15th Sunday of the Year

If you’re anything like me, then you know how dangerous the sin of pride is. Examining my conscience, whether before Sacramental Confession, or at the end of each day, I am amazaed how the sin of pride has, somehow, been at the root of all my other faults.

In one sense, pride is a seemingly natural response to achievement; what’s wrong in that? Nevertheless, as Christians, we recognise that Chris is the Lord of our lives; thus, earthly glories, ultimately, must be credited to God. Just as He stands with us in our adversities and blesses us with His Spirit of Hope, so He directs our successes. (For this reason, St Paul urges us to boast only in teh Cross (Cf Gal. 6: 14).)

Sacred Scripture is replete with supportive passages in this regard, but a personal favourite may be found in Proverbs (16: 9): “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Thomas a Kempis, in the ‘Imitation of Christ’, explains it, thus:

For the resolutions of the just depend rather on the grace of God than on their own wisdom; and in Him they always put their trust, whatever they take in hand. For man proposes, but God disposes; neither is the way of man in his own hands…

Archaic words, but just as vital for our own day.

Calling upon the Hebrew peoples to keep Covenant with God, Moses, in our first reading, knows that “…whoever listen to … [the Lord] will dwell safel, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” (Prov. 1: 33). Pride and a lack of hope will be the undoing of God’s people, causing them to break faith with God and break His Covenant. For this reason, and constant theme throughout the Old Testament is (the other ‘Three Rs’): Reflect, Repent, Return. The Jew who sought God’s forgiveness would often stand before the scrolls of Torah (the Law), on the elaborate covering of which would be embroidered the words: “Da’ah lifnei omdim” – Know before Whom you stand. The particular Hebrew verb, le’da’at, to know, implies a cache of intimacy; to have an intimate knowledge; and thus (for the Jew, and for us, too) the act of returning (teshuvah), of repenting, must be far more than simply an intellectual exercise, it must be emotional and spiritual.

The author of today’s psalm took Moses’ counsel. He is clearly in a state of personal strife, but still he hopes on the Lord and uses his distress to bring comfort to others: the Lord will not desert them, rather, He will “…revive their souls … [and] … gladden their hearts“. How often do we meet people, who in their humble love of God and their keeping of His Law! Truly, they know before whom they stand!

This need for an authentic and intimate knowledge of God is probably why St Paul, in our second reading, goes to great lengths to stamp out the heresy which he found in the Church at Colossae, and to promote the truth about Jesus Christ: that it is only through Him that God and humanity may be reconciled. “Know before Whom you stand”! The Colossians had come to a distorted understanding of who Jesus Christ was, and failed to note His universal Messiahship, from which would flow their salvation. They had become apathetic – relativistiv – just as may within (and without) the Church today see many ways of approaching God, but without the essentials of Christ and His Law of Life. Pope Benedict, echoing St Paul, is reviled by many for preaching this same, urgent message: “Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God…“!

The fruits of the Spirit are Love, Joy and Peace (Cf Gal. 5: 22), but without that same Spirit, our fruits sour and become pride, arrogance and apathy. Today’s Gospel of the ‘Good Samaritan’ is a timeous reminder that we meet the righteous requirements of God’s Law, only by walking in His Spirit (Cf Romans 8: 4). The Samaritans were reviled by the Jews for being the remnants of the northern kingdom of Israel, which had succumbed to all manner of alien influences, making them impure. However, as we see in today’s Gospel, just as in the story of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well (Cf John 4: 4 – 42), the Spirit of God knows no boundaries and will enter wherever invited and do great things, often to the shame (or lack, thereof) of those who should know better.

Like the young lawyer, we may feel pride in knowing how to quote the Law of God; but, do we know how to live that same Law in the Spirit?

“Know before Whom you stand”! With a humble and contrite heart, meet the Lord, intimately, in the Sacrament of Confession, for “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Psalm 37: 23).

Self deprecating humour is a British trait, out of necessity, rather than desire, I suspect. Take, for example, that infamous Welsh bi-lingual road sign: in English, it read, “No entry for heavy goods vehicles”; however, the Welsh translation read, “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated”.  Swansea Council (a.k.a. Na nid yw’n golygu hyn) are to be congratulated for this giggle, and for taking the fall out with such good grace!

Nevertheless, signs and symbols are an important part of life, albeit things to which we, sometimes, pay little attention. In the academic world, there is even a study called ‘Semiotics’, where boffins consider what constitutes the ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’.

In today’s readings, we see Isaiah using Jerusalem as a signifier for something much greater than the historic city to which the post-Exilic Jewish community desired to return after their captivity in Babylon. Their yearning for the city is poignant; Isaiah encourages them in this by referring to it as a mother, feeding her young: they are at their most vulnerable, whilst their mother is most sacrificial. In doing this, he is looking ahead to the time of the Church, our ‘Holy Mother’, and the grace of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, where Christ feeds us with His very Self. This is truly a prayer answered and it is easy to imagine Psalm 65 – a portion of which we hear today – being sung as they approached the broken walls of Mount Zion 2,700-years-ago. We sing it today in our approach to this altar and sanctuary. In recalling the mighty works of God, in bringing the Hebrew peoples from the earlier captivity of Egypt, the post-Exilic Jews must have felt history was repeating itself, as now they, the chosen people, were again liberated, this time from the slavery of Babylon. The joy is overwhelming, and is expressed in the last stanza as the psalmist calls upon all of us to hear his personal testimony: the Lord answered my prayer!

One reason why the Jewish people were so vulnerable, and so easily recognized, lay in the marks of their faith: they bore the outward signs of the Covenant between God and His people, given in the Law, ‘Torah’.  At first glance, it is easy to conclude that St Paul, in our second reading, is criticizing the Jews of his day for keeping Torah, which hitherto, had set them apart for the Lord. However, his is not a criticism, but rather a call to all who love God, to recognize that the sign with which we proclaim our faith is that of the Universal New Covenant, made in the blood of Christ, and sealed upon the Cross. It is of a far more interior nature, but it will also make us all the more hated by the world: it is a sign of contradiction, it is the Sign of the Cross. If we think Swansea’s road sign is confusing, then consider how those outside of the Church see the Cross, with its call to sacrifice.

St Paul knew this already: when preaching to the Corinthians, he described the Cross as being an insurmountable problem for the Jews (how could the Messiah die so ignominiously?) and folly to the Greeks (who prized human philosophy above all else).

In our day, it is an agony for secularists who wish to deny that a Christian understanding of duty, service and sacrifice has any place in a ‘rational’ society, in spite of these qualities building our civilization in the first place.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ commissioning of the ‘Seventy-Two’ (representing the Church’s mission to the whole world – Cf Genesis 10) comes in a narrative of ascent, as he journeys up to Jerusalem; however, He is not returning from slavery or exile, but rather, He is journeying forward to bring an end to our slavery, by redeeming us (paying the price) with His Cross, in Jerusalem.

Slavery and exile are, for us today, signifiers of sin. We are all slaves to sin, and it is only through the Cross, that we can overcome sin as Christ has paid the necessary price to redeem us from that slavery. We journey in the Church, returning from our exile, and are greeted by the open arms of the Saviour as He hangs on the Cross out of love for us; for, as the Catechism teaches: “…the sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will pour forth inexhaustibly.” (CCC #1851) This is why our ‘Psalm of Ascent’ today accompanies our journey towards the altar, which is where we find the Cross: the ultimate sign of love: the signifier and the signified!

When next we make the sign of the Cross, take a moment to recall that unfortunate and confusing road sign in Swansea. Having been led from exile by the good signage of our fellow pilgrims within the Church, may our willingness to take the saving mark of the Cross, and thus become signs for others, never be lost in translation!

13th Sunday of the Year

At first glance it looks like a poster for a horrow film – perhaps The Omen VI: He’s Coming to Get You.”

This is how Terry Sanderson, of the National Secular Society, recently described an ultrasound image of a baby in the womb. He speaks for the self-proclaimed apostles of ‘reason’; but, in being so flippant, reveals the unreasonableness of many secularists to those without a voice: they are to be reviled and are, at best, only a commodity. Survival is only for the fittest, and for those whom ‘they’ choose to live.

The Catholic Church, without reservation, defends the right of the unborn, the sick, the elderly and the marginalised; it is for this reason that many secularists hate her with a fanatical passion. She challenges their perceived ‘right’ to commit evil, as they see ‘evil’ to be something relative – to be determined only by the individual. Logically, this is an absurd idea, but, nonetheless, it prevails and is practised widely by those who choose to ignore the Word of God and the teaching of His Church. However, this is nothing new. In the first century, the First Chrisitian Martyrs of the fledgling Church of Rome stood up to the absurdities and evils of the tyranical emperor, Nero, and paid with their lives. We celebrate their memory this coming Wednesday (30th June). In our day, the Church of Christ is still proclaiming Christian Truth; yet, in spite of his enormous power and prestige, Nero’s empire is but a chapter in history. Mr Sanderson: Have regard for the past, examine the present, look towards the future – Respice, adspice, prospice!

Indeed, the Sanctorale (the commemoration of the saints) for this week richly recalls martyrdom: the price paid by Christians for the Truth of the Faith, and none more glorious that Ss Peter and Paul, the two great saints of the Holy Roman Church, whose solemnity we keep on Tuesday (and which is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Latin Church!).

The word, martyr, comes to us from the Greek, martyros, meaning witness. Almost all the saints, whom we recall this week, died in witness of Jesus Christ. One need only contemplate today’s Psalm to understand their motivation. Here, the Psalmist highlights what is key for all the people of God, manely, to have a total devotion to the Lord. God is our refuge and portion; He is our counsel and fullness of joy. To understand this is to be fearless in the face of earthly trial, no matter what the cost.

In throwing his cloak over Elisha, in our first reading, Elijah, symbolically, passed to Elisha his God-given gift of prophecy. This succession of grace and authority is still passed on today, which is why bishops of the Catholic Church stand in succession, to Peter and Paul, in succession to Christ; and so, when Paul’s work in Galatia was being hindered by those who sought to undermine his teaching, he was able to speak with authority and proclaim that it was the Law of Christ – the Law of Love through the Holy Spirit – which would free the Galatians from the slavery of pettiness and indulgence into which they had found themselves drifting.

After 2000 years, the detail of the challenge to the Church has changed – we are no longer confronted by those who seek to impose Mosaic ritual on the Galatians. However, challenges remain, as today’s world clings to what the Holy Father calls ‘Relativism’. This is how he described the problem just before becoming Pope:

Having a clear faith based on the creed of the Church is often labelled today as fundamentalism. Relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards … We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognise anything as definitive and has as its highest value one’s own ego and one’s own desires.

The Church today, with that same apostolic authority, proclaims the Law of Christ, which is the Law of Love, the Law of Life. It is contrary to relativism and in the eyes of many, its promotion is an unpopular thing to do, but still, we must do it, for “… love of Christ compels us” (II Cor. 5: 14).

Death may not be the martyrdom which the Lord calls us to, but His words, nonetheless, call for a quality of discipleship and witness. His bidding, to “Follow me”, is not just for Sundays, it is for eternity, and we share it with all who have gone before:

Therefore, the witnesses are before the throne of God. They are exalted to heaven.

(cf Apoc. 7: 15)

11th Sunday of the Year

Last Friday’s Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and this famous saying of Cardinal John Henry Newman – Heart speaks to Heart – resonate with today’s Sunday Scripture Readings. Jesus says of the sinful woman, who has shown such unrestrained and lavish devotion for Him: “Her sins, her many sins, have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love”. Jesus adds: “It is the one who is forgiven little, who shows little love”.

Similarly, St Paul, writing to the Galatians in today’s First Reading speaks of his great faith “in the Son of God who loved me who sacrificed Himself for me”.

Our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will make us more aware of his love, and inspire us to be more loving to Him in response. We are also led by this devotion to recognise how greatly we wound the Heart of Jesus by our sins, and are therefore moved to confess them, make reparation, and to sin no more.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church.

This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The Presence of Christ under the Sacred Species reserved after Mass derives from the celebration of the Sacrifice and is directed towards Communion, both sacramental & spiritual.

It is pleasant to spend time with Him, to lie close to His breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. John 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in His Heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer”, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!

This practice, repeatedly praised and recommended by the Magisterium, is supported by the example of many saints. Particularly outstanding in this regard was St Alphonsus Liguori, who wrote: “Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us”. The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating It but also by prayer before It outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace. A Christian community desirous of contemplating the Face of Christ in the spirit which I proposed in my Apostolic Letters* cannot fail also to develop this aspect of Eucharist worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of our Communion in the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (on the Eucharist and the Church, section 25), April 2003.

* Novo Millenniu Ineunte and Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

Pentecost Sunday

Today’s feast of Pentecost is known as the Birthday of the Church.

While the Church was born from the side of Christ on the Cross, the Church was animated, filled with the life of God, at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit first came upon the Apostles.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 688) teaches us that:

The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:

• in the Scriptures he inspired
• in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses
• in the Church’s Magisterium (teaching office), which he assists
• in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ
• in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us
• in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up
• in the signs of apostolic and missionary life
• in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation

And the Compendium to the Catechism teaches:

139. What symbols are used to represent the Holy Spirit?

There are many symbols of the Holy Spirit: LIVING WATER which springs from the wounded Heart of Christ and which quenches the thirst of the baptised; ANOINTING with oil, which is the sacramental sign of Confirmation; FIRE which transforms what it touches; the CLOUD, dark or luminous, in which the divine glory is revealed; the IMPOSITION OF HANDS by which the Holy Spirit is given; the DOVE which descended on Christ at His baptism and remained with Him.

140. What happened at Pentecost?

Fifty days after the Resurrection (Easter Sunday), at Pentecost the glorified Jesus Christ poured out the Spirit in abundance and revealed Him as a Divine Person so that the Holy Trinity was fully manifest. The mission of Christ and of the Spirit became the mission of the Church which is sent to proclaim and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity.

We have seen the true Light. We have received the heavenly Spirit. We have found the true Faith. We adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us. (Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion of Vespers of Pentecost)

Until very recently (and elsewhere still) kept last Thursday, 40 days after Easter, as “…for forth days He had continued to appear to them and tell them about the Kingdom of God…” (Acts 1: 3).

This nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost (next Sunday) gives us the original Novena (ie. 9 days of prayer) as the Biblical basis for the Novenas which often precede other feasts and celebrations, developed from this original Novena for Pentecost when we pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Today – World Communications Day – is kept on this feast when Jesus, ascending to His Father in heaven, directed the Apostles to “Go out to the whole world: proclaim the good news” as He said: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.” (Mt. 29: 20).

As we celebrate Our Lord’s Ascension into heaven it is therefore appropriate to ask ourselves the two most basic questions about communication:

1. How is the Faith communicated to me?
2. How do I communicate the Faith to others?

It is obvious that we cannot do one without the other. We have first to receive before we can give. We have first to be Disciples (ie. those who listen and receive) before we can be Apostles (ie. those who are sent). And we need assurance that this is authentic Catholic teaching (not dissenting from the Magisterium).

Our faithfulness at Sunday Mass is primary – in which we receive the Word of God, proclaimed in the Sacred Scripture and expounded in the homily; and in which we receive the Word made Flesh, whose Sacred Body transforms us into His likeness.

We, further, have responsibility to inform ourselves about the Faith by prayer, reading and reflection. There are many opportunities for this but, today, we suggest just three:

• News from the heart of Rome on the Zenit website – free sign-up at www.zenit.org
• Eternal Work Television Network (EWTN) – Channel 589 on Sky, and through Freesat, details on a poster in the Narthex
• Buy a weekly Catholic newspaper, e.g. The Catholic Herald

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have released a statement surrounding the recent events. It is available on their website, www.catholic-ew.org.uk. It is being made available to all parishioners in all the parishes of our countries either last weekend or this weekend.

In response to our Bishops’ request we will have an additional Holy Hour in St Joseph’s every Friday in May after the 10am, until 11.30am.

The Narthex is also open at other times for private prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle.

3rd Sunday of Easter

Next Sunday (4th Sunday of Easter) is also known as ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’ because, in the Gospel, we hear Jesus speak of Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. That is why it is the day chosen as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Consecrated Life.

Pope Benedict has written to us this year on the theme “Witness Awakens Vocations”. He cites the examples of the Prophets of the Old Testament dedicating their entire existence to bearing witness to God. Jesus, he says, is the “supreme Witness to God and His concern or the salvation of all.” As we look forward to the visit of Pope Benedict to our shores this September please continue to pray for our Holy Father and for all those who may be considering a vocation to the Priesthood or Religious Life. Please also pray for the success of our Vocation Discernment Weekend in July.

Links to check out:

• The special Invocation website: www.invocation.org.uk
• The National Vocations Office website: www.ukvocation.org
  where you can also explore the Catholic Gap Year experience:  www.catholicgapyear.com
  view  a trailer of the new film No Greater Love, about the Enclosed Order of Carmelite Nuns in the silence of their Notting Hill Convent: www.nogreaterlove.co.uk
• For news and information about Vocations in our own Diocese visit the Southwark Vocations blog at www.southwarkvocations.blogspot.uk
  and www.ukpriest.org

Please pray for Alan Burgess (our Seminarian at the Beda College, Rome), and for Philip Andrews (resident in our Presbytery) who attends next week’s annual Selection Conference at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, and for other vocations from our Parish.

Lent lasts for forty days, but Eastertide lasts for fifty – which reminds us that, while penance has its proper and inescapable place in the Christian dispensation, the hallmark of our faith is joy – joy in the Resurrection and in the Redemption won for us by Jesus. His death on the Cross is not a defeat but rather a victory – the sacrificial love which Jesus shows on Good Friday is rewarded by the triumph of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, a triumph in which we share through our faith, and through the Sacrament of Baptism.

Easter is marked, among other things, by the resumption of the joyful chant of ‘Alleluia’, the Gloria, flowers, the wearing of white vestments, and the placing of the great Paschal Candle besides the ambo, where it illumines the Scriptures we read at Mass – a reminder that the whole Bible can only be understood in the light of the Resurrection, the final revelation of God’s abiding love which we especially celebrate in this holy season – the 50 days of Eastertide.