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LISTEN LIVE
An event for non-Catholic young adults from the ages of 20 to 35. Catholics are most welcome to come along with their invited non-Catholic friends for an afternoon to discover more of what life has to offer us. Tea and snacks will be provided.
Event Date : 29 Jul 12, 3:30 pm – 29 Jul 12, 6:30 pm
Location : 73 Taman Mas Merah S128195
Organised By : Verbum Dei Missionaries
Booking information : Verbum Dei Missionaries 62740251 or 97932605
Email: verbumdeispore@yahoo.com.sg
Cast: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorick van Wageningen, James Nesbitt, Tcheky Karyo, Ángela Molina, Carlos Leal, Simón Andreu, Eusebio Lazaro
Director: Emilio Estevez
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hr. 55 min. Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy
Sypnosis “The Way” is a powerful and inspirational story about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world. Martin Sheen plays Tom, who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son , killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago,. Rather than return home, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage to honor his son’s desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn’t plan on is the profound impact the journey will have on him. From the unexpected and, oftentimes, amusing experiences along “The Way,” Tom begins to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world again. Through his unresolved relationship with his son, he discovers the difference between “the life we live and the life we choose.”
A powerful movie with strong spirituality blowing gently amidst the backdrop. A movie which depicts transformation, Pilgrims set on a solus journey on Camino de Santiago ‘The Way of St James’ become a community. Everyone is changed one way or another….
A film for the whole family.
One of Martin Sheen’s finest performance ever in a movie directed by his son. The family background which led to the movie is intriguing and can be found in the special features.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings
Isaiah 49: 1–6
Psalm 139: 1–2, 13–15
Acts 13:22–26
Luke 1:57–66, 80
The people in this week’s Gospel are frightened and amazed by the mysterious events surrounding the birth of John.
Only his mother and father, Elizabeth and Zechariah, know what this child will be.
John the Baptist was fashioned in secret, knit by God in his mother’s womb, as we sing in this Sunday’s Psalm. From the womb he was set apart, formed to be God’s servant, as Isaiah declares in this week’s First Reading.
The whole story of John’s birth is thick with Old Testament echoes, especially echoes of the story of Abraham. God appeared to Abraham, promising that his wife would bear him a son; He announced the son’s name and the role Isaac would play in salvation history (see Genesis 17:1, 16, 19).
The same thing happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Through his angel, God announced John’s birth to this righteous yet barren couple. He made them call John a special name—and told them the special part John would play in fulfilling His plan for history (see Luke 1:5–17).
As Paul says in today’s Second Reading, John was to herald the fulfillment of all God’s promises to the children of Abraham (Luke 1:55, 73). John was to bring the word of salvation to all the people of Israel. More than that, he was to be a light to the nations—to all those groping in the dark for God.
We often associate John with his fiery preaching (see Matthew 3:7–12). But there was a deep humility at the heart of his mission. Paul alludes to that when he quotes John’s words about not being worthy to unfasten the sandals of Christ’s feet.
John said, “[Christ] must increase. I must decrease” (John 3:30).
We must have that same attitude as we seek to follow Jesus. The repentance John preached was a turning away from sin and selfishness and a turning of our whole hearts to the Father.
We must decrease so that like John we can grow strong in the Spirit, until Christ is made manifest in each of us.
The Lord of My Lord
Psalm 110, used in the Liturgy for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Year C), is frequently cited and alluded to in the New Testament.
Jesus testified that Psalm 110 prophesies about Him – that He is the “Lord” who David refers to as “my Lord” in the opening verse (see Matthew 22:41-45).
And key images from the Psalm resound in the teaching and preaching of the New Testament:
* Jesus enthroned at God’s right hand (see Psalm 110:2; Matthew 26:64; Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-34; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
* The enemies of Jesus put under His foot, made His “footstool” (see Psalm 110:2; 1 Corinthians 15:25,27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:8; 10:13).
The Liturgy for the Solemnity invokes these images along with the image of Melchizedek, the mysterious high priest who offers bread and wine and bestows blessings on Abram.
As interpreted in the New Testament, the Psalm speaks of Jesus when the Lord swears: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (see Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 6:20-7:1-3, 15-17; 20-26).
By virtue of our baptism we are all commissioned to go and spread the good news though each of us have been given different gifts to do so…..
Here are four simple steps we can take to begin :-
In my personal experience, I use to cringe at the thought of Evagelisation, because I had always thought that I had to be knowledgeable about my faith before I could even attempt to talk about Jesus. I also knew that if I didn’t at least try to start somewhere I would likely never ever do so. So with a prayer to the Holy Spirit, I began to try and talk about Jesus. I found it was easy to start with simply what Jesus has done for me in my life. How I have grown in faith and turned my life around and of how, I now experience inner joy and peace which I have not known before. Most people like to listen to stories, so why not tell my personal story? ( True living experience )
In my journey, I have found that family members and some closest friends are usually the toughest audience and more often than naught you will get grieve from them. But do not despair, you are not called to convert them but simply plant the seed of love. God will do the rest over time. I have witnessed this myself in my own family life.
Join me now as we participate with Jesus Christ to save the human race….
(SACCRE Ablaze Rally at Church Of The Holy Cross And A Talk by Jim Murphy ICCRS – Theme “The Royal Commission”)
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Mark 4:26-34
________________________________________
Through the oracles of the Prophet Ezekiel, God gave his people reason to hope. It would have been a cryptic message to his hearers, long centuries before the Lord’s coming.
Ezekiel glimpsed a day when the Lord God would place a tree on a mountain in Israel, a tree that would “put forth branches and bear fruit.” Who could have predicted that the tree would be a cross, on the hill of Calvary, and that the fruit would be salvation?
Ezekiel foresees salvation coming to “birds of every kind”—thus, not just to the Chosen People of Israel, but also to the Gentiles, who will “take wing” through their new life in Christ. God indeed will “lift high the lowly tree,” as he solemnly promises at the conclusion of the passage from the prophet.
Such salvation surpasses humanity’s most ambitious dreams. And so we express our gratitude in the Responsorial Psalm: “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” It is indeed good to give thanks, and better still to give thanks with praise. The Psalmist speaks of those who are just upon the earth, but looks to God as the source and measure of justice,
of righteousness. Like Ezekiel, he evokes the image of a flourishing tree to describe the lives of the just. The image, again, suggests the cross as the measure of righteousness.
The cross is a challenge to those who would rather “flourish” according to worldly terms. It is a sign of contradiction. And so Saint Paul repeatedly emphasizes, to the Corinthians, the necessity of courage. Our faith makes us strong, and it is proved in our deeds. The
Apostle reminds us that we will be judged by the ways our faith manifested itself in works: “so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”
Faith. Courage. God himself will empower the works he expects from us; though we may freely choose to correspond to his grace.
In the prophetic oracles, in the Psalms that were sung in Jerusalem, he scattered the small seed that sprang up and became the mustard tree, large enough to accommodate all the birds of the sky, just as Ezekiel had foretold. He gave this doctrine to the disciples, as he still does today, in terms they were able to understand, and he provided a full explanation.
In the sacraments he provides still more: the grace of faith and the courage we need to live in the world as children of God.
Listen to this great interview with Country Singer by Marcus Grodi from the Journey Home. Click on the link below and enjoy..
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Exodus 24:3-8
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
Hebrews 9:11-15
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
All of today’s readings are set in the context of the Passover. The First Reading recalls the old covenant celebrated at Sinai following the first Passover and the exodus.
In sprinkling the blood of the covenant on the Israelites, Moses was symbolizing God’s desire in this covenant to make them His family, His “blood” relations.
Quoting Moses’ words in today’s Gospel, Jesus elevates and transforms this covenant symbol to an extraordinary reality. In the new covenant made in the blood of Christ, we truly become one with His body and blood.
The first covenant made with Moses and Israel at Sinai was but a shadow of this new and greater covenant made by Christ with all humankind in that upper room (see Hebrews 10:1).
The Passover that Jesus celebrates with His 12 apostles “actualizes,” makes real, what could only be symbolized by Moses’ sacrifice at the altar with 12 pillars. What Jesus does today is establish His Church as the new Israel, and His Eucharist as the new worship of the living God.
In offering himself to God through the Spirit, Jesus delivered Israel from the transgressions of the first covenant. And, as we hear in today’s Epistle, by His blood He purified us, and made us capable of true worship.
God does not want dead works or animal sacrifices. He wants our own flesh and blood, our own lives, consecrated to Him, offered as a living sacrifice. This is the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving that we sing of in today’s Psalm. This is the Eucharist.
What we do in memory of Him is to pledge our lives to Him, to renew our promise to live by the words of His covenant and to be His servants.
There is no other return we can offer to Him for the eternal inheritance He has won for us. So let us approach the altar, calling upon His name in thanksgiving, taking up the cup of salvation.
2nd Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 3:10–17
You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me. In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Everyday is a struggle for me, so it is for everyone on the journey. The closer we get to Christ, the deeper the relationship the more the trials and temptations we seem to receive. St Paul reminds us today that he too and many of our brothers and sisters before us have undergone the same persecutions if not far worst. But why do they continue? I believe it is because they carry Jesus with them in their hearts and they recall the love and peace they have experienced that no one and nothing on earth can provide except our Lord and Saviour and they know they will receive the Grace again at the end of the trial and bear witness to His Glory.
It is far easier to give up, to taste the forbidden fruit and enjoy its shortlived ecstasy only to wander again in nothingness. How many? Including I have said “all in good time” or “tomorrow definitely tomorrow” well friends…. what if tomorrow never comes for you? Do not be deceived! The truth St Paul speaks about is evident in our lives, be it with our own families, friends, even acquaintances, the wicked go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. Let us call to mind what we were called to do on ash Wednesday and put it to action and that is to “Turn away from Sin and be faithful to the Gospels.”
Only then can we truly grow in faith and righteousness and are able to share the Good News to others in our daily lives.
May the Love of Jesus be upon you always. Amen
“When you turn off the light of your heart to my love, you invite sin to manifest in you. Do not allow your shame to dishearten you or shy away from me, know that when you open your heart to me, I will bring forth my burning light of Love to illuminate your heart and set you free. Sin cannot prevail in the light of my love for you my son, my daughter. Remain in my love always…..”
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Last Sunday, we celebrated the sending of the Spirit, which sealed God’s new covenant and made a new creation.
In this new creation, we live in the family of God, who has revealed himself as a Trinity of love. We share in His divine nature through His body and blood (see 2 Peter 1:4). This is the meaning of the three feasts that cap the Easter season – Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi.
These feasts should be intimate reminders of how deeply God loves us, how He chose us, from before the foundation of the world, to be His children (see Ephesians 1:4-5).
Today’s readings illuminate how all God’s words and works were meant to prepare for the revelation of the Trinity and God’s blessing in Jesus Christ – the blessing we inherited in baptism, and renew in each Eucharist.
By God’s word the heavens and earth were filled with His kindness, we sing in today’s Psalm. Out of love, God called Abraham and chose his descendants to be His own people, Moses says in today’s First Reading (see Deuteronomy 4:20,37). Through the Israelites, He revealed to the nations that He alone is Lord and there is no other.
In Jesus, God’s word took flesh as a son of Abraham (see Matthew 1:1). And Jesus reveals in the Gospel today that the one God is Father, Son, and Spirit, and that He desires to make all peoples His own.
As He led Israel out of Egypt, God freed us from slavery, Paul says in today’s Epistle. As He adopted Israel (see Romans 9:4), He gives us the Spirit by which we can know Him as “our Father.”
As God’s heirs, we receive the commissions of Moses and Jesus today. We are to fix our hearts on Him, and to observe all that He has commanded. The Eucharist is His pledge – that He will be with us until the end, that He will deliver us from death to live forever in the promised land of His kingdom.
I really wanted to attend this rally but could not as it was after a post night shift. Anyhow my Brother in Christ Raymund did a great job I think of sharing with us the main points…..here is what he wrote….
Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
This are points from Fr. William’s preaching today at the Rally. It is not a total transcript, but pretty much the main points of what I could type during his talk. Hope it helps you recap his preaching.
For those of you who could not make, you missed a truly awesome rally. Hope this benefits you.
God bless.
Ray
Deuteronomy 11:13 * If, then, you truly listen to my commandments which I give you today, loving and serving the LORD, your God, with your whole heart and your whole being,
3rd millennium world is changing rapidly mostly because of globalisation. Advancements in technology in different facets. We’re facing a very different world. Many people are replacing God with science and technology. Modern man thinks that S&T can solve all their problems and give them the answers they seek.
Secularismism denies the presence of God. It can take the form of hostility. Today, it is no fun in being a religious leader. Today, many have no respect for religious leaders, and more so, God.
When God is rejected, the consequences are great. God is becoming more absent in our lives. We don’t talk about talk because of secularism. It breeds relativism. There is no more reference point in what is moral and immorality. They question the bible.
What were facing today is the collapse of values. Our young people are not bothered about committing sin. They do not believe in what is right and wrong. So, sin is no a matter for consideration. Today we’re surrounded in a situation of what is right and wrong. Media plays a large part in this problem. Our young people are influenced by the media. Young people have different understanding of casual sex for example. They do not feel it is wrong because “everyone” is doing it!
Because of the loss and collapse of values – Satan is attacking our Catholic values thru the destruction of families and marriages. Our children, as a result of this, suffer greatly, and history tends to repeat itself in their own adult lives later on.
Attacking the family and the church! Marriage used to be primarily for procreation, and secondarily for companionship. Today, the roles are reversed. In the face of all this, what is our cry? “Renew the face of the Church”. Only God can bring about a renewal, a change in the world. the new evangelisation is the key to renewing the face of the church.
1. Re-evangelise our Catholics.
2.Reaching out to those who are yet to know Christ by using new techniques and methods. To bring a new understanding and encounter with Christ. A real conversion.
Many of our Catholics today are inviting new age spirituality.This is not Christian, or Catholic. Many people turn to this as it is a combination of different religions and Science and Technology (S&T). Centring prayer which is not Catholic at all. It bypasses Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Christian prayer is a relationship with the Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. The sole purpose of Jesus is to let us know who the Father is, and giving us the Holy Spirit. Christianity is not an impersonal relationship!
Many people are turning to the different forms of prayer because they do not know Jesus. Do you have a personal relationship with God? The Holy Spirit is critical in our relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore, I tell you that nobody speaking by the spirit of God says, “Jesus be accursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit.
To know Jesus is the Lord is the work of the Holy Spirit. How does one know that God is Father? What sentiments do we have when we pray the ‘Our Father’? Who is the Father to us? Our concept of our Father, sometimes is not very great. Look at Jesus’ relationship with the Father – it is one of great intimacy.
Matthew 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
Jesus surrendered his life to the Father because He knew He was the Son. He knew His identity. Do we know our identity? The idea of sonship and daughtership is not real. It is just an idea. If we are truly conscious, we will behave accordingly. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray.
Romans 8:14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,* Father!”
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
Romans 8:27 And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.
If our Christian lives are truly one of relationship, we will be conscious of that relationship! The Church is a sacrament of unity and love. The more intense our relationship with God, the more fulfilled we will be. We will not take God for granted. There is division in the world, in our families because there is no relationship.
In order to renew the face of the earth, we must heal the inner man. We all bear the consequences of the sins of our forefathers – Inter-generational sin/healing. We cannot inherit the sins of our forefathers. Many of us are living hypocritical lives. It is ok if you are aware of this and try to change for the better. We are all broken people – many of us are wounded emotionally, spiritually, and to an extent, physically.
The Holy Spirit not only gives us sonship, but also empowers us.
Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.
1 John 4:9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
1 John 4:10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:13 * This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit.
The Holy Spirit restores us.
Wisdom, understanding and knowledge are very important to forming our faculties.
Fortitude is important in spiritual warfare. when we were baptised, we were give the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of the most important graces given to the Catholic Church is the Charismatic Renewal. This was emphasised by our Pope. If our sacraments are effective, it is because of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit makes us conscious of our baptismal spiritual gifts. That is why the LISS is important – to activate the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual gifts are meant for service.
1 Cor 12 – 1 Cor 14
The Charismatic Renewal builds communities. Praying freely in the Spirit. We are not purely spirit – we should pray in body and spirit. We should pray for the renewal of Pentecost. We needn’t be Catholics to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Remember Cornelius in Acts. Believing in the power of prayer and intercession.
The End.
“Truth? What is that? ”
To those who who do not have a relationship with the Truth then truth is relative, to be wielded for personal gain. To those who do, Truth is absolute all encompassing. A peaceful flight sailing against the winds of adversity in absolute freedom.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm 98:1-4
1 John 4:7-10
John 15:9-17
God is love, and He revealed that love in sending His only Son to be a sacrificial offering for our sins.
In these words from today’s Epistle, we should hear an echo of the story of Abraham’s offering of Isaac at the dawn of salvation history. Because Abraham obeyed God’s command and did not with-hold his only beloved son, God promised that Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, would be the source of blessing for all nations (see Genesis 22:16-18).
We see that promise coming to fulfillment in today’s First Reading. God pours out His Spirit upon the Gentiles, the non-Israelites, as they listen to the word of Peter’s preaching. Notice they receive the same gifts received by the devout Jews who heard Peter’s preaching at Pentecost—the Spirit comes to rest upon them and they speak in tongues, glorifying God (see Acts 2:5-11).
In his love today, God reveals that His salvation embraces the house of Israel and peoples of all nations. Not by circumcision or blood relation to Abraham, but by faith in the Word of Christ, sealed in the sacrament of baptism, peoples are to be made children of Abraham, heirs to God’s covenants of promise (see Galatians 3:7-9; Ephesians 2:12).
This is the wondrous work of God that we sing of in today’s Psalm. It is the work of the Church, the good fruit that Jesus chooses and appoints His apostles for in today’s Gospel.
As Peter raises up Cornelius today, the Church continues to lift all eyes to Christ, the only one in whose name they can find salvation.
In the Church, each of us has been begotten by the love of God. But the Scriptures today reveal that this divine gift brings with it a command and a duty. We are to love one another as we have been loved. We are to lay down our lives in giving ourselves to others—that they too might find friendship with Christ, and new life through Him
(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=24861)
VATICAN CITY, May 6 (CNA/EWTN News) .- Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims May 6 that their lives will be fruitful and have meaning if they live in union with Jesus Christ.
“Dear friends, every one of us is like a vine, which lives only if it is growing every day in prayer, participation in the sacraments, in charity, in its union with the Lord,” said the Pope in his midday Regina Coeli address marking the fifth Sunday of Easter.
“And he who loves Jesus, the true vine, produces fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest.”
The Pope spoke to large crowds in an overcast and drizzly St. Peter’s Square, reflecting upon the words of Jesus, as recorded in today’s Gospel of St. John; “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
In this passage, the Pope explained to pilgrims, Jesus reveals himself as “the true vine of God, the true life” who “with his sacrifice of love gives us salvation” and “opens the way to be part of this vine.”
And just as Christ is in God the Father, so his followers “carefully pruned by the words of the Master, are united in a profound way to him, becoming fruitful branches, which produce an abundant harvest.”
The Pope then quoted the 16-17th century Swiss bishop St Frances de Sales who, in his Treatise on the Love of God, observed how in nature “the branches united and joined to the trunk bears fruit not by its own virtue.”
Similarly a Christian who is “joined by love to our Redeemer” will produce “good works, taking their value from him, merit life eternal.”
Pope Benedict explained that this union occurs in baptism when “the Church grafts us as branches into the paschal mystery of Christ, into his own person.”
>From there on, he said, “it is essential to remain united to Jesus, to depend upon him” because “without him we can do nothing.”
This proposition, however, does not contradict a belief in the freedom of man, said Pope Benedict. He highlighted the 5th century writing of St. John the Prophet from Gaza who told an enquirer that “if a man inclines his heart to the good and asks God’s help, he receives the necessary strength to accomplish his work.”
Therefore “the freedom of man and power of God go together” as the good act is “possible because the Lord is good” but “it is fulfilled, thanks to his faithful.”
Before going onto pray the Regina Coeli, Pope Benedict concluded his comments by commending those present to Mary, the mother of God.
“Let us beseech the Mother of God that we might remain firmly grafted in Jesus and that all our actions may have their beginning, and their fulfillment, in Him.”
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-28, 30-32
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine that God intended Israel to be—the source of divine life and wisdom for the nations (see Sirach 24:17-24).
In baptism, each of us was joined to Him by the Holy Spirit. As a branch grows from a tree, our souls are to draw life from Him, nourished by His word and the Eucharist.
Paul in today’s First Reading seeks to be grafted onto the visible expression of Christ the true vine—His Church. Once the chief persecutor of the Church, he encounters initial resistance and suspicion. But he is known by his fruits, by his powerful witness to the Lord working in his life (see Matthew 7:16-20).
We too are commanded today to bear good fruits as His disciples, so that our lives give glory to God. Like Paul’s life, our lives must bear witness to His goodness.
Jesus cautions us, however, that if we’re bearing fruit, we can expect that God will ‘prune’ us—as a gardener trims and cuts back a plant so that it will grow stronger and bear even more fruit. He is teaching us today how to look at our sufferings and trials with the eyes of faith. We need to see our struggles as pruning, by which we are being disciplined and trained so that we can grow in holiness and bear fruits of righteousness (see Hebrews 12:4-11).
We need to always remain rooted in Him, as today’s Epistle tells us. We remain in Him by keeping His commandment of love, by pondering His words, letting them dwell richly in us (see Colossians 3:16), and by always seeking to do what pleases Him. In everything we must be guided by humility, remembering that apart from Him we can do nothing.
As we sing in today’s Psalm, we must fulfill our vows, turning to the Lord in worship, proclaiming his praises, until all families come to know His justice in their lives.
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 4:8-12
Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 29
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18
Jesus, in today’s Gospel, says that He is the good shepherd the prophets had promised to Israel.
He is the shepherd-prince, the new David—who frees people from bondage to sin and gathers them into one flock, the Church, under a new covenant, made in His blood (see Ezekiel 34:10-13, 23-31).
His flock includes other sheep, He says, far more than the dispersed children of Israel (see Isaiah 56:8; John 11:52). And He gave His Church the mission of shepherding all peoples to the Father.
In today’s First Reading, we see the beginnings of that mission in the testimony of Peter, whom the Lord appointed shepherd of His Church (see John 21:15-17).
Peter tells Israel’s leaders that the Psalm we sing today is a prophecy of their rejection and crucifixion of Christ. He tells the “builders” of Israel’s temple, that God has made the stone they rejected the cornerstone of a new spiritual temple, the Church (see Mark 12:10-13; 1 Peter 2:4-7).
Through the ministry of the Church, the shepherd still speaks (see Luke 10:16),and forgives sins (see John 20:23), and makes His body and blood present, that all may know Him in the breaking of the bread (see Luke 24:35). It is a mission that will continue until all the world is one flock under the one shepherd.
In laying down His life and taking it up again, Jesus made it possible for us to know God as He did—as sons and daughters of the Father who loves us. As we hear in today’s Epistle, He calls us His children, as He called Israel His son when He led them out of Egypt and made His covenant with them (see Exodus 4:22-23; Revelation 21:7).
Today, let us listen for His voice as He speaks to us in the Scriptures, and vow again to be more faithful followers. And let us give thanks for the blessings He bestows from His altar.
Yes I know this is long overdue since we are now in the third week of Easter celebrations already, but I have been kept pretty busy doing both the Lord’s work and work at the office. On the onset I must say that my Lenten journey this year has been rocky and painful but I have learnt much and have yet more to learn! I will be as brief as possible and share only the most important points/lessons that I have learned and experienced.
Many observe the Lenten fast or abstinence in their own way i.e. according to their own faith level and even physical constitution. For me, I did a 12 hour fast from food and water beginning each they at 5 am the fast started from 6am till 6pm in the evening. The first few days were the toughest since the body wants what is wants but soon enough it adjusted and I could concentrate on why I was emptying myself and let the Lord fill me with His love. To realise that our bodies does not actually need that much food or drink to survive, and that discipline of the body aids in spiritual discipline as well.
The closer I got to the Lord my God in the journey, the greater too the temptations to stray. And when I could no longer attend daily Mass since my wife returned to work after her maternity leave was over, I found myself not only hungering and thirsting for the Eucharist but my propensity to sin increased. The Eucharist is indeed a great gift of Love for us, the nourishment we need to resist sin and to remain in communion with our one Triune God and His children our brothers and sisters. Another great gift of Love is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God receiving us close to His bosom even though we had strayed, freeing us from the bondage of sin and allowing His peace and Love to flow through our very being. I experienced His love for me even when I could not go for the sacrament till six days later, He knew I had fallen once again but with a contrite heart I cried out to Him and He heard me. He gave me consolations of peace and love till I manage to embrace Him once again in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The height and summit of the Lenten journey for me started on Maundy Thursday evening. I had been tasked to prepare and lead the adoration prayers for the Altar of Repose immediately after the Maundy Thursday Eucharistic Celebration, and through much prayer and with the power of the Holy Spirit the adoration touched many who attended. Also the presence of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ our Lord was greatly felt by most who later attended the Lenten Vigil which followed from midnight to 6am Good Friday morning. I am certain that most, if not all who attended grew very much closer to God in prayer and worship. The team did a fantastic job, with videos of the passion of Christ, Praise and Worship sessions, meditation on the sorrowful mystery of the Rosary, Meditation on the powerful healing in uniting our sufferings with the Passion of Christ, Mediations on the Lord’s Supper and the stations of the cross. Again I am very thankful for being able to participate and contribute in two of the meditations that morning. It is indeed a powerful testament to witness God’s hand and to feel His presence throughout the Vigil, this only happens when we allow ourselves to be led and allow Him to work through us. Praise Be To God! Allelulia, Allelulia, Alleluia!
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Psalms 4:2, 4, 7-9
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48
Jesus in today’s Gospel, teaches His apostles how to interpret the Scriptures.
He tells them that all the Scriptures of what we now call the Old Testament refer to Him. He says that all the promises found in the Old Testament have been fulfilled in His passion, death, and resurrection. And He tells them that these Scriptures foretell the mission of the Church – to preach forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning at Jersusalem.
In today’s First Reading and Epistle, we see the beginnings of that mission. And we see the apostles interpreting the Scriptures as Jesus taught them to.
God has brought to fulfillment what He announced beforehand in all the prophets, Peter preaches. His sermon is shot through with Old Testament images. He evokes Moses and the exodus, in which God revealed himself as the ancestral God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Exodus 3:6,15). He identifies Jesus as Isaiah’s suffering servant who has been glorified (see Isaiah 52:13).
John, too describes Jesus in Old Testament terms. Alluding to how Israel’s priests offered blood sacrifices to atone for the people’s sins (see Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9-10), he says that Jesus intercedes for us before God (see Romans 8:34), and that His blood is a sacrificial expiation for the sins of the world (see 1 John 1:7).
Notice that in all three readings, the Scriptures are interpreted to serve and advance the Church’s mission – to reveal the truth about Jesus, to bring people to repentance, the wiping away of sins, and the perfection of their love for God.
This is how we, too, should hear the Scriptures. Not to know more “about” Jesus, but to truly know Him personally, and to know His plan for our lives.
In the Scriptures, the light of His face shines upon us, as we sing in today’s Psalm. We know the wonders He has done throughout history. And we have the confidence to call to Him, and to know that He hears and answers.
Sometimes Christ comes with such great majesty that no one could doubt but that it is the Lord himself. Especially after receiving Communion – for we know that he is present, since our faith tells us this – he reveals himself as so much the lord of this dwelling that it seems the soul is completely dissolved; and it sees itself consumed in Christ. O my Jesus! Who could make known the majesty with which you reveal yourself! And, Lord of all the world and of the heavens, of a thousand other worlds and of numberless worlds, and of the heavens that you might create, how the soul understands by the majesty with which you reveal yourself that it is nothing for you to be Lord of the world!
In this vision the powerlessness of all the devils in comparison with your power is clearly seen, my Jesus; and it is seen how whoever is pleasing to you can trample all hell under foot. In this vision the reason is seen why the devils feared when you descended into limbo and why they would have preferred to be in another thousand lower hells in order to flee from such great majesty. I see that you want the soul to know how tremendous this majesty is and the power that his most sacred humanity joined with the divinity has.
Saint Teresa Of Avilla +1582
“when I speak, only the faithful hear my voice. To be faithful is to listen to my Word and obey my commandment to love. “
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Acts 4:32-35
Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31
Three times in today’s Psalm we cry out a victory shout: “His mercy endures forever.”
Truly we’ve known the everlasting love of God, who has come to us as our Savior. By the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ pierced side (see John 19:34), we’ve been made God’s children, as we hear in today’s Epistle.
Yet we never met Jesus, never heard Him teach, never saw Him raised from the dead. His saving Word came to us in the Church – through the ministry of the apostles, who in today’s Gospel are sent as He was sent.
He was made a life-giving Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 15:45) and He filled His apostles with that Spirit. As we hear in today’s First Reading, they bore witness to His resurrection with great power. And through their witness, handed down in the Church through the centuries, their teaching and traditions have reached us (see Acts 2:42).
We encounter Him as the apostles did – in the breaking of the bread on the Lord’s day (see Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10).
There is something liturgical about the way today’s Gospel scenes unfold. It’s as if John is trying to show us how the risen Lord comes to us in the liturgy and sacraments.
In both scenes it is Sunday night. The doors are bolted tight, yet Jesus mysteriously comes. He greets them with an expression, “Peace be with you,” used elsewhere by divine messengers (see Daniel 10:19; Judges 6:23). He shows them signs of His real bodily presence. And on both nights the disciples respond by joyfully receiving Jesus as their “Lord.”
Isn’t this what happens in the Mass – where our Lord speaks to us in His Word, and gives himself to us in the sacrament of His body and blood?
Let us approach the altar with joy, knowing that every Eucharist is the day the Lord has made – when the victory of Easter is again made wonderful in our eyes.
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalms 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 14:1-15:47
Crowned with thorns, our Lord is lifted up on the cross, where He dies as “King of the Jews.” Notice how many times He is called “king” in today’s Gospel – mostly in scorn and mockery.
As we hear the long accounts of His passion, at every turn we must remind ourselves – He suffered this cruel and unusual violence, for us.
He is the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah in today’s First Reading. He reenacts the agony described in today’s Psalm, and even dies with the first words of that Psalm on His lips (see Psalm 22:1).
Listen carefully for the echoes of this Psalm throughout today’s Gospel – as Jesus is beaten, His hands and feet are pierced; as His enemies gamble for His clothes, wagging their heads, mocking His faith in God’s love, His faith that God will deliver Him.
Are we that much different from our Lord’s tormenters? Often, don’t we deny that He is king, refusing to obey His only commands that we love Him and one another? Don’t we render Him mock tribute, pay Him lip-service with our half-hearted devotions?
In the dark noon of Calvary, the veil in Jerusalem’s temple was torn. It was a sign that by His death Jesus destroyed forever the barrier separating us from the presence of God.
He was God and yet humbled himself to come among us, we’re reminded in today’s Epistle. And despite our repeated failures, our frailty, Jesus still humbles himself to come to us, offering us His body and blood in the Eucharist.
His enemies never understood: His kingship isn’t of this world (see John 18:36). He wants to write His law, His rule of life on our hearts and minds.
As we enter Holy Week, let us once more resolve to give Him dominion in our lives. Let us take up the cross He gives to us – and confess with all our hearts, minds, and strength, that truly this is the Son of God.
From the dogmatic constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will plant my law within them and inscribe it in their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people… All shall know me, from the least to the greatest, says the Lord.
It was Christ who established this new covenant, the new testament in his blood, calling into being, from Jews and Gentiles, a people that was to form a unity, not in human fashion but in the Spirit, as the new people of God. Those who believe in Christ, reborn not of corruptible but of incorruptible seed through the word of the living God, not from the flesh but from water and the Holy Spirit, are constituted in the fullness of time as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people God has made his own…, once no people but now the people of God.
This messianic people has Christ as its head: Christ who was given up for our sins and rose again for our justification; bearing now the name that is above every name, he reigns in glory in heaven. His people enjoy the dignity and freedom of the children of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple. They have as their law the new commandment of loving as Christ himself has loved us. They have as their goal the kingdom of God, begun on earth by God himself and destined to grow until it is also brought to perfection by him at the end of time, when Christ, our life, will appear, and creation itself will be freed from slavery to corruption and take on the freedom of the glory of God’s children.
This messianic people, then, though it does not in fact embrace all mankind and often seems to be a tiny flock, is yet the enduring source of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race. It is established by Christ as a communion of life, of love and of truth; it is also used by him as an instrument for the redemption of all, and is sent out into the whole world as the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
The Israel of old was already called the Church of God while it was on pilgrimage through the desert. So the new Israel, as it makes its way in this present age, seeking a city that is to come, a city that will remain, is also known as the Church of Christ, for he acquired it by his own blood, filled it with his Spirit, and equipped it with appropriate means to be a visible and social unity. God has called together the assembly of those who in faith look on Jesus, the author of salvation and the principle of unity and peace, and so has established the Church to be for each and all the visible sacrament of this unity which brings with it salvation.
(This is a really beautiful take on Christ’s love for us, I’ve highligted a few really striking passages….Catholicjules )
Look at this cross, so much bigger than the man whose body will be stretched to fit it. So much higher than the height of the man who will be lifted up above the earth on it and who, being lifted up, will draw all peoples to himself. Christ receives it with joy because he knows that this is the dead weight that must have crushed humankind had he not lifted it from their backs. This is the dead wood which at his touch is transformed to a living tree. At his touch, the hewn tree takes root again, and the roots thrust down into the earth, and the tree breaks into flowers….
Because Christ is to be stretched to the size of the cross, those who love him will grow to the size of it, not only to the size of man’s suffering, which is bigger than man, but to the size of Christ’s love that is bigger than all suffering. Because Christ is to be lifted up on the cross, all those who love him will be lifted up above the world by the world’s sorrow. He, being lifted up, will draw all men to himself.
Because Christ has changed death to life, and suffering to redemption, the suffering of those who love him will be a communion between them. All that hidden daily suffering that seems insignificant will be redeeming the world, it will be healing the wounds of the world. The acceptance of pain, old age, of the fear of death, and of death will be our gift of Christ’s love to one another; our gift of Christ’s life to one another.
No man’s cross is laid upon him for himself alone, but for the healing of the whole world, for the mutual comforting and sweetening of sorrow, for the giving of joy and supernatural life to one another. For Christ receives our cross that we may receive his. Receiving this cross, the cross of the whole world made his, we receive him. He gives us his hands to take hold of, his power to make it a redeeming thing, a blessed thing, his life to cause it to flower, his heart to enable us rejoice in accepting our own and one another’s burdens.
Caryll Houselander + 1954
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
The “Hour” Come
Readings:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12:20-33
Our readings today are filled with anticipation. The days are coming, Jeremiah prophesies in today’s First Reading. The hour has come, Jesus says in the Gospel. The new covenant that God promised to Jeremiah is made in the “hour” of Jesus – in His death, resurrection, and ascension to the Father’s right hand.
The prophets said this new covenant would return Israel’s exiled tribes from the ends of the world (see Jeremiah 31:1,3-4,7-8). Jesus too predicted His passion would gather the dispersed children of God (see John 11:52). But today He promises to draw to himself, not only Israelites, but all men and women.
The new covenant is more than a political or national restoration. As we sing in today’s Psalm, it is a universal spiritual restoration. In the “hour” of Jesus, sinners in every nation can return to the Father – to be washed of their guilt and given new hearts to love and serve Him.
In predicting He will be “lifted up,” Jesus isn’t describing only His coming crucifixion (see John 3:14-15). Isaiah used the same word to tell how the Messiah, after suffering for Israel’s sins, would be raised high and greatly exalted (see Isaiah 52:3). Elsewhere the term describes how kings are elevated above their subjects (see 1 Maccabees 8:13).
Troubled in His agony, Jesus didn’t pray to be saved. Instead, as we hear in today’s Epistle, He offered himself to the Father on the cross – as a living prayer and supplication. For this, God gave Him dominion over heaven and earth (see Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9).
Where He has gone we can follow – if we let Him lead us. To follow Jesus means hating our lives of sin and selfishness. It means trusting in the Father’s will, the law He has written in our hearts.
Jesus’ “hour” continues in the Eucharist, where we join our sacrifices to His, giving God our lives in reverence and obedience – confident He will raise us up to bear fruits of holiness.
From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Sermo 15, De passione Domini, 3-4: PL 54, 366-367)
True reverence for the Lord’s passion means fixing the eyes of our heart on Jesus crucified and recognizing in him our own humanity.
The earth—our earthly nature—should tremble at the suffering of its Redeemer. The rocks—the hearts of unbelievers—should burst asunder. The dead, imprisoned in the tombs of their mortality, should come forth, the massive stones now ripped apart. Foreshadowings of the future resurrection should appear in the holy city, the Church of God: what is to happen to our bodies should now take place in our hearts.
No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it bring to those who turn to him in repentance.
Ignorance has been destroyed, obstinacy has been overcome. The sacred blood of Christ has quenched the flaming sword that barred access to the tree of life. The age-old night of sin has given place to the true light.
The Christian people are invited to share the riches of paradise. All who have been reborn have the way open before them to return to their native land, from which they had been exiled. Unless indeed they close off for themselves the path that could be opened before the faith of a thief.
The business of this life should not preoccupy us with its anxiety and pride, so that we no longer strive with all the love of our heart to be like our Redeemer, and to follow his example. Everything that he did or suffered was for our salvation: he wanted his body to share the goodness of its head.
First of all, in taking our human nature while remaining God, so that the Word became man, he left no member of the human race, the unbeliever excepted, without a share in his mercy. Who does not share a common nature with Christ if he has welcomed Christ, who took our nature, and is reborn in the Spirit through whom Christ was conceived?
Again, who cannot recognize in Christ his own infirmities? Who would not recognize that Christ’s eating and sleeping, his sadness and his shedding of tears of love are marks of the nature of a slave?
It was this nature of a slave that had to be healed of its ancient wounds and cleansed of the defilement of sin. For that reason the only-begotten Son of God became also the son of man. He was to have both the reality of a human nature and the fullness of the godhead.
The body that lay lifeless in the tomb is ours. The body that rose again on the third day is ours. The body that ascended above all the heights of heaven to the right hand of the Father’s glory is ours. If then we walk in the way of his commandments, and are not ashamed to acknowledge the price he paid for our salvation in a lowly body, we too are to rise to share his glory. The promise he made will be fulfilled in the sight of all: Whoever acknowledges me before men, I too will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven.
From a sermon by Saint Bernadine of Siena, priest
There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.
This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: Good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord.
What then is Joseph’s position in the whole Church of Christ? Is he not a man chosen and set apart? Through him and, yes, under him, Christ was fittingly and honorably introduced into the world. Holy Church in its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude and reverence to Saint Joseph.
In him the Old Testament finds its fitting close. He brought the noble line of patriarchs and prophets to its promised fulfillment. What the divine goodness had offered as a promise to them, he held in his arms.
Obviously, Christ does not now deny to Joseph that intimacy, reverence and very high honor which he gave him on earth, as a son to his father. Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.
Now we can see how the last summoning words of the Lord appropriately apply to Saint Joseph: Enter into the joy of your Lord. In fact, although the joy of eternal happiness enters into the soul of a man, the Lord preferred to say to Joseph: Enter into joy. His intention was that the words should have a hidden spiritual meaning for us. They convey not only that this holy man possesses an inward joy, but also that it surrounds him and engulfs him like an infinite abyss.
Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster-child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally. Amen.
Bring me the sign of true humility by being not overly ambitious in your position, but lowly. Don’t be impatient over any pain or abuse you might suffer, but endure within the body of holy Church by the firm power of patience, even to the point of death. When you speak and proclaim the truth, whether in giving counsel or in any other role, do it fearlessly, looking only to God’s honour, the salvation of souls, and the advancement of holy Church, as her true son, nurtured by so tender a Mother. In this way you will demonstrate gentle divine charity and patience as well. Be generous in your charity – spiritually, as I’ve already said, but materially too. Reflect that the hands of the poor are helping you to offer and receive divine grace. I want you begin a new life, a new way of living: slumber no more in the sleep of foolish indifference. Be a real champion for me, please.
I told you that I want you to be lamb, a follower of the true lamb. Now I’m telling you that I want you to be a lion, roaring loudly in holy Church, your virtue and your voice so strong that you help bring back to life the children lying dead with her. Perhaps you are asking: “Where can I get such a strong roaring voice?” From the lamb, who in his humility remains meek and does not cry out, but whose divinity lends power to the Son’s cry with the voice of it’s immeasurable charity. And so, by the strength and power of divine being and of the love that joined God with humanity, the lamb becomes a lion. From the chair of the cross he roared so loudly over the dead child, the human race, that he freed us from death and gave us life. It is from him, then, that we will receive strength, for the love we will drink from the gentle Jesus will give us a share in the Father’s power.
Saint Catherine Of Siena +1380
From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
The Lord reveals his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses. His body is like that of the rest of mankind, but he makes it shine with such splendor that his face becomes like the sun in glory, and his garments as white as snow.
The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed.
With no less forethought he was also providing a firm foundation for the hope of holy Church. The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as his gift. The members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blazed out in Christ their head.
The Lord had himself spoken of this when he foretold the splendor of his coming: Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Saint Paul the apostle bore witness to this same truth when he said: I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not to be compared with the future glory that is to be revealed in us. In another place he says: You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
This marvel of the transfiguration contains another lesson for the apostles, to strengthen them and lead them into the fullness of knowledge. Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, appeared with the Lord in conversation with him. This was in order to fulfill exactly, through the presence of these five men, the text which says: Before two or three witnesses every word is ratified. What word could be more firmly established, more securely based, than the word which is proclaimed by the trumpets of both old and new testaments, sounding in harmony, and by the utterances of ancient prophecy and the teaching of the Gospel, in full agreement with each other?
The writings of the two testaments support each other. The radiance of the transfiguration reveals clearly and unmistakably the one who had been promised by signs foretelling him under the veils of mystery. As Saint John says: The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. In him the promise made through the shadows of prophecy stands revealed, along with the full meaning of the precepts of the law. He is the one who teaches the truth of prophecy through his presence, and makes obedience to the commandments possible through grace.
In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith. No one should be ashamed of the cross of Christ, through which the world has been redeemed.
No one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice; no one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death. Christ has taken on himself the whole weakness of our lowly human nature. If then we are steadfast in our faith in him and in our love for him, we win the victory that he has won, we receive what he has promised.
When it comes to obeying the commandments or enduring adversity, the words uttered by the Father should always echo in our ears: This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.
From the pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world of the Second Vatican Council
The world of today reveals itself as at once powerful and weak, capable of achieving the best or the worst. There lies open before it the way to freedom or slavery, progress or regression, brotherhood or hatred. In addition, man is becoming aware that it is for himself to give the right direction to forces that he himself has awakened, forces that can be his master or his servant. He therefore puts questions to himself.
The tensions disturbing the world of today are in fact related to a more fundamental tension rooted in the human heart. In man himself many elements are in conflict with each other. On one side, he has experience of his many limitations as a creature. On the other, he knows that there is no limit to his aspirations, and that he is called to a higher kind of life.
Many things compete for his attention, but he is always compelled to make a choice among them. and to renounce some. What is more, in his weakness and sinfulness he often does what he does not want to do, and fails to do what he would like to do. In consequence, he suffers from a conflict within himself, and this in turn gives rise to so many great tensions in society.
Very many people, infected as they are with a materialistic way of life, cannot see this dramatic state of affairs in all its clarity, or at least are prevented from giving thought to it because of the unhappiness that they themselves experience.
Many think that they can find peace in the different philosophies that are proposed.
Some look for complete and genuine liberation for man from man’s efforts alone. They are convinced that the coming kingdom of man on earth will satisfy all the desires of his heart.
There are those who despair of finding any meaning in life: they commend the boldness of those who deny all significance to human existence in itself, and seek to impose a total meaning on it only from within themselves.
But in the face of the way the world is developing today, there is an ever increasing number of people who are asking the most fundamental questions or are seeing them with a keener awareness: What is man? What is the meaning of pain, of evil, of death, which still persist in spite of such great progress? What is the use of those successes, achieved at such a cost? What can man contribute to society, what can he expect from society? What will come after this life on earth?
The Church believes that Christ died and rose for all, and can give man light and strength through his Spirit to fulfill his highest calling; his is the only name under heaven in which men can be saved. So too the Church believes that the centre and goal of all human history is found in her Lord and Master.
The Church also affirms that underlying all changes there are many things that do not change; they have their ultimate foundation in Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever.
I received a vision, a message or more aptly a gentle reminder to share……..
Amid the storms of your life, yes there will be storms. When the waves of anxiety are overwhelming, the dark gloomy clouds of desperation looms over you, the thunder of insecurity and lightning pangs of pain sends clutches of fear to envelope your being. Know that I the Lord your God am with you, walk over the waters of faith and stay focussed on my Son. Walk towards Him and He will lead you into my embrace.
Praise Be to God!
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
Readings:
Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18
Psalm 116:10, 15-19
Romans 8:31-34
Mark 9:2-10
The Lenten season continues with another story of testing. Last Sunday, we heard the trial of Jesus in the desert. In this week’s First Reading, we hear of how Abraham was put to the test.
The Church has always read this story as a sign of God’s love for the world in giving His only begotten son.
In today’s Epistle, Paul uses exact words drawn from this story to describe how God, like Abraham, did not withhold His only Son, but handed Him over for us on the cross (see Romans 8:32; Genesis 22:12,16).
In the Gospel today, too, we hear another echo. Jesus is called God’s “beloved Son” – as Isaac is described as Abraham’s beloved firstborn son.
These readings are given to us in Lent to reveal Christ’s identity and to strengthen us in the face of our afflictions.
Jesus is shown to be the true son that Abraham rejoiced to see (see Matthew 1:1; John 8:56). In His transfiguration, He is revealed to be the “prophet like Moses” foretold by God – raised from among their own kinsmen, speaking with God’s own authority (see Deuteronomy 18:15,19).
Like Moses, He climbs the mountain with three named friends and beholds God’s glory in a cloud (see Exodus 24:1,9,15). He is the one prophesied to come after Elijah’s return (see Sirach 48:9-10; Malachi 3:1,23-24).
And, as He discloses to the apostles, He is the Son of Man sent to suffer and die for our sins (see Isaiah 53:3).
As we sing in today’s Psalm, Jesus believed in the face of His afflictions, and God loosed Him from the bonds of death (see Psalm 116:3).
His rising should give us the courage to face our trials, to offer ourselves totally to the Father – as He did, as Abraham and Isaac did.
Freed from death by His death, we come to this Mass to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and to renew our vows – as His servants and faithful ones.
From a treatise on the Lord’s Prayer by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr
Dear brothers, the commands of the Gospel are nothing else than God’s lessons, the foundations on which to build up hope, the supports for strengthening faith, the food that nourishes the heart. They are the rudder for keeping us on the right course, the protection that keeps our salvation secure. As they instruct the receptive minds of believers on earth, they lead safely to the kingdom of heaven.
God willed that many things should be said by the prophets, his servants, and listened to by his people. How much greater are the things spoken by the Son. These are now witnessed to by the very Word of God who spoke through the prophets. The Word of God does not now command us to prepare the way for his coming: he comes in person and opens up the way for us and directs us toward it. Before, we wandered in the darkness of death, aimlessly and blindly. Now we are enlightened by the light of grace, and are to keep to the highway of life, with the Lord to precede and direct us.
The Lord has given us many counsels and commandments to help us toward salvation. He has even given us a pattern of prayer, instructing us on how we are to pray. He has given us life, and with his accustomed generosity, he has also taught us how to pray. He has made it easy for us to be heard as we pray to the Father in the words taught us by the Son.
He had already foretold that the hour was coming when true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He fulfilled what he had promised before, so that we who have received the spirit and the truth through the holiness he has given us may worship in truth and in the spirit through the prayer he has taught.
What prayer could be more a prayer in the spirit than the one given us by Christ, by whom the Holy Spirit was sent upon us? What prayer could be more a prayer in the truth than the one spoken by the lips of the Son, who is truth himself? It follows that to pray in any other way than the Son has taught us is not only the result of ignorance but of sin. He himself has commanded it, and has said: You reject the command of God, to set up your own tradition.
So, my brothers, let us pray as God our master has taught us. To ask the Father in words his Son has given us, to let him hear the prayer of Christ ringing in his ears, is to make our prayer one of friendship, a family prayer. Let the Father recognize the words of his Son. Let the Son who lives in our hearts be also on our lips. We have him as an advocate for sinners before the Father; when we ask forgiveness for our sins, let us use the words given by our advocate. He tells us: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. What more effective prayer could we then make in the name of Christ than in the words of his own prayer?
The church of St Anthony is pleased to host a Golf Tournament as a Fund-Raising for the new Annex Building.
We request for your support as a sponsor for the following
Includes green and buggy fees, tee-off with Guest-of-honour Dr Tan Cheng Bock, lunch, dinner and goodie bags for 1 flight of 3 golfers as well as logo endorsement at all events backdrop (for company registration only).
Includes green and buggy fees, Novelties Game x 1, lunch, dinner and goodie bags for 1 flight of 4 golfers as well as logo endorsements at all events backdrop (for company registration only).
Includes green and buggy fees, lunch, dinner and goodie bags for 1 flight of 4 golfers. (Individual $500)
Locations
Warren Golf and Country Club
81 Choa Chu Kang Way Singapore 688263
Date Friday 20th April 2012
Time 11.30 a.m. – 9.00 p.m.
Contact Ms Louise Alvina 9748 8308
Email register@st-anthonygolfday.com
Booking must come in by end March 2012.
Please make cheques payable to Church of St Anthony and mail Sponsor Fee to:
25 Woodlands Ave 1, Singapore 739064
Attention: Fund Raising Golf Tournament
If you have any questions regarding sponsorship or any enquiries, you can contact Ms Louise Alvina 97488308 or visit http://www.st-anthonygolfday.com or email us at register@st-anthonygolfday.com
St anthony golfday 2012 invite
I seek the fruit which increases to your credit. The gain is yours, not mine, except that because it is yours, it is ours, too, the benefit glancing from you to us just like the reflected rays of the sun. Did you feed the poor? Did you show hospitality? Did you wash the feet of the saints?…
To preach the Gospel is a matter of necessity: the honour lies in doing so free of charge but so that you may learn to serve Christ by serving even one of the least. For just as, for my sake, he became everything that I am, except for sin, in the same way he accepts as his own even my smallest acts of kindness, whether you give of your shelter; whether of your clothing; whether you visit the prisons; whether you tend the sick; whether you just perform the most ordinary gesture of refreshing with a cup of cool water the tongue of a man parched with thirst, just as the rich man tormented in the flame asked of the beggar Lazarus but, in a measure of return for a life of indulgence on this earth and his neglect of Lazarus, who was hungry and full of sores, asked of Lazarus in the other and did not receive.
This, then, is what we require of you; and I know that you are not discomfited at the prospect of having an account asked of you either by us, or on the last day when all our affairs are gathered up. As Scripture says, And I am coming to gather your intentions and your actions; and Behold man, and his work, and his reward with him.
Saint Gregory Nazianzen +390
Because of its rebellion against God, here are the devils, holding this sheep as their own possession. Then along comes God’s infinite goodness and sees the sheep’s sorry state its ruin and damnation. He knows he cannot use wrath or war to entice it away from them. Supreme eternal Wisdom doesn’t want to do it that way, even though the sheep has wronged him (for humankind, by its rebellion in disobedience, was deserving of infinite punishment). No, he finds a delightful way – the most sweet and loving way possible; for he sees that the human heart is drawn by love as by nothing else, since it is made of love. This seems to be why human beings love so much, because they are made of nothing but love, body and soul. In love God created them in his own image and likeness, and in love father and mother conceive and bring forth their children, giving them a share in their own substance. So God, seeing that humankind is so quick to love, throws out to us right away the hook of love, giving us the Word, his only-begotten Son. He takes on our humanity to make a great peace….
This Word played life against death and death against life in tournament on the wood of the most holy cross, so that by his death he destroyed our death, and to give us life he spent his own bodily life. With love, then, he has so drawn us and with his kindness so conquered our malice that every heart should be won over. For a person can show no greater love (he said so himself) than to give his or her life for a friend. And if he praises the love that gives one’s life for a friend, what shall we say of the consummate blazing love that gave his life for his enemy? For through sin we had become God’s enemies. Oh, gentle loving Word, with love you recovered your little sheep, and with love gave them life. You brought them back to the fold by restoring to them the grace they had lost.
Saint Catherine of Siena +1380
In a world warped by materialism and declining respect for human life, the Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Our belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching.
In a global culture driven by excessive individualism, our tradition proclaims that the person is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society — in economics and politics, in law and policy — directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. Our Church teaches that the role of the government and other institutions is to protect human life and promote the common good.
Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities — to one another, to our families and to the larger society.
Catholic teaching proclaims that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgement (Mt.25) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
All people have a right to participate in the economic, political and cultural life of society. It is a fundamental demand of justice and a requirement for human dignity that all people be assured a minimum level of participation in the community. Conversely, it is wrong for a person or a group to be excluded unfairly or to be unable to participate in society. In the words of the U.S. bishops, “The ultimate injustice is for a person or group to be treated actively or abandoned passively as if they were non-members of the human race. To treat people this way is effectively to say they simply do not count as human beings.”
In a marketplace where too often the quarterly bottom line takes precedence over the rights of workers, we believe that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected — the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property and to economic initiative.
Catholic tradition insists that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions which cannot be ignored.
Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. Solidarity means that “loving our neighbour” has global dimensions in an interdependent world.
Because we are social beings, the state is natural to the person. Therefore, the state has a positive moral function. It is an instrument to promote human dignity, protect human rights, and build the common good. It’s purpose is to assist citizens in fulfilling their responsibility to others in society. Since, in a large and complex society these responsibilities cannot adequately be carried out on a one-to-one basis, citizens need the help of government in fulfilling these responsibilities and promoting the common good. According to the principle of subsidiarity, the functions of government should be performed at the lowest level possible, as long as they can be performed adequately. If they cannot, then a higher level of government should intervene to provide help.
Catholic teaching promotes peace as a positive, action-oriented concept. In the words of Pope John Paul II, “Peace is not just the absence of war. It involves collaboration and binding agreements.” There is a close relationship in Catholic teaching between peace and justice. Peace is the fruit of justice and is dependent upon right order among human beings.
Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn
The New Creation
Readings:
Genesis 9:8-15
Psalm 25:4-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:12-15
Lent bids us to return to the innocence of baptism. As Noah and his family were saved through the waters of the deluge, we were saved through the waters of baptism, Peter reminds us in today’s Epistle.
And God’s covenant with Noah in today’s First Reading marked the start of a new world. But it also prefigured a new and greater covenant between God and His creation (see Hosea 2:20; Isaiah 11:1-9).
We see that new covenant and that new creation begin in today’s Gospel.
Jesus is portrayed as the new Adam – the beloved son of God (see Mark 1:11; Luke 3:38), living in harmony with the wild beasts (see Genesis 2:19-20), being served by angels (see Ezekiel 28:12-14).
Like Adam, He too is tempted by the devil. But while Adam fell, giving reign to sin and death (see Romans 5:12-14, 17-20), Jesus is victorious.
This is the good news, the “gospel of God” that He proclaims. Through His death, resurrection, and enthronement at the right hand of the Father, the world is once again made God’s kingdom.
In the waters of baptism, each of us entered the kingdom of His beloved Son (see Colossians 1:13-14). We were made children of God, new creations (see 2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 4:3-7).
But like Jesus, and Israel before Him, we have passed through the baptismal waters only to be driven into the wilderness – a world filled with afflictions and tests of our faithfulness (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, 9,13; Deuteronomy 8:2,16).
We are led on this journey by Jesus. He is the Savior – the way and the truth we sing of in today’s Psalm (see John 14:6). He feeds us with the bread of angels (see Psalm 78:25; Wisdom 16:20), and cleanses our consciences in the sacrament of reconciliation.
As we begin this holy season, let us renew our baptismal vows – to repent and believe the gospel.
From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times or periods but continuous throughout the day and night.
Our spirit should be quick to reach out toward God, not only when it is engaged in meditation; at other times also, when it is carrying out its duties, caring for the needy, performing works of charity, giving generously in the service of others, our spirit should long for God and call him to mind, so that these works may be seasoned with the salt of God’s love, and so make a palatable offering to the Lord of the universe. Throughout the whole of our lives we may enjoy the benefit that comes from prayer if we devote a great deal of time to it.
Prayer is the light of the spirit, true knowledge of God, mediating between God and man. The spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness; like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. It seeks the satisfaction of its own desires, and receives gifts outweighing the whole world of nature.
Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God’s grace. The apostle Paul says: We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings.
When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to a man, he gives him riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of utmost intensity.
Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit.
From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God, and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their Creator, and the marvellous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.
But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption, and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit. The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God’s adopted children.
Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there still is required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature, and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.
Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.
There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of all the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.
The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.
O God, who planted a garden in Eden, you have planted your Church beside the stream of living water flowing from the side of Christ crucified. Pour out upon us the Spirit of wisdom, so that we may choose to die to self in order to live in Christ. Thus make us grow through our Lenten observance so that we may bear abundant fruit at Easter, through the same Christ our Lord Amen.
It is necessary to mention here a great deception that often befalls those who begin to serve God. Sometimes they read in spiritual books how great are the consolations of the Holy Spirit and how sweet charity is and they think that the whole path to perfection is filled with delights and that there is no effort or fatigue involved. As a result, they prepare themselves for it as for something easy and pleasant and do not arm themselves for entering battle. They do not realise that while the love of God is in itself very sweet and delectable, the way to perfect charity is arduous, because to attain it, one must completely conquer self-love, and this involves a constant struggle against self. Thus Isaiah says :” Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit up, O Jerusalem.” In other words, the soul must shake off the dust of worldly affections and attachments and arise from it’s sins before it can enjoy the pleasure of seating itself in charity. However, God bestows marvellous consolations on those who faithfully struggle and on all those who trade the delights of earth for the joys of heaven. But if this barter is not made and a man does not want to surrender his spoils, this celestial refreshment will not be given to him. For we know that the heavenly manna was not given to the children of Israel until they finished the grain that they had brought with them out of Egypt.
Those who do not fortify themselves with courage are incapable of attaining what they seek, and until they are properly armed they will never find it. They should understand that rest is won only with effort, the crown is gained only after the battle, joy follows tears, and the most sweet love of God is gained only when one spiritually hates himself. That is why Scripture so often condemns and severely censures sloth and indifference, and praises fortitude so highly, because the Holy Spirit knows what a great impediment the one is to virtue and what a great help the other is.
Venerable Louis Of Granada O.P. +1588
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God be with you on this Lenten journey we embark on today……Amen
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
God’s Great ‘Amen’
Readings:
Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25
Psalms 41:2-5, 13-14
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Mark 2:1-12 (see also “Who is the Son of Man?”)
Today’s Gospel makes explicit what has been implied in preceeding weeks. Namely, that in healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus is manifesting God’s forgiveness of His people’s sins.
They had wearied of God, refused to call on His name, we hear in today’s First Reading. Despite that, God promised to remember their sins no more.
Sin is often equated with sickness in Scripture (see Psalm 103:39). And today’s Psalm reads like a foretelling of the Gospel scene – the man is helped on his sickbed, healed of his sins, and made able to stand before the Lord forever.
The scribes know that God alone can forgive sins. That’s why they accuse Jesus of blasphemy. He appears to be claiming equality with God. But the Gospel today turns on this recognition. The scene marks the first time in the gospels that Jesus commends the faith of a person or persons who come to Him (see Matthew 9:2; Luke 5:20).
With the eyes of faith, the paralytic and his friends can see what the scribes cannot – Jesus’ divine identity. He reveals himself as the “Son of Man” – alluding to the mysterious heavenly figure the prophet Daniel saw receive kingship over all the earth (see Daniel 7:13-14).
His retort to the scribes even echoes what God said to Pharaoh when He sent plagues upon Egypt: “That you may know that I am the Lord” (see Exodus 8:18; 9:14).
As Paul says in today’s Epistle, Jesus is God’s great Amen. Amen means “so be it.” In Jesus, God has said, “So be it,” fulfilling all His promises throughout salvation history.
We are the new people He formed to announce His praise. He calls each of us what Jesus calls the paralytic – His child (see 2 Corinthians 6:18).
But do we share this man’s faith? To what lengths are we willing to go to encounter Jesus? How much are we willing to sacrifice so that our friends, too, might hear His saving word?
Who is the Son of Man?
Jesus calls himself the “Son of Man” in the Gospel for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (see Mark 2:10). What does that mean?
The term appears more than 100 times in Scripture, often as another way of saying “man” or “human” (see Numbers 23:19; Psalm 8:4).
But Jesus is referring to the prophet Daniel’s mysterious vision of “one like a son of man.” In Daniel’s vision, the son of man travels on the clouds of heaven and is presented before God. He receives from God “an everlasting dominion” and “nations and peoples of every language serve him” (see Daniel 7:13-14).
The Son of Man is the king of heaven and earth, as Jesus makes clear. The son has authority to forgive sins (see Mark 2:10), is Lord of the sabbath (see Mark 2:28) ,and will judge people according to their deeds (see John 5:27; Matthew 25:31).
As the Son of Man, Jesus is enthroned in heaven, seated at the right of the Father – as He promised He would be (see Mark 14:62; Acts 7:56).
The danger of Catholicism is its power to help. It is a faith that even to those who do not believe seems to carry with it comfort and reality. Yet it is not wise to come to the Catholic Church because you need comfort. It is never wise to join any cause or any ideal for what one can make out of it or get out of it. We should come in for what we can give….
I think that the best thing of all is your devotion to our Lord. It is to give ourselves to him that we must come. It must be under the inspiration of his unselfishness, of his service of God in man and of man in God, that we seek to join ourselves to him: there were those who followed because they had been fed in the wilderness. This wasn’t enough. “Signs and wonders” are not good enough proofs; the only great proof is that people have followed him down narrow lanes and over uneven paths and wearing thorns and carrying their cross. It is along that line then that you must pray that he would help you to give yourself to him, patiently, indeed serenely. You won’t then bother about arguing or the need of it. You will just follow where he leads you, sure that all will be well: “Be not solicitous.” For the past, remember his injunction to let the dead bury their dead; for the future, remember that the morrow, so he said would take care of itself. All that’s to be done is to hold oneself in the Everlasting Arms or rather be held by them. The rest is peace that comes of having nothing left.
Father Bede Jarret, O.P. (+1934)
From the Explanations of the Psalms by Saint Ambrose, bishop
We must always meditate on God’s wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips. Your tongue must speak justice, the law of God must be in your heart. Hence Scripture tells you: You shall speak of these commandments when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you get up. Let us then speak of the Lord Jesus, for he is wisdom, he is the word, the Word indeed of God.
It is also written: Open your lips, and let God’s word be heard. God’s word is uttered by those who repeat Christ’s teaching and meditate on his sayings. Let us always speak this word. When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking of Christ.
Open your lips, says Scripture, and let God’s word be heard. It is for you to open, it is for him to be heard. So David said: I shall hear what the Lord says in me. The very Son of God says: Open your lips, and I will fill them. Not all can attain to the perfection of wisdom as Solomon or Daniel did, but the spirit of wisdom is poured out on all according to their capacity, that is, on all the faithful. If you believe, you have the spirit of wisdom.
Meditate, then, at all times on the things of God, and speak the things of God, when you sit in your house. By house we can understand the Church, or the secret place within us, so that we are to speak within ourselves. Speak with prudence, so as to avoid falling into sin, as by excess of talking. When you sit in your house, speak to yourself as if you were a judge. When you walk along the way, speak so as to never be idle. You speak along the way if you speak in Christ, for Christ is the way. When you walk along the way, speak to yourself, speak to Christ. Hear him say to you: I desire that in every place men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. When you lie down, speak so that the sleep of death may not steal upon you. Listen and learn how you are to speak as you lie down; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
When you get up or rise again, speak of Christ, so as to fulfill what you are commanded. Listen and learn how Christ is to awaken you from sleep. Your soul says: I hear my brother knocking at the door. Then Christ says to you: Open the door to me, my sister, my spouse. Listen and learn how you are to awaken Christ. Your soul says: I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, awaken or reawaken the love of my heart. Christ is that love.
13 You have spoken harsh words against me, says the LORD. Yet you say, “How have we spoken against you?” 14 You have said, “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the LORD of hosts? 15 Now we count the arrogant happy; evildoers not only prosper, but when they put God to the test they escape.”
16 Then those who revered the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the LORD and thought on his name. 17 They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. 18 Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
From a sermon by Blessed Isaac of Stella, abbot
(Sermo 31: PL 194, 1292-1293)
Why, brothers, are we so little concerned to seek one another’s well-being, so that where we see a greater need, we might show a greater readiness to help and carry one another’s burdens? For this is what the blessed apostle Paul urges us to do in the words: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ; and also: Support each other in charity. For this surely is the law of Christ.
Why can I not patiently bear the weaknesses I see in my brother which, either out of necessity or because of physical or moral weakness, cannot be corrected? And why can I not instead generously offer him consolation, as it is written: Their children shall be carried on their shoulders and consoled upon their knees? Is it because I lack that virtue which suffers all things, is patient enough to bear all, and generous enough to love?
This is indeed the law of Christ, who truly bore our weaknesses in his passion and carried our sorrows out of pity, loving those he carried and carrying those he loved. Whoever attacks a brother in need, or plots against him in his weakness of whatever sort, surely fulfills the devil’s law and subjects himself to it. Let us then be compassionate toward one another, loving all our brothers, bearing one another’s weaknesses, yet ridding ourselves of our sins.
The more any way of life sincerely strives for the love of God and the love of our neighbor for God’s sake, the more acceptable it is to God, no matter what be its observances or external form. For charity is the reason why anything should be done or left undone, changed or left unchanged; it is the initial principle and the end to which all things should be directed. Whatever is honestly done out of love and in accordance with love can never be blameworthy. May he then deign to grant us this love, for without it we cannot please him, and without him we can do absolutely nothing, God, who lives and reigns for ever. Amen.
Sunday Bible Reflections with Dr. Scott Hahn
Made Clean
Readings:
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 11
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Mark 1:40-45
In the Old Testament, leprosy is depicted as punishment for disobedience of God’s commands (see Numbers 12:12-15; 2 Kings 5:27; 15:5).
Considered “unclean” – unfit to worship or live with the Israelites, lepers are considered “stillborn,” the living dead (see Numbers 12:12). Indeed, the requirements imposed on lepers in today’s First Reading – rent garments, shaven head, covered beard – are signs of death, penance, and mourning (see Leviticus 10:6; Ezekiel 24:17).
So there’s more to the story in today’s Gospel than a miraculous healing.
When Elisha, invoking God’s name, healed the leper, Naaman, it proved there was a prophet in Israel (see 2 Kings 5:8). Today’s healing reveals Jesus as far more than a great prophet – He is God visiting His people (see Luke 7:16).
Only God can cure leprosy and cleanse from sin (see 2 Kings 5:7); and only God has the power to bring about what He wills (see Isaiah 55:11; Wisdom 12:18).
The Gospel scene has an almost sacramental quality about it.
Jesus stretches out His hand – as God, by His outstretched arm, performed mighty deeds to save the Israelites (see Exodus 14:6; Acts 4:30). His ritual sign is accompanied by a divine word (“Be made clean”). And, like God’s word in creation (“Let there be”), Jesus’ word “does” what He commands (see Psalm 33:9).
The same thing happens when we show ourselves to the priest in the sacrament of penance. On our knees like the leper, we confess our sins to the Lord, as we sing in today’s Psalm. And through the outstretched arm and divine word spoken by His priest, the Lord takes away the guilt of our sin.
Like the leper we should rejoice in the Lord and spread the good news of His mercy. We should testify to our healing by living changed lives. As Paul says in today’s Epistle, we should do even the littlest things for the glory of God and that others may be saved.
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