33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

 It strikes me that the fear of the slave who buried his talent was justified. He tells the Master: "Master, I knew you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid" (Mt 24: 24-25) The Master does not deny it, yet he points out that the slave had an option: "You ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest." (Mt 24: 27) We do not want to fall prey to pietism, where we passively wait on God. We need to cooperate with grace even in the face of sin and fear: "But the law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rm 5: 20-21) This is the case even when I feel that I have only one talent. We must remember that the Master gives to each: "according to his ability." (Mt 24: 15) God knows me and loves me. The talent I have received is for me and can be used by me alone, for his glory. It is not up to me to question his wisdom: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or has been his counsellor?' 'Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?' For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen." (Rm 11: 33-36)

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

 After Jesus had finished his Messianic task of judging the people, especially their leaders and teaching them, he turns his attention to the end times. The eschatological genre of biblical literature is found most evidently in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. In these the practice is to tell different stories or parables to illustrate the same point. So, it is in the Gospel of Matthew. A series of parables warn the disciples, with Jesus, in the Matthean community and in the Church of 2026, not to be complacent about their salvation. The Lord will return in glory to judge the world at a time of God's choosing:    " 'But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son, but only the Father'." (Mt 24: 36) The parable of the Ten Bridesmaids reminds us not to rely on others for our personal salvation. The wise bridesmaids cannot provide for the others: " 'No! there will not be enough (oil) for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves'." (Mt 25: 9) St Paul exhorts the Philippians: "Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and work for his good pleasure." (Phil 2: 12-13) The last thing we want to hear when we come to the pearly gates is: " 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you'." (Mt 25: 12)

Solemnity of All Saints

 The saints are always with us in the Mass. We call upon them in the Confiteor, they are mentioned in the Apostles' Creed, frequently invoked in prefaces to the Eucharistic Prayer. During the Eucharistic Prayer Our Lady and St Joseph, as well as the saint of the day and/or the patron saint of the parish, are called upon for their intercession. Preface I for Saints has some beautiful words: "For you (God the Father) are praised in the company of the saints and, in crowning their merits, you crown your own gifts. By their way of life you offer us example, by communion with them you give us companionship, by their intercession, sure support, so that, encouraged by so great a cloud of witnesses, we may run as victors in the race set before us and win with them the imperishable crown of glory through Christ our Lord." As we participate in the liturgy, let us rejoice with the saints as they participate in the heavenly liturgy, and conceive in our hearts a burning desire to be joined with them in glory.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Are we aware that people, seeing us attend Mass and identifying as Catholics, whether we like it or not, are measuring us against Catholic law and/or values? As missionary disciples we, the baptized, are exhorted to be visible in faith, contagious in hope and exemplary in charity. We should be happy to manifest our faith in public: "... let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven," (Mt 5: 16) We certainly do not want to hear the verdict: "... therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach." (Mt 23: 3) Whether they are prepared to admit it or not, many non-believers look to the Catholic Church for guidance. When we act contrary to the teachings of the Church on mercy. love and forgiveness we cause scandal: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them." (Mt 25: 4) Let us not discourage others from experiencing Christ through our own shortcoming: "Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!" (Mt 18: 7)

Reflection on the Holy Rosary

 During the month of October there are families in my parish who gather to recite the holy rosary together. The rosary is also recited prior to Mass by weekday Mass goers. This laudable devotion speaks very much of the heart of the people and their response to God's grace as well as their desire for peace in the world. As a result, it has occurred to me to offer some reflections to hopefully deepen our appreciation the tradition we have received and pray more faithfully this prayer.

Monastic Heart

The 150 Hail Marys of the rosary can be seen as imitating the 150 psalms that were sung during the week by the monks and nuns in their communities. In earlier times the people wer usually illiterate and were not able to recite the psalms whether in Latin of their own language. The friars, Dominicans and Franciscans, took the monastery and the proclamation of the world out to the people in their towns and villages. People, wanting to sanctify their lives through prayer and yet stay in their everyday situation, could join themselves to the devotion of the friars by practices such as wearing the scapular and praying the angelus at the appropriate times throughout the day. Those who joined the Third Order of the different religious communities sought to live out the charism of the consecrated life in their own life situation. Similarly, they could pray the rosary in place of the psalms. The Gloria, which concludes the psalms in the monasteries, was prayed a the conclusion of each decade. The Marian anthem which is usually Hail holy Queen (Salve Regina), at the conclusion of the five decades, likewise takes the place of the Marian anthems which conclude the day after Night prayer or Compline. 

Contemplation

The mysteries of the rosary give structure to the prayer. Prayers enter the mystery of the Incarnation by recalling key moments in the life of the Lord. In liturgy we are not bystanders or an audience. Just as with the Station of the Cross the rosary helps us to journey with Christ and to be united with him in his suffering as well as his glory. It is not a question of analysis. We contemplate the beauty of the God's love and his action in bringing about our salvation. As members of his Mystical Body, we are united with him. What Pope St Pius X wrote about the Psalter can also be applied to the mysteries of the Rosary: "Who is not fired with love by the faithful portrait of Christ the Redeemer whose voice Saint Augustine heard in all the psalms, singing, sorrowing, rejoicing in hope, sighing in distress?" (Apost. Const. on the Psalter in the Office of Readings)

History of the Incarnation and the Liturgical Year

When we consider the mysteries of the Rosary as a whole we can discern in them the from the Annunciation to the Coronation of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven the exitus - reditus, the Father sends the Son who bestows the Holy Spirit who takes us through Christ to the Father. The liturgical year is discernable with the Joyful Mysteries being Advent to Christmastide; Luminous Mysteries being the Feasts of the Lord in Ordinary Time and Holy Thursday; the Sorrowful Mysteries speaking of Good Friday and Holy Saturday; the Glorious Mysteries taking us from Easter Sunday through Eastertide to the Feast of Christ the King. The Coronation of Our Lady, which occurs on the Octave of the Solemnity of the Assumption, presumes the Feast of Christ the King. In the way we can consider the Rosary in its entirety is the liturgical year in microcosm. The key Christological moments unite us in contemplating the whole mystery of Christ and not just isolated elements as if they are unconnected events. They are all part of the salvific plan of the heavenly Father. The prayer: 'O God whose only begotten Son...' prayed subsequent to the Salve regina is a translation of the  the Collect taken from the Mass for the Holy Rosary in the 1962 Missal. This prayer has been replace by the Angelus prayer as the Collect for the present Missal which also makes the connection with the fulfilment of our Christian journey through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.

Praying with Our Lady

St Bernadette Soubirous, starting from 11 February 1858, testifies that the apparition she experienced at Lourdes, who identifies herself as the Immaculate Conception, prayer the rosary with her. She moved the beads through her fingers but did not pray the Hail Mary's but did join her in the Our Fathers. Statues of Our Lady of Lourdes depict the Blessed Mother holding a rosary in her fingers.

At Fatima, Our Lady exhorted the visionaries to pray the rosary for peace. They were also instructed to pray the rosary daily and it was linked to the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The prayer given by the angel "O my Jesus forgive us our sins..." was added to the end of the decades. In her final apparition on 13 October 1917 the vision identified herself as "the Lady of the Rosary."

From this we can be confident that Our Lady wishes us to pray with her and through her so as to unite us to the mission and power of her divine Son.

Conclusion

The Holy Rosary is a beautiful devotion which helps to enter more fully into the mystery of Christ. It is not a static prayer rather it invites us to journey through the drama of salvation and ask that we share ultimately in its glory.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Today Jesus summarizes the law in response to the challenge of the Pharisees. He manages to integrate both the demands of love and the law by citing Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19: 18. He is not teaching anything original, in the Jewish context. So where does Jesus innovate? He does so by revealing the awesome depth and power of God's love for us: "God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 Jn 4: 9-10) As a result, our motivation and capacity to love God and one another is increased, since we no longer live by our own power but through the transforming action of the Holy Spirit: "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal 2: 19-21). The litmus test for how much we love God is given in how we love one another: "We love because he first loved us. Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." (1 Jn 4: 19-21) 

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Jesus, in response to the question of the Pharisees and Herodians, natural enemies who have united against him, asks them to see the coin for taxation and replies: "Whose head is this, and whose title?" (Mt 22: 20) He knows, as do his opponents, that the Roman emperors thought of themselves as divine. Furthermore, the conversation takes place in the Temple which is God's resting place on earth. His interrogators are forced to reply: "The emperor's" (Mt 22: 21) In doing so they break the first Commandment: "... you shall have no other gods before me" (Ex 20: 1) and the second: "You shall not make for yourself an idol..." (Ex 20: 2). Jesus acknowledges the emperor to own that which bears his image, money. The rest: "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers" (Ps 24: 1-2), especially human beings: "So God created humankind in his image..." (Gen 1: 27) belongs to God. How do I respond to human authority? Just because something is legal it does not mean it is moral, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and euthanasia: "For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense for what is done in the body, whether good or evil." (2 Cor 5: 10)