of Jesus initially, Jesus was anything but dismissive of Nathanael. This is a reminder to us that the Lord is always generous in his way of perceiving us. Even when we are less than generous towards him, he remains generous towards us. The Lord’s generous vision of Nathanael changed Nathanael in some way. From initially dismissing Jesus, he went on to confess him as the Son of God and King of Israel. Jesus’ generous vision of Nathanael brought out the best in him, and can bring out the best in us. In a similar way, when we are generous in our way of seeing and relating to others, we too can help bring out the best in them. That is our calling as followers of the Lord who is full of grace and truth.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

We know very little about Saint Bartholomew, but he has been traditionally identified with Nathanael who features in today’s gospel reading. According to the last chapter of John’s gospel, Nathanael was from Cana in Galilee, which was not very far from Nazareth and much the same kind of place. Yet, when Philip announces to him that they identified Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, Nathanael responds by asking ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ An example perhaps of small town rivalry! Nathanael started off dismissing Jesus on the basis of where Jesus was from. However, once Nathanael met Jesus for himself, his view of Jesus completely changed. He declared in Jesus’ presence, ‘You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’. The gospel reading suggests that there is no substitute for a personal encounter with Jesus. Without that personal encounter, Nathanael would have continued to dismiss Jesus outright. Through Philip, the Lord called Nathanael to ‘come and see’. It is because he came and saw, and met with Jesus for himself, that Nathanael ceased to be a sceptic and became a disciple. The Lord is constantly calling on us to ‘come and see’, to meet with him in a very personal way, one to one, rather than just knowing about him by hearsay.

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(v) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew is listed as one of the twelve apostles. He has tended to be identified with Nathanael who features in this morning’s gospel reading. Nathanael starts off being very sceptical about Jesus, ‘Can anything good come from that place – Nazareth?’ However, he finishes by making a great confession of faith, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’. Yet Jesus goes on to tell him that although he has journeyed from scepticism to faith he is still only at the beginning of his journey of faith. Jesus promises him, ‘You will see greater things... You will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending’. Nathanael will eventually come to see Jesus as the meeting point of heaven and earth, the one in whom God has taken flesh. Nathanael had made great progress on the journey of faith but he will make even further progress. His initial movement beyond scepticism was inspired by the witness of one of the disciples of Jesus, Philip, who shared his faith with Nathanael and encouraged him to meet Jesus in spite of his scepticism. We are all on a journey of faith. On that journey there may be a moment or many moments of scepticism. Yet, the Lord keeps calling out to us and promises us that we will see greater things. If that is to come to pass, we need people like Philip to support us on every step of our faith journey and we in turn need to be a Philip to others on their faith journey.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew has been traditionally identified with Nathanael who features in our gospel reading this morning. Jesus pays him a lovely compliment, ‘Here is an Israelite, incapable of deceit’ or ‘in whom there is no deceit’. Jesus admired his openness and honesty. Even his dusty opinion about Nazareth, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ was, at least, an honest opinion; it was what he believed. Nathanael went on to recognize that his honest opinion about Nazareth was a mistaken one. He came to see that Jesus from Nazareth was none other than the Son of God and the King of Israel. It takes a generosity of heart and spirit to recognize when we have got it wrong, to recognize that our opinion of some person or place has been shaped by our prejudices rather than by reality. Nathanael’s honesty and generosity of heart can be an inspired to us on this his feast day. The final word of the gospel reading, however, is given to Jesus, not to Nathanael. It takes the form of that wonderful promise Jesus makes to him, ‘You will see greater things... You will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending’. We may have a certain insight into Jesus, a certain appreciation of him, like Nathanael, but Jesus assures us that there is so much more to see and appreciate. In our relationship with Jesus, we are always only towards the beginning of our journey. There are always ‘greater things’ to see.

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(vii) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew is listed as one of the twelve apostles. He is traditionally identified with the figure of Nathanael who features in this morning’s gospel reading. When Philip shared with Nathanael his emerging faith in Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael dismissed it with the remark, ‘can anything good come from Nazareth?’ Yet, this dismissive, sceptical attitude would not go on to define Nathanael. There was some little openness in him, because when Philip went on to say to him, ‘Come and see’, Nathanael did come and he saw for himself. When Jesus saw Nathanael, he drew attention not to his initial dismissive attitude but to his openness, ‘an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit’. Jesus admired his honesty; there was no pretence in him. As a result of his meeting with Jesus, Nathanael goes on to make his confession of faith in Jesus of Nazareth, ‘you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’. Nathanael had moved from scepticism to faith. Yet, Jesus assures him that he is still only at the beginning of his journey; he has only begun to see. Jesus promises him, ‘You will see greater things... you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending’. He will come to recognize Jesus as the meeting point of heaven and earth, as God in human form. Like Nathanael, we are all on a journey. The Lord invites us to ‘come and see’, no matter where we are on that journey, and, if we do manage to see something of the Lord, he promises us that one day we will see greater things than what we now see.

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(viii) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew, who is only mentioned in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, is often identified with Nathanael who only features in the gospel of John. One of the striking aspects of the portrayal of Nathanael in this morning’s gospel reading is his openness and willingness to change for the better. When Philip tries to share with Nathanael his emerging faith in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, Nathanael initially dismisses Jesus out of hand on the basis of where Jesus is from. However, when Philip persists, Nathanael goes with Philip to meet Jesus. Then when Jesus addresses him as a person incapable of deceit, Nathanael makes a great confession of faith in Jesus, ‘You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel’. Jesus reminds him that he is not yet at the end of his faith journey; he has only begun to see, ‘you will see greater things’. Yet, we sense that Nathanael, having travelled so far in such a short time, will continue to make progress. He is an encouragement to us all that change for the better is always possible, for all of us. We all have the potential to grow in our relationship with the Lord and to allow him to shape our lives ever more fully. Nathanael would not have made the progress he made without the initiative that the Lord took towards him, initially through the person of Philip and then in a more direct and personal way. The Lord continues to take the same initiative towards us; he continues to call us into a deeper relationship with himself; he never gives up on us; he knocks on our door in various ways. All he asks is that we have that same openness to respond to the Lord’s initiative towards us that Nathanael had. If we have that openness, then, like Nathanael, we too will change for the better, we will begin to see greater things.

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(ix) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew is mentioned in the list of the twelve apostles in the gospels. He is traditionally identified with Nathanael in today’s gospel reading from John. Nathanael was initially very dismissive of Jesus, wondering if anything good could come from the village of Nazareth. He poured cold water on Philip’s witness to his faith, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law...’ Yet there was something about Philip’s witness which prompted Nathanael to go with him when Philip said, ‘Come and see’. Nathanael’s own personal encounter with Jesus led him from his initial dismissive attitude to a sharing in Philip’s faith, ‘You are the son of God, you are the King of Israel’. This was still only the beginning of Nathanael’s journey. Jesus informs him that he will see greater things. Yet, he had already come a long way from his initial scepticism. The story of Nathanael in today’s gospel reading reminds us that faith is a journey of coming to see the Lord more clearly and of following the Lord more wholeheartedly. Even if, like Nathanael, we start in a very inauspicious place, a place of doubt and scepticism, the Lord continues to call us, and he calls us in and through each other, as he called Nathanael through Philip. No matter where we are on this faith journey, the Lord continues to say to us, what he said to Nathanael, ‘you will see greater things’. We are always on the way until that eternal day when we see the Lord face to face.

And/Or

(x) Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

The reason we read this gospel reading featuring Nathanael on the feast of Saint Bartholomew is because they have been traditionally regarded as the same person. There is something quite attractive about the portrayal of Nathanael in that gospel reading. His initial response to Philip’s breathless witness to Jesus seems very gruff and dismissive, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ We are all familiar with the tendency to dismiss someone on the grounds of where they come from or who their parents are. Prejudice is always with us and can even lurk in our own hearts. Yet, Nathanael didn’t allow himself to get stuck in his prejudice. He thought better of his initial dismissal of Jesus and he went on to respond to Philip’s gentle invitation to come and see Jesus. We are being reminded that it is not where we start that matters but where we end up. We are all capable of having a change of mind and heart for the better, especially when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. This freedom to move to a better place is a quality that Jesus recognized in Nathanael and appreciated. When he sees Nathanael coming towards him, he pays him a wonderful compliment, identifying him as a man ‘incapable of deceit’. Where we are now is more important to the Lord than where we have been in the past. Once Jesus engaged Nathanael in conversation, he made further progress, publicly declaring Jesus to be ‘the Son of God’ and ‘the King of Israel’. He has come a long way from where he started; from dismissing Jesus on the basis of his home village, he now confesses him in a striking way. The Lord invites all of us to keep travelling that same journey of deepening our relationship with him. Wherever we are on that journey, he will say to us what he went on to say to Nathanael, ‘you will see great things’. Nathanael still had a long way to go on his journey towards Jesus and that is true of us all. The journey of coming to Jesus, seeing him with our heart and mind, staying with him and witnessing to him is a life-long journey. It is one of the great journeys of life and the Lord travels it with us, constantly calling us to come further and to see more.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

23rd August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 22:34-40): ‘On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets too’.

Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 22:34-40The commandments of love.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 22:34-40You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Reflections (10)

(i) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, the Pharisees try to disconcert Jesus with a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ It was a serious question that required a considered response. Jesus had no hesitation in answering it. Indeed, he gave more than he was asked. The Pharisees asked for the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus responded by giving the two greatest commandments in the Law. Jesus not only declared them to be the two greatest commandments but announced that ‘the whole Law and the Prophets also’ hang upon them. The Law and the Prophets constituted almost all of the Jewish Scriptures at that time. Jesus was making quite a claim for these two commandments. He was affirming that everything in the Jewish Scriptures can be reduced to God’s double commandment to love. Everything else is a commentary on this commandment. Only God is to be loved with all our heart, soul and mind, in other words, with all our being and life energy. God has loved us into being and God’s love sustains us in being in this life and beyond, and only God is worthy of our total and complete love. The first reading from Ezekiel reminds us that God’s love is a life-giving love, a love that breathes new life into our dry bones and dried up spirits. When we respond to God’s love by loving God with all our being, we become fully alive. Jesus insists that this complete love of God is inseparable from loving others as if they were extensions of ourselves. God’s life-giving love for us is to flow through us to embrace others, including those who are very different from us, even our enemies. We are to love others in the way God loves them. There is a wonderful vision here of God’s purpose for our lives and if we were to surrender to it God’s kingdom would come on earth.

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(ii) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The motivation underpinning the question that the Pharisees ask Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading left a lot to be desired. Yet, even though the motive for asking the question was suspect, the question itself was a very good one. There were considered to be over 600 commandments in the Jewish Law at the time of Jesus. Devout people asked the question, ‘Was there any one commandment that should stand above all the others?’ In answer to the question of the Pharisees Jesus gave more than he was asked for. He not only gave the most important commandment but what he considered to be the two most important commandments. What is common to both commandments is the word ‘love’. God is to be the primary object of our love; God alone is to be loved with all our being, all our heart, soul and mind. Jesus seems to have been unique in linking this primary commandment with another commandment which was found in a different place in the Scriptures to that first commandment, the love of the neighbour. Jesus seems to be saying that those who truly love God with all their being will be caught up into God’s love of others, will love others in the way God loves them. Jesus is the one human being who fully embodies the two fold love. His love for God was so total, his loving communion with God was so complete, that he became the perfect expression of God’s love for others. In these days when so much suffering can be inflicted on others in the name of God, it is good to be reminded of these two inseparable commandments. They are the essence of our baptismal calling.

And/Or

(iii) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

At the time of Jesus there were considered to be 613 commandments in the Jewish Law. In theory all the commandments were to be observed with equal diligence but, in practice, it was recognized that some commandments were more important than others. According to today’s gospel reading, the question that the Pharisees put to Jesus, ‘Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ was intended to put Jesus to the test. It was asked in the hope that Jesus would make some damaging statement. However, Jesus’ reply could hardly be faulted. He gave not just the greatest commandment but what he considered to be the first and the second commandment. He brought together two commandments which had not rarely been brought together in this way before. He declared that the heart of all 613 commandments was the commandment to love. Our love is to be directed in the first place to God; it is only God who is to be loved with all our being, all our heart, soul and mind. No one else is worthy of such all embracing love. Yet, Jesus declares that such total love of God is inseparable from the love of our neighbour who is to be loved as we love ourselves. Our love of neighbour and of ourselves is to be a reflection of God’s love of our neighbour and of ourselves. In loving God with all our being we are caught up into God’s love of us all. In going towards God in love, we go from God in love towards others and ourselves. Jesus declares that everything in the Scriptures, in the Law and the Prophets, hangs on those two great and inseparable commandments.

And/Or

(iv) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospels several people ask Jesus questions. Sometimes the questions reveal an openness to Jesus, a desire to learn from him. At other times the questions are more confrontational. The question put to Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew is more like this latter type. We are told that a scribe asked Jesus a question to test him. The question, ‘Which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ was meant to trip Jesus up. The scribe may have hoped that Jesus would give an answer that would show him up in a bad light. In his answer Jesus gave more than he was asked for. He not only gave the greatest commandment but the second greatest commandment as well. The first commandment is a quotation from the Book of Deuteronomy. God is to be loved with one’s whole being, heart, mind and soul. No creature, not matter how noble, is to be loved in this way. The second greatest commandment, to love our neighbour as ourselves, is a quotation from the book of Leviticus. Yes, God must come first, but there is no true love of God without love of neighbour. We cannot claim to be honouring God if we dishonour another human being in any way, no matter how different he or she might be from us. Jesus brings together these two commandments from different parts of the Bible, in a way no one else had done before him. He shows us very clearly that the way to God always passes through other people. Elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel Jesus identifies himself with our neighbour, especially the vulnerable and broken neighbour. To that extent the way to God always passes through Jesus.

And/Or

(v) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

People can ask questions for different reasons. In this morning’s gospel reading we are told that the Pharisees ask Jesus a question to disconcert him. In other words, their question was not really a genuine question; it was a kind of a trick question intended to put Jesus on the spot. Yet Jesus appears to have treated the question, ‘Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ as a serious question because he gave it a very considered reply. He didn’t exactly answer the question he was asked. He was asked for the greatest commandment of the Law, but he gave the greatest and the second greatest commandment of the Law, implying that both were inseparable. The commandment ot love God with all one’s heart, soul and mind and the commandment to love the neighbour as oneself belong together in the mind of Jesus. They belong together but they are not on the same level, one is more important that the other, one is first and the other is second. The love of God with all our being is prior to and somehow undergirds our love of neighbour. Jesus seems to be saying that we cannot really love our neighbour fully unless we give first place to God in our lives. Yet, our failure to love our neighbour is a sign that God is nor our first and most complete love.

And/Or

(vi) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The question that is put to Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading - ‘Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ – was with a view to disconcerting him. Jesus was being put to the test. Yet, in spite of the questionable motivation behind the question, Jesus took the question seriously and gave his questioners and all of us an answer that is worth pondering. Although he was asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus’ answer put two commandments side by side. The first commandment was the core of the prayer recited by observant Jews several times a day, called the Shema. The Hebrew word Shema means ‘Hear’. The prayer is called after its first word, ‘Hear O Israel the Lord you God is one...’. In a similar way, the prayer that we might pray several times a day as Christians, the Lord’s Prayer, is often referred to by its first two words, ‘Our Father’. The combining of this commandment with the commandment to love our neighbour seems distinctive to Jesus. For Jesus to love God with all one’s heart and soul and mind is inseparable from the love of neighbour in the way that God loves them. Elsewhere Jesus defines ‘neighbour’ in a very inclusive way as embracing all of humanity, including even our enemy. Jesus declares that the whole Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Love is the key to interpreting all the requirements of the Law and the prophets. Jesus shows us by his life and death what loving God with all our being and loving the neighbour as ourselves looks like. He not only shows us what such love looks like, he also pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we may be empowered to love in the way that he does.

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(vii) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The Pharisee who questioned Jesus in today’s gospel reading claimed to be looking for the most important commandment out of the hundreds that were in the Jewish Law. However, Jesus did not reply to his question by giving him one commandment, but two, what he called the greatest or first commandment and a second commandment that ‘resembles it’. It seems that Jesus did something very original here. He took two commandments that were in different books of the Jewish Scriptures, the first commandment that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, which is in the book of Deuteronomy, and the second commandment, ‘you must love your neighbour as yourself’, which is in the book of Leviticus. Jesus brought these commandments together in a way that was unique to him. What is common to both commandments is that little word ‘love’. It is as if Jesus is saying, ‘if you really want to get to the heart of God’s Law, what it is that God wills for our lives, it is love’. Love is the centre of the Jewish Law. It is also, of course, the centre of Jesus’ message. If these two commandments to love are the most important of all the commandments in the Jewish Law, Jesus insists that one of these commandments to love is more important than the other. The first and most important of the two is to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. In that first commandment, we are being asked to give God first place in our lives. God alone is to be loved with all our being. This involves acknowledging our dependence on God, recognizing how much we receive from God and then offering all that back to God in love. Jesus implies that this love of God is the inspiration and foundation for our love of others, a love that has something of the quality of God’s own love for humanity.

And/Or

(viii) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The first reading from the prophet Ezekiel is full of drama. The Lord through the prophet is speaking to a people who keep saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead’. Any one of us can feel a little like that at certain moments of our lives. We feel dried up; we seem to have lost hope; we sense that we are only half alive, as good as dead. The Covid pandemic has perhaps led to more people feeling like this than usual. It can be a disheartening, dispiriting time. In our first reading, the Lord promises his people that he will raise them from their graves; he will put his spirit within them and they will begin to live again. The Lord makes the same promise to all of us when we feel only half alive and drained of hope. At such moments, the Lord invites us to come before him and to open our hearts to his life-giving spirit, the Holy Spirit, who will enable us to live again. I like that prayer to the Holy Spirit that we pray on Pentecost Sunday, ‘Holy Spirit, Lord of light… Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour they dew’. The people of Israel in the first reading were like dry bones scattered in a valley, but the Lord wanted to breathe life into those dry bones, pouring the dew on his Spirit upon them. The Lord always stands ready to breathe life into us, by pouring his Spirit afresh into our lives. His Spirit will always led us out towards others in love, lifting us beyond our tendency to turn in on ourselves in despondency. The Spirit will move us towards that love of God with all our being and the love of neighbour as ourselves, which Jesus speaks about in the gospel reading and that shaped his own life. When we allow the Spirit to generate the Lord’s own love within us, then we will begin to come alive again. We will discover the Lord’s own joy, which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit working within us.

And/Or

(ix) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Life can be very complex and we often feel the need to cut through all the complexities to what is essential and truly valuable. In the time of Jesus, the Jewish religion had become a little complex. There were many laws and regulations governing all sorts of areas of life. The question that was put to Jesus at the beginning of today’s gospel reading was looking for what was essential and valuable in the midst of all this complexity, ‘Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ In other words, ‘What does it all boil down to in the end?’ In answering that question, Jesus found it necessary to give not just the one greatest commandment of the Law, but the greatest and the next greatest commandment of the Law. He couldn’t really boil the Jewish Law down to one commandment, but he could boil it down to two commandments. However, the two commandments have something essential in common. They are both commandments to love. In a way, Jesus was saying that all the laws and regulations of the Jewish religion can be boiled down to the commandment to love. Yet, for Jesus, there is a primary love and a secondary love. Our primary love is due to God. Only God is to be loved with our whole being, all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. God is deserving of such love because that is how God loves us. God loves us with all God’s being, and we are to love God with all our being. However, for Jesus this total love of God is inseparable from the love of our neighbour and our neighbour is every human being, regardless of their race, religion, background, or way of life. We are to love others in the way God loves them. It is our loving relationship with God that empowers to love others in this God-like way.

And/Or

(x) Friday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The question that the Pharisees put to Jesus in today’s gospel reading was intended to put Jesus to the test, ‘to disconcert him’. They asked him which of the many commandments in the Jewish Law was the greatest one. Jesus sails through the test, giving his answer from the Book of Deuteronomy (6:7). The greatest commandment is to love God with all one’s being. There is nothing more important than this. Only God is to be loved with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. Only God is to be loved in this complete and radical way. Jesus goes on to give more than he was asked for, not only the greatest commandment but the second greatest commandment, which he takes from the Book of Leviticus, the commandment to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. Jesus is saying that the love of God with all our being entails loving all those whom God loves, and in the way that God loves them. Jesus understands ‘neighbour’ in the second commandment as every human being, regardless of how different they are from us, even if they see us as an enemy. Jesus brings these two commandments together in his own life. He lived both commandments to the full. Because he loved God with all his being, he was caught up in God’s love for all of humanity. In is only in the power of the Holy Spirit that we will be able to live these two commandments as Jesus did. We begin by opening ourselves up to the Spirit of God’s love whom God wishes to pour into our hearts and it is this Spirit that enables us to love God with all our being and our neighbour as ourselves.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

22nd August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for:

The Feast of the Queenship of Mary (Inc. Luke 1:39-56)

and

Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 22:1-14).

Feast of the Queenship of Mary

Gospel (Except USA)Luke 1:26-38'I am the handmaid of the Lord'.

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Gospel (USA)Luke 1:26-38You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Reflections (6)

(i) Feast of the Queenship of Mary

This feast is a relatively recent one in the church. For centuries Mary had been venerated as Queen of the angels and the saints. It is depicted, for example, in some very early mosaic works in the apse of the great Basilicas. Jesus is portrayed as King of heaven and earth, and, alongside him, Mary is portrayed as Queen. In 1955, at the end of the Marian Year, Pope Pius XII gave formal expression to this popular belief of the faithful, by promulgating this feast of the Queenship of Mary. He placed it on this date, 22nd August, to stress the connection with the feast of the Assumption. Like that feast, this feast of the Queenship of Mary proclaims the very special union between herself and her Son in heaven. The church understands this special relationship between Jesus and Mary in heaven as the continuation and deepening of their special relationship on earth. In the gospel reading, Mary consents to be the mother of Jesus, God’s Son. She carried Jesus in her womb for nine months, and, having given birth to him, she nursed him as only a mother could. No other human being had such a deeply personal relationship with Jesus from the first moment of his existence. Before she conceived Jesus in her womb, she conceived him in her heart, through her faith, by surrendering herself to God’s purpose and desire for her life, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me’. When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, according to Luke’s gospel, Elizabeth declared Mary blessed because of the child she was carrying in her womb, but then went on to declare Mary blessed because of her faith, ‘Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was said to her by the Lord’. Mary inspires us to keep growing in our faith, to keep giving ourselves over to God’s purpose, God’s desire, for our lives, so that Christ can live in us, as he lived in Mary, and so that we become people who bring the Lord to others as she brought the Lord to us. Christ who lives in us in this earthly life will then draw us into a deeper relationship with himself in the life beyond this earthly life.

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(ii) Feast of the Queenship of Mary

During the Middle Ages Mary was venerated as Queen of the angels and saints. Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Queenship of Mary as a memorial of the universal church at the close of the Marian Year of 1955. The memorial is placed on this date, August 22, to stress its connection with the feast of the Assumption, exactly a week earlier. The gospel reading for today’s feast tells us that if Mary now reigns with her Son in heaven, it is because she gave herself over to God’s purpose for her earthly life, as did Jesus her Son. There are many call stories in the gospels and in the bible as a whole. Today’s gospel reading is the story of the call of Mary. According to the passage, Mary displayed a whole range of responses to God’s approach to her. Initially, she was ‘deeply disturbed’, and then she questioned, ‘How can this come about?’ It was only after an interior journey that she finally surrendered to what God was asking of her, ‘let what you have said be done to me’. The reading suggests that Mary’s response came at the end of a period of struggle. There will always be an element of struggle in our own dealings with the Lord, in our own efforts to respond to the Lord’s call. Mary’s response of total surrender to God’s purpose for her life did not come easy to her and does not come easy to us. However, in our struggle to live in harmony with God’s purpose for our lives, we all have the assurance of Gabriel’s words to Mary, ‘Nothing is impossible to God’. What may seem impossible to us is always possible with God’s help. We can all come to make our own the words of Saint Paul, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain’ (1 Cor 15:10).

And/Or

(iii) Feast of The Queenship of Mary

Today we celebrate the memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Queenship of Mary as a feast of the universal church at the close of the Marian Year of 1955. The feast is placed on this date, August 22, to stress its connection with the feast of the Assumption, exactly a week earlier. We find this link expressed in the joyful mysteries of the rosary, with the fourth mystery being the Assumption and the fifth mystery being the Coronation of Mary as Queen of heaven. Today’s gospel reading, the Annunciation to Mary, is the first joyful mystery. That first joyful mystery in Mary’s life underpins the fifth joyful of her life. If she reigns with her Son in heaven it is because she first shared in his complete surrender to God’s purpose for his life. As Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, ‘not my will but yours be done’, Mary said in Nazareth, ‘let what you have said be done to me’. That surrender to God’s purpose did not come easy to Jesus in the garden; he had first prayed ‘Take this cup from me’. It did not come easy to Mary either. According to today’s gospel reading, she was initially deeply disturbed and full of questions. Today’s feast invites us to share in Mary’s willingness to both seek out God’s purpose for our lives and to surrender to it. This surrender won’t always come easy to us, no more than it came easy to Mary. Our own small purposes can get in the way of God’s greater purpose for our lives. Yet, Mary can help us to be as open and responsive to God’s will for our lives as she was, which is why we need to pray, ‘Mary, pray for us, sinners, now, and at the hour of our death’.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of The Queenship of Mary

During the Middle Ages Mary was venerated as Queen of the angels and saints. Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Queenship of Mary as a memorial of the universal church at the close of the Marian Year of 1955. The memorial is placed on this date, August 22, to stress its connection with the feast of the Assumption, a week earlier. When people of faith gave Mary the title of Queen of heaven and earth, it was their way of saying that Mary is worthy of our veneration and that she deserves our honour. We honour and we venerate Mary. We don’t worship Mary. Only God can be worshipped, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We honour Mary as Queen because of who she was in her earthly life, because she was a woman of deep faith. Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel conveys the core of her faith, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. The gospel reading suggests that Mary had her reservations about what God appeared to be asking of her, ‘How can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ The angel Gabriel went on to say to her, ‘Nothing is impossible to God’. Mary came to accept that what she herself could not bring about, God would bring about. She then gave herself over to God’s purpose for her life, trusting that God could bring his purpose to pass. It could be said that Mary allowed God to be God in her life. This is the essence of faith. The person of faith does not try to manage God or to shape God to his or her purposes. Like Mary, we surrender to God’s purpose for our lives and we allow God to be God of our lives. In honouring Mary as Queen, we ask her to intercede for us, to pray for us, so that we can be as open to God’s desire for our lives as she was.

And/Or

(v) Feast of the Queenship of Mary

This memorial of Mary is relatively recent in the history of the church. Pope Pius XII prescribed this feast for the universal church at the close of the Marian Year in 1954. It is placed on this date, 22nd August, exactly a week after the feast of the Assumption, to stress the connection of Mary’s Queenship with the Assumption. Even though the official declaration of the Queenship of Mary as a memorial is relatively recent, the appreciation of Mary as Queen of heaven has a very long tradition in the church. I am reminded of some of the wonderful and very ancient mosaics in the apse of some churches in Rome depicting Jesus as king and Mary as Queen seated beside each other. The beautiful mosaic in the apse of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome comes to mind. Depicting Mary as Queen alongside her son as King was a way of showing honour to Mary for the person she had been in her earthly life. The gospel reading this morning depicts her as saying ‘yes’ to God’s desire for her to be the mother of his Son. Out of all women, she was chosen to give birth to a son who would also be the Son of God, who, in the words of today’s first reading would be a ‘great light’ in the darkness, a Wonder-Counsellor, a Mighty-God, a Prince of Peace. The church came to appreciate from its earliest days just how significant Mary’s ‘yes’ to God’s purpose for her life was for all of humanity. It was because Mary surrendered to God’s purpose for her life that God’s purpose for all our lives could come to pass. It was Mary’s faithful response to God’s word spoken by Gabriel that made it possible for us all to become people of faith. Her ‘yes’ created the opening for God’s Son to be given to us all and for us to respond in faith to this wonderful gift. Mary was pivotal in God’s saving purpose and, so, the church believed from earliest times that she must have a special place in heaven, alongside her Son. Today, we honour Mary as Queen of heaven. We are also reminded that our own ‘yes’ to the Lord’s call, just like Mary’s, can have important consequences for good in the lives of others. Even if in a lesser way than was the case with Mary, the faith of each one of us is instrumental in helping others come to faith and in nurturing the faith of others.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of the Queenship of Mary

During the Middle Ages, Mary was venerated as Queen of the angels and saints. Pope Pius XII prescribed this memorial of the Queenship of Mary for the universal Church at the close of the Marian Year in 1955. It is placed on this date of 22nd August, a week after the feast of the Assumption, to show its close association with that feast. It is a feast that celebrates Mary’s exalted place in heaven. Mary’s exaltation bears out the truth of Jesus’ saying, ‘those who humble themselves will be exalted’. In today’s gospel reading, we find Mary humbling herself. In her conversation with the angel Gabriel, she shows an open, questioning, spirit. She asked herself what Gabriel’s greeting could mean. In response to Gabriel’s extraordinary news, Mary asked, ‘how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ She didn’t claim to know everything. The kind of questioning, searching, spirit that Mary displays is a sign of humility. It stands over against the attitude of those who claim to know more than they actually do. Mary’s humble spirit is finally and fully revealed in her surrender to God’s purpose for her life, even though she doesn’t understand it fully at this moment, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. These words reveal Mary’s willingness to allow God to have his way in her life, rather than insisting on her own way. In the beatitudes, Jesus would declare those with such an attitude to be blessed, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’. Indeed, Mary could be described as a woman of the beatitudes. She shows us the path we are all to take. If we enter into her humble attitude, allowing God to have his way in our life, we too will be exalted by God. We recognize Mary’s Queenship most fully when, like her, we give ourselves over to God’s gracious purpose for our lives.

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Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 22:1-14Invite everyone you can to the wedding.

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 22:1-14Invite to the wedding feast whomever you find.

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Reflections (5)

(i) Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable in this morning’s gospel reading is the story of a king who was determined that there would be a full house for the wedding banquet of his son. When two lots of servants got nowhere with those who had already said they would be there, the king sends out his servants a third time to the crossroads of the town to bring total strangers to the banquet of his son’s wedding. We can hear in the story an image of the persistence of God who continues to call even when people seem deaf to his call. The Lord does not give up on us, even when we give him good reasons for doing so. He continues to call out to us. The first reading from the prophet Ezekiel suggests that God not only continues to call us but that God is always at work in our lives. God’s call is not just something external but God works from within. In that reading God promises to cleanse us, to give us a new heart, to put a new spirit within us. God will certainly do his part. The conclusion of the parable in the gospel reading suggests that we also have to do our part. Some of the guests were asked to leave because they were not wearing a wedding garment. In other words, they were casual about the king’s invitation. God is not casual in our regard. He invests heavily in us and he looks to us for an appropriate response. Our lives are to bear fruit worthy of God’s investment.

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(ii) Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

An invitation is not a command. We receive many invitations in life, either verbally or in writing and we probably ignore or decline a good number of them. We are free to accept an invitation or not. God’s way of relating to us is shaped more by invitation than by command. The parable Jesus speaks in the gospel reading this morning is about God’s invitation to all of us to the banquet of life. In the story, the king who invites chosen guests to his son’s wedding banquet does not cancel the meal when those who were invited all refuse; instead he invites a whole new group. That aspect of the story speaks to us of God’s persistence. When the human response to God’s invitation is not forthcoming, God does not cancel anything; he simply intensifies his invitation. God continues to work to ensure that as many as possible approach the banquet of life. This banquet is in a sense embodied in the person of Christ who is the bread of life. The second part of the parable reminds us that saying ‘yes’ to the God’s invitation is not something we do once and then forget about. We have to say ‘yes’ to God’s invitation everyday day of our lives. In the language of the parable, we have to keep putting on the wedding garment. Having been clothed with Christ at baptism, we have to keep clothing ourselves with Christ and all he stands for, day by day.

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(iii) Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s parable Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God as a wedding feast to which people are invited. The great feast is a frequent image of the kingdom of God in the gospels. It is an image which suggests God’s gracious and generous hospitality. The Eucharist can be understood as an anticipation of the banquet in the kingdom of heaven. At the Eucharist we not only look back to the Last Supper but we also look forward to the banquet of eternal life. At the Last Supper Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom’. In the parable in this morning’s gospel reading, many of those who had been invited to the wedding banquet and who had already agreed to come turned down the invitation at the last minute, just when everything was ready. Even some of those who did respond to the invitation did not take the event seriously as was clear from their inappropriate dress. God invites and he persistently invites, even after many refusals. Yet, it is up to us to respond. Our presence at the Eucharist is a sign that we are responding to the Lord’s invitation. Yet, we have to keep clothing ourselves in the right way, clothing ourselves with Christ, as Paul says. We are send out from the Eucharist to put on Christ, to put on the one whom we have received and who desires to live in and through us.

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(iv) Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In the time of Jesus it would have been considered a great honour to be invited to a wedding banquet, especially if the person doing the inviting was a king and if the invitation was to share table with his son, as in the parable in today’s gospel reading. Most people lived simply by today’s standards. Invitations to banquets did not come along every day. When they did come along, they presented an opportunity to eat in a way that was not the norm. Most people who received such an invitation would have jumped at it. However, in the parable Jesus tells the invitation to the wedding banquet of a king’s son was turned down by several people, with violence against the king’s messengers thrown in. This was foolish behaviour by any standards. Why turn down the gift of a great feast, insulting the host in the process? There was everything to be gained and nothing to be lost by saying ‘yes’ to the invitation. Jesus may be reminding us that we can all say ‘no’ to God’s invitation, in spite of the fact that God’s invitation is always with our best interests in view. God calls us through his Son to nourish us in body, mind and spirit. God’s call is always a call to life in its fullness. There is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by responding positively to this invitation of the Lord. Yet, we can all allow God’s invitation to pass us by. Each day is an opportunity to respond with renewed energy to God’s invitation to sit at table with his Son, to enter into communion with his Son and to allow his Son to cloth us with himself, with his values and attitudes.

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(v) Thursday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Perhaps what people missed most during the Covid pandemic was the opportunity to gather around a table and to share a meal with family and friends. Important occasions like birthdays, weddings, significant anniversaries, retirements and so on could not be celebrated at a gathering where food was served. The gathering of family and friends around a table is something we all value. When Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven, he frequently drew on this cherished human experienced of the shared meal. He once spoke of the kingdom of heaven as a banquet to which people from north, south, east and west would come. In the parable Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. Many people were invited to this special feast. It would have been a great honour to receive an invitation to a royal banquet. However, in the parable as Jesus tells it, those who had originally said ‘yes’ to the invitation to this royal banquet turn around and say ‘no’ on the day of the banquet itself, just when, in the words of the gospel reading, ‘everything is ready’. It would have shown great disrespect to the host to have a change of mind and heart at the last minute. Understandably, the king was angry. The parable suggests that God can do the inviting, but God cannot force a response to his invitation. We need to be attentive to the God’s call and invitation and respond to it in gratitude, because it is a sign that God values us and honours us. God’s invitation is never in doubt. God keeps inviting. In the parable, when those originally invited said ‘no’ at the last minute, the king sent out an invitation to as many as could be found, so that his wedding hall would be filled. God’s banquet of life will not be cancelled. The only question is whether we will respond to God’s invitation. Each day of our lives we try to respond to God’s call and invitation, by putting on the wedding garment, in the language of the parable, by clothing ourselves with the attitudes and values of the Lord.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

21st August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 20:1-16): ‘Why be envious because I am generous?’

Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 20:1-16Why be envious because I am generous?

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage.” So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.” In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first.” So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. “The men who came last” they said “have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.” He answered one of them and said, “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 20:1-16Are you envious because I am generous?

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In a prayer to God, Saint Augustine once said, ‘Late have I loved you, Beauty ever ancient and ever new’. Compared to others, he came to God late in life. He was one of the latecomers, like those in today’s parable who worked only for the last hour of the working day. Yet, God was as generous with Augustine as he had been with those who came to faith much earlier in life. Augustine had an overwhelming sense of God’s gracious and merciful love for him. The parable Jesus speaks upsets a lot of people, because it seems that those who worked all day were treated unfairly, receiving the same wage as those who only worked for the last hour. Yet, as the landowner says in the parable, he has given those who worked all day the wage that was agreed, which was a just wage, because a denarius was considered a day’s wage at the time. The landowner wasn’t unjust to those who worked all day. He was just extremely generous to those who worked for much less than the full working day. He gave everyone a day’s wage, a living wage, so that they could feed their families. He didn’t work on the basis of strict justice. His generous nature exploded the boundaries of strict justice. In this parable Jesus was saying something to us about God. It is in God’s nature to be extremely generous with us, whether we have strictly deserved it or not. God’s ways are not our ways. God is like the father in the parable of the prodigal son who threw a feast for his rebellious son who came home very late indeed. This is good news to rejoice in, rather than disturbing news to be upset by. Saint Paul expresses this good news in his own way, ‘For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9)

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(ii) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Most of us react instinctively against any form of behaviour that we consider to be unfair or unjust. If we think we are being treated unfairly, unjustly, we can feel especially irate. It is probably that instinct in us that leaves us feeling a bit uneasy about the story that Jesus tells in this morning’s gospel reading. We can easily sympathize with the complaint of the workers who bemoan the fact that those who only worked an hour got the same wages as those who worked all day. Yet, whereas those workers were operating out of the category of justice, the employer was operating out of the category of generosity. He wasn’t unjust to those who worked all day; he paid them what he agreed with them. He was simple extremely generous to those who only worked an hour. Perhaps Jesus was saying to us through this parable that God’s generosity cannot be contained within the categories of human justice; it explodes those categories. God does not deal with us according to our efforts, on the basis of what we deserve. There is nothing calculating about God’s generosity. Perhaps we are all encouraged to identify with those who worked only an hour; we are all, in a sense, latecomers. The parable assures us that God’s generosity will surprise us and leave us humbled.

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(iii) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

This is one of the parables of Jesus that people often react negatively to. There is a feeling that the workers who worked all done were hard done by because those who worked for the last hour were given the same wage. However, in the world of the story, the employer did not treat those who worked all day unjustly; he gave them a day’s wages for a day’s work. The surprise in the story is that the employer was exceptionally generous with those who worked for an hour, giving them a day’s wages as well. No injustice was done to anyone, but some of the workers were the recipients of a surprising and extravagant generosity. Just began this parable, with the phrase, ‘the kingdom of heaven is like...’ The world of God is reflected in the world of the story; the character of the employer reflects God in some way. Jesus appears to be saying that God’s generosity will always take us by surprise. God’s way of dealing with us breaks the bounds of what humans would consider just and fair. What God does for us far exceeds what we might do for God. God does not relate to us on the basis of what we have earned or deserved. God’s generous love is pure gift; it is not a reward for labour rendered. We serve the Lord from one end of the day to the other not to gain or earn his love but in grateful response for the love already given to us long before we could do anything.

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(iv) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes in the parables that Jesus speaks people behave in ways that others would find surprising or even foolish. The behaviour of the father in the parable of the prodigal son comes to mind. He gave an extraordinary welcome to a son who had done nothing to deserve it. The reaction of his older brother in the story is in keeping with how many people would have reacted if that had happened in real life. This morning’s parable of the workers in the vineyard is a little bit like that parable. The behaviour of the owner of the vineyard would have been considered very strange and even foolish in Jesus’ time; he gave a day’s wages to workers who only worked one hour. Many people tend to react to the parable somewhat negatively even today. Just as we often feel sorry for the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son, we tend to feel sorry for the workers who worked all day and yet got the same as those who worked for an hour. Yet, the workers who worked all day got a day’s wages for their work, which is what the vineyard owner promised them. What is strange and unsettling is that those who worked for only an hour also got a day’s wages. Jesus began this parable with the words, ‘the kingdom of heaven is like...’ The parable is saying something about how God relates to us. Jesus is saying that God is extraordinarily generous. There is nothing calculating about how God relates to us. God’s giving is not dependant on our doing. There can come a time in our lives when, for one reason or another, we can’t do a great deal. Jesus seems to be saying that this has no impact on how God relates to us. God does not ask us to be deserving but to be receptive, and then to share what we receive from him with each other.

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(v) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Most of us when we hear that parable identify with the complaint of those who worked all day in the heat of the sun and, yet, end up getting the same amount as those who work for the last hour of the working day when it was much cooler. It offends our sense of justice. The employment culture today would hold strongly to the principle of equal pay for equal work and no one could dispute that principle. That was also the understood way of proceeding in the time of Jesus. Jesus must have known then that this parable would be provocative and that his hearers were likely to identify strongly with the complaint of those who worked all day. What, then, was Jesus at? He may have wanted to get across that God’s justice is of a different order to human justice. God does not give in exact proportion to what we have earned. His giving breaks the bounds of human justice. His generosity cannot be contained by human categories of justice. The question that concludes the parable suggests as much, ‘Why be envious because I am generous?’ The landlord understood that the man who worked for the last hour was as much in need of a day’s wages to feed his family as those who worked all day. Jesus seems to be suggesting that God relates to us on basis of what we need rather than what we deserve. God’s favour, God’s gift of salvation, is, ultimately, an unmerited free gift. This is good news for all of us. At the end of our lives, and throughout our lives, we can entrust ourselves to the Lord’s generosity, knowing that it will exceed all our expectations.

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(vi) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The reaction of the workers to the landowner’s very generous treatment of the men who worked for only the last hour of the working day reminds me of the reaction of the older son in the parable of the prodigal son to his father’s very generous treatment of his younger son. In both parables the reaction is one of righteous indignation that someone was receiving far more than they deserved. The younger son had wasted his father’s property in a self-indulgent lifestyle and yet he was treated like the lord of the manor. The last group of workers had only worked one hour and yet they were given a whole day’s wages. In both parables we find it easy to identify with the reaction of the older son and the reaction of those who did a heavy day’s work in all the heat. Somehow both parables seem to offend our sense of justice, our feel for what is fair. The father in the first parable was extremely generous towards his wayward son; the landowner in this morning’s parable is extremely generous towards the men who worked only one hour. There is a quality of generosity and mercy here that seems to shatter our sense of justice. Yet, this is precisely the message of these parables. God’s generosity, God’s mercy, is not simply a bigger version of human generosity and mercy. It has a completely different quality, one that leaves us scratching our heads. At the end of the day that is good news for us all.

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(vii) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading contains one of those parables of Jesus that leave us feeling a little uneasy. The complaint of those who worked for the whole day in the vineyard seems very reasonable to us, ‘you have treated those who only worked one hour the same as us’. This certainly doesn’t correspond to modern employment practice. It would be unheard of for two people doing the same work to be paid the same wage if one worked all day and the other worked for one hour. Such practice would have been just as unacceptable in the time and place of Jesus. Jesus must have known that his parable would leave people feeling uncomfortable. This is not the way the world works. Perhaps that is the very point of the parable. Life within God’s kingdom does not work as the world does. The parable ends with the vineyard owner’s question, ‘Why be envious because I am generous?’ It is a question that goes to the heart of the parable’s meaning. Jesus is declaring that God is generous in a way that goes way beyond the norms of human justice. God’s way of relating to us is not based on human merit. Jesus reveals God to be someone whose boundless mercy and generosity can appear scandalous to many, including those who thought of themselves as religious. This is the God revealed by the father in the parable of the prodigal son. The son did not deserve the welcome he received, no more than those who worked an hour deserved a day’s wages. Jesus declares that God does not treat us on the basis of what we deserve. God’s favour is freely bestowed on those who are unworthy of it. It is an unmerited free gift. We are called to receive this gift in all humility and to allow this grace to shape our lives. We are to freely give to others as we have freely received from the Lord.

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(viii) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Some of the parables of Jesus can be unsettling because they don’t seem to play by the rules that govern most human relationships. In the parable of the prodigal son, some wonder why the father was so generous towards someone who had shown himself a thoughtless and self-indulgent rebel. Many people have the same reaction to today’s parable. They grumble alongside the labourers in the parable who worked all day, asking why those who worked for one hour should be receiving the same payment as those who have borne the heat and burden of the entire working day. They feel as if those who worked all day have been unjustly treated. Yet, by means of this story, Jesus was perhaps showing that the God whom he called, ‘Father’, was not a God of strict justice, as humans normally understand it. God’s generous spirit was so great that it couldn’t be confined within the limits of strict human justice. In the parable the landowner gave a day’s wages to those who worked for a day; they received a just wage, the wage that had been agreed upon at the beginning of the day. However, the landowner chose to be exceptionally generous to the men who worked only an hour, giving them a day’s wage too. He chose to pay all the workers a living wage, even if they hadn’t earned it. Jesus reveals a God who wants to be as generous as possible with the gift of salvation, the gift of life. God does not relate to us on the basis of what we have earned or deserved. God relates to us out of a generosity which is more than human; God gives us life in abundance as a free gift. What we have done to earn it is not ultimately decisive. Rather than being disturbed by such a parable, it can be heard as good news for us all. God relates to us in this generous way to inspire us to be as generous in our dealings with each other as God is with us.

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(ix) Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

When we read a story, like some of the parables of Jesus, we often identify with one of the characters in the story. Most people on hearing the parable in today’s gospel reading identify with the workers who worked from daybreak in the landowner’s vineyard, doing a day’s work and getting a day’s pay, which at the time was a denarius. We share their upset and annoyance when at the end of the day those who had worked three hours, six hours, nine hours, eleven hours, less than themselves received the same allowance, one denarius. Like the workers who had worked a full day’s work, we grumble at the unfairness of it all. Surely, a person’s pay should be in proportion to their work - less work, less pay, more work, more pay. Jesus must have known that this parable would disturb people’s sense of justice, so what was he getting at? Perhaps the key to the parable is to be found in the final statement of the landowner. He told the people who had worked all day that he had treated them justly, giving them a day’s wage for a day’s work. However, he had decided to give ever worker a day’s wage out of the goodness of his heart. Jesus was saying something to us about God here. God does not relate to us on the basis of strict justice. In that sense, God’s ways are nor our ways. God bestows his favour, his love, his mercy, on all, including on those who have done little to deserve it. God does not ask us to work for his love. God’s love is given freely to us all. What he asks is that we live out of that completely free gift, by loving others in the same lavish way that God has loved us. In the best of human relationships, love is freely bestowed; it doesn’t have to be earned or deserved. True human love, like God’s love, transcends the limits of strict justice.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

20th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 19:23-30): ‘For God, everything is possible’.

Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 19:23-30It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.‘Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’

GospelMatthew 19:23-30It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Reflections (7)

(i) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus’ image of a camel passing through the eye of a needle has been spoken of as an example of comic exaggeration. The person with the plank in their eye would be another example. Jesus often used such comic exaggerations to get people’s attention and perhaps to shock them out of a sense of complacency. When Jesus said to would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, the astonished disciples ask, ‘Who can be saved, then?’ Jesus’ reply, ‘For people, this is impossible; for God everything is possible’, suggests that the attaining of salvation is primarily God’s doing rather than our doing. It is more God’s doing than our doing. We can only enter into the life of God with the help that God alone can give us. We need to depend fully on God to enter the kingdom of heaven, opening ourselves up in our poverty to his gracious working on our behalf. This is where Jesus sees the problem with excessive attachment to wealth or possessions. If we seek our security in wealth or possessions, we will cease to rely on God who alone gives access to salvation, to life in abundance. If we place our security in God, in the Lord, then, according to Jesus in today’s gospel reading, we will be abundantly repaid in this earthly life, and also inherit eternal life. We will find a joy that earthly goods can never give and we will be on the path to eternal joy, a sharing in the Lord’s own joy.

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(ii) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In yesterday’s gospel reading the rich young man found it impossible to follow Jesus because of his attachment to his possessions, in spite of his great desire to inherit eternal life. That is why Jesus goes on to say in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of an needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of kingdom of heaven. This stark statement of Jesus left the disciples astonished and led them to ask the almost despairing question, ‘Who then can be saved?’ They seem to be saying, ‘it must be nearly impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom o heaven, not just that rich, good man who approached you’. Jesus cuts across their negative thinking with a very hopeful statement, ‘for men this is impossible; for God everything is possible’. Jesus is saying that arriving at our ultimate destiny is more God’s doing than our doing; it is due more to God’s grace than to our efforts. In the language of the letter to the Ephesians, God’s ‘power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine’. It is above all when we are low in ourselves and feel the journey is too much for us that we need to remind ourselves of this great truth. Saint Paul declared in a letter from prison, ‘I can do all things in him who gives me strength’. We need to keep putting our trust in the resources the Lord is always giving us and which we need so much.

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(iii) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus is often depicted in the gospels as saying something that leaves his disciples astonished. What he said was often out of character with what the disciples would have heard from others. The gospel reading this morning gives us an example of the astonishment of the disciples at something Jesus said. The disciples were astonished because Jesus had said that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The disciples’ very likely assumed that riches were a sign of God’s favour which is how they were often understood in the Jewish Scriptures. However, Jesus was aware that too many possessions can come to possess us, and become a kind of god. One of the sayings of Jesus in the gospels is, ‘You cannot serve God and mammon’. What the disciples saw as a blessing Jesus saw as a temptation and a danger. This insight of Jesus led the disciples to ask a kind of despairing question, ‘Who can be saved?’ They seem to be saying, ‘if those we thought blessed by God might not enter the kingdom of heaven, what about the rest of us?’ In response to his disciples’ despairing question, ‘Who can be saved?’ we have one of those sayings of Jesus which can give us great encouragement, ‘For God everything is possible’. Jesus seems to be saying that God can find a way of touching the hearts even of those who, like the rich young man, are possessed by their possessions. Jesus is declaring that God’s ability to draw us to himself cannot be underestimated. Even a small opening in our lives will be greatly exploited by God.

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(iv) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Across the four gospels, people ask Jesus a whole variety of questions. In the gospel reading this morning, in response to Jesus’ comment on how riches can be a block to entering the kingdom of heaven, the disciples ask the question, ‘Who can be saved?’ In that culture, riches were considered a sign of God’s favour. The disciples are wondering if the rich, those who have enjoyed God’s favour, struggle to get into the kingdom of heaven, what chance do others have of being saved? Jesus has a much more sanguine view of riches and possessions, than the disciples. He is more aware than they are that possessions can come between us and God, especially if we allow ourselves to be possessed by our possessions. If we belong completely to our possessions, whatever form those possessions take, then we cannot belong to God, and we will not be open to receive the gift of the kingdom. However, Jesus declares to his disciples that even though, in theory, it is not possible for those who are possessed by their possessions to enter the kingdom of heaven, everything is possible for God. God can enable even those who have no openness to him to enter the kingdom of heaven. The statement, ‘for God everything is possible’ is a very reassuring one. What is beyond what we can do is never beyond what God can do. This reassuring word does not make us complacent, but gives us hope when we find ourselves in situations which appear hopeless.

And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

There are a number of verses in the New Testament that I found myself going back to from time to time because they convey a great deal, at least to me. One of those verses occurs in today’s gospel reading, ‘For people this is impossible, for God everything is possible’. A somewhat similar saying occurs in Luke’s account of the annunciation where, in response to Mary’s question, ‘How can this be?’ Gabriel answers, ‘Nothing is impossible with God’. The context of the saying in today’s gospel reading is that of the rich young man who came to Jesus looking for the path to eternal life but went away sad because he was possessed by his possessions. How can such a rich man enter into eternal life? It is possible, Jesus declares, but only with God’s grace, God’s help. In our own lives we can sometimes find ourselves up against impossible odds. We wonder how we will get through some test, how we will keep going. In such circ*mstances, the saying in this morning’s gospel reading can be a great encouragement to us, ‘for God everything is possible’. Saint Paul knew the truth of that, and he expressed that truth in his inimitable way. In his letter to the Philippian, he declares, ‘I can do all things through him who gives me strength’. There are times when we all need to fall back on that conviction.

And/Or

(vi) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus spoke the words in today’s gospel reading immediately after the scene where the rich man refused the call of Jesus to follow him because of his riches. Jesus goes on to say that attachment to wealth can hinder us from entering the kingdom of heaven. When possessions become our god, we no longer need to rely on the true God, the Father of Jesus. Jesus was aware that over reliance on our possessions can get in the way of our reliance on God. God can become superfluous, unnecessary. Yet, if we are to reach our ultimate goal of life in God’s kingdom, we desperately need God. That is very clear from the little exchange between Jesus and Peter in today’s gospel reading. In response to Peter’s question, ‘Who can be saved?’ Jesus answers ‘for men this is impossible, for God everything is possible’. It is only with God’s help that we can reach the goal God desires for us. In this matter, we are not self-sufficient; we rely on God throughout the whole course of our lives. We cannot afford to entrust ourselves to, put our reliance upon, anything less than God.

And/Or

(vii) Tuesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus uses many memorable images in the gospels and one is to be found in today’s gospel reading, that of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. Needles in the time of Jesus, as today, had a tiny opening and camels were very large animals. To say that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven is to say that a rich man entering the kingdom of heaven is impossible. The kind of rich man Jesus has in mind is one who is possessed by his possessions. There is a striking portrayal of such a person in one of the parables of Luke’s gospel, the parable of the rich fool as it is often called. When riches become someone’s god, they cease to be aware of the true God, the God whom Jesus proclaimed. Feeling satisfied with their material possessions, they fail to appreciate their need of God and are unresponsive to the gift of the kingdom that God is offering. We can only receive God’s gift of life in its fullness if we are aware of our need of that gift. If we don’t experience thirst, we will never drink. Elsewhere, Jesus speaks of the poor in spirit and declares that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such people. This is the attitude of coming before God in our need, in recognition of our dependence upon God. Jesus declares in the gospel reading that God can create this necessary attitude even in those to whom it seems foreign and impossible. When Peter asks, ‘Who can be saved, then?’ Jesus replies, ‘for men, this is impossible; for God everything is possible’. There are no hopeless cases from God’s perspective; God is always at work to create in us that poverty of spirit which creates the necessary opening for God to give us the riches of the gospel.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

19th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 19:16-22): ‘What more do I need to do?’.

Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 19:16-22If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own.

There was a man who came to Jesus and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’ Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

Gospel (USA)Matthew 19:16-22If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and you will have treasure in heaven.

A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Reflections (12)

(i) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading features a ‘young man’ who comes to Jesus. We always admire idealism in young people, and this young man was clearly striving for the ideal of a good life. He asked Jesus, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ It is clear from his exchange with Jesus that he was already living a good living. He had kept the four commandments that Jesus quoted that had to do with relating to others, including the commandment found outside the ten commandments to love one’s neighbour as oneself. Yet, there was a longing in him for more, ‘What more do I need to do?’ We all experience something of that ‘more’ deep within us. We have a longing for God that moves us to live in ways that bring us ever closer to God. Jesus responded to the young man’s longer for more by calling him to become his close disciple, following him in the way that Peter, Andrew and others had done. That would have meant moving on from his great wealth, giving it to the poor, and this was a step too far for him. His inability to respond to the call of Jesus, to the deepest longing of his heart, left him sad. The Lord is always calling on us to take a further step that will bring us closer to his will for our lives, whether we are young or not so young. That step will be different for each one of us. We find our deepest joy in responding to the Lord’s call to grow in our relationship with him and in the living out of that relationship. The more generously we answer the Lord’s personal call, the happier we will be. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to give us the freedom to take the path the Lord may be calling us to take in response to that longing for ‘more’ in our lives.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

There is something appealing about the young man in today’s gospel reading. He was an earnest young man who was serious about finding the path that led to eternal life. His question is a serious question, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ In his reply Jesus named a number of commandments, all of which have to do with how we are to relate to other people. Jesus indicates that the way to life for ourselves entails relating in a life-giving way to others. This young man was not satisfied with Jesus’ answer because he felt he was already doing what Jesus was asking for, and, yet, he knew there was more he could be doing. When Jesus revealed what this ‘more’ would involve for this particular young man, it again had to do with his relationship to others, in particular the poor, the needy; Jesus called on him to sell what he had and give the money to the poor. This was a step too far for him. Jesus did not make this particular demand of everybody he encountered. Yet, for all of us, the path to life, the path of life, will always be the path of love, of loving relationships with others. By his teaching, by his life and his death, Jesus shows us what relating in a loving way to others looks like.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The young man who approaches Jesus in the gospel reading this morning is a very religious man. He had kept all the commandments of the Jewish Law since his youth. Yet, his spiritual yearning was not satisfied. He almost put it up to Jesus to give him a bigger challenge. However, when Jesus did make a call on him, the young man couldn’t respond to it. In one of the most poignant verses of the gospel we are told, ‘he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth’. There was something he needed to let go of to take the path that would have brought him true joy, but because he couldn’t let go, he experienced sadness. Sometimes there can be a relationship between the sadness we might feel and our inability to let go of whatever it is we are tenaciously holding on to. The young man held on to his possessions because, at some level, he must have felt they would bring him happiness and life. We can hold on to people, to circ*mstances, to whatever, in the conviction that therein lies our happiness, our security. In reality, our true happiness and peace lies in letting go of whatever it is that is holding us back from responding to the call that the Lord is making on us in the here and now.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The young man in this morning’s gospel reading is clearly a very well intentioned person and also a very good living person. He has been faithful to the commandments that Jesus cites. Yet, he senses that is being called to something more, and, so he probes Jesus with his question, ‘What more do I need to do?’ For all that, when it comes to the personal call that Jesus addressed to him, he could not answer it. For this particular young man, the call to follow Jesus required him to let go of his great wealth. Jesus was asking him to put his trust in God rather than in his great wealth. He could not bring himself to do this, and, so, he went away sad. He could not live with the answer to his own question and, as a result, he remained deeply dissatisfied. Jesus addresses a personal call to each one of us; it will take a different form for each of us and will have different implications for each of us. However, whatever form Jesus’ call takes for us, it will always involve the call to find our security in God as Jesus reveals him to us, rather than in anything we possess or achieve. Our ultimate treasure is to be found in heaven, not on earth. As Jesus says elsewhere, it is God we are to love with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Only then will we have the freedom to hold everything else lightly.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading this morning we have the story of a good man who wanted to be better. He had kept all the commandments of the Jewish Law faithfully, but he had a sense that this was not enough. He felt called to something more, and, so, he said to Jesus, ‘What more do I need to do?’ We might find ourselves being able to identify with this man. There are times in our lives when we too might experience in ourselves a strong desire to go beyond where we are, to grow in our relationship with the Lord, to be more generous in the doing of his work. In one shape or form we find ourselves asking ourselves this man’s question, ‘What more do I need to do?’ In the gospel reading, this man could not live with the answer that Jesus gave to his question. Jesus asked this particular man to do something he didn’t ask everybody to do. He was to sell his possession, give his money to the poor and then to set out along the road after Jesus, as Peter, Andrew, James, John and others had done. One of the saddest verses in the gospels comes at the end of our reading, ‘when the young man heard these words he went away sad’. If we ask the Lord the young man’s question we cannot anticipate how the Lord will answer us. Yet, the Lord has some purpose for our lives which will always take us beyond where we are in some sense. We find our happiness in yielding to the Lord’s purpose for our lives. If we do so, we can be assured that he will give us all the grace and strength we need for the journey.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Many young people are receiving their exam results at this time. They are thinking about the options that are open to them on the basis of those results. ‘What college should I go to?’ ‘What course should I do?’ It is a time of searching and seeking for them. No doubt many of them will look for guidance and advice so as to make the best decision possible. Today’s gospel reading puts before us a young man who is clearly a seeker and a searcher. Indeed, he is struggling with one of the bigger questions of life, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Questions don’t come much bigger than that. He is asking ‘What does it mean to live a good life?’ ‘What is the path to true and lasting happiness?’ Human beings have always asked this fundamental question. We have probably all asked it of ourselves at some time in our lives. In response to his question, Jesus directs him to his own Jewish tradition, the commandments of the Jewish Law. It is always worth exploring our own religious tradition; there can be a great deal more there than we realize. Yet, this young man knows his religious tradition well, and he is still searching. ‘What more do I need to do?’ Finally, Jesus points to himself as the goal of the young man’s search, ‘Come, follow me’. This was a bridge too far for the young man; it would have involved letting go of his many possessions, which he couldn’t do. His journey to Jesus ends in sadness; the happiness, the life, he searched for eluded him. Jesus offers himself to all of us as the goal of all our searching, as the answer to our deepest questions. He assures us that in following him, in walking in his way, we will find genuine life, true happiness.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel reading today presents us with an idealistic young man. He wants to be sure of possessing eternal life, and he asks Jesus what is the one good deed he must do to ensure his entering into eternal life. He is clearly a young man who took his religion seriously. He tells Jesus that he has kept the commandments that Jesus quotes to him. Jesus declares that this is sufficient to enter into life. The conversation could have ended there. Yet, this young man ensures that the conversation does not end here by pressing Jesus further, ‘What more do I need to do?’ He senses in himself that he is capable of even more than what he is already doing. Jesus respects his desire for ‘more’ and there and then calls on him to sell what he owned, give it to the poor and become one of that group who follow Jesus in a very close and personal way. If he wanted ‘more’, Jesus would give it to him. However, the young man couldn’t live with Jesus’ answer to his second question. He was too attached to his possessions to be free to do what Jesus invited him to do, and a great sadness came over him. We can probably all find within ourselves the same longing to be better, to do more, that was so evident in the life of this young man. After all, our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Yet, like this young man, we too often find that within ourselves obstacles to the Lord’s call to grow towards that more we so desire. We discover that we are not as free as we need to be. Attachments of various kinds hold us back. We don’t yet have the glorious freedom of the children of God, in the words of Saint Paul. We need to keep praying to grow in the freedom to fully become the person the Lord is calling us to be.

And/Or

(viii) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Many of the questions that are put to Jesus in the gospels are with a view to testing him. However, the question which a young man puts to Jesus in today’s gospel reading is very sincere, ‘Master what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ It is the question of someone who wants to do what is good, the right thing, and, thereby, secure his ultimate salvation. The question, ‘What is the path to life?’ is an important question for all of us. Jesus answers this man’s serious question from within the Jewish tradition that they share; he quotes the second half of the ten commandments which deal with how we relate to others, and he then adds to them the second of the two great commandments, ‘you must love your neighbour as yourself’. Jesus is saying to this man that the way to life is the way of love. For us as Christians, it is Jesus who shows us what the way of love looks life by his teaching and his life. When we ask a serious question of someone, the answer will not always satisfy us. Clearly, this young man was not satisfied by Jesus’ answer. ‘What more do I need to do?’, he asked. In response to this second question, Jesus calls this young man to follow him on his journey, just as Peter, James, John, Matthew and others have done. This would have involved for this young man leaving his many possessions so as to follow physically in the footsteps of someone who had nowhere to lay his head. He couldn’t bring himself to do that; he was too attached to his possession. His possessions possessed him. The realization that he wasn’t free to answer the call of Jesus left him sad. He was a good man, but he discovered he wasn’t free to do what the Lord wanted of him. Many of us may find ourselves in that same place. We are fundamentally good people, but some excessive attachment in our lives holds us back from answering the Lord’s call as generously as we might. Before that realization, we need to keep praying for a greater share in the freedom of the Holy Spirit, the freedom that Jesus displayed to the full, the freedom to go where the Lord is calling us to go.

And/Or

(ix) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Year

The young man in today’s gospel reading clearly has a very good heart. There is something very appealing about him. He had very good values and had a clear goal in life. He wanted to live in such a way that he would inherit eternal life, life in God’s presence. He kept the commandments God gave to Moses, including the great commandment to love one’s neighbour as oneself. Yet, he wasn’t satisfied. ‘What more do I need to do?’, he asked Jesus. There is such a thing as a holy restlessness. We are conscious of a ‘more’ we haven’t yet attained. We sense the Lord calling us beyond where we are, even though where we are is good. We can point to good things we are doing and, yet, there are moments when we wonder if we are answering the Lord’s call as fully as we might. A questioning restlessness creeps into our overall feeling of satisfaction with ourselves, with our relationship with God and others. Like the young man, we are drawn by a sense that there is ‘more’. Jesus took the man’s searching question seriously and called him to a follow him in a very radical way, which entailed giving away all his great wealth. He was too attached to his great wealth; he couldn’t respond to Jesus’ call and a sadness came over him when he realized he couldn’t reach towards the ‘more’ that he so desired. We are all held back in different ways from responding to the Lord’s call to follow him more fully, to become an even more authentic disciple than we are. The young man’s struggle is the struggle of us all. At the very least, we need to remain alert to that deep desire within us for the ‘more’, even though we struggle to follow through on it.

And/Or

(x) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

The question the young man asked Jesus in today’s gospel reading, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ was a question of great importance to him. Here was a serious young man who wanted to live as well as he could, in a way that was in accordance with God’s will. It is clear from his conversation with Jesus that he was already living a very good life. Jesus put before him the commandments that have to do with how we relate to others, and he could confidently say that he had kept all these commandments. Yet, he felt there was something more he could be doing, ‘What more do I need to do?’ It is admirable when people who are living good lives want to live even better lives. We sense that desire within ourselves. We may be living well, in ways that are in keeping with God’s desire for our lives, but we sense there is another step we could take. We could launch further out into the deep. We could be more generous in response to the Lord’s call. That realization can leave us a little unsettled, just as the young man was unsettled, in spite of all his good qualities. This form of feeling unsettled is ultimately something good. It brings home to us that the Lord is always calling us beyond where we are in some way. In the gospel reading, the young man couldn’t respond to the Lord’s call to him to go beyond where he was. In his case, it would have involved letting o of his great wealth, giving it to the poor and following Jesus in a very radical way. As a result, he went away sad. The Lord’s call to us to go beyond where we are, to grow in our relationship with him, will take a different form for each one of us. The ‘more’ the Lord is calling us into will always take account of our own unique circ*mstances and situation in life. If we can discern what that call of the Lord means for me personally and respond to it, then we will find life, both in the here and now and in eternity.

And/Or

(xi) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes, when people ask Jesus a question in the gospels it is with a hostile intent. They are trying to trap him or trip him up. However, the question of the young man in today’s gospel reading comes from a good place within him. He wants to know what path he must take to be assured of eternal life. When Jesus directs him towards the second half of the Ten Commandments that have to do with how we relate to others, the young man asks, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’ He is clearly a very idealistic young man. He is already living a good and loving life, but he senses that there is more he could do. He feels a call to go beyond where he is. We can all experience that same call from time to time. We sense that we are living a reasonably good life and, yet, we also sense that we could live a better life, a more generous and loving life. There is a sense in which the Lord is always calling us beyond where we are. If we are spiritually alive and aware at all, we will experience a certain restlessness. We subsequently discover that this young man had great wealth. In the time and place of Jesus a relatively small proportion of the population had great wealth. When Jesus responded to the young man’s question, ‘What more do I need to do?’ with the invitation to sell his many possessions, give the money to the poor and follow him as he goes from place to place, the young man lacked the freedom to respond. In a sense, his possessions possessed him and he went away sad. We can all lack the freedom to respond to the Lord’s call to take the next step in our relationship with him. We can be held back in all kinds of ways, by all sorts of excessive attachments. Yet, the Lord keeps calling and we need to keep praying for the freedom of the Spirit, the freedom to respond to the Lord’s continuing call to us.

And/Or

(xii) Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Young people are often searching for the right path to take in life. They want what is best for themselves, for others, for the world. The young man in today’s gospel reading displays something of that spirit. He was searching for the path of life. He asked Jesus what good deed he had to do to possess eternal life. He was clearly a man of faith who believed that God was setting before us a path that would lead to the fullness of life beyond this earthly life. We don’t have to be young to have that searching spirit. We retain something of it throughout our lives. If we are true to what is deepest in us, we will want to take a path that is life-giving for ourselves and for others in this life and that will bring us to eternal life. The young man’s question was a serious one and Jesus treated it seriously. The answer Jesus gave him was initially from his own Jewish tradition. Jesus told the young man to keep the commandments, especially those that concern how we relate to others, which can be summed up in the single commandment, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. Jesus was saying that love is the path to life. Jesus would say the same to us today. It is in loving one another as the Lord has loved us that we will find life. Yet, this young man felt that he had kept this commandment of love and he pushed Jesus to challenge him a little more. However, when Jesus did so, calling on him to renounce his great wealth, give it to the poor and then join Jesus’ small band of close followers, he baulked. It was a step too far for him, and he went away sad. As well as the general calling to love others with the Lord’s love, given to us all, the Lord has a calling that is personal to each one of us. It will be different for each of us, reflecting our personal circ*mstances and capacities. Every day we try to listen carefully to that very personal call of the Lord, so that we can answer it with the Lord’s help, with the strength that he alone can give us. This will be our own personal path to that fullness of life which the Lord desires for us all.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

18th August >> Fr. Martin's Homilies/Reflections on Today's Mass Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) (Inc. John 6:51-58): ‘Whoever eats me will draw life from me’.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Gospel (Except USA)John 6:51-58My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

Jesus said to the crowd:

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,you will not have life in you.Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my bloodhas eternal life,and I shall raise him up on the last day.For my flesh is real foodand my blood is real drink.He who eats my flesh and drinks my bloodlives in meand I live in him.As I, who am sent by the living Father,myself draw life from the Father,so whoever eats me will draw life from me.This is the bread come down from heaven;not like the bread our ancestors ate:they are dead,but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Gospel (USA)John 6:51–58My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Homilies (7)

(i) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the verses in Patrick Kavanagh’s well-known poem, ‘A Christmas Childhood’, goes as follows, ‘A water-hen screeched in the bog, Mass-going feet Crunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes, Somebody wistfully twisted the bellows wheel’. He is nostalgically looking back at the Christmases of his childhood in his native Monaghan. I have always been struck by the line in that verse, ‘Mass-going feet crunched the wafer-thin ice on the pot-holes’. There may be less ‘Mass-going feet’ these days that there were when Patrick Kavanagh wrote his poem. Yet, many of us still feel drawn to gather to celebrate Sunday Mass, as we are doing here this Sunday.

Why do we come to Mass on a Sunday when there are many other things we could be doing? Perhaps in the past, people went to Mass because it was something everybody did. There was an element of cultural and family pressure. That is certainly not the case today. You have come to Mass this Sunday because you have chosen to do so. In many ways it is a counter cultural choice. It is going against the general trend. People may ask you, ‘Why are you still going to Mass on a Sunday?’ It is a question that is worth asking and pondering over. Perhaps today’s gospel reading points us in the direction of an answer. There Jesus calls on us to eat his flesh and drink his blood and promises us that if we do so we will draw life from him. His language of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is quite startling and provocative. The question people asked in the gospel reading is an understandable one, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Jesus is clearly referring to what we have come to call the Eucharist. His words point ahead to the last supper, when he took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘This is my body’, and when he took a cup of wine, blessed it and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘This is my blood of the covenant’. In speaking of his flesh and blood, his body and blood, he was referring to his whole self, who he was and what he stood for. He gave his whole self to us out of love for us on the cross. At the last supper he gave his whole self to his disciples under the form of bread and wine, in anticipation of the gift of himself he would make the following day on the cross. At every Mass, the risen Lord continues to give us the gift of his whole self. There is no greater gift he could give us. He gives us this gift of himself to nourish us spiritually, just as a baby is physically nourished their mother in the mother’s womb. As the unborn child draws life from the mother, so, in the words of Jesus in the gospel reading, when we receive him in the Eucharist we draw life from him, just as he draws life from God his Father. The life that we draw from him is not just physical life but the life of God, a life that endures beyond this earthly life.

Why do we go to Mass, especially on a Sunday? We go because the Lord has left us this wonderful gift through which he continues to give himself to us in love so that we may have life and have it to the full. We go because we recognize that we need this gift to sustain us on our journey of faith, just as the unborn child needs the mother’s flesh and blood for physical sustenance. The Lord gives himself to us in the Eucharist to nourish our relationship with him, to sustain that relationship in a world where that relationship is so often put to the test. He renews the gift of his whole self to us at every Eucharist so that we can renew the gift of our whole selves to him. In the words of the gospel reading, through the Eucharist he comes to live in us, so that we can continue to live in him. The only reason we come to the Eucharist is because we have personally chosen to be in relationship with Jesus and we want that relationship to be sustained and nourished. We gather at the Eucharist as a community of disciples, all of us at different stages of our faith journey. Our relationship with the Lord is personal and unique to each of us. Yet, wherever we are on that journey, we all have a place here. We are all welcome here. The Lord wants to give the gift of his whole self to all of us because we all need the spiritual sustenance that only he can give. Like the Woman Wisdom’s feast in the first reading, the invitation is extended to all from the city’s heights.

The Lord gives his whole self to us in the Eucharist to empower us to bring his whole self to others. We receive the Lord’s body in the Eucharist so that we may be his living body for others. We are sent forth from the Eucharist to live lives that redeem the present age, in the words of the second reading, lives that allow the Lord to be present to all whom we meet.

And/Or

(ii) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

It can be tempting to give out about the age in which we live. We can be very aware of the shortcomings of our time and culture. We often complain of falling standards in all walks of life. We are conscious of a breakdown in community, a decline in moral values, a fracturing of family life. The increase in the suicide rate, especially among young men, is disturbing evidence that many people experience our times as devoid of meaning. We could easily get discouraged about our contemporary society.

I was struck by the statement of Paul at the beginning of the second reading, ‘This may be a wicked age, but your lives should redeem it’. In his letter to the Romans he says something similar: ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. Paul was well aware of the dark side of his own culture. Yet, that reality did not discourage him. He was convinced that the lives of believers could redeem the age in which they lived. We don’t often think of ourselves as redeemers. We tend to reserve the term ‘redeemer’ for Christ. Yet, Paul is prepared to extend that term to all those who have been baptized into Christ. He recognizes that the Lord working through us can redeem the time, the age, in which we live. In so far as we are in relationship with the Lord, our lives can make a difference for the better. We can never underestimate the extent to which the Lord can make us a force for good, a source of life and light, in our world. Jesus addresses his disciples in the gospels as the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

As Christians we recognize that if the Lord is to work in a redeeming and life-giving way through us, we need to keep our relationship with him alive. That call to a close relationship with the Lord is strongly present in the readings this morning. In the first reading, the Wisdom of God calls on people to come to her so as to eat the bread and drink the wine of her teaching. In the gospel reading, Jesus, the true wisdom of God, goes further and calls on his disciples, not only to come to him, but to eat his flesh and drink his blood. This kind of language must have seemed a bit shocking at the time. We can sympathize with the Jews who asked, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Indeed in the verse immediately following where our reading ends, some of Jesus’ own disciples say, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ Yet, in spite of the hostile reaction to his words from the Jews, and even from some of his disciples, Jesus did not try to speak in a way that was more acceptable to his hearers. The language of eating his flesh and drinking his blood was not up for negotiation.

The call of Jesus to come to him raises no hackles, but his call, ‘Eat me’, still has the power to make us sit up a bit. In calling on us to eat his flesh and drink his blood, Jesus shows us just how deeply he wants to be in communion with us. It is the Eucharist that makes possible that depth of communion between us and the Lord that he desires. The Lord wants us not merely to come to him, but to consume him. He wants us to take him into ourselves, to really digest him, in the sense of making our own his outlook on life, his values, his attitudes, his way of relating. In absorbing him in this way he promises that we will come to share in his very life. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, ‘Whoever eats me will draw life from me’. Jesus gives himself to us as food and drink so that we may live with his life. Whenever we eat food, the food becomes part of us; it lives in us, but when we receive the Lord in the Eucharist, he does not become part of us in that sense. Rather we become part of him; we live with his own life. This is a life that never ends. ‘Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life’.

The Lord offers us this level of communion with himself so that our own lives may redeem the times in which we live. The life that we receive from the Lord in the Eucharist is to flow through us and enhance and ennoble the world of which we are a part. When we say ‘Amen’ before receiving communion, we are not only saying ‘I believe this is the body of Christ’, but we are also saying ‘Amen’ to the Lord dwelling in our lives so that he may carry out his life-giving mission in the world through us.

The Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life. Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical Letter on the Eucharist puts it this way, ‘The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift – however precious – among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work’. We receive the Lord’s gift of himself in this Eucharist so that his saving work can continue in our world through our lives. He comes to us as food and drink in the Eucharist so that the age in which we live might be redeemed by our presence and our lives.

And/Or

(iii) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

You may remember that we had a sister from the Medical Missionaries of Mary speak at all the Masses a few Sundays ago. I was struck by her comments about the good work that various church agencies were doing throughout the world. I was reminded of what she said by a verse in this morning’s second reading where Paul says, ‘This may be a wicked age, but your lives should redeem it’. Paul was clearly of the view that the lives of those who have been baptized into Christ are capable of making a difference for the better to the world in which we live. He is reminding us that as members of Christ’s body, we can all bring something of Christ’s life-giving love to others. We may be inclined to think, ‘What difference could I make?’ We may feel that we are not good enough to make a real difference for the good in our world. Yet, even if we can be slow at times to take ourselves seriously as people who can redeem the age, the Lord does take us seriously. He has great work to do in and through us, if only we make ourselves available to him, and if only we trust that, in spite of our many weaknesses and failings, he can and will work powerfully through us.

The Lord wants to work through us, but before he works through us, he gives himself to us. The Lord equips us to share in his redeeming and life-giving work. He gives himself to us so that we can then give him to others. That is the message of this morning’s gospel reading. Jesus speaks there of giving us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. It is hard to conceive of a more striking way for Jesus to speak about giving himself to us. In fact, Jesus’ way of speaking was so shocking that many of those who were listening to him could not take what he said seriously. According to our gospel reading, some asked, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Even some of Jesus’ own disciples, according to the evangelist, found this language of Jesus intolerable. Immediately after where our gospel reading ends, we are informed that some of Jesus’ disciples said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’

The teaching of Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading is challenging. It can be as difficult for us today, two thousand years later, as it was for some of Jesus’ contemporaries to take fully on board his insistence that we eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus gave his flesh and blood for the life of the world on the cross. He gave everything he had for the life of the world - such was his love for the world, his love for all of us. Jesus not only gave his flesh and blood on the cross for the life of the world, but according to our gospel reading he wants us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. This is clearly a reference to the Eucharist. The flesh and blood that Jesus gave for us on the cross he gives to us at every Eucharist, under the form of bread and wine. At the last supper, on the evening before he died, Jesus took bread and said to his disciples, ‘take and eat. This bread is my body, my flesh’. He then took a cup of wine and said, ‘take and drink. This wine is my blood of the covenant’. At the last supper, Jesus gave his disciples his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, under the form of bread and wine. The Lord who gave himself totally for us on Good Friday, gives himself totally to us at every Eucharist. That has been the faith of the church since that first Holy Thursday and Good Friday. According to this morning’s gospel reading, he gives himself to us in the Eucharist so that we can draw life from him. ‘As I draw life from the Father’, he says, ‘so whoever eats me will draw life from me’. In the Eucharist we draw from the Lord’s risen life, and that is why he can say, ‘anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life’. We generally think of eternal life as life after death, buy according to today’s gospel reading, eternal life can also be ours before death. We begin to share in the Lord’s own life here and now when in faith we receive the Lord in the Eucharist.

In receiving the Lord in the Eucharist, we are at the same time receiving all that he stands for; the values by which he lives; we are receiving his teaching or, in the language of the first reading, his wisdom. Just as in the first reading, the Wisdom of God says ‘Come and eat my bread’, in the Eucharist, Jesus, the Wisdom of God, says, ‘Come and eat my flesh and drink my blood’. The Eucharist calls on us to imbibe the Lord fully, to take into ourselves all that he is, all that he lived and died for - his values, his attitudes, his mind and heart. If we do that, then our lives will redeem the age in which we live. The Lord will continue his redeeming and life-giving work through us.

And/Or

(iv) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

After people have moved into a new house or do some refurbishment on their home, they often have a little celebration in the house to which they invite people. Once the house is ready to their satisfaction they open it up to others and provide some refreshments. We often call it a house warmer. It is as if the house needs a good presence of other people to be properly launched. When you look at today’s first reading you find something similar happening. We have this woman by the name of Wisdom. She builds herself a house, clearly a very elegant house; it has no less than seven pillars. She then throws a feast of fine wine and good meat and sends out her maid servants into the streets to gather people to her table. In that reading the building of a house, the making of a feast, the invitation to come and eat and drink, is an imaginative way of speaking about God as the wise host who invites all of humanity to learn from his wisdom. It is interesting that God is portrayed as a woman in this reading, Woman Wisdom.

That image of Woman Wisdom who says, ‘Come and eat of my bread, drink the wine I have prepared’ finds an echo in the figure of Jesus in the gospel reading who declares, ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever’. Like Woman Wisdom Jesus invites us to come and eat of his bread, but unlike Woman Wisdom he declares himself to be that bread. We are to eat of him, to drink of him. More specifically he calls on us to eat his flesh and to drink his blood. This goes far beyond anything Woman Wisdom calls for in that first reading. Jesus’ language of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is shocking in many respects. We can sympathize with those who object, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ We cannot hear this language without thinking of the words of Jesus to his disciples at the last supper when, taking bread, blessing it and breaking it, he gave it to them saying, ‘Take, eat, this is my body’, and taking and blessing a cup of wine he gave it to them, saying, ‘Take, drink, this is the new covenant in my blood’. He gave himself to his disciples, his body and blood, under the form of bread and wine. The last supper became the first Eucharist. We cannot but hear the language of the Eucharist in this morning’s gospel reading, the Eucharist which we are now celebrating together.

We invite people to our home and we place food and drink before them and we invite them to eat and drink. Jesus invites us to his table and he puts himself before us as food and drink and invites us to eat and drink. In language that is very daring Jesus declares himself to be our food and drink, the one who can satisfy our deepest hungers and thirsts, our hunger and thirst for life. Jesus declares in that gospel reading, ‘anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life’. We tend to think of ‘eternal life’ as a life that only begins after death. Yet, it is clear from the gospel reading that by ‘eternal life’ Jesus does not just mean a life that begins after this earthly life ends. He understands eternal life as a life that we can begin to experience in the midst of this earthly life. That is why he says in that gospel reading, ‘as I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me’. Just as in the course of his earthly life, Jesus drew life from God, so in the course of our earthly lives we can draw life from Jesus through our communion with him in the Eucharist. The life Jesus drew from God and we draw from Jesus is eternal life; it is the life of God. Here and now through our communion with Jesus in the Eucharist we can enjoy a first taste of eternal life. What is eternal life only the life of God, the life of Love, of a love that is unconditional and eternal? It is that life which we begin to taste in the Eucharist, because the Eucharist is the celebration of God’s love for us in Christ. In the Eucharist God’s loving gift of his Son is made present over and over again. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.

We come to the Eucharist to draw life from the risen Lord to draw God’s life from him, God’s love. We are then sent from the Eucharist to be channels of that life, of that love, for each other. We come to the Eucharist hungering and thirsting for life, for authentic life, the life of God, the love of God, and we are sent out from the Eucharist as life givers, as agents of God’s life and love within our homes, our society, our world.

And/Or

(v) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last Sunday I spoke about Francis Xavier Van Thuan who was archbishop of what is now Ho Chi Min City. For thirteen years he was imprisoned in North Vietnam, spending nine of years those in solitary confinement. On one occasion, a copy of the New Testament was smuggled into the prison for the Catholic prisoners. To ensure that they could all share God’s word, the prisoners ripped the New Testament into little sheets which were then distributed among the prisoners. Each prisoner memorized by heart the sheet that he or she received. Every sunset, the prisoners took it in turn to recite aloud the part that they had memorized. Archbishop Van Thuan recalled after his release from prison how moving it was to hear the Word of God recited with such strength of faith in the silence and the darkness. He said that no one could doubt at that moment the presence of God in his Word. I was reminded of that story again by a verse in today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, ‘This may be a wicked age but your lives should redeem it’.

Paul was aware that the values of his surrounding culture were in many ways hostile to those of the gospel. He knew how easy it was for members of the church to be influenced by those values. Yet, he also knew that they could witness to the values of the gospel in that culture by how they lived. In doing so, as Paul puts it, they could redeem the age in which they lived. It might seem strange to think of ourselves as redeemers. We acknowledge Jesus as the redeemer. ‘To redeem’ is ‘to set free’, to deliver from all forms of enslavement. We look to Jesus as the one who delivers us from all that works against what Paul calls the glorious freedom of the children of God. Yet, Paul was very aware that Jesus wanted to continue his redeeming, liberating, work in and through his followers, the church. The church is the Lord’s body, where the Lord’s redeeming work is to find expression in every age. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul says, ‘do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. We are to be faithful to the gospel even in environments where it is being rejected so that the Lord’s work of redeeming the age can continue through us.

Those prisoners in Ho Chi Min city were victims of a culture that denied religious freedom. Yet, they found their own way of standing up against it. When an unexpected opportunity came their way to feed their faith, in the form of the smuggled New Testament, they seized this opportunity with courage and imagination. They devised a way to ensure that everyone could feed on the God’s Word, the Bread of life. They knew that here was bread that could nourish their spirits, and satisfy their deepest hungers and bring freedom even in their imprisonment. When Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven’, he is saying that he alone can satisfy the deepest hungers of the human heart, the hunger for a love that is unconditional and all forgiving, for authentic freedom. One of the ways he comes to us today as Bread of Life is through his Word. The church speaks of the lectern from which the word of God is proclaimed as the table of the Word. In feeding ourselves on the Bread of the Lord’s Word, we create an opening for the Lord to continue his redeeming work in us and through us, his work of overcoming evil with good.

The prisoners’ action of tearing up the New Testament into sheets and passing around the sheets so as to ensure that every prisoner could have a personal encounter with the Lord’s word reminds me of what happens at Mass with regard to the consecrated bread. It is broken into small pieces so that all can share in it. The prisoners broke the bread of the word because they had no access to the bread of the Eucharist. We are fortunate to have access to both. The prisoners entered into communion with the Lord and with each other in and through their breaking of the bread of the Lord’s word and their sharing it. This is something we can all do whenever we gather to share and hear the Lord’s word. Unlike the prisoners, we can also enter into communion with the Lord and with each other in and through our breaking of the Eucharistic bread and our sharing in it. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus offers us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. This is an even deeper form of communion with the Lord and with each other than is possible through the sharing of the bread of the word. Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist to nourish our faith, hope and love. He gives us himself, under the form of bread and wine, so that we can more truly be his body in the world. He draws us into this very intimate form of communion with himself and with each other so that our lives are empowered to redeem the age in which we live.

And/Or

(vi) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Francis Xavier Van Thuan was archbishop of Saigon, now Ho Chi Min City. For thirteen years he was imprisoned in North Vietnam, spending nine of those years in solitary confinement. On one occasion, a copy of the New Testament was smuggled into the prison for the Catholic prisoners. To ensure that they could all share God’s word, the prisoners ripped the New Testament into little sheets which were then distributed among themselves. Each prisoner memorized by heart the sheet that he or she received. Every sunset, the prisoners took it in turn to recite aloud the part that they had memorized. After his release from prison, Archbishop Van Thuan recalled how moving it was to hear the Word of God recited with such strength of faith in the silence and the darkness. He said that no one could doubt at that moment the presence of God in his Word. I was reminded of that story by today’s second reading where Paul says, ‘This may be a wicked age but your lives should redeem it’.

Paul was aware that the values of his surrounding culture were in many ways hostile to those of the gospel of the Lord. He knew how easy it was for members of the church to be influenced by the values of the pagan culture. Yet, he also knew that they could witness to the values of the gospel in that culture by how they lived. In doing so, as Paul puts it, they could redeem the age in which they lived. It might seem strange to think of ourselves as redeemers. ‘To redeem’ is ‘to set free’, to deliver from enslavement. We look to Jesus as the one who delivers us from all that works against what Paul calls the glorious freedom of the children of God. Yet, Paul was very aware that Jesus wanted to continue his redeeming, liberating, work in and through his followers, the church. The church, the community of disciples, is the Lord’s body, where his redeeming work is to find expression in every age. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul says, ‘do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. We are to be faithful to the gospel even in environments where it is being rejected so that the Lord’s work of redeeming the age can continue through us.

Archbishop Van Thuan and the other prisoners were victims of a culture that denied religious freedom. Yet, they found their own way of standing up against it, of redeeming the atheistic culture around them. When an unexpected opportunity came their way to feed their faith, in the form of the smuggled New Testament, they seized it with courage and imagination. They devised a way to ensure that everyone could feed on the God’s Word. They knew that here was bread that could nourish their spirits, satisfy their deepest hungers and bring freedom even in their imprisonment. When Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven’, he is saying that he alone can satisfy the our spiritual hunger, the hunger for a love that is unconditional, for authentic freedom. One of the ways he comes to us today as living bread is through his Word. The church speaks of the lectern from which the word of God is proclaimed as the table of the Word. In feeding ourselves on the Bread of the Lord’s Word, we create an opening for the Lord to continue his redeeming work in us and through us, his work of overcoming evil with good.

The most privileged way the Lord comes to us as living bread is through the Eucharist. The prisoners’ action of tearing up the New Testament into sheets and passing them around so to ensure that every prisoner could have a personal encounter with the Lord’s word reminds me of what happens at Mass with regard to the consecrated bread. It is given out in small pieces so that all can share in it. The prisoners broke the bread of the word because they had no access to the bread of the Eucharist. We are fortunate to have access to both. The prisoners entered into communion with the Lord and with each other by breaking the bread of the Lord’s word and sharing it. This is something we can all do whenever we gather to share and hear the Lord’s word. Unlike the prisoners, we can also enter into communion with the Lord and with each other in and through our breaking of the Eucharistic bread and our sharing in it. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus offers us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. This is an even deeper form of communion with the Lord and with each other than is possible through the sharing of the bread of the word. Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist to nourish our faith, hope and love. In the words of the first reading, Jesus says to us, ‘Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared!’ He gives us himself, under the form of bread and wine, so that we can more truly be his body in the world. He draws us into communion with himself and each other to empower us for our task to redeem the age in which we live.

And/Or

(vii) Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Recent statistics show that the percentage of Catholics in Ireland who go to Sunday Mass is in decline. The same pattern is to be found in many other countries of Western Europe. There are probably many complex reasons for this, such as, secularism, disillusionment and anger with the church, loss of faith, poor quality celebration of liturgy. When going to Sunday Mass is no longer the norm, even among baptized Catholics, it invites the question, ‘Why do the rest of us go to Mass on Sunday?’ ‘Why do I go to Mass on Sunday?’ Today’s gospel reading gives us an approach to answering that question.

When Jesus speaks in the gospel reading about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, the reference is clearly to what came to be called the Eucharist. At the last supper, Jesus identified his body or his flesh with the bread that he took, broke, blessed and gave to his disciples. He identified his blood with the wine that he took, blessed and gave to his disciples. He was giving his body and blood, his flesh and blood, his entire self to his disciples, under the form of bread and wine. He called on his disciples to ‘do this in memory of me’, to keep doing what Jesus had done at the last supper, his words and actions, so that he could continue to give himself fully and completely to all future disciples under the form of bread and wine. That is why Saint Paul, writing about twenty five years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, could say, ‘the cup of blessing that we bless is it not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ?’ Paul is clearly referring to the Eucharist as it was being celebrated and understood within a few decades of Jesus’ life. In taking the bread that has been blessed and broken and the wine that has been blessed we are entering into communion with the body and blood of Jesus, we are uniting ourselves with the risen Lord.

Jesus says something very similar to Paul in the gospel reading. He declares that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood in the Eucharist live in him and he lives in them. Through the Eucharist there is a deep communion between ourselves and the Lord, a mutual indwelling. Jesus goes on to say that because of our deep communion with the Lord through the Eucharist, we can draw life from him. ‘Whoever eats me will draw life from me’. That is one of the reasons we go to Mass, to draw life from the risen Lord, a life that impacts on us here and now, and also endures into eternity. Jesus is talking about the life of the Spirit, the life of God, a life that enhances our human living and endures into eternity. It is because Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist to give us life, in this sense, that he speaks of himself in the gospel as ‘the living bread which has come down from heaven’ or, more simply, the ‘Bread of life’. We probably don’t appreciate the importance of bread in the time and place of Jesus. Today, as we wander around a supermarket, we can buy any kind of food we fancy, provided we can afford to do so. I can choose a menu every day from a vast array of options. In this world of full consumer choice, it is difficult to grasp the full significance of Jesus describing himself as the Bread of Life. In the biblical world, including the world of Jesus, the key to life was ready access to grain which can be turned into bread. Grain meant bread and bread meant life; its absence meant famine and death. Everyone understood and felt their dependence on bread. When Jesus declares himself to be the bread of life, he is presenting himself as the heavenly equivalent of bread. To survive in this life, people needed access to God. Jesus was saying that to survive in the presence of God, to survive spiritually, we need to rely on him.

It is clear from the gospel reading that many of Jesus’ listeners did not recognize their reliance on him for spiritual survival, did not accept his claim to be the Bread of Life. ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’, they asked. We come to Mass because we recognize Jesus as our Bread of Life. At some deep level, we know that we need to be in communion with him if we are to be spiritually alive, and, therefore, fully alive as a human being. We recognize our dependence on Jesus for true life, for what he calls elsewhere, life to the full. We come to Mass not because of custom or culture or, much less, coercion, but because we want to respond to Jesus’ wonderful invitation to come to him and eat of his flesh and drink of his blood so that we may draw life from him, the same life that he draws from the Father. That is the statement we are making every time to go to Mass, whether the Mass is a small gathering of people in a room or the huge gathering that will take place in the Phoenix Park next Sunday. We are then sent out from Mass to bring something of the Lord’s life we have received to those we meet. We are sent to become bread broken for others by reaching out to others in love.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

17th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 19:13-15) ‘Let the little children alone’.

Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 19:13-15Do not stop the little children coming to me.

People brought little children to Jesus, for him to lay his hands on them and say a prayer. The disciples turned them away, but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Gospel (USA)Matthew 19:13-15Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

Reflections (7)

(i) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

I always read this gospel reading on the occasion of a baptism because it seems so appropriate for baptism. When children are baptized, the Lord is welcoming them into his family, the community of believers we call the church. They are being greatly blessed and graced by the Lord. In today’s gospel reading Jesus wanted to welcome the children whom the parents brought to him for a blessing, but the disciples were turning the children away. Perhaps they thought that Jesus only had time for adults. However, they complete misread Jesus who replied to them, ‘Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me’. Jesus wanted children to be central to the life of the community he was gathering about himself. He would want them to be central to the life and worship of the church. Jesus goes on to declare in the gospel reading that the kingdom of God belongs to them as much as to anyone else. They have the same right to receive the gift of the kingdom of God as adults. Jesus wants them to be blessed by God who is working powerfully through him. The risen Lord wants us all to open up the riches of the gospel to children. Unlike the disciples in the gospel reading, he wants us, his disciples today, to bring children to himself for prayer and worship. He wants us to help children to come to know him as a friend, so that they can draw strength from his loving presence to them all through their lives.

And/Or

(ii) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

I have always been struck by the little scene in this morning’s gospel reading of parents bringing children to Jesus. It is a gospel reading I always use on the occasion of baptism. When parents bring their children for baptism they are doing what the parents in this morning’s gospel reading are doing, they are bringing their children to Jesus. Most of us are here this morning because our parents brought us to Jesus on the day of our baptism. It is strange that Jesus’ own disciples should try to turn the children away from Jesus. They probably reflect the cultural attitude of the time which regarded children as without status or significance. This was very much at odds with Jesus’ own attitude. He not only insisted that the children be allowed come to him, but he declared that children have a privileged place in God’s kingdom. ‘It is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs’. By implication, they should have a central place in the life and worship of the community of his followers. Jesus’ words and actions in today’s gospel place an onus on all of us to do whatever we can to bring children and young people to Jesus, to open them up to the riches of the gospel and of the whole Christian tradition. As a sign of how central children are to God’s kingdom and to the community of believers Jesus went on to lay his hands on them in blessing. We are all called to be channels of the Lord’s blessing to our children.

And/Or

(iii) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary time

We often ask people to pray for us and people ask us to pray for them. In this morning’s gospel reading, parents bring children to Jesus so that he may lay his hands on them and pray for them. Parents always want what is best for their children and, recognizing Jesus as a man of God, they wanted to open their children up to God who was at work through Jesus. It is strange that Jesus’ disciples would try to prevent this from happening, turning the children away. In the time of Jesus, children were way down the pecking order; they were without rights or status. Perhaps the disciples thought that these children were not ‘worthy’ of Jesus’ attention. If so, they had a great deal to learn about the values of the kingdom of God that Jesus came to proclaim. Jesus insisted on allowing the children come to him. He identifies them as those to whom the kingdom of God belongs in a special way. In the upside down world of God’s kingdom present in Jesus, those who have little or no status or importance in this world have a special place in the kingdom of God. St Paul was true to the teaching and actions of Jesus when he stated in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong’. In the previous chapter of Matthew’s gospel to this morning’s reading, Jesus had told his disciples that they would not enter the kingdom of God unless they become like little children. Jesus seems to be saying that when it comes to our relationship with God, those who appear to have least of what the world considers important can have most to teach us.

And/Or

(iv) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Parents bring children for baptism to most parish churches, just as in this morning’s gospel reading parents bring children to Jesus for him to lay his hands on them and say a prayer with them. On that occasion the disciples attempted to turn the children away and, as a result, Jesus had to rebuke them. Clearly their attitude towards children and Jesus’ attitude towards children differed. The disciples may have felt that children were not important enough for Jesus to bother with. Yet, Jesus’ words show that he wanted children to be at the centre of the life and prayer of the community of disciples, ‘Let the children alone, and do not stop them coming to me’. Not only did he want children to be at the centre of the church’s life but he also declared that adults within the community have a great deal to learn from them, ‘it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs’. Children’s instinctive openness and trusting nature models for us how we are to relate to God. It is to those with an open heart and a trusting spirit that will be able to receive the gift of the kingdom from God.

And/Or

(v) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel reading we have just heard is the reading that is often proclaimed during the liturgy of baptism. In that reading parents are presented as wanting to bring their children to Jesus, but the disciples, of all people, turn the children away from Jesus. Jesus immediately rebukes his disciples and publicly declares that children are not to be stopped from coming to him. The Lord wants children to come to him; he wants them to relate to him and he, in turn, wants to relate to them. In the gospel reading he relates to them by placing his hands upon them in blessing. When parents bring their children for baptism, they are responding to Jesus’ desire for children to come to him. Children have a natural curiosity about what Jesus refers to in the gospel reading as ‘the kingdom of heaven’. By nature and by instinct they are open and responsive to the Lord and all he has to offer. It is greatly to be regretted if, like the disciples in the gospel reading, we do or say anything to cut across that openess. Whenever any of us do anything to open up the treasures of the gospel to children, we are doing what Jesus wants and desires us to do.

And/Or

(vi) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading parents bring children to Jesus for him to lay his hands on them and say a prayer of blessing. Parents instinctively want what is best for their children. They recognize Jesus as someone through whom God is working in a life-giving way, and so they bring their children, their loved ones, to him. In our own times, parents who have an appreciation of Jesus and his message and life will have the same desire to bring their children to him. They recognize Jesus as God’s unique gift to us and they want that gift for their children because they want what is best for them. When parents try to bring their children to Jesus they often meet with obstacles of various kinds. In this morning’s gospel reading those obstacles take the form of Jesus’ own disciples who tried to prevent parents from bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples are resisting the desire of the parents for their children. In the midst of this struggle, Jesus is not a passive spectator. He insists, against his disciples, that the children be allowed to come to him. The gospel reading assures us that in our own struggle to bring our loved ones to the Lord, and to bring ourselves to him, the Lord is always working with us. The strength of his desire for us to meet with him and, thereby, find life will overcome the various obstacles that are placed in our way. We need to trust that the Lord will find a way of bringing people to him, in spite of the resistances that may be there, of whatever kind.

And/Or

(vii) Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Very often in the gospels we find Jesus and his disciples at odds with each other. We have a good example of that in today’s gospel reading. Children were brought to Jesus, presumably by their parents, for Jesus to lay his hands on them in blessing. The disciples turned them away and Jesus has to rebuke them, calling on them not to stop children from coming to him. Why the disciples would try to stop parents from bringing their children to Jesus is not clear. What is clear is Jesus’ insistence that children be allowed have free and complete access to him. He is upholding the dignity of children and declaring that they are to have a central place in the community’s life and worship. Whenever parents or grandparents or teachers bring children to Jesus in any way, they are doing something that the risen Lord delights in and strongly desires. As a community of faith, we have a calling from the Lord to open up the treasures of the gospel to our children and our young people. We have to keep searching for new and creative ways of doing this. Jesus goes on to declare that not only are children to have a central place in the community’s life, but that as adults we have something to learn from them. It is to such as these children, Jesus says, that the kingdom of God belongs. He is suggesting that, if we are to enter the kingdom of God, we need something of that trusting and open response to the gift of the gospel that comes natural to children.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

16th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 19:3-12): ‘They are no longer two but one body’.

Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 19:3-12Husband and wife are no longer two, but one body.

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?’ ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife– I am not speaking of fornication– and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’The disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is not advisable to marry.’ But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

GospelMatthew 19:3-12Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Reflections (10)

(i) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus turns to the opening chapters of the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, when he is put on the spot by some Pharisees regarding the question of divorce. The Jewish law made provision for divorce. The only issue of debate among the religious leaders was the grounds for divorce. One school of thought favoured very lenient grounds; another school insisted on much stricter grounds. However, both schools followed the Jewish Law in asserting that it was only the man who could initiate divorce proceedings, whatever the grounds. The woman was not free to do the same. The divorce laws gave a freedom to men that it did not give to women, and it left women very vulnerable to being cut adrift by their husbands, for the flimsiest of reasons. In that context, Jesus’ teaching on marriage was intended to protect women. It reminded men of their obligation to love and honour their wives as they would their own body. Jesus went back beyond what the Jewish law allowed to God’s original intention as expressed in the Book of Genesis, according to which husband and wife are to become one in love, faithful to each other all the days of their lives. It is a wonderful vision for married life and, yet, we all know from experiences that people’s marriages don’t always reflect this vision of Jesus. Some marriages irretrievably break down. Jesus has a desire for all our lives, whether we are married or single; it is that we would love one another as he loves us. We don’t always live out of that vision of Jesus, but it is always worth striving towards, and if we open ourselves to the help of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord’ love, we will be empowered to give expression to this vision, at least from time to time. Whenever we do so, the kingdom of God is at hand.

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(ii) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading Matthew gives us Jesus’ teaching on marriage and celibacy. Even though within the Jewish tradition the Book of Deuteronomy allowed for divorce, Jesus refers back to the original intention of the Creator as expressed in the Book of Genesis, according to which the union between man and woman in marriage was to be enduring. We are all only too well aware that marriages break down. Many of us will know that from our own families. Yet if the church is to be faithful to the teaching of Jesus it must keep promoting God’s vision for marriage as the giving of a man and a woman to each other for life. Jesus also acknowledges the value of celibacy, for those to whom it has been granted, for those who have the graced capacity for celibacy from God. Jesus declares that it is a value given with a view to a greater value, God’s kingdom. It is to be lived for the sake of that kingdom, to further the coming of God’s kingdom and the doing of God’s will. Whether married or single we are all called to work together in the service of God’s purpose for our world and our lives, as revealed to us by Jesus.

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(iii) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The opening verses of today’s gospel reading are often chosen as the gospel reading for a wedding Mass. They give us Jesus’ vision for married life, which goes back to the second chapter of the Book of Genesis, the first book in the Jewish Scriptures. According to this vision, a man and woman become one body in marriage, understanding body as the physical expression of the whole person. This vision of two individual lives becoming one shared life is what couples who come to be married in church aspire to, which is why this gospel reading speaks to them. Even though, in practice, those who come together in marriage do not always stay together, the vision for marriage that Jesus articulates remains God’s will for married life. Not everyone, of course, gets married or is called to marriage, as Jesus acknowledges in the concluding part of our gospel reading. Indeed, Jesus himself was not married. Married or single, we are all called to bring the Lord’s love into the world, to love others in ways that build communion or community. Insofar as we allow something of the Lord’s love to become flesh in us, the Lord will be able to continue his work through us. He once described that work as gathering together the scattered children of God, building communion among people.

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(iv) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, the religious leaders are presented as testing Jesus. They were aware that his teaching often went much further than the Jewish law required, even, at times, to the point of undermining the Jewish law. On this occasion the Jewish leaders wanted to test how faithful Jesus was to the Jewish law on marriage. They suspected that Jesus’ teaching would go against what the Jewish law permitted in relation to marriage, namely, divorce in certain circ*mstances. Their suspicions were well founded. Jesus’ teaching on marriage was more radical than that of the Jewish law. He called on men and women to marry for life, and went back to the book of Genesis to support his teaching. We are all aware that many marriages do not last for life; relationships break down, and people go their separate ways. That is the reality. The gospels show that Jesus knew how to accept the reality of people’s lives; he engaged with people as they were. He relates to all of us in the concrete situation of our lives. Yet, he also shared God’s vision for human life, including married life. He proclaimed that vision while continuing to relate in a loving way to all who could not reach it, for whatever reason. That includes us all, because none of us lives up fully to the values Jesus proclaimed and lived. There will always be that two-fold aspect to Jesus’ relationship with us; he loves us where we are, but keeps calling us beyond where we are.

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(v) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Very often in the gospels Jesus is presented as taking a much more relaxed attitude to the Jewish Law than the religious leaders of the time. He is much less strict about the Sabbath law of rest than they are, for example. Jesus heals on the Sabbath, even though this would have been considered work and, therefore, a violation of the Sabbath Law. When it comes to marriage and divorce, however, Jesus seems to have taken a more strict line than the religious leaders of the day. They understood, from the Book of Deuteronomy, that a man could divorce his wife, although a woman could not divorce her husband. This was the interpretation of the Law that was in vogue in the time of Jewish; it left women very vulnerable. Jesus, however, goes back behind the Book of Deuteronomy to the Book of Genesis and declares that God’s original will was that a man and a human who become one flesh in marriage should not then go their separate ways. His vision of marriage was of a faithful relationship which reflected God’s faithful relationship with his people. Jesus must have been as aware as we are today that, in reality, many marriages did not last. When that happens, people have to manage their lives and find love as best they can. We can certainly never judge. Yet, in faithfulness to the teaching of Jesus, the church has to keep on proclaiming his vision of two lives becoming one in marriage, in a self-giving love. At its best, such a love is an ‘incarnation’, with a small ‘i’. It is God’s love in human form. In that gospel reading Jesus also speaks of the single life, those who are single for the sake of kingdom. That is a different expression of God’s love in human form.

And/Or

(vi) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus’ teaching on marriage in this morning’s gospel reading was not the standard understanding of marriage in the Jewish world at that time. The Pharisees who put a question to Jesus to test him took it for granted that divorce was permissible in certain circ*mstances, as was clear from the Book of Deuteronomy. Jewish men were allowed to divorce their wives, although Jewish women could not divorce their husbands. The only question was on what grounds a Jewish man could divorce his wife. This is why the Pharisees asked Jesus if a man could divorce his wife ‘on any pretext whatever’, as some Jewish teachers held. However, in his response to their question Jesus showed that he did not accept their premise that divorce was permissible and the only issue was on what grounds. Instead Jesus went back beyond the Book of Deuteronomy to the Book of Genesis to show that God’s original intention for marriage was that a man must cling to his wife so that the two become one body for life. Jesus’ teaching on life-long fidelity within marriage would have been considered quite radical at the time. In the gospel reading, even Jesus’ own disciples declare in response to Jesus’ teaching, ‘if that is how things are between a husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry’. Jesus believed that a man and woman were capable of a love that lasted until death. The teaching of Jesus, not just in this area of marriage but in other areas as well, must have seemed too demanding, too idealistic, to many of his contemporaries. Yet, Jesus’ vision for human living, whether it is married life or single life, always appeals to what is best in us. The way of life he puts before us may be demanding but he assures us that it is what we were created for and, therefore, it is the path of life.

And/Or

(vii) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, Jesus upholds both the value of life-long fidelity in marriage, and the value of celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The Jewish tradition did not place great value on celibacy, and divorce was quite common and acceptable. The Pharisees quote from the Book of Deuteronomy which was the basis of the Jewish divorce law. That law in the time of Jesus was very much weighted in favour of the male. Men could divorce their wives but wives could not divorce their husbands. One school of thought within the Jewish tradition held that husbands could divorce their wives on any pretext whatever. A second school held that husbands could divorce their wives only on certain pretexts. That is why the Pharisees ask Jesus the question, ‘Is it against the law for a husband to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ Their question took divorce for granted; they simply wanted to know which of the two schools of thought Jesus favoured. In his answer, Jesus went back beyond the Book of Deuteronomy to the Book of Genesis, to what Jesus considered God’s original intention, ‘a man must leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two become one body’. In highlighting the value of life-long fidelity in marriage, Jesus could be understood as protecting women in marriage from being cast aside at the whim of their husbands. Jesus proclaims the value of a love between a man and a woman that is constant and faithful unto death. We are all aware that marriages break down. Most families in this church, including my own, are aware of this reality from personal experience. There will always be a tension between the ideal and the real, between the goal and what is reached. Jesus wants us to live with that tension and not collapse it. He keeps holding before us the value of a human love that is a reflection of God’s faithful love, whether such love finds expression within marriage or in the single life.

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And/Or

(viii) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels show that Jesus was often tested by his opponents. They sought in various ways to trip him up. We have an example of that in today’s gospel reading. The Pharisees put a thorny question to Jesus, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ There was a school of teachers of the Law who held this view; a man could divorce his wife for any reason. There was another school of teachers who held that a man could only divorce his wife on certain grounds. Jesus was being tested as to which school he favoured. It is simply presumed that it is the man who divorces the woman. There was no provision in Jewish Law for a woman to divorce her husband. This left women in marriage rather vulnerable. As often when Jesus is asked a testing question, he doesn’t answer directly. Instead, he goes behind the divorce law which is to be found in the Book of Deuteronomy to God’s original intention for marriage, which is be found in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. When a man and woman marry, they are one body, one flesh. In other words, a husband is to treat his wife as if she were himself, and the wife is to treat her husband as if he were herself. Man and woman are equal in marriage; they belong to each other equally. This original intention of God for marriage was much more enlightened that the current divorce law, regardless of how that law was interpreted by the two schools. Jesus speaks here as the authoritative interpreter of God’s will for marriage. We can broaden that out and say that Jesus is the authoritative interpreter of God’s will for our lives in regard to every issue he speaks about. He is the one who lights up God’s purpose for our lives and our world. That is why, as followers of Jesus, we always read the Jewish Scriptures in the light of Jesus’ teaching and way of life.

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(ix) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading, Joshua reminds the people of Israel of the many ways they have been blessed and graced since God first called Abraham. The land they had recently entered with its towns, vineyards and olive groves was not the result of their own efforts but was much more by way of a gift from God. We all need to be reminded of how much we have received, the extent to which we have been graced by God. The more aware we are of the giftedness of life, the more thankful we will be. Saint Paul often called upon the first Christians to be thankful. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, which is the earliest Christian document that has come to us, he says, ‘give thanks in all circ*mstances’. We are to live out of a sense of gratitude to God for what we have received from God. We express our gratitude to God in prayer but also in life, by our willingness to give to others out of what we have received from God, by seeking to love others in the way we have been loved by God. In the gospel reading, this is the kind of love Jesus calls for within marriage. For a couple to give to each other as they have received, to love one another as they have been loved by God, is to be faithful to each other for life, as God is faithful to us throughout our lives. Married love has the potential to be the greatest living sign of God’s faithful love. Not everyone marries, of course, as Jesus recognizes at the end of the gospel reading. Those who are not married can equally reflect the faithful nature of God’s love in the way they live, through the love of friendship which they extent to others, and through their loving service of the community. Regardless of our state in life, we are all called to acknowledge how much we have received from God, and to give from what we have received.

And/Or

(x) Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The teaching of Jesus on marriage in today’s gospel reading can seem very challenging and uncompromising today, especially in the context of the high proportion of marriages that do not last. His vision of marriage can seem far removed from the reality of married life for many couples. Yet, perhaps it is precisely because so many marriages do not last today that the teaching of Jesus on marriage is all the more important. Jesus calls for a love between husband and wife that is faithful and enduring, a love that lasts in good times as well as bad, a love that is generous and ready to forgive. His vision of how a man and woman are to relate to each other in marriage is shaped by his insight into how God relates to all of us. God loves us with a faithful and enduring love. God’s love for us never changes; it lasts through good times and bad times in our lives; it is a love that is generous and ready to forgive. This is the quality of God’s love that is reflected in today’s first reading from the prophet Jeremiah. In that reading, the Lord accused his people of breaking the covenant he made with them. Yet, in spite of that infidelity, the Lord promises them, ‘I will remember the covenant that I made with you… I am going to renew my covenant with you… you will be reduced to silence when I have pardoned you for all that you have done’. Jesus calls on married couples to relate to one another in the way God relates to us. That call is addressed to all of us, whether we are married or single. We are to love one another in a way that reflects how God loves us. Maximilian Kolbe whose feast we celebrate today is a wonderful example of God’s love in human form. As a celibate man, he laid down his life in love for a married man, a father of a family. As Jesus says, ‘no one has greater love than this’.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

15th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Inc. Luke 1:39-56): ‘Of all women, you are the most blessed’.

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Gospel (Except USA)Luke 1:39-56The Almighty has done great things for me.

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lordand my spirit exults in God my saviour;because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,for the Almighty has done great things for me.Holy is his name,and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.He has shown the power of his arm,he has routed the proud of heart.He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy– according to the promise he made to our ancestors–of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

Gospel (USA)Luke 1:39-56The Almighty has done great things for me; he has raised up the lowly.

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;my spirit rejoices in God my Saviorfor he has looked upon his lowly servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed:the Almighty has done great things for me,and holy is his Name.He has mercy on those who fear himin every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm,and has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,and has lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent away empty.He has come to the help of his servant Israelfor he remembered his promise of mercy,the promise he made to our fathers,to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Reflections (2)

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary’s assumption points to our own heavenly destiny, the glorification of our whole humanity in heaven. Her earthly life reminds us of our baptismal calling. In today’s gospel reading, Mary physically carries Jesus in her womb to Elizabeth, her older cousin. As disciples of the Lord, we are all called to carry Jesus to others. Our baptismal calling is to become bearers of the Lord’s presence to all, to allow the Lord to live in us so that he can speak and act through us. Mary gives expression to our own baptismal calling. As the first disciple of her son, she shows us what it means to answer the Lord’s call. Mary could bring the Lord to Elizabeth because, at the moment of the annunciation, she gave herself over to God’s purpose for her life. She consented to allow God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to overshadow her, to take hold of her. Insofar as we give ourselves over to God’s purpose for our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow us, we too will become people who bring the Lord to others. It is the Holy Spirit who brings the Lord to birth within us.

When Mary reached her destination and greeted Elizabeth, we are told that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Mary’s way of relating to Elizabeth helped Elizabeth to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We too are called to relate to others in ways that help them to become filled with the Holy Spirit, that open them up more fully to the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives can bring the Holy Spirit to life in the lives of others.

In response to Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth, in the power of the Spirit, declares Mary blessed because of her faith, ‘Blessed is she who believed’. Mary’s faith showed itself in love, in a journey of loving service to her older, more vulnerable, pregnant cousin. She shows us that genuine faith always expresses itself in loving service of others. When we give ourselves over in faith to God, we open ourselves up to his Holy Spirit and the primary fruit of the Spirit is love. As Saint Paul says in his letter to the Galatians, ‘the only thing that counts is faith working through love’.

Just as Mary’s presence filled Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth’s way of relating to Mary filled Mary with a spirit of prayer. Because of the way that Elizabeth welcomed Mary, Mary was moved to pray her great prayer, the Magnificat. The content of Mary’s prayer shows her to be a woman who hungers for a new justice on earth, where the lowly are exalted, the hungry are filled, and oppressive powers are overcome. Mary shows us that genuine faith expresses itself not only in love but in a hunger and thirst for God’s justice on earth.

If Mary’s earthly life of loving service and prayer shows us the shape of our own faith journey, her assumption reveals our ultimate destiny beyond this earthly life. The feast of her assumption celebrates her full embodied sharing in the risen life of Christ. She gives us hope that, in the words of today’s second reading, ‘all will be brought to life in Christ’. As one who now shares fully in the Lord’s risen life, we can confidently turn to her, asking her to pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, so that we too can come to share in the Lord’s risen life to the full.

We need her prayers, because our faith, and all that flows from it, is often put to the test. Mary’s faith, her relationship with the Lord, was certainly put to the test. That is one of the messages of that strange first reading from the Book of Revelation, which is so full of symbolism. When the woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, with twelve stars for a crown was about to give birth to her child, the red dragon stood in front of her so that he could devour her child as soon as it was born. However, God protected both the woman and her child. There will always be forces hostile to our faith in the Lord and to our efforts to give birth to the Lord in our lives. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’. He foresaw our struggle. We need a faith that perseveres through the struggles of life. On this feast of Mary, we can look to her as a woman of persevering faith, who remained faithful to her Son, standing by the cross as she watched him been cruelly put to death. She is a prayerful presence on our own faith journey, helping us to persevere in faith, until our faith in her Son gives way to seeing him face to face.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of the Assumptionof the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s full sharing in the risen life of Christ. In the words of Mary’s prayer in the gospel reading, ‘the Almighty has done great things for me’. This feast also reminds us that the Almighty wants to do the same great things for all of us. In the words of today’s second reading from Saint Paul, we are all destined to ‘be brought to life in Christ’. Paul wrote to the members of the church in Philippi, ‘I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion’. God has brought his good work in Mary to completion in heaven. God’s good work was well underway in Mary before she came to share in Christ’s heavenly glory. We can see evidence of God’s good work in her in today’s gospel reading. When her older cousin, Elizabeth, was pregnant with John the Baptist and in need of support, Mary set out and went as quickly as she could from Nazareth to the hill country of Judah, even though Mary was pregnant herself with Jesus. According to the gospel reading, she ended up staying with Elizabeth about three months. God’s good work in our lives shows itself in the kind of loving service that Mary showed to Elizabeth. Whenever we go on a journey to support someone in need, God’s good work is coming to pass in us. In response to Mary’s opening greeting, Elizabeth asked, ‘Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’ Mary physically brought the Lord to Elizabeth. We are all called to bring the Lord to others by our goodness and kindness, and whenever we do so we are honouring them. God’s good work in Mary also found expression in her prayer, which has come to be known as the Magnificat. Mary was a woman of prayer as well as a woman of loving service. Her loving service of others flowed from her life of prayer. Whenever we give time to God in prayer, God’s good work is finding expression in our lives. Our calling is to keep opening ourselves up to God’s good work in our lives, expressed in loving service of others and in prayer to God, so that God can do for us what he did for Mary, bringing his good work to completion in our lives, by leading us to share fully in Christ’s risen life.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

14th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 18:15-20) ‘Where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them’.

Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 18:15-20If your brother listens to you, you have won back your brother.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 18:15-20If your brother listens to you, you have won him over.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Reflections (7)

(i) Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

We can all take a wrong turning in our lives. We say or do something that hurts another person. It can be helpful at such times if someone, preferably someone we know and trust, gently points out to us where we have gone wrong. It takes courage to bring a wrong to someone’s attention and it takes humility to recognize that what the person is trying to show us is correct. In the gospel reading Jesus says that we sometimes have to bring a wrong that someone has done to their attention. He clearly saw this as one expression of the responsibility we have for one another. We are to help one another towards virtue. We are to support one another in our efforts to do God’s will. However, what Jesus says here has to be seen in the light of something he said elsewhere in the gospels. He tells us not to be trying to take the speck out of our brother’s and sister’s eye when we have a plank in our own eye. In other words, we are to be far more aware of our own failings than the failings of others. If we try to bring some wrong to someone’s attention, we do so out of a very deep sense of our own moral weaknesses. We are all sinners trying to help one another on the path towards the Lord. Jesus also states in today’s gospel reading that our journeying together, our efforts to help one another towards virtue, has to be rooted in prayer. ‘Where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them’. In prayer we open ourselves up the Holy Spirit, and it is only in the Spirit of the Lord that we can really support one another in our efforts to live as true disciples of the Lord.

And/Or

(ii) Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the time of Jesus, various Jewish rabbis claimed that, when two pious Jews sat together to discuss the words of the Jewish law, the divine presence was with them. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus is presented as making a related but different claim. He declares that where two or three are gathered in his name, he himself is there in their midst. Jesus, in Matthew’s gospel, is Emmanuel, God-with-us. He himself is the divine presence among us. When his followers gather in his name, on account of him, he is with them as Emmanuel, God-with-us. Only two followers are necessary to ensure the presence of Emmanuel. When we gather in the Lord’s name to prayer, whether it is the prayer of the Eucharist or some other form of prayer, the Lord is there. We don’t have to enter into the Lord’s presence on such occasions, we are already in it. We only have to become aware of the one who is present among us. That is why attentiveness, awareness, is always at the heart of prayer, especially communal prayer.

And/Or

(iii) Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jewish rabbis claimed that when two pious Jews sat together to discuss the words of the Jewish Law, the divine presence was with them. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus declares that where two or three of his followers meet in his name, he shall be there with them. The meeting in his name that Jesus refers to is a meeting for worship, for prayer. As a church we gather not around the words of the Jewish Law but around the words of Jesus, and when we do that Jesus will be among us, and he will be among us as Emmanuel, God-with-us. The first reading portrayed the ‘glory of the Lord’, the presence of God leaving the Jewish temple; the gospel reading speaks of the presence of God, the presence of Jesus, God-with-us, among the disciples of Jesus. For the Lord to be with us whenever we gather to worship is a great privilege, a great grace. Yet, we are called to live in a way that is worthy of such a grace. The Lord who is present among us when we gather for prayer calls on us to reveal his presence to others when we rise from prayer and go about our daily tasks.

And/Or

(iv) Wednesday, Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time

The last verse of this morning’s gospel reading is one that has spoken to believers down through the generations, ‘For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them’. The saying highlights the value of believers coming together in the Lord’s name, whether for liturgical worship, other forms of prayer or some form of communal activity. No number is too small; any more than one will do. Even when two people gather in the Lord’s name, he is there in the midst of them. There is a real value in coming together in faith, even if it is only two people, because in doing so we create a space, as it were, for the Lord to be present. This saying of Jesus is one that gives tremendous value to all our gatherings, especially our gatherings for prayer, no matter how small those gatherings are. We can easily get preoccupied with numbers in the church. We bemoan the fact that fewer people are coming to Mass or to gatherings of faith whether for prayer or for other purposes. Yet, if even a minimum of two people ensures the presence of the risen Lord between them, then there is something there to truly celebrate rather than bemoan. Whenever the Lord is present in our midst, he is not there in a passive way. His presence is always an active, life-giving, transforming presence. There is a great deal going on when even two gather in the Lord’s name. There is so much more happening than just the physical coming together of people. The Lord is at work in their midst. We need never underestimate the value of our gatherings or their power to transform, no matter how small they are.

And/Or

(v) Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

We can often be impressed by numbers, and that is true even within the context of the church. We look to see how many are coming to Mass or how many are signing up to this event or to that ministry. Jesus’ way of looking at things is somewhat different to ours. Numbers did not seem to be an issue for him. He understood the value of the one; he spoke of the shepherd who left the ninety nine sheep to go in the search of the one who was lost. In this morning’s gospel reading he declares that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in the midst of them. The smallest gathering in a tiny church is just as significant as the huge congregation in one of the great Cathedrals or Basilicas of the world. In these days of declining numbers within the church, the gospel teaches us to appreciate the significance of those present, regardless of how few, rather than allowing ourselves to become too discouraged by those who are not present. The Lord is present where two or three are gathered in his name, and if we are open and responsive to the Lord’s presence among us, few though we may be, he will draw others to himself through us.

And/Or

(vi) Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus’ message in today’s gospel reading takes it for granted that within the community of his disciples, people will invariably take a wrong path. He was very aware that the church he was forming would not be a community of the perfect. It would always be a community of sinners who are striving to be better. As a result, Jesus suggests a procedure for helping others who do wrong to come back to the right path again. The one to whom the wrong is done is to have it out with the person responsible for the wrong. If that doesn’t work, one or two others are to be brought along to address the person in the wrong. If that doesn’t work, the whole community of believers is to get involved. Jesus’ suggested procedure may not be valid in every situation for every age. Yet, the underlying principle holds true. Jesus is declaring that we have some responsibility for each other’s well-being, not just physical well-being but moral well-being. He looks to us to help each other towards goodness. We have a role to play in helping one another to be more loving in the way Jesus was loving. It is not that some of us are the moral superiors of others. We are all sinners and we each need other members of the believing community to help us on our way towards God. Being human, being Christ-like, being loving, is a complicated business and we all make mistakes in the process of learning to do it right, and we need to find a way of standing together in that process. When we stand together in this vital work of helping each other become all that God wants us to be, Jesus promises us in today’s gospel reading that he will be with us. We are not on our own. ‘Where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them’.

And/Or

(vii) Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The last line of today’s gospel reading, in particular, has spoken to believers down the centuries. Jesus says, ‘For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them’. Even when we are on our own, we know that the Lord is with us and within us. When older people were isolating early in the pandemic, they were never away from the Lord. He doesn’t do social distancing. Yet, Jesus clearly saw a special value in people of faith meeting together in his name. The Lord’s way of being present to us when we gather in his name is different to his presence to us on our own, having its own distinctive quality. Believers have always felt the need to gather; it is as if the Lord is drawing us together. We are members of his family of faith; in the gospels he refers to his disciples as his brothers, sisters, mother. It is natural for family to gather together, and that is just as true of the family of faith. What Jesus says in the gospel reading suggests that the numbers who gather isn’t so important. He seems to set the bar very low when he speaks of two or three gathering in his name. Yet, he clearly sees a great value in such a small gathering. We tend to be big into numbers. If a gathering falls below a certain number, we can be tempted to think it isn’t worth continuing with it. Yet, Jesus values any gathering in his name, even the minimal gathering of two or three. It is worth holding on to that truth, especially in these times when we can be preoccupied with the fall in the numbers coming to Mass. A gathering of two or three matters to the Lord and it doesn’t have to be for Mass. Any gathering of people in the Lord’s name, because they belong to him, mediates the Lord’s presence.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

13th August Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14) ‘Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’.

Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me.

The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14See that you do not despise one of these little ones.

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

Reflections (4)

(i) Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes the kinds of questions people ask reveal their values, their priorities, what they think important. The question that the disciples put to Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ suggests a certain interest on their part in status and standing. In response to their question, Jesus both did something and said something. He first of all called a child over and placed the child in front of them; he then informed them that they needed to become like that child just to enter the kingdom of heaven, never mind become the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus was calling on his disciples to become child-like not childish, child-like in the sense of having child-like trust in a loving Father, a trust that awaits everything from God and grabs at nothing, including status and standing. Greatness comes to those who make themselves as dependent on God as children are dependent on adults for their existence and well-being. Jesus’ response to the question of his disciples is a kind of a commentary on the first beatitude which he had spoken earlier in Matthew’s gospel, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The question the disciples ask Jesus, ‘who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ reveals a preoccupation with status and honour. In his response, Jesus cuts across this preoccupation, which is far removed from his own concerns. He does not answer the question directly but declares that disciples will not even enter the kingdom of God unless they become like little children. In that culture, children, although loved by their parents, were considered to have no rights, no status, no honour. They are completely dependent on others for everything. In calling on all of his disciples to become like little children, he is calling on us to cast off all notions of status and honour and to recognize our complete dependence on God for everything, our poverty before God. As Jesus says elsewhere, it is those who humble themselves who will be exalted (by God). Humility is not about putting oneself down but about being grounded or earthed (‘humus’ is Latin for ‘earth’) in the reality of our creaturely status. The humble are those who recognize the truth of their reality as beggars before God, dependent upon God for all that is good. As a result, the humble will not promote themselves over others but recognize the common humanity that they share with all people. They will recognize and welcome the Lord in the weakest, those without status or position, such as the child. The conclusion of the gospel reading suggests they will go further and set off in search of such ‘little ones’ when they stray.

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(iii) Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels are full of questions. Some of the questions are asked by Jesus; others are asked by his opponents and some are asked by his disciples. In this morning’s gospel reading a question is asked by one of Jesus’ disciples, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ It is a question that reveals something about our human nature, an interest in status and position and prestige. Behind that question of the disciples perhaps stood another question, ‘How do we get to become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ The answer of Jesus to his disciples’ question gave them, and gives us, much to ponder. Jesus in his answer speaks about something more basic than becoming the greatest in the kingdom. He says that in order just to enter the kingdom, his disciples have to change and become like little children. Children in those days had no rights; they had no status in law. They were completely dependent on others for everything, especially on their parents. Jesus is recommending a child-like trust in a loving Father, a trust which awaits everything from God and grabs at nothing. Jesus is making a sharp challenge to the will for power and status that exists in every human community, including the community of disciples. Rather than seeking to exalt ourselves we entrust ourselves to God who exalts the humble.

And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading this morning Jesus’ disciples ask him, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ In response to their question, Jesus does not say the greatest are the most successful, the strongest, those who outdo others in skill and power. Rather, he took a child, one of the least significant in the culture of the time, and declared that children are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Those who, in Jesus’ time, had no status or power or influence or expertise or skill are the greatest in the kingdom of God. What makes them great in God’s kingdom is their openness to receive God’s presence in Jesus. Today we can still recognize that openness to the Lord in children. Jesus then goes on to call on his disciples and on all of us to become like little children, and declares that unless we do so we will not enter the kingdom of God. Children can be our teachers. As adults we need to be as open to the Lord’s presence as children are. Then we will be great in the kingdom of God.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

12th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 17:22-27) ‘The sons are exempt’.

Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 17:22-27'They will put the Son of Man to death'.

One day when they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men; they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again.’ And a great sadness came over them.When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel came to Peter and said, ‘Does your master not pay the half-shekel?’ ‘Oh yes’ he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus said, ‘Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?’ And when he replied, ‘From foreigners’, Jesus said, ‘Well then, the sons are exempt. However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 17:22-27They will kill him and he will be raised. The subjects are exempt from the tax.

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief.When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The half-shekel tax was a tax that devout Jews sent to the Temple every year to support the cost of the Temple activities, especially the various sacrifices that were offered there. Jesus suggests that the new family he is forming about himself are free from paying this tax, ‘the sons (and daughters) are exempt’. The King of heaven does not tax members of God’s new family that Jesus is in the process of creating. However, Jesus goes on to say to Peter that even though they are exempt from paying this Temple tax, they should pay it anyway so as not to give unnecessary offense to those collecting the tax. In this case, consideration for others requires the disciples to renounce a legitimate freedom that they have. For Jesus, freedom is not the ultimate value above all others. Rather, love is the ultimate value, loving concern for the wellbeing of others. It is love of others that is to shape how we exercise our freedom. Out of consideration for others, it may be necessary to renounce a freedom that we have. Jesus is the supreme example of someone who gave up his freedom out of love for humanity. He had no freedom as he was nailed to the cross, but at that moment he was demonstrating God’s unconditional love for the world. This kind of radical freedom is what Saint Paul calls the freedom of the Spirit. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Cor 3:17). It is the Spirit who frees us to renounce our legitimate freedom when the good of others is at stake. The well-being of the stranger, the refugee, the asylum seeker, often requires that we renounce some freedom we possess. In doing so we are revealing the Lord’s self-emptying love.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

There are two parts to this morning’s gospel reading. In the first part Jesus announces his coming suffering and death. As a result, we are told, a great sadness came over the disciples. Sadness is the normal response when we are faced with the departure or the death of someone we love. We have all known that kind of sadness, the sadness that engulfs the disciples in today’s gospel reading. To some extent, we live with it all the time. Yet, we cannot allow such sadness to dominate us. We have to keep going in the strength the Lord gives us. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus and the disciples keep travelling on after this moment of harsh reality. Eventually they come to Capernaum, the home of Simon Peter. There, a strange little incident takes place. The half-shekel tax is the tax that every Jew in the time of Jesus paid annually towards the upkeep of the temple. On the one hand Jesus says that he and his followers are exempt from paying this tax, because Jesus himself is now the new temple. On the other hand, Jesus tells Peter to pay the tax so as not to offend the religious leaders. In other words, Jesus declares freedom in this regard but then recommends putting this freedom to one side for the moment so as not to give unnecessary offense. In that way Jesus reminds us that although we may be free in regard to certain matters, sometimes it can be right not to use our freedom when the good of others is at stake.

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(iii) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the time of Jesus, every Jew, regardless of where they lived, had to pay an annual tax towards the expenses of the temple in Jerusalem. In this morning’s gospel reading, those who collect this tax approach Peter to ask whether or not Jesus intends paying this tax. Peter instinctively answers ‘Yes’. However, when Jesus is alone with his disciples, he puts a little parable to Peter which suggests that Jesus and his followers are not obliged to pay this tax. They are sons (and daughters) of God the Father in heaven and, sons, unlike slaves, are free. Jesus has a very different view about the payment of this Temple tax to those who collect the tax. Yet, even though in theory Jesus and his disciples should consider themselves free from the obligation of paying this tax, Jesus instructs Peter to go and pay this tax for both of them, so as to avoid giving unnecessary scandal or offence to others. This issue is not our issue but Jesus’ way of coming at it has still something to say to us today. Jesus implies that just because we are free to do something does not mean that it is right to do it. Freedom is a very important value, but the gospels suggest that the exercise of freedom has to be governed by higher values, such as the value of loving the other, being considerate of the other, avoiding giving unnecessary offence or scandal to the other. Jesus teaches us that sometimes we have to renounce our legitimate freedom when the well being of others is at stake. In the world of God’s kingdom proclaimed by Jesus the question, ‘What is my entitlement?’ becomes less important than the question, ‘How can I best serve others, including those who see things differently to me?’

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel this morning centres on the payment of the half shekel tax. This was an annual tax that all Jews paid for the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem. The question is whether Jesus and his disciples were free from having to pay this tax. After all, Jesus had declared that ‘something greater than the Temple is here’. The ‘something greater’ was Jesus himself. He is the new Temple of God, the one in whom God is present. He is Immanuel, God-with-us. If he is the new Temple, then strictly speaking the tax to the old Temple in Jerusalem does not need to be paid. That is what Jesus means when he says, ‘the sons are exempt’, the sons being the sons of God’s kingdom, Jesus’ disciples. However, even though in theory Jesus and his disciples are free from having to pay the tax, Jesus declares that they should pay the tax so as to not to offend the Jewish tax collectors, so as to avoid giving scandal. The issue of the Temple tax is not our issue today, but the way Jesus deals with it can continue to speak to us. Jesus is declaring that just because we are legitimately free not to do something does not mean that we should not do it. Similarly, just because we are legitimately free to do something does not mean that we should do it. Freedom is not always the most important value for Jesus. The value of love is always more important in his eyes. Whatever promotes the well being of others always guides how we exercise our legitimate freedom. One expression of the love of others is not giving unnecessary offense or scandal.

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(v) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the time and place of Jesus, people laboured under the burden of taxation. Perhaps that much has not changed! There were various taxes to be paid to the Roman authorities. There was also an annual half-shekel tax to be paid for the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem. In this morning’s gospel reading, those who were responsible for collecting this Temple tax were curious to know whether or not Jesus paid it. Peter assures them that he did. However, when Jesus had the opportunity to speak with Peter, he conveyed to him, in the words of the gospel reading, that ‘the sons are exempt’ from this tax. The ‘sons’ were the members of the new family that Jesus was gathering about himself. Yet, even though, Jesus no longer saw the Temple tax as obligatory for himself or his disciples, he instructs Peter to go and pay it, ‘so as not to offend these people’. Although Jesus was not afraid to offend people when something of consequence was at stake, he didn’t go out of his way to offend people when the issue was not so important, as in this instance of the Temple tax. There were issues on which he took a stand and other issues which he let go. We all have to learn to make that distinction. When are we called to stand and fight and when can we just let things be? We look to the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom to make that judgement.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading makes reference to the half-shekel tax. This was not a tax imposed by the Romans. Rather, it was a Jewish tax. Devout Jews paid the half-shekel tax to the Temple in Jerusalem every year to defray the costs of the sacrifices that were offered in the Temple. Peter is asked by the collectors of this tax whether his master, Jesus, paid it or not. They were testing Jesus’ credentials as a devout and orthodox Jew. Peter did not hesitate to say that Jesus did pay this annual tax. In the conversation that Jesus subsequently has with Peter, Jesus suggests that neither himself nor his disciples are bound to pay this tax. This seems to be the meaning of his statement, ‘the sons are exempt’. Jesus, of course, was the supreme Son of God, but his disciples were called to share in his relationship with God as Son and to that extent were sons and daughters of God. Even though ‘the sons are exempt’, Jesus instructs Peter to pay the tax for both of them, so as not to give an offence to the collectors of the half-shekel tax. Jesus suggests that just because we are free in relation to some matter does not mean it is always a good thing to exercise that freedom. Jesus implies that freedom is an important value but it is not an absolute value. There are other values which take precedence over the value of freedom, such as consideration for the sensitivities of others, or what we would call the value of self-emptying love of others. For Jesus and for the Christian tradition that flows from him, love, the primary fruit of the Holy Spirit, is a higher value than freedom. Such love of the other shapes how we give expression to our freedom. As Saint Paul puts it so succinctly, ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Taxation has always been a contentious issue from ancient times until today. How much tax should we pay? Who should pay tax? In the time and place of Jesus, there were taxes due to Rome and there was also a religious tax due to the Temple in Jerusalem, the half-shekel tax. It is this religious tax that is the issue in today’s gospel reading. Jews paid this half-shekel tax to the Temple every year to defray the cost of the sacrifices that were offered there. Those who collected this tax come to Peter and ask him if Jesus pays it or not. They wanted to know whether Jesus behaved as a good Jew should in this matter. Peter answers ‘yes’, assuming that Jesus would fulfil this requirement of the Jewish Law. However, Jesus goes on to show that the situation is not quite as simple as Peter’s answer suggests. Jesus’ comment to Peter, ‘the sons are exempt’, suggests that the sons and daughters of God, those who call God ‘Abba’, Father, as Jesus does, are, in fact, exempt from this tax. After all, as Jesus says elsewhere in this gospel of Matthew, with reference to himself, something greater than the Temple is here. The Temple has lost its significance as the privileged place of God’s presence now that Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God-with-us, has arrived to proclaim the powerful presence of God’s reign. Yet, Jesus goes on to declare that, even though, in theory, he and his disciples are free from this Temple tax, Peter should pay the half shekel tax on their behalf. Jesus implies that being free in regard to something does not mean that it is always good to exercise our freedom. Sometimes, other values take precedence over the value of freedom. In this case, what was of greater value was sensitivity towards the collectors of the tax by not offending them, or giving unnecessary scandal. For Jesus, consideration for others, love of others, takes priority over the exercise of legitimate freedom. Within the Christian tradition, freedom is always shaped by love of others, that self-emptying love that places the good of the other before our own, the kind of love that Jesus revealed in his life and his death.

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(viii) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The story in today’s gospel reading about the half-shekel has been described as one of the more curious stories in the gospels. The half-shekel was a tax that every Jew paid for the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem. The collectors of this half-shekel tax came to Peter to know whether Jesus paid this tax or not. In other words, was Jesus a good Jew? Did he support the Temple like every committed Jew? In the conversation Jesus subsequently had with Peter about this tax, Jesus says, ‘the sons are exempt’. Jesus was in the process of forming a new family of disciples, who would be his brothers and sisters, and, thereby, sons and daughters of God. We all belong to that family. On the principle that fathers do not tax their children, Jesus concludes that the members of his new family do not have to pay a tax to God, their Father. However, even though in principal Jesus’ disciples are free from this tax, they should pay it, so as not to give unnecessary scandal to those for whom it is important. Jesus is talking here about a deeper freedom, the freedom to renounce one’s legitimate freedom out of love for others. This is what Saint Paul would call the freedom of the Spirit. It is the freedom to love, even if that entails renouncing our legitimate freedom. For Jesus and Paul, loving consideration for others is a higher value that freedom. For us as followers of Jesus it is love that shapes how we exercise our freedom. The fundamental question for us as Jesus’ disciples is not so much ‘What am I free to do or not do?’ but ‘How can I serve the other in love, especially the most vulnerable?’ When we live out of that question, then we reflect something of God who, according to our first reading, ‘sees justice done for the orphan and widow’ and ‘who loves the stranger’.

And/Or

(ix) Monday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading, the prophet Ezekiel has a vision of God. He found it very difficult to describe this experience. He uses the phrase, ‘something that looked like’ and ‘what looked like’. It looked like a sapphire, a throne, fire. It looked like all of these elements but it wasn’t any of them. It is very tentative language. Ezekiel is aware that his description doesn’t do justice to what he saw. God is always beyond our words. Human words fail us when it comes to speaking of God. Yet, God has spoken a powerful word to us to help us to see who God is, and that word is Jesus. To see Jesus is to see God. How Jesus relates to us shows us how God relates to us. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus shows great sensitivity in the way he relats to those who put a hostile question to Peter, ‘Does your master not pay the half shekel?’ This was a tax paid to the Temple in Jerusalem for its upkeep. It is clear from the gospel reading that Jesus felt no obligation to pay this tax and, yet, he told Peter to pay it, ‘so as not to offend these people’. Even though Jesus felt totally free in regard to this Temple tax, he paid it because he didn’t want to offend those for whom the tax was very important. There was a great sensitivity there to the feelings of others. Sensitivity to others, to what is important to them, to what they hold dear, is one of the expressions of love. There are different ways of expressing our relationship with God. Some people’s way of relating to God, their way of praying, for example, may not appeal to us, but we are respectful of it and sensitive to their feelings around it. Jesus revealed God’s love, a love that was full of sensitivity for others. Through the Holy Spirit he empowers us to give expression to this sensitive love in our own lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

11th August >> Fr. Martin's Homilies/Reflections on Today's Mass Readings for The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) (John 6:41-51): ‘I am the bread of life’.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Gospel (Except USA)John 6:41-51Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

The Jews were complaining to each other about Jesus, because he had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ ‘Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph’ they said. ‘We know his father and mother. How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus said in reply, ‘Stop complaining to each other.

‘No one can come to meunless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,and I will raise him up at the last day.It is written in the prophets:They will all be taught by God,and to hear the teaching of the Father,and learn from it,is to come to me.Not that anybody has seen the Father,except the one who comes from God:he has seen the Father.I tell you most solemnly,everybody who believes has eternal life.

‘I am the bread of life.Your fathers ate the manna in the desertand they are dead;but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,so that a man may eat it and not die.I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,for the life of the world.’

Gospel (USA)John 6:41–51I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Homilies (6)

(i) Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We can all have the experience of thinking we know someone really well and then coming to realize that we didn’t really know them at all. Our way of seeing one another can be quite limited. What we see in someone can be a great deal less than what is there. What others see in us can also be much less than what is there. We can be labelled on the basis of some past experience people had of us and we are never allowed to move on from that labell.

This was the experience of Jesus in today’s gospel reading. Many people thought they knew him well, ‘Surely, this is Jesus son of Joseph? We know his father and mother’. Yet, there was much more to Jesus than being the son of Joseph and Mary; he was also the Son of God. He was the Word who was with God in the beginning, who was God, and who became flesh as Jesus of Nazareth. He may have come from his parents’ home in Nazareth, but, more fundamentally, he came down from his Father in heaven. He speaks of himself in our gospel reading as ‘the bread of life that came down from heaven’. He came from God into our world to nourish us with his presence, to feed us with his word and his teaching, and also by all that he did, by his life, death and resurrection. He came to satisfy the deepest hungers of our heart, our hunger for love and acceptance, for forgiveness, for meaning and purpose, for happiness and joy, for beauty and truth. There was so much more to Jesus than people realized. He was more than just the son of Joseph and Mary. There is always more to Jesus than we realize.

He is among us today as Bread of Life, feeding the deepest hungers of our heart. That is why he is always calling out to us to come to him. He has so much to give us, but we have to come to him if we are to receive it. Jesus says in the gospel reading that our coming to him is always in response to God our Father drawing us to him. ‘No one can come to me’, he says, ‘unless drawn by the Father who sent me’. God the Father is always drawing us to his Son and our calling is to allow ourselves to be drawn by God. When I was a child, I loved to play with a magnet and some nails, and to see how the magnet drew the nails to itself As I moved the magnet closer to the nails, they would jump towards the magnet. God draws us towards his Son in whom he is fully present. Our coming to Jesus is always in response to being drawn. We just need to surrender to God’s drawing power. God doesn’t wait for us to be morally good to draw us to his Son. God is always drawing us to his Son regardless of how we have been in the past or how we are in the present, because God knows that it is only when we come close to his Son, when we entrust ourselves to him, that we will be empowered to change for the better. God draws us to his Son so that our spirits, our hearts and minds, can be nourished by his Son who is Bread of Life for the world. The risen Lord who is God-with-us draws us to himself so that he can feed us with his loving presence. He once said, ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself’.

We all need the Lord to nurture us with his loving presence on the journey of life. We cannot go it alone. In the first reading, Elijah discovered that he couldn’t go it alone. He was journeying towards Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, but on the way, he lost the energy to keep going. All he wanted to do was sleep. As we journey towards the heavenly mountain of God, we too can lose heart. The struggles and disappointments of life can leave us feeling drained. When Elijah was at his lowest ebb, God sent an angel to give him the sustenance he needed to keep going until he reached his destination. God has sent us so much more than an angel to enable us to keep going when the journey becomes too much for us. God sent us his Son as Bread of Life and God is constantly at work drawing us to his Son, our risen Lord. God invites us, in the words of today’s psalm, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’. The risen Lord, in his goodness, journeys with us, and if we come to him in response to God drawing us, we will discover him to be food for the journey, not perishable food, but food that endures to eternal life. In the words of the psalm, ‘the Lord is my Shepherd’, ‘Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life’. The Lord wants to feed us with his loving presence, so that we, in turn, can be bread of life for each other, God’s angel or messenger to those who are finding life’s journey a struggle.

And/Or

(ii) Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are all prone to discouragement from time to time. The difficult economic climate in which we live can leave us discouraged, especially when it begins to impact on us personally. Some have lost their jobs; everyone is, to some degree, in the process of belt-tightening. We can find ourselves discouraged for all kinds of other, more personal, reasons. Some relationship that we have high hopes for may not be working out for us. Sometimes we can feel very discouraged without really knowing what that is so. We are just very aware that our energy levels are low and that our enthusiasm for life is not what it used to be. We seem to be dragging ourselves along. Joy seems to elude us.

Even people of strong faith can get discouraged and disconsolate. Elijah was one of the great prophets of Israel; a strong man of God who proclaimed God’s word fearlessly and challenged the paganism of his time. Yet, in today’s first reading we find him deeply discouraged. He went into the wilderness and after a day’s journey he sat under a furze bush and wished he were dead. His prayer reflected his frame of mind, ‘Lord, I have had enough. Take my life’. The most extreme form of discouragement finds expression in people taking their own lives. We are all aware of how the suicide rate has gone up in recent years, especially among young men. Elijah was not tempted to take his own life, but he asked the Lord to take his life. The Lord responded to Elijah’s prayer, but not in the way that Elijah wanted him to. Instead of taking Elijah’s life, he gave Elijah the strength to face into life and to continue the journey. The Lord’s response to Elijah’s prayer found visible expression in the angel who provided food and drink for Elijah in the wilderness. Because Elijah had a strong relationship with the Lord, he was able to share his deep discouragement with the Lord in prayer. As people of faith, we can take our lead from Elijah. We tend to share what is deepest in us with the people who are most important to us. If we are people of faith, the Lord will be important to us, and we can share what is deepest in us with him. One of the older catechisms of the church defined prayer as the lifting up of the mind and heart to God. That remains a very good definition of prayer. In prayer we lift up our minds and hearts to God, including everything that is in our hearts and minds, and that may include discouragement, desolation, deep sadness. We pray to the Lord out of the reality, sometimes the dark reality, of our lives. The Lord does not ignore our heartfelt prayer; it may not be answered in the way we asked for it to be answered, but it will be answered. In our weakness, we will be able to draw on the Lord’s strength. In our discouragement, we will be able to draw on the Lord’s courage. In our sadness, we will be able to draw on the risen Lord’s joy. You may have noticed in that first reading that the Lord’s first response to Elijah’s prayer, the first visit of the angel, did not make much impact on Elijah. He took and food and drink, but he went back to sleep again. It took a second visit from the angel to get Elijah back up on his feet. Prayer does not work miracles over night. Even with prayer, we need to give ourselves time to respond to what the Lord is offering us.

In the first reading, God speaking through an angel says to Elijah, ‘Get up and eat’. In the gospel reading, God, speaking through Jesus, says to all of us, ‘I am the living bread … and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world’. Jesus declares himself to be our food for the journey of life. We can turn to him in our weakness, our discouragement, our frailty, and draw from him nourishment, strength, courage, hope, joy. We know from our experience that if we go walking, if we use up physical energy, we need physical food to replenish our strength. For the journey of life with all its trials and tribulations we also need another kind of food, the spiritual food that the Lord provides. Jesus not only provides this spiritual food, he is this spiritual food; he is the living bread that has come down from heaven. The Eucharist is the privileged place where the Lord comes to us as the bread of life. It is above all in the Eucharist that the Lord says to us what was said to Elijah, ‘Get up and eat’. Today’s second reading, however, suggests that the Lord also comes to us as bread of life in and through each other. In that reading, Paul calls on us to follow Christ by loving as he has loved us. When we love others as Christ has loved us, we make Christ, the bread of life, present to others. The Lord wants to work through us to give strength to those who are weak, courage to those who are discouraged, hope to those who are despondent. When that happens, we become bread of life for each other.

And/Or

(iii) Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We all do our fair share of complaining, and sometimes with good reason. We complain about the weather a great deal. We complain about all kinds of things. If we are not careful we can find ourselves complaining about nothing in particular, just complaining. We can easily get ourselves into a very negative frame of mind. We see the problems but we see nothing else. We fail to see the bigger picture which will nearly always have brighter shades in it. Our vision can restricted to what is wrong or missing or lacking.

The gospel reading this morning opens with the Jews complaining to each other about Jesus. As far as they were concerned, he was a problem, and they could not see beyond the problem. They had always known him as the son of Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth; they knew his family and his mother. Yet, here he was claiming to be the bread that came down from heaven. They were scandalized that one of their own could make such claims for himself. Their response to Jesus was to complain about him. Complaining on its own is rarely an adequate response to anything or anyone; it is certainly not an adequate response to the person of Jesus.

In the gospel reading, Jesus calls for a very different kind of response. He speaks of this response initially as coming to him. To come to Jesus is the first step on the way to faith. In the first chapter of John’s gospel, when Jesus meets the disciples of John the Baptist for the first time he says to them, ‘Come and see’. They came, they saw, and eventually they went on to believe in him. Jesus’ call to come to him is given even to those who already believe. He calls those who believe to come closer to him so as to believe more fully, more deeply. As followers of Jesus, we spend our whole lives coming to him. We never fully arrive to him in this life; we never fully grasp him, either with our minds or with our hearts. We are always on the way towards him. No matter where we are on our faith journey, the Lord keeps calling on us to come.

Jesus declares in the gospel reading that nobody can come to him unless drawn by the Father. We cannot come to Jesus on our own; we need God’s help. The good news is that God the Father is always drawing us to his Son. When Jesus says to us, ‘Come’, we are not just left to our own devices at that point. God the Father will be working in our lives helping us to come to his Son; he will draw us to Jesus. There is always more going on in our relationship with Jesus than just our own human efforts. That should give us great encouragement because we know from our experience that our own efforts can fail us in the area of our faith as in other areas. Our coming to Jesus, our growing in our relationship with him, is not all down to us. God the Father is at work in our lives moving us towards his Son, drawing us towards Jesus. There is a momentum within us that is from God, a momentum that will lead us to Jesus if we are in any way open to it.

Jesus calls on us to come to him with a view to our feeding on him. The language of the gospel reading is very graphic. Jesus speaks of himself as the bread that comes down from heaven and calls on us to eat this bread. When we hear that kind of language we probably think instinctively of the Eucharist. Yet, it might be better not to jump to the Eucharist too quickly. The Lord invites us come to him and to feed on his presence, and in particular to feed on his word. In the Jewish Scriptures bread is often a symbol of the word of God. We may be familiar with the quotation from the Jewish Scriptures, ‘we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’. We need physical bread, but we also need the spiritual bread of God’s word. We come to Jesus to be nourished by his word. The Father draws us to his Son to be fed by his word. The food of his word will sustain us on our journey through life, just as, in the first reading, the baked scones sustained Elijah, until he reached his destination, the mountain of God. When we keep coming to Jesus and feeding on his word, that word will shape our lives. It empowers us to live the kind of life that Saint Paul puts before us in this morning’s second reading, a life of love essentially, a life in which we love one another as Christ as loved us, forgive one another as readily as God forgives us. That, in essence, is our baptismal calling.

And/Or

(iv) Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

People of faith often say that they are angry with God when they have been hit with something that leaves them broken and drained. It might be an experience of illness which affects either themselves or a loved one, or some deep loss after the sudden death of a loved one. All sorts of dark and painful experiences can leave us feeling that God has abandoned us. We may feel that we have served God well and that God has let us down. We can barely face God in prayer. We struggle to go to church and, especially, to Mass. People of faith have always had these dark emotions towards God. Many of the psalms are prayers out of the depths of some dark experience that often reveal anger and confusion.

We find an example of such a prayer at the beginning of today’s first reading, on the lips of the great prophet, Elijah. He went into the wilderness and prayed, ‘Lord, I have had enough. Take my life’. Elijah is often portrayed in the Scriptures as the strong, fiery prophet, whose witness of God’s word made him powerful enemies. Yet, in our reading today, we find Elijah at a very vulnerable moment of his life. Everything is going against him. He is having a crisis of faith. The life has been drained out of him. All he wants to do is sleep. Even more preferable to sleep would be death. Yet, he does not keep these dark moods to himself. He speaks out of his inner darkness to God, even though it meant speaking to God in anger, expressing his deep disappointment with God. Prayer does not have to be polite. Genuine prayer is always real; it is always true to who we are. Elijah’s angry prayer kept the lines of communication to God open. In response to his heart-felt prayer, an angel of God touched him and invited him to get up and to eat. Elijah responded to this invitation, but promptly went back to sleep again. God was touching Elijah’s spirit but his mood was not going to change quickly. A further visit from one of God’s messengers, a further invitation to get up and eat, a further response from Elijah and he was finally on his feet once more and ready to face the journey that lay ahead.

We can all find ourselves in a similar situation to Elijah at some point in our lives. Life has a way of knocking the stuffing out of us, whether it is something distressing that happens to us or the way someone treats us or the sense we might have of our own personal failure. A withdrawal from life, in one form of another, can seem a tempting option. Today’s first reading reminds us that when we are in that wilderness space, we are not alone and we do not have to struggle alone. The Lord is with us, and we can turn to him even if it is in our anger and despair. If we share our darkness with the Lord, we will be opening ourselves up to the light of his sustaining love. Like Elijah, we can come to discover that his angel, his messenger, comes to us in our need, very often in the most ordinary of ways – a phone call, a visit from someone, an invitation to a meal or a cup of coffee. The Lord will not leave us alone; he will provide for us.

The Lord is especially present to us in and through the community of believers, the church. When we are at our lowest ebb, we need to put ourselves in the way of that community, even though that may be the very time when in our anger we are tempted to walk away. In the first reading, Elijah is told to get up and eat. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares himself to be the Bread of Life, the living bread come down from heaven. He wants to give us life; he is Bread broken for a broken people. He comes to us as Bread of life in and through the community of believers especially when we gather to listen to his Word and to receive the Eucharist. The power of the community of faith to sustain us in our wilderness moments is powerfully expressed through a story shared by Francis Van Thuan who was once archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City. For thirteen years he was imprisoned in North Vietnam, spending nine of those years in solitary confinement. On one occasion a copy of the New Testament was smuggled into the prison for all the Catholic prisoners. So that they could all share this gift of the Lord’s word, this Bread of Life, they ripped it into little sheets that were then distributed to everyone and each one memorized their sheet by heart. Every sunset, the prisoners took it in turn to recite aloud the part they had memorized. Van Thuan recalled that it was so moving to hear the Word of God in the silence and the darkness, recited with such strength of faith. No one could doubt the presence of the Lord in the Bread of his Word shared by this little community of believers

And/Or

(v) Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I remember reflecting together on a passage from the gospels with a little group in the Pro-Cathedral parish some years ago. We were talking about the place of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One of the women present, who was from the Pro-Cathedral parish said at one point, ‘the Holy Spirit is a great person, but you can’t discommode him’. I thought it was a great turn of phrase. I was reminded of that remark by the opening of today’s second reading, ‘Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God’. Paul goes on to spell out what not grieving the Holy Spirit entails. It means not having grudges against others, not losing our temper with them, not calling others names, not acting towards them out of spite, forgiving others as readily as God forgives us, and loving them in the way Christ loved us all by giving himself up on the cross for us. As I reflected on that reading it struck me that it makes for a rather challenging review of life.

The way of life that Paul outlines may even seem beyond us. How can we possibly love one another as Christ has loved us? Perhaps the gospel reading this Sunday points us in the direction of an answer to that question. Left to ourselves, we cannot live in the way Paul outlines. It is only through our communion with the Lord that we can live in this way. When Jesus says in the gospel reading, ‘I am the bread of life’, he is inviting us to keep nourishing ourselves through our contact with him. If we are to live the life that Paul portrays, life according to the Spirit, we need to keep nourishing ourselves spiritually through our constant coming to the Lord in faith. Having declared himself to be ‘the bread of life’, Jesus goes to say that ‘the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world’. When we hear that word ‘flesh’, we might think spontaneously of the Eucharist, calling to mind perhaps Jesus’ remark about the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood, which we find in next Sunday’s gospel reading. However, in today’s gospel reading, the ‘flesh’ of Jesus refers to his whole life. In the opening chapter of John’s gospel, we have that profound statement, ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. ‘Flesh’ there refers to the full reality of Jesus’ life, his whole story. Jesus is saying in today’s gospel reading that his flesh, his whole life, all he said and did, is bread of life, given for the life of the world. We are invited to nourish ourselves spiritually on the whole wonderful mystery of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In nourishing ourselves spiritually on all the Lord said and did for us, we will be empowered to live in the way that Paul outlines in today’s second reading. Such life according to the Spirit is a way of life that is true to what is best in us; it is a way of life that is worthy of our dignity as sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Christ.

We can sometimes think that we know the story of Jesus, that we are familiar with all that Jesus said and did. Yet, none of us ever really fully plumbs the depths of the richness that is Jesus. We can always return to his words, his deeds, his life, death and resurrection, and experience them afresh, as fresh bread for our souls. There is always more to the Lord than we realize. In the gospel reading, some of Jesus’ contemporaries thought that they knew Jesus well. ‘Surely’, they said, ‘this is Jesus son of Joseph. We know his father and mother’. It can be tempting to think that if we know someone’s parents, we know them. Yet, none of us can be fully understood on the basis of knowing our parents, or our grandparents, because we are each a unique image of God. It was true to an even greater of Jesus that he could not be fully understood on his basis of knowing his parents, because, although he was the son of Mary and Joseph, in a more fundamental sense, he was the Son of God. None of us ever knows Jesus fully; there is always more to be discovered. We can always return to the gospels, the story of his life, death and resurrection, and be nourished anew. When we go there, it is never the same meal. It is a fresh meal for our spirits every time. We can all feel a little bit like Elijah in the first reading. Elijah’s faith had been put to the test by other people’s hostility towards his message. He fled into the wilderness and asked God to take his life. Like Elijah, our own faith is often put to the test, especially in these times. There can be many reasons for discouragement. However, to give in to discouragement would be to grieve the Holy Spirit in the words of the second reading. The Lord will always provide for us, as he provided for Elijah. He says to us what he says to him, ‘Get up and eat’. He is always offering himself as the bread of life, as food for the journey, so that we can keep walking in the way of the Spirit.

And/Or

(vi) Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are all prone to discouragement from time to time. Many of us probably found ourselves feeling discouraged during the lockdown. We were all impacted negatively by it in various ways. At times, it was just hard to keep going, especially for those who lost jobs or, even worse, loved ones to the pandemic. At any time in life, we can feel disheartened, discouraged, dispirited. Sometimes we can feel very discouraged without really knowing why. We are just very aware that our energy levels are low and that our enthusiasm for life has drained away. We seem to be dragging ourselves along. Joy seems to elude us.

Even people of strong faith can get discouraged, disconsolate. Elijah was one of the great prophets of Israel; a man of strong faith who proclaimed God’s word fearlessly, as he tackled the pagan gods of his day. Yet, in today’s first reading we find him deeply discouraged. He abandons his mission in life and heads into the wilderness. He opts out. Elijah had experienced great hostility to his mission from Jezebel, the pagan wife of the king of Israel. Her opposition discouraged him to the point where he wished he were dead. After a day’s journey into the wilderness, he lies down under a furze bush and cries out to God, ‘Lord, I have had enough. Take my life’. When we find ourselves in a dark place, we need to express how we are feeling to someone. If there is no one around we feel we can trust with our dark feelings, Elijah shows us that we can at least express how we feel to God. Elijah’s prayer was a prayer out of the depths. It was real prayer, because it was true to who Elijah was at that time. He was completely honest with God. When I was in primary school, we learned from the catechism that prayer was the lifting up of the mind and heart to God. Elijah lifted up his heart to God; he poured out the dark feelings that were in his heart before God. The Lord wants us to be ourselves when we pray. In prayer we can trust the Lord with whatever is going on in our lives. When we entrust ourselves honestly to the Lord in prayer, he will respond to our heartfelt prayer, as he responded to Elijah’s prayer.

Initially, Elijah sought refuge from the dire situation in which he found himself by going to sleep. We can all be tempted to take to the bed when life is difficult. Yet, what ultimately enabled Elijah to keep going was not sleep, but what the first reading calls, ‘an angel of the Lord’. This was the Lord’s response to Elijah’s prayer. This messenger from the Lord touched Elijah and brought him very simple provisions, a baked scone and a jar of water. Yet, these simple resources enabled Elijah to journey on, until he reached his destination, which was the mountain of God. In response to Elijah’s prayer, the Lord provided for him in the wilderness. In our own wilderness times, the Lord will also provide for us, if we entrust ourselves to him, inviting him to give us the strength we do not have in ourselves. He will say to us what he said to Elijah, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too long for you’. God drew close to Elijah in his hour of need. God has drawn close to each one of us and continues to do so, in a way that Elijah could never have imagined. God has drawn close to us in his Son, Jesus, who, as risen Lord, promised to be with us until the end of time. God the Father gave us his Son as food for the journey of life. That is why Jesus speaks of himself in the gospel reading as ‘the bread of life’, as ‘the living bread that comes down from heaven’. When God sent his Son into the world, he was saying to us, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too long for you’.

We need physical food to get through the day, but we need spiritual food to get through life, and God has given us Jesus as bread of life. The whole of Jesus’ life from birth to death and resurrection, all he says and does, has the power to nourish us deeply, to keep us going when all else fails. Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us, but we can sometimes fail to appreciate this gift, to really believe that God has been so generous with us. In the gospel reading, when Jesus offered himself to people as God’s bread of life who could satisfy their deepest hunger, some people complained, asking, ‘How could this Jesus, son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know, have come down from heaven?’ They were asking, ‘How could someone like ourselves be the messenger of God?’ Yet, Jesus was so much more than God’s messenger. He was God in human form, Emmanuel, God with us. He was and remains the very embodiment of God’s life, who, as bread of life, stands ready to enliven us, when the shadow of death falls over us. Jesus is present to us as bread of life, especially in those wilderness places of our lives that seem devoid of life.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

10th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for the Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr (Inc. John 12:24-26): ‘If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him’.

Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Gospel (Except USA)John 12:24-26If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest.

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I tell you, most solemnly,unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,it remains only a single grain;but if it dies,it yields a rich harvest.Anyone who loves his life loses it;anyone who hates his life in this worldwill keep it for the eternal life.If a man serves me, he must follow me,wherever I am, my servant will be there too.If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.’

Gospel (USA)John 12:24-26The Father will honor whoever serves me.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

Reflections (11)

(i) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

I have always liked that saying in today’s first reading, ‘God loves a cheerful giver’. There are various ways of giving. We can give grudgingly, in the words of Saint Paul in that reading. My mother had a habit of saying when we did something she asked us to do but moaned and groaned about it, ‘Don’t take the good out of it’. We can take the good out of our giving by doing it with a face on us, as they say. People sense that we are going through the motions of giving but our heart is not in it. A cheerful giver is someone who gives willingly, gladly. This is the way Jesus gave. He gave with the joyful freedom of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul in today’s reading assures us that when we give in this way, there is no limit to the blessings which God can send us. Giving cheerfully and willingly opens us up to receive God’s blessings. In giving in this way, in the Spirit of the Lord, we discover that we end up receiving far more than we gave. This is reflected in the image Jesus uses in the gospel reading of the grain of wheat that dies but in dying yields a rich harvest. There is a certain dying to ourselves when we give cheerfully. We are not looking for anything for ourselves, such as sympathy or appreciation. When we die to ourselves in this ways, our life yields a rich harvest, both for ourselves and for others. When there is no selfish concern in our giving, the Lord can enrich us with his blessings and greatly bless others through our giving.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence, a deacon of the church in Rome, was martyred for his faith in Christ in the year 258 during the persecutions under the Emperor Valerian. In the gospel reading Jesus speaks of himself as the grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies, and in dying yields a rich harvest. Addressing us, his followers, he declares that, for us too, it is in giving our lives away, for his sake, that we find our lives. In the same vein, Paul declares in the first reading that it is in giving of ourselves generously and cheerfully that we experience God’s blessings in abundance. This is the heart of the Christian message. It is in dying that we find life, it is in giving that we receive, it is in serving the Lord and his people that we find honour from God. We pray on this feast of St Lawrence that we would be as generous and as cheerful in our giving as he was.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Lawrence. He was a deacon of the church in Rome in the middle of the third century and was martyred in the year 258 under the emperor Valerian. One of the Basilicas in Rome, Saint Lawrence outside the walls, is built over what has always believed to be his tomb. In the words of the gospel reading, having served Christ as a deacon, he followed Christ to the end, being put to death for his self-giving service as Christ was. The image Jesus uses in that gospel reading of the wheat grain that falls to the ground and dies and in dying yields a rich harvest was, firstly, an image of Jesus himself. He was the wheat grain who fell to the earth and died and in dying yielded a rich harvest, passing through death into a new and fuller life and opening up that life to us all. It is also an image of all who would follow him. Jesus is saying to us that if we share in his self-giving love, if we die to our own selfishness, we will yield a rich harvest, both in this life and in eternity. Saint Paul in today’s first reading expresses the same truth. He first declares, ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ and then states that if we become cheerful givers, there is no limit to the blessings which God can send us. It is not enough to be a giver, Paul is saying, but we need to be cheerful givers. We are to share in the Lord’s self-giving love not grudgingly or as if under compulsion but willing and gladly, in response to the Lord’s abundant love of us. The church and the world need ‘cheerful givers’. That is our calling.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence, a deacon of the church in Rome, was martyred for his faith in Christ in the year 258 during the persecutions under the Emperor Valerian. In Rome there is a basilica built over his tomb, called Saint Lawrence outside the walls. In the gospel reading Jesus speaks of himself as the grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies, and in dying yields a rich harvest. Addressing us, his followers, he declares that, for us too, it is in giving our lives away, for his sake, that we find our lives. It is in serving the Lord, and in serving others through him, that we come to live with the Lord. ‘Wherever I am’, Jesus says, ‘my servant will be there too’. In the same vein, Paul declares in the first reading to the church in Corinth that if they give generously and cheerfully to the needy church in Jerusalem, they will experience God’s blessings in abundance. As Paul says, ‘the more you sow, the more you reap’. This is the heart of the Christian message. It is in dying that we find life, it is in giving that we receive, it is in serving the Lord and his people that we find honour from God. We pray on this feast of St Lawrence that we would be as generous and as cheerful in our giving as he was.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence was a deacon in the church of Rome in the early part of the third century. He worked closely with Pope Sixtus II. Both of them were martyred in the year 258 during the persecution started by the Roman emperor Valerian. In Rome there is a Basilica dedicated to him which is built oven what is believed to be his tomb, Saint Lawrence outside the Walls. Few historical details of his life are known, apart from his reputation for almsgiving which was part of his work as a deacon. Both readings chosen by the church for his feast contain the image of the seed. The gospel speaks of the seed which falls into the ground and dies and in dying yields a rich harvest. In the first reading, Paul declares that those who sow seed generously will reap generously. In that reading Paul calls on the church in Corinth not only to give generously but to give cheerfully, for God loves a cheerful giver. Paul was calling on the church to be generous in their support for the collection he was taking up for the church in Jerusalem. Giving generously and cheerfully is the way of the Lord, it is the way of the gospel. Both the first reading and the gospel reading assure us that if we follow that way we will reap a generous harvest for ourselves and for others; we will receive more than we give.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence, a deacon of the church in Rome, was martyred for his faith in Christ in the year 258 during the persecutions under the Emperor Valerian. In the gospel reading Jesus speaks of himself as the grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies, and in dying yields a rich harvest. Addressing us, his followers, he declares that, for us too, it is in giving our lives away, for his sake, that we find our lives. In the same vein, Paul declares in the first reading that it is in giving of ourselves generously that we experience God’s blessings in abundance, ‘the more you sow, the more you reap’. Paul also says there that God loves a cheerful giver. There is a kind of giving that is doleful and even resentful. This is not the giving that the Spirit inspires in us. We can take the good out of our giving if it is not done with a light heart. In another letter when Paul spells out the fruit of the Spirit in a kind of a list, he first mentions love and joy. We pray this morning that we would be cheerful givers after the example of Saint Lawrence.

And/Or

(vii) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence was a deacon in the church of Rome in the early part of the third century. He worked closely with Pope Sixtus II. Both of them were martyred in the year 258 during the persecution started by the Roman emperor Valerian. In Rome there is a Basilica dedicated to him which is built oven what is believed to be his tomb, Saint Lawrence outside the Walls. Few historical details of his life are known, apart from his reputation for almsgiving which was part of his work as a deacon. Both readings chosen by the church for his feast contain the image of the seed. The gospel speaks of the seed which falls into the ground and dies and in dying yields a rich harvest. Jesus was the seed that fell into the ground and died and in dying yielding a rich harvest of a new and risen life for himself and all who believe in him. He is the servant who emptied himself so that others may have life and have it to the full. In the gospel reading, Jesus calls on his servants, his disciples, to follow him, to be ready to lose their lives in service of others. In becoming the seed that falls to the ground and dies, in dying to ourselves in the service of others, we too will reap a rich harvest. In the first reading, Paul declares that those who sow seed generously will reap generously. In that reading Paul calls on the church of Corinth not only to give generously but to give cheerfully, for God loves a cheerful giver. Paul was calling on his Gentile Christian church in Corinth to be generous in their support for the collection he was taking up for the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem. Giving generously and cheerfully is the way of the Lord; it is the gospel way. Both the first reading and the gospel reading assure us that if we follow that way, as Lawrence did, we will reap a rich harvest; we will receive from the Lord more than we have given.

And/Or

(viii) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence was a deacon in Rome who was martyred for his faith in Christ in the year 258. There has been continuous devotion to him since shortly after his death. The Emperor Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, publicly honoured his grave with a chapel. The basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the walls in Rome stands over the site today. Today’s gospel reading is very suited to the feast of this early Christian martyr. There Jesus refers to himself as the wheat grain which falls to the ground and dies and in dying yields a rich harvest. The rich harvest that came from his death and resurrection was the community of believers, the church. Jesus’ self-giving love, even though it led him to death on a cross, was life-giving for himself and for all humanity. He did not try to preserve his life at all costs; he was prepared to empty himself out of love for others and in doing so he gained life for himself and others. Jesus goes on to state that this pattern of life through death applies equally to his followers. If we love our lives above all else, if our primary goal in life is to preserve and protect ourselves, then we risk losing ourselves. We fail to become our true selves, the self that is the image of the Lord. If, like Jesus, we are willing to lose ourselves, to give of ourselves, in the service of the Lord and his people, then we will become alive with the life of God and our presence will be life giving for others. This is the paradox at the heart of the Christian life. It is in giving that we receive and, as Paul reminds us in the first reading, our giving is always to be cheerful. ‘God loves a cheerful giver’.

And/Or

(ix) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Jesus often used the image of the sowing of seed to speak about God’s relationship with us and our relationship with God. Several parables come to mind in that regard, such as the parable of the sower going out to sow, the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the seed growing secretly, the parable of the wheat and the weeds. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus again speaks of the sowing of seed, declaring that ‘unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest’. The seed that is sown has to die to being a seed if it is to grow to its potential as a wheat stalk which can be used for the making of bread to feed the hungry. It is often the way with life generally that something has to die for something new to emerge. In the gospel reading, Jesus is addressing us as his potential followers and servants, and he is declaring that we need to die to ourselves if we are to become fully alive with the life of God. We have to die to ourselves in the sense of dying to our self-centred selves, that tendency in us to live for ourselves alone. If we love our life in that self-centred, self-regarding, way, Jesus says that we will lose our life; we won’t be alive with the life of the Spirit. In the first reading, Paul echoes what Jesus says, declaring that if we give generously and cheerfully, if we reach beyond ourselves, then we will open ourselves up to God’s blessing, ‘there is no limit to the blessings God can send you’. The deacon, Lawrence, whose feast we celebrate today, exemplifies that truth in a striking way. He gave his life generously for the Lord, and, in doing so, yielded a rich harvest, not just for himself but for the whole church. In less dramatic ways, we are all called to die to ourselves so as to live for God and for others. In doing so, we not only find life for ourselves but also bring life to others.

And/Or

(x) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrencewas a deacon of the Church of Rome anddied in the persecution of the Roman Emperor, Valerian, in the year 254, fourdaysafter Pope Saint Sixtus II and his four fellow-deacons had been put to death. He was buried on the Via Tiburtina, one of the major roads of out Rome. Over his tomb, the Emperor Constantine the Great later built a basilica. With various modifications made over the centuries, it remains today as the Basilica of (St Lawrence outside-the-Walls and is just one of seven major churches in his honour in the city. Lawrence has been venerated throughout the Church from the fourth century. The tradition about Lawrence is that he was a deacon from Spain in the service of Pope Sixtus II. He was put in charge of the administration of Church goods and care for the poor. He is also regarded as one of the first archivists and treasurers of the Church. In the words of today’s first reading, he was someone who gave of himself, not grudgingly, but generously and cheerfully, to the Lord and to the church. In the words of Jesus in the gospel reading, he is the wheat grain that fell to the earth and died and in dying yielded a rich harvest. In that gospel reading, Jesus is addressing his disciples, all of us. He is reminding us that we find life by giving our lives away, by dying to our tendency to live for ourselves alone. Jesus is the supreme expression of the wheat grain that fell to the earth and died and in dying yielded a rich harvest. In giving his life for his flock and for all humanity, Jesus rose to new life and that new life has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who is the foretaste, the first fruit of eternal life. That pattern of gaining life for oneself and for others through the giving of our life is to be the pattern of all our lives as people baptized into Jesus. As Paul says in our first reading, when we give of ourselves generously and cheerfully, there is no limit to the blessings that God can send upon us.

And/Or

(xi) Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr

Lawrence was a deacon of the church of Rome who was martyred in the year 258. He was remembered for his generosity to the poor. There is a story told of him that he dispersed the church’s monies to the poor of Rome, declaring that they were the church’s true treasure. In a homily, Saint Augustine said of him, ‘In his life he loved Christ; in his death he followed in his footsteps’. When Jesus speaks in the gospel reading of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies and in dying yields a rich fruit, he is really talking about himself. As a seed empties itself of its husk and produces a plant or flower, so he emptied himself of his life so that all who believe in him would reap a harvest of eternal life. His self-emptying unto death reveals his love for the world, a love that draws all people to himself so that they may have life and have it to the full. In using the image of seed that falls to the ground and dies, he was also speaking of his followers, declaring that if we die to ourselves, if we give of ourselves, out of love for others, our love will bear rich fruit in our lives and in the lives of those for whom we give of ourselves. In the first reading, Saint Paul says that his dying to ourselves so as to give of ourselves in love to others is something we are to do cheerfully rather than grudgingly, because ‘God loves a cheerful giver’. Cheerful gives help to make the world a better place, more like the kingdom of God. Paul also reminds us in that reading that if we give of ourselves generously and cheerful, ‘there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you’. As Jesus says elsewhere in the gospels, ‘Give and there will be gifts for you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap’.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

9th August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for

the Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Virgin, Martyr (Matthew 25:1-13)

And for

Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 16:24-28).

Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Virgin, Martyr

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 25:1-13The wise and foolish virgins.

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 25:1-13Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Reflections (7)

(i) Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Edith Stein was born on the 12th October, 1891 to a Jewish family in Breslau, Germany. Though she became agnostic in her teen years, through her passionate study of philosophy as an adult she searched after truth and found it in reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. In 1922, she was baptized a Catholic, and in 1933 entered the Discalaced Carmel of Cologne where she took the name of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. During the Nazi occupation she was sent to the Carmel in Echt, Netherlands. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands all Jews and Jewish converts were arrested. Sr. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa were arrested at this time. She was gassed and cremated at Auschwitz on 9th August, 1942. A woman of great intelligence and learning, she left behind a body of writing notable for its doctrinal richness and profound spirituality. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II at Cologne, Germany on May 1, 1987 and canonized on October 11, 1998. The gospel reading chosen for her feast day is the parable of the ten bridesmaids from Matthew’s gospel. The lamp of Teresa’s faith burnt brightly from the moment she gave her life over to the Lord, having read the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. Her faith in the Lord was a light in the awful darkness of Auschwitz. When the Lord came to her at the hour of her death in that inhuman place, she was there ready to meet him with the lamp of her faith burning brightly. That same light was lit in our own lives at our baptism. Our calling is to keep that light of our faith, the light of the Lord, alive in our hearts, no matter how great the darkness that bears down upon us. If we are to be faithful to that calling we need to keep turning in prayer towards the one who spoke of himself as the light of the world and promised that whoever follows him will never walk in darkness.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, was born a Jew in 1891 in Poland. She had abandoned her Jewish faith by the time that she was thirteen and declared herself an atheist. A brilliant student, she gained her doctorate in philosophy at the age of twenty three. In the wake of the awful slaughter of World War 1 Edith began to feel a growing interest in religion. This culminated one night in 1921 when she happened upon the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century Carmelite nun. With fascination, she read through the night and by morning concluded, ‘This is the truth’. She was baptized a Catholic on the following New Years Day in 1922. Edith felt that by accepting Christ she had been reunited, by a mysterious path, with her Jewish roots. She went on to obtain an academic post in the University of Munster in Germany in 1932. However, with the rise of Nazism she was dismissed from her post because she was considered a Jew. The loss of her job enabled her to pursue her growing attraction to the religious life. She applied to enter the Carmelite convent in Cologne and was formally clothed with the Carmelite habit on April 15, 1934. She took as her religious name, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Believing that her presence in the convent endangered the sisters, she allowed herself to be smuggled out of the country to a Carmelite convent in Holland. In 1940 the Nazis occupied Holland. She was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942. In the words of this morning’s gospel reading, she was ready when the bridegroom came, and went with him into the wedding banquet of eternal life. In 1998 she was canonized as a confessor and martyr of the church by Pope John Paul II. She sensed her forthcoming death and came to understand it as an act of solidarity with her Jewish people, an act of atonement for the evil of her time, and a conscious identification with the cross of Christ. She is an inspiration to all who are seeking the truth today. Her life inspires us not just to seek the truth but to live the truth of Christ, even if it means the loss of everything else. She calls out to us to keep our lamps burning, to keep the flame of faith alive in our hearts, even in the darkest night. She invites us to share her gospel conviction that the light of Christ shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

The gospel reading for the feast of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) is the parable of the wise and foolish virgins from Matthew’s gospel. Of the ten virgins, only five of them had their lamps burning to greet the arrival of the bridegroom at the house of the bride. They were wise enough to have sufficient oil to keep their lamps burning for the long haul, so that, when the bridegroom was unexpectedly delayed, they were not caught out, unlike the five whose oil had run out by then. The image of the wise women calls out to us to keep faithful watch until the end so that our light continues to shine and never dims. A earlier verse in Matthew’s gospel at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount suggests what this involves, ‘let you light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven’ (5:16). When we are faithful to the good works called for by the Sermon on the Mount the light of our faith and love will shine for all to see. The challenge is to be faithful in our good works so that, even though our light may grow dim from time to time, it never goes out, and, when the Lord comes to meet us at the end our lives, we are there to greet him with his light shining through us. Such as person was Edith Stein. She was born a Jew in 1891 in Poland. She had abandoned her Jewish faith by the time that she was thirteen and declared herself an atheist. A brilliant student, she gained her doctorate in philosophy at the age of twenty three. In the wake of World War 1 Edith began to feel a growing interest in religion. This culminated one night in 1921 when she happened upon the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century Carmelite nun. With fascination, she read through the night and by morning concluded, ‘This is the truth’. She was baptized a Catholic on the following New Years Day in 1922. She obtained an academic post in the University of Munster in Germany in 1932. However, with the rise of Nazism she was dismissed from her post because she was considered a Jew. The loss of her job enabled her to pursue her growing attraction to the religious life. She applied to enter the Carmelite convent in Cologne and was formally clothed with the Carmelite habit on April 15, 1934. She took as her religious name, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Believing that her presence in the convent endangered the sisters, she allowed herself to be smuggled out of the country to a Carmelite convent in Holland. In 1940 the Nazis occupied Holland. She was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942. The light of her faith and love continues to shine for us today.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, was born a Jew in 1891 in Poland. She had abandoned her Jewish faith by the time that she was thirteen and declared herself an atheist. A brilliant student, she gained her doctorate in philosophy at the age of twenty-three, in 1914. In the wake of the awful slaughter of World War 1 Edith began to feel a growing interest in religion. In 1921 when she happened upon the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century Carmelite nun. With fascination, she read through the night and by morning concluded, ‘This is the truth’. She was baptized a Catholic the following New Year’s Day in 1922. Edith felt that by accepting Christ she had been reunited with her Jewish roots. She went on to obtain an academic post in the University of Munster in Germany in 1932. However, with the rise of Nazism she was dismissed from her post because she was considered a Jew by the Nazis. The loss of her job enabled her to pursue her growing attraction to the religious life. She applied to enter the Carmelite convent in Cologne and was formally clothed with the Carmelite habit on April 15, 1934. She took as her religious name, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Believing that her presence in the convent endangered the sisters, she allowed herself to be smuggled out of the country to a Carmelite convent in Holland. In 1940 the Nazis occupied Holland. She was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942. In 1998 she was canonized as a confessor and martyr of the church by Pope John Paul II. In the parable Jesus tells in today’s gospel reading, only some of the bridesmaids had their lamps lighting when the bridegroom arrived. When a child is baptized, the priest says to the parents, ‘keep the flame of faith alive in his/her heart’. The parable calls on us to keep that flame of faith alive in our hearts, in good times and in bad. The dark experiences of life can sometimes cause the flame of our faith to flicker or even go out. Saint Teresa Benedicta kept the flame of her faith burning brightly in the most difficult of human situations, and she is an inspiration for us to do the same. There was a time in her life, in her youth, when the flame of her faith did go out. It was the reading of a saint’s life which fanned her faith into a living flame again. Her experience reminds us that when the flame of our own faith grows weak or is even extinguished, it can always be relit. The Lord can relight that flame once more. He can touch our hearts through some human experience, such as the reading of a saint’s life, as in the case of Saint Teresa Benedicta. The Lord is always working to find a way through to us.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, was born a Jew in 1891 in Poland. She had abandoned her Jewish faith by the time that she was thirteen and declared herself an atheist. A brilliant student, she gained her doctorate in philosophy at the age of twenty-three, in 1914. In the wake of the awful slaughter of World War 1 Edith began to feel a growing interest in religion. In 1921 she happened upon the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century Carmelite nun. With fascination, she read through the night and by morning concluded, ‘This is the truth’. She was baptized a Catholic the following New Year’s Day in 1922. Edith felt that by accepting Christ she had been reunited with her Jewish roots. She went on to obtain an academic post in the University of Munster in Germany in 1932. However, with the rise of Nazism she was dismissed from her post because she was considered a Jew by the Nazis. The loss of her job enabled her to pursue her growing attraction to the religious life. She applied to enter the Carmelite convent in Cologne and was formally clothed with the Carmelite habit on April 15, 1934. She took as her religious name, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Believing that her presence in the convent endangered the sisters, she allowed herself to be smuggled out of Germany to a Carmelite convent in Holland. In 1940 the Nazis occupied Holland. She was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942. In 1998 she was canonized as a confessor and martyr of the church by Pope John Paul II. Edith Stein responded to the Lord’s call. In the end it brought her into a wilderness, the awful wilderness of Auschwitz. When Jesus responded to the call of God the Father, it led him to the wilderness of Calvary. We can all find ourselves in something of a wilderness because of our commitment to the Lord and his way. Yet, in today’s first reading, God promises his people that he will speak to their heart in the wilderness. The Lord does not abandon us in our wilderness; he speaks to our heart when we are at our most vulnerable. God spoke a word of love to Jesus on the cross which brought him through death into risen life and he did the same for Edith Stein in her wilderness. The Lord will speak a word of love to our heart in our own wilderness moments. The Lord remains faithful to us, especially when we walk through fire. The life and death of Edith Stein encourages to remain faithful to the Lord in bad times as well as good. In the language of the parable in today’s gospel reading, she inspires us to keep the lamp of our faith burning brightly when all seems dark.

And/Or

(vi) Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Edith Stein was born in 1891 in Poland, the youngest of seven children of a Jewish family. She was a brilliant student and gained a doctorate in philosophy at the age of 25. She lost her Jewish faith as a teenager. At the age of thirty she came upon the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. It captivated her and she became a Catholic a year later. In her forties, she felt a call to the religious life and she became a Carmelite in 1932 in the convent in Cologne. Both Jewish and Catholic, she fled to Holland when the Nazis came to power. When the Nazis invaded Holland, she was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on 9th August 1942. There were key moments in her life when, in the words of today’s gospel reading, she heard the call, ‘The bridegroom is her! Go out and meet him’, and, having heard that call, she was ready with her lamp lit to go and meet him. Her reading of the life of Saint Teresa of Avila was one such moment, her becoming a Catholic was another, as was her decision to become a Carmelite nun. At different moments in her life, she heard the call of the bridegroom and responded generously. Gradually, over time, she came to see where the Lord was calling her. From a declaration of atheism in her teens she became a martyr of the church, a woman who lived and died for the heavenly bridegroom. Her life reminds us that if we keep seeking after truth, the Lord will respond to our search and will draw us to himself. Our journey to the Lord may have many twists and turns, as it did for Edith Stein, but if we are faithful to the deepest desires in our heart, we too will hear the call, ‘The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him’, and we will be ready to respond.

And/Or

(vii) Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, was born a Jew in 1891 in Wroclaw, present day Poland. She had abandoned her Jewish faith by the time that she was thirteen and declared herself an atheist. She showed great ability in her philosophical studies and gained her doctorate in philosophy at the age of twenty three. She became a popular lecturer and writer. In the wake of the awful slaughter of the First World War, Edith began to feel a growing interest in religion. This culminated one night in 1921 when she read the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century Carmelite nun. With fascination, she read through the night and by morning concluded, ‘This is the truth’. She was baptized a Catholic on the following New Year’s Day in 1922. Eleven years later she joined the Carmelites at Cologne. She took as her religious name, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was moved to the Carmel of Echt in the Netherlands, to avoid the growing Nazi threat. However, in 1940 the Nazis occupied Holland. She was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942. The bridesmaids in today’s gospel reading kept their lambs burning through the hours of darkness as they waited for the bridegroom to arrive to celebrate the wedding banquet with his bride. Saint Teresa Benedicta kept the light of her faith burning brightly through the dark times of the rise of the Nazis. There could be no darker place that Auschwitz and yet there were various lights in that awful darkness, the light of faith, the light of hope, the light of loving kindness. Saint Teresa’s light of faith, hope and love burned brightly in that darkest of places. She inspires us to keep the light of our faith burning brightly when the times are dark. Her prayerful communion with the Lord kept her faith burning brightly. When the darkness of evil puts our own faith to the test, it is our prayerful communion with the Lord that will keep the flame of our faith burning brightly, until that final day of our earthly life when the Bridegroom comes to meet us and invites us to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

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Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 16:24-28Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 16:24-28What can one give in exchange for one’s life?

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Reflections (5)

(i) Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospels Jesus often speaks in the language of paradox. One of the most striking instances of that is to be found in this morning’s gospel reading, when Jesus says, ‘anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it’. Another way of expressing that is to say, ‘if we seek ourselves only, we will lose ourselves, whereas if we reach beyond ourselves towards God and towards his Son Jesus we will find our true selves’. If we look to ourselves alone and our own needs and preferences, we risk losing ourselves, whereas if we look towards the Lord, which will always mean looking towards others, we will find life in this world and eternal life in the next. Jesus expressed this fundamental paradox of his teaching in another way when he said, ‘give and it will be given to you’. In other words, it is in giving that we receive. Our own experience of life teaches us the truth contained in this paradox. It is when we look beyond ourselves to others, to the Lord present in others, that we experience the Lord’s own joy, the Lord’s own life, which is a foretaste of the joy and life of the kingdom of heaven.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus declares that if anyone wants to become his followers they must be willing to deny themselves and take up their cross. Self-denial is not greatly in vogue at the present time. You are more likely to hear talk of self-fulfilment. In calling for self-denial Jesus is not trying to extinguish all joy or fulfilment in life. The self we are to deny is what we might call the false self, a way of life that is self-centred and self-absorbed, in which everything revolves around myself. This is the self that wants to be at the centre of everything and is constantly seeking its own satisfaction and gratification. Jesus declares that if we are to follow him, we must lose this false self. The loss of this false self will be painful; denying our self in this sense will entail a way of the cross. Yet, Jesus declares that this saying ‘no’ to our false self is the way to true life, to discovering our true self, ‘if anyone loses his life for my sake, he will find it’. Our true self, our best self, is the self that is open to the Lord’s love, that allows itself to be constantly transformed by that love and so, as a result, becomes a loving person, a self that puts the interests of others before one’s own. This is life in the true and full sense that Jesus promises to all who follow him and allow themselves to be led by him.

And/Or

(iii) Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus asks a thought provoking question in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘What will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life?’ Jesus is suggesting that we can gain a great deal of what the world has to offer and values, and, yet, lose out at some more fundamental level of our being. We can gain the whole world and, at the same time, lose our life, lose that which makes us truly alive with the life of God. Jesus declares that the opposite is also true. People can lose a great deal of what is highly valued in the world and yet preserve their life, be fully alive with the life of God. Jesus tells his disciples and all of us in this morning’s gospel reading that it is in following him that we will find this fullness of life. Following the Lord will often mean often mean having to renounce ourselves; in that sense it will mean losing out in the eyes of many. Yet when this is done for the Lord’s sake, out of love for him, out of our desire to be faithful to his values, we will grow into our true selves, the self that is made in the image and likeness of our Creator. The call to renounce ourselves can sound very negative to modern ears. Yet, the Lord’s call is a call to fullness of life. Our self-denial is in the service of that fullness of life which he desires for us all.

And/Or

(iv) Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus often speaks in ways that strike us as strange, such as in today’s gospel reading when he declares, ‘anyone who wants to save his life will lose it’. We might find ourselves wondering, ‘How could this be true?’ ‘What does Jesus mean by this?’ It is one of those sayings that requires a certain amount of teasing out. When Jesus speaks about the ‘one who wants to save his life’, he is probably referring to the person who selfishly seeks self-fulfilment, who grasps at life in a very self-centred and self-regarding way. Jesus is declaring that such a person will not live a truly fulfilled life; at the end of the day, they will lose their life. In contrast, those who lose their life for the sake of Jesus will find it; those who are prepared to give their lives away in love, because this is what Jesus did for us and asks of us, will receive the fullness of life as a gift of God. They will receive this fullness of life in eternity, but they will begin to experience it already here and now in this earthly life. Jesus is saying that we don’t find ourselves, our true selves, by focusing on ourselves. Rather, we find ourselves by focusing beyond ourselves, by focusing on others in love, by focusing on the Lord present in others and calling out to us through others. Jesus declares that it is possible to gain the whole world and to lose our very self, our true self, the self that is made in God’s image. The reverse is also true. We can lose everything, out of love for God and others, and, yet, find life to the full. It is above all the life and death of Jesus that reveals this to be so.

And/Or

(v) Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus declares in today’s gospel reading that becoming his follower will not always be easy. What does it mean to follow the Lord today, to walk in his way? The Lord’s way is the way of self-giving love. It is the way of generous service of others. I celebrated a funeral during the week and the woman’s family summed up her life by stating that she was a giver not a taker. I thought it was a wonderful tribute to their mother. To be a giver rather than a taker is what becoming a follower of the Lord means today. He was the supreme giver. In the end, he gave everything, his very life, out of love for us. In the words of today’s gospel reading, he lost his life. However, in losing his earthly life, he found eternal life, not just for himself but for all of us. His love which led him to give his earthly life for us all was life-giving for us all. Whenever we give of ourselves in love for others, we become more alive ourselves, as human beings, and we bring life to others, we help them to become more alive as human beings. Becoming a follower of the Lord will often mean renouncing ourselves in some way for the sake of others, in service of the well-being of others. Yet, Jesus assures us in the gospel reading that such renouncing of ourselves in service of others is not something negative. Rather, it is the path to true life for us and for all whom we serve.

Fr. Martin Hogan.