Beatitudes

'If we want to know what man really is, in his state of brokenness and fallenness, we must look at Christ in his agony. Ecce homo (John 19:5).'

Gospel Luke 6:20-26

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. To an age suffering from affectlessness, 'Blessed are those who mourn' is, paradoxically, a more necessary message than 'Rejoice in the Lord always' because there can be no true rejoicing until we have stopped running away from mourning. But this is not the only reason why mourning is pronounced blessed. To pursue the meaning of our beatitude further, we must once again return to the consideration of the whole strategy of redemption. Why was it 'necessary' for the Christ to suffer (Luke 24:26)? Why is it that only those who are willing to take up their cross can be accounted his followers (Matt. 10:38 etc)? What sense is there in St Paul's claiming to be 'filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ' (Col. 1 :24)? Surely there is only one answer to these questions: Christ had to suffer and die because suffering and death were where mankind was. If he was to redeem mankind, he had to go, like the good shepherd, to where the lost sheep was. The point is dramatically made in the story of the harrowing of Hell. That is where man was. That is where Christ went to fetch him.? Any other kind of redemption would have been a fake, it would not have been a true redemption of true mankind. But a similar realism is called for on the part of those to be redeemed. We must acknowledge where we are if we are to be redeemed from there. This is in accordance with man's peculiar position in creation. Man is not just passive, even in his own creation. Man is God's co-worker (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9), he is co-creator even of himself. In St Gre­gory of Nyssa's startling phrase, each man has to be his own begetter." Similarly with redemption. It is not, of 'course, that man has anything of his own to contribute to it independently of God. But, when he is dealing with man, God's act creates a corresponding act in man. God's act does not let man off doing it for himself; it is rather the other way about. 'Work out your own salvation ... because it is God who works within you' (Phil. 2:12f). This means that God's acceptance of our pain, in Christ, creates a corresponding acceptance in us of our own pain. It is because Christ has carried the cross of each one of us that we have to carry our own and one anothers' crosses. Human beings are created interdependent on one another, as we can see even from our biological interconnectedness. We are involved in 'creating' one another. Because of sin, we are also involved in devastating one another. But redemption does not sep­arate us off from one another, however prudent such a move might seem to us; we are involved in redeeming one another. So we are told, 'Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulful the law of Christ' (Gal. 6:2). If we want to know what man really is, in his state of brokenness and fallenness, we must look at Christ in his agony. Ecce homo (john 19:5). That is what we are. And it is a double revelation. That is what we are: his agony, his helplessness, his dying, they are all ours. But even worse, that is what we are: we are the people who do that, who kill and torment, who react to love, even to God's love, with that kind of fury, that kind of cruelty, that kind of cynical mockery. Ecce homo. In the light of that, is it not right to weep? In the rather artificial scheme devised by St Augustine for linking the seven beatitudes with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, this beatitude of the mourners is linked with the gift of knowledge. To know the truth of our human predicament is to know it as something that can be met only with mourning. And this is the kernel of true contrition. It is more than likely that St Matthew was thinking especially of penitential mourning in our beatitude, and it is precisely penitential mourning that results from an honest awareness of what man is and that it is, in one way or another, man himself who has made himself what he is. But yet, blessed are whose who mourn. On the face of it, seeing the human condition clearly for what it is is little more than a formula for despair. The author of 4 Esdras presents himself as replying to a divine communication: This is the first thing I want to say and it is the last: it would have been better for the earth never to have brought Adam forth, or, once he had been brought forth, for him to have been constrained not to sin. What use is that we all live now in sadness and have only punishment to hope for when we are dead But the Christian does not simply see the human condition in itself. In the broken face of a man he sees the broken yet redeeming face of Christ. And, perhaps even more importantly, he knows that he is not alone in his seeing of the human plight. If we are courageous and humble enough to see it clearly for what it is, that very seeing is a way of identifying ourselves with Christ. Our mourning becomes a singularly profound mode of identification with his redeeming suffering of our lot. Simon Tugwell O.P., Reflextions on the Beatitudes, pp, 61-63, DLT London. 1980,.

Birthday of Mary

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast Day
September 8th

From a homily by Blessed Rabanus Maurus (Horn. XXVII: PL 110,54-55)

This day we have been longing for, beloved, this day of Mary ever virgin, Mary blessed and venerable, has come. Let our earth, made illustrious by the birth of this great Virgin, exult with great rejoicing. By her childbearing the nature of creatures was changed and their sin blotted out. For in her God's woeful sentence, In sorrow shall you bring forth children, was rescinded, since she gave birth to the Lord in joy. Eve mourned, Mary rejoiced; Eve bore tears in her womb, Mary joy; for Eve gave birth to a sinner, Mary to one who was guiltless. Moreover, Mary gave birth as a virgin, and after bearing her Son she remained a virgin.

Hail, full of grace, the angel said to her; the Lord is with you. He is with you in your heart, in your womb, and in the assistance and support he gives you. Rejoice, blessed Virgin: Christ the King has come from heaven into your womb. Blessed shall you be among women, for you have given birth to life for men and women alike. The mother of our race brought punishment upon the world; the mother of our Lord brought salvation to the world. Eve killed, Mary gave life, since she replaced dis­obedience by obedience. In joy, therefore, does Mary bring forth her Child, in gladness she embraces her Son, carrying him who carries her. Listen to her as she says: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed, because the Almighty has done great things for me.

Then, after the angel's prophecy of blessing, while the Virgin was silently asking herself what this greeting could mean, the heavenly messenger continued: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found [auor with God. You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. How can this be, she said, since I am a virgin? The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the angel answered, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one to be born of you will be called the son of God. Then, without delay, the messenger returned and Christ entered his virginal bridal chamber.

Let us also rejoice on the special day of this great Virgin, who alone among women was found worthy to receive into her holy and chaste body, her virginal womb, the King whom neither the heavens, the earth, nor the sea can contain. May she lovingly intercede for us with her Son, who conducted her with great glory to his heavenly palace where she now lives and reigns with him for ever and ever. Amen.

Deaf Hear, Mute Speak

Homily for the Mass

23^rd Sunday (B)

Mk 7:31-37 He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.

The ability to hear and to speak are two great gifts. Like all gifts they can be taken for granted or even misused. They are connected. We see this especially in the case of the elderly. When their hearing goes they retreat into silence. In today’s Gospel the man who came to Jesus was deaf and also had the impediment in his speech. The latter may have been due to part to the former.

We see the trouble Jesus went to on behalf of this poor man, and the care with which he dealt with him. He took him away from the crowd so that he could deal with him in private and give him his undivided attention. Rather than speak to him, he touched his ears and tongue. Thus he made him feel what he could not hear.

The miracle has relevance for us, not because we are deaf or dumb (which happily most of us are not) but precisely because we have the gifts of hearing and speech. The fact that we have these gifts doesn’t mean we use them well. Many people are very poor listeners. And many people have difficulty expressing themselves. We can have ears and refuse to hear, or have a tongue and refuse to speak. So we need the Lords healing touch it we are to use these two precious gifts well.

The miracle is not so much about the physical healing of a man who was deaf or dumb. Rather, it’s about the opening of a person’s ears so that he may be able to hear the word of God; and the loosening of his tongue so that he may be able to profess faith in Jesus. A person could have perfect hearing, and yet not hear the word of God. And a person could have perfect speech, and be unable to make an act of faith.

From very early times the ceremony of touching the ears and the tongue made its way into the rite of Baptism, and is still there to this day. The minister touches the ears and mouth of the person being baptised and says, ‘The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and dumb speak. May he soon touch yours ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.’

We need to be able to hear the word of God. Then we need to be able to profess that word with our lips. Finally, we need to put it into practice in our lives. The word of God, when heard and acted on, is like seed falling on good soil; it makes our lives fruitful.

Fr. Aelred

Ephphatha Mk 7:31-37

A welcome for the Retreat from the Parish of Saint Bernadette's, Erskine.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

“Ephphatha!”

Mk 7:31-37

St. Thomas Aquinas,

Catena Aurea (Golden Chain),

Mark 7 31-37

31. And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

32. And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, 142 and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put His hand upon him.

33. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched His tongue;

34. And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

35. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36. And He charged them that they should tell no man: but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

37. And were beyond measure astonished, saying, “He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”

---

Theophylact: The Lord did not wish to stay in the parts of the Gentiles, lest He should give the Jews occasion to say, that they esteemed Him a transgressor of the law, because He held communion with the Gentiles, and therefore He immediately returns.

Wherefore it is said, “And again departing from the coasts of Tyre, He came through Sidon, to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.”

Bede, in Marc., 2, 31: Decapolis is a region of ten cities, across the Jordan, to the east, over against Galilee [ed. note: It appears, however, from Reland, Pales. v.1, p198, that a portion of Decapolis, including its metropolis, Scythopolis, was on this side Jordan, and therefore this text of St. Mark may be taken literally.] When therefore it is said that the Lord came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis, it does not mean that He entered the confines of Decapolis themselves; for He is not said to have crossed the sea, but rather to have come to the borders of the sea, and to have reached quite up to the place, which was opposite to the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, which were situated at a distance across the sea.

It goes on, “And they bring Him one that was deaf and dumb, and they besought Him to lay hands upon him.”

Theophylact: Which is rightly placed after the deliverance of one possessed with a 143 devil, for such an instance of suffering came from the devil.

There follows, “And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears.”

Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He takes the deaf and dumb man who was brought to Him apart from the crowd, that He might not do His divine miracles openly; teaching us to cast away vain glory and swelling of heart, for no one can work miracles as he can, who loves humility and is lowly in his conduct. But He puts His fingers into his ears, when He might have cured him with a word, to shew that His body, being united to Deity, was consecrated by Divine virtue, with all that He did. For since on account of the transgression of Adam, human nature had incurred much suffering and hurt in its members and senses, Christ coming into the world shewed the perfection of human nature in Himself, and on this account opened ears, with His fingers, and gave the power of speech by His spittle.

Wherefore it goes on, “And spit, and touched his tongue.”

Theophylact: That He might shew that all the members of His sacred body are divine and holy, even the spittle which loosed the string of the tongue. For the spittle is only the superflous moisture of the body, but in the Lord, all things are divine.

It goes on, “And looking up to heaven, He groaned, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.”

Bede: He looked up to heaven, that He might teach us that thence is to be procured speech for the dumb, hearing for the deaf, health for all who are sick. And He sighed, not that it was necessary for Him to be any thing from His Father with groaning, for He, together with the Father, gives all things to them who ask, but that He might give us an example of sighing, when for our own errors and those of our neighbours, we invoke the guardianship of the Divine mercy.

Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He at the same time also groaned, as taking our cause upon Himself and pitying human nature, seeing the misery into which it had fallen.

Bede: But that which He says, “Ephphatha, that is, Be opened,” belong properly to the ears, for the ears are to be opened for hearing, but the tongue to be loosed from the bonds of its impediment, that is may be able to speak.

Wherefore it goes on, “And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.”

Where each nature of one and the same Christ 144 is manifestly distinct, looking up indeed into Heaven as man, praying unto God, He groaned, but presently with one word, as being strong in the Divine Majesty, He healed.

It goes on, “And He charged them that they should tell no man.”

Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: By which He has taught us not to boast in our powers, but in the cross and humiliation. He also bade them conceal the miracle, lest He should excite the Jews by envy to kill Him before the time.

Pseudo-Jerome: A city, however, placed on a hill cannot be hid, and lowliness always comes before glory.

Wherefore it goes on, “but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it.”

Theophylact: By this we are taught, when we confer benefits on any, by no means to seek for applause and praise; but when we have received benefits, to proclaim and praise our benefactors, even though they be unwilling.

Augustine: If however He, as one Who knew the present and the future wills of men, knew that they would proclaim Him the more in proportion as He forbade them, why did He give them this command? If it were not that He wished to prove to men who are idle, how much more joyfully, with how much greater obedience, they whom He commands to proclaim Him should preach, when they who were forbidden could not hold their peace.

Gloss.: From the preaching however of those who were healed by Christ, the wonder of the multitude, and their praise of the benefits of Christ, increased.

Wherefore it goes on, “And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”

Pseudo-Jerome: Mystically, Tyre is interpreted, narrowness, and signifies Judaea, to which the Lord said, “For the bed is grown too narrow,” [Isa 28:20] and from which He turns Himself to the Gentiles. Sidon means, hunting, for our race is like an untamed beast, and “sea”, which means a wavering inconstancy. Again, the Saviour comes to save the Gentiles in the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, which may be interpreted, as the commands of the Decalogue.

Further, the human race throughout its many members is reckoned as one man, eaten up by varying pestilence, in the first created man; it is blinded, that is, its eye is evil; it becomes deaf, when it listens to, and dumb when it speaks, evil. And they prayed Him to lay His hand upon him, because many just men, and 145 patriarchs, wished and longed for the time when the Lord should come in the flesh.

Bede: Or he is deaf and dumb, who neither has ears to hear the words of God, nor opens his mouth to speak them, and such must be presented to the Lord for healing, by men who have already learned to hear and speak the divine oracles.

Pseudo-Jerome: Further, he who obtains healing is always drawn aside from turbulent thoughts, disorderly actions, and incoherent speeches. And the fingers which are put into the ears are the words and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, “This is the finger of God.” [Ex 8:19; Luke 11:20]

The spittle is heavenly wisdom, which loosens the sealed lips of the human race, so that it can say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and the rest of the Creed. “And looking up to heaven, he groaned,” that is, He taught us to groan, and to raise up the treasures of our hearts to the heavens; because by the groaning of hearty compunction, the silly joy of the flesh is purged away. But the ears are opened to hymns, and songs, and psalms; and He looses the tongue, that it may pour forth the good word, which neither threats nor stripes can restrain

Lectionary

Central

for the study and use of the traditional Western Eucharistic lectionary

A very useful reference:

http://www.lectionarycentral.com/trinity12/CatenaAurea.html

BVM First Saturday

Vigil Reading Saturday: Blessed Virgin of Mary

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION FOR THE RIGHT ORDERING AND DEVELOPMENT OF DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

MARIALIS CULTUS

OF HIS HOLINESS PAUL VI, FEBRUARY 2, 1974

19. Mary is also the Virgin-Mother -- she who "believing and obeying...brought forth on earth the Father's Son. This she did, not knowing man but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit."[52] This was a miraculous motherhood, set up by God as the type and exemplar of the fruitfulness of the Virgin-Church, which "becomes herself a mother.... For by her preaching and by baptism she brings forth to a new and immortal life children who are conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of God."[53] The ancient Fathers rightly taught that the Church prolongs in the sacrament of Baptism the virginal motherhood of Mary. Among such references we like to recall that of our illustrious predecessor, Saint Leo the Great, who in a Christmas homily says: "The origin which [Christ] took in the womb of the Virgin He has given to the baptismal font: He has given to water what He had given to His Mother -- the power of the Most High and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk. 1:35), which was responsible for Mary's bringing forth the Savior, has the same effect, so that water may regenerate the believer."[54] If we wished to go to liturgical sources, we could quote the beautiful Illatio of the Mozarabic liturgy: "The former [Mary] carried Life in her womb; the latter [the Church] bears Life in the waters of baptism. In Mary's members Christ was formed; in the waters of the Church Christ is put on."[55]

20. Mary is, finally, the Virgin presenting offerings. In the episode of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (cf. Lk. 2:22-35), the Church, guided by the Spirit, has detected, over and above the fulfillment of the laws regarding the offering of the firstborn (cf. Ex. 13:11-16) and the purification of the mother (cf. Lv. 12:6-8), a mystery of salvation related to the history of salvation. That is, she has noted the continuity of the fundamental offering that the Incarnate Word made to the Father when He entered the world (cf. Heb. 15:5-7). The Church has seen the universal nature of salvation proclaimed, for Simeon, greeting in the Child the light to enlighten the peoples and the glory of the people Israel (cf. Lk. 2:32), recognized in Him the Messiah, the Savior of all. The Church has understood the prophetic reference to the Passion of Christ: the fact that Simeon's words, which linked in one prophecy the Son as "the sign of contradiction" (Lk. 2:34) and the Mother, whose soul would be pierced by a sword (cf. Lk. 2:35), came true on Calvary. A mystery of salvation, therefore, that in its various aspects orients the episode of the Presentation in the Temple to the salvific event of the cross. But the Church herself, in particular from the Middle Ages onwards, has detected in the heart of the Virgin taking her Son to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (cf. Lk. 2:22) a desire to make an offering, a desire that exceeds the ordinary meaning of the rite. A witness to this intuition is found in the loving prayer of Saint Bernard: "Offer your Son, holy Virgin, and present to the Lord the blessed fruit of your womb. Offer for the reconciliation of us all the holy Victim which is pleasing to God."[56]

This union of the Mother and the Son in the work of redemption[57] reaches its climax on Calvary, where Christ "offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God" (Heb. 9:14) and where Mary stood by the cross (cf. Jn. 19:25), "suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son. There she united herself with a maternal heart to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which she herself had brought forth"[58] and also was offering to the eternal Father.[59] To perpetuate down the centuries the Sacrifice of the Cross, the divine Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the memorial of His death and resurrection, and entrusted it to His spouse the Church,[60] which, especially on Sundays, calls the faithful together to celebrate the Passover of the Lord until He comes again.[61] This the Church does in union with the saints in heaven and in particular with the Blessed Virgin,[62] whose burning charity and unshakeable faith she imitates.

Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

4th September A Reading about the life of St Cuthbert.

Cuthbert was born in Northumbria about the year 634. We are told he had a normal and happy childhood, and was noted for his high spirits. As a lad tending sheep on the Lammermuir hills he had a vision: St Bede says that on the death of St Aidan, Cuthbert saw 'with his mind's eye a soul of exceeding brightness' being carried heavenwards by angels. Perhaps this had an influence on him when he later became a monk, probably in his late teens, at Melrose under St Eata. Cuthbert's years as a monk was filled with a great deal of apostolic activity.

He would often be away from his monastery for several weeks at a time, working to keep the spirit of the Gospel alive among the people of the remoter parts between Berwick and Galloway. (Present day Kirkcubright means ‘the Church of Cuthbert'). It was said that none could resist Cuthbert's winning manner, and no one could conceal from him their secret sins. When Cuthbert accompanied St Eata to Lindisfarne in 664, he extended his work southward to Northumberland and Durham.

In spite of his travels and apostolic work, Cuthbert was by nature a solitary. In 676 he retired to the desolate islet of Farne. But it was typical of Cuthbert that, when his solitude was disturbed by the many visitors who sought his advice, he built a house to accommodate them. He took it ‘to be another kind of prayer' if he could help others in their difficulties.

In 684 Cuthbert was called to be bishop of Hexham. Almost at once he exchanged his see with St Eata for that of Lindisfarne, and, as Bishop, he continued the same work among the people that he had done there before.

Cuthbert is of special appeal today because he was a man who had a great interest in the ways of birds and animals, as had St Godric, St Hugh, and St Francis. The ample sources we have of his life and character show us a man of extraordinary charm and of practical ability who profoundly moved people by the attraction of his holiness. It is not for nothing that Bede so often refers to him as 'the child of God'.

Cuthbert's life as a bishop was cut short by a premature death in 687. When he felt the end approaching he withdrew to his retreat on Farne. He died there during the night 'in the very act of praising God'.

Gregory the Great

03 September

SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT

Pope and Doctor of the Church

(540-604)

St. Gregory the Great's book The Pastoral Rule is a classic work on the ministry.

In The Pastoral Rule Gregory describes the priest’s responsibilities as a combination of the active life of pastoral administration and the prayerful life of the remote ascetic. Here is what he says:

The spiritual director should not reduce his attention to the internal life because of external occupations, nor should he relinquish his care for external matters because of his anxiety for the internal life. Otherwise, he will either ruin his meditation because he is occupied by external concerns or else he will not give to his neighbor what he owes to them because he has devoted himself to the inner life only.

The Pastoral Rule, Part II, Section 7

Month Commemoration of Deceased

Once a month, we keep a Day of Commemoration of those of the Order and relatives, friends and associates who have died.

This evening, I learned, of the death of Adrian, a member of a family associated, and we will remember him especially .

In the Vigil Reading, Romano Guardini deepens our faith in the vision of heaven

OFFICE OF THE DEAD-11 A Reading about Heaven, from a Book by Fr. Romano Guardini* WHEN is Heaven truly and completely present? When all heaviness is gone. When all sluggishness has been overcome, all wickedness, coldness, pride, irritation, disobedience, covetousness. When there is no danger any more of falling away. When grace has made one's whole being open up, body and soul, to the ultimate profundities. When there is no further danger that it will all close in again, become hardened in ways of evil. When all work to be done on earth is finished, and all guilt has been paid by repentance. What all this means is: After death. After death - when time is no longer; when everything is in the everlasting Now; when nothing can change any more, but the creature is standing illuminated by the light of eternity, before God - at that time, everything will be open, and will remain so. That is being in Heaven. The day He left this earth Jesus went to Heaven, His body and His soul. All earthly heaviness vanished. All limitations of being in this place or that place dropped away. Every burden of earthly need fell away. There was nothing more closed off; not even for the body. Everything was open. Everything about Him made its way in the overmastering presence of His Father. But here is the mystery: the very moment that He leaves us, He returns (Jn 14, 28): "I am going away" to the Father; but He added immediately "and coming back to you." And in Matthew (28, 20), He told them: "Behold I am with you all the days that are coming, until the consummation of the world." And the one statement is made true by the other. He went away from us, His body also, to Heaven, to the pure and open presence of His Father which He has directed towards us. He Who was the intermediary between the Father and ourselves, "the way, the truth and the life," has entered completely into this love. Now He is everywhere the Father's love is, and so He is with us. He is gone from the visible, transient here and now. But not from there, and because He is there, He can, through the love of the Father, be with each of us and with the Father also. He is within us, closing in upon us, bringing with Him the Presence of the Father, Heaven. "See where I stand at the door, knocking; if anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will core in to visit him, and make my supper with him, and he shall sup with re" (Ap. 3, 20). "Supper" is the extravagant superabundance of God's accessible Presence bursting in, blessed, satisfying, making drunk with all the drunkenness of love. This is how we properly understand Heaven: It is that close Presence wherein the Father stands in relation to Jesus Christ. And Heaven for us will be participation in this intimacy of love. This condition is already beginning; it approaches closer; now in peril, it is fought over, lost, won back again. So it goes with our Christian life. *Jesus Christus, Chicago 1959, 109-111.