THE SIGN OF THE CROSS – THE SHORTEST PRAYER

“Can you think back and recall the last funeral you attended? The tragic occasion, the grieving relatives and sad hymns at the Mass all went to make the occasion memorable and very sad especially if it was the funeral of a loved one who would be tenderly missed, a parent, a child, a friend, a priest, someone whose relationship you cherished immensely.

At this or at many other moments like it you may have simply made the Sign of the Cross while passing the bier or when you threw a fistful of earth over the closed coffin as it was being lowered into the grave at the cemetery. Probably only you and God knew what that meant. But it seemed the shortest prayer that rose up asking God to take the dear departed soul into his loving embrace.

A VISIBLE SIGN OF FAITH

It was certainly a prayer, an invocation, a visible act of faith, something intensely in the context of a very public liturgy. It was a reminder of how precious and universal that gesture is: to bless yourself in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

You spot people blessing themselves on all sorts of situations: absent-mindedly on the way into church; solemnly at the end of Mass; in joyful delight when one of your favourite Premier League players scored a goal. Then poignantly you are hauled back to the moment at the funeral when you made that Sign of the Cross which was equally significant. In extreme sickness, when the brain can no longer form words, the only way we can turn to God may be with our feeble fingers, forming a cross on our breast or our brow. This sign can grow hurried and thoughtless through custom, but in moments of crisis and deep emotion, there are few gestures as rich in meaning as blessing ourselves.”
– This is an excerpt of the article “The Sign of the Cross” by Paul Andrews SJ published in “Don Bosco’s Madonna” issue September 2013. For subscriptions or to support seminarians please visit http://www.donboscosmadonna.org (external link) or http://www.dbmshrine.org (external link).

 

SHAMROCK, THREE-IN-ONE: ST PATRICK’S TEACHING ABOUT THE HOLY TRINITY

“[On] 17th March we celebrate St Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland. In his ‘Confessio’ St Patrick writes about the Trinity:

There is no other God, nor ever was, nor will be, than God the Father
• Unbegotten
• Without beginning
• From whom is all beginning
• Who upholds all things, as we have been taught.

And His Son Jesus Christ
• Whom we acknowledge to have been always with the Father
• Who before the beginning of the world was spiritually present with the Father
• Begotten in an unspeakable manner before all beginning
• By Him are made all things visible and invisible.
• He was made man, and
• Having defeated death, was received into heaven by the Father
• And He has given Him a name which is above all names
• That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth
• And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God
• In whom we believe, and whose coming we expect soon to be
• Judge of the living and the dead
• Who will render to every man according to his deeds
• And He has poured forth upon us abundantly…

The Holy Spirit
• The gift and pledge of immortality
• Who makes those who believe and obey sons of God the Father
• And joint heirs with Christ
Whom we confess and adore, one God in the Trinity of the Holy Name.”
– From: “Spiritual Thought from Father Chris”, March 2011

 

MANKIND’S SALVATION HISTORY THROUGH THE HOLY ROSARY: THE LUMINOUS MYSTERY “BAPTISM OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST”

HIS BAPTISM – BEGINNING OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST

BACKGROUND

“For approximately thirty years the life of Jesus was passed in the obscurity of the little town of Nazareth. Of this period in the history of Jesus we can say with certainty no more than the Gospel tells us. When Jesus was twelve He went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and He remained there for a few days after the celebration of the feast to listen to the doctors of the Jewish law [See this blog’s post: “Mankind’s Salvation History Through the Holy Rosary: The Joyful Mysteries ‘Presentation’ and ‘Finding the Lost Child Jesus at the Temple'”]. Apart from this incident we know only that at Nazareth Jesus grew in wisdom and age and favour before God and man.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE PLAN FOR THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND

Theologians tell us that Jesus was favoured with the vision of God from the very beginning of His human life. Through this vision Jesus would share in the knowledge of the divine plan for the redemption of mankind. But, beyond this wondrous share in the infinity of the divine knowledge, Jesus, according to St Luke, also acquired His due share of human knowledge, for He grew in wisdom before God and man.

It is proper to assume that during the hidden years of His life at Nazareth Jesus advanced in His knowledge of the Law of Moses and of the history of God’s relations with His Chosen People. No doubt He attended the local synagogue and listened to the interpretations of the Law given by the rabbis.

With a keen eye He must have observed His neighbours, the elders of the village, the young men and women, the children. With a penetrating mind and a warm heart He understood their problems, their desires and hopes, their disappointments and failures. During this period He must have learned that wealth of the warm knowledge which He was later to communicate so simply, yet so strongly to those who had the good will to listen to Him.

WHY DID JESUS WAIT FOR 30 YEARS BEFORE HE BEGAN HIS MINISTRY?

We cannot know exactly why Jesus waited for approximately thirty years before He began His public ministry to the world. We can, of course, surmise that the importance and gravity of His message to the world would come more acceptably to the world from the lips of a mature man, a man who by his age and presumed experience might be listened to more readily.

JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE FORERUNNER

Before Jesus Himself began His public work of preaching, God sent John the Baptist, the son of Zachary the priest, to prepare the way for Him. As St Luke tells us, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar as emperor of Rome – in the year 27 or 28 A.D. – ‘the word of God came to John, the son of Zachary, in the desert’ (Luke 3:2). In response to God’s word John came out of the desert and began to preach to the people. ‘Repent,’ he said, ‘for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 3:2).

THE CALL TO REPENTANCE

John appeared to the people in the region about the Jordan river. He came dressed like an ascetic, wearing only a garment of camel’s hair and a leathern girdle about his loins. For his food he ate only locusts and wild honey.

His ascetic appearance and practices, his urgent call to repentance for the forgiveness of sins made people wonder whether or not he was a prophet. Many pious Jews went out to hear him. Moved by his message they confessed their sins and were baptised by him in the Jordan.

A MESSAGE OF HOPE

In part the message of John was new and unexpected; in part it was old and familiar. The Jews, knowing their own history, realised that it was the sins of the nation which brought ill fortune to the race. It is even possible that they remembered the appeal of the great prophets of the Exile for personal repentance and personal purity of heart. They knew also that it was God’s intention to bless the world and rule it through them. To this extent the message of John probably struck a familiar chord of memory and hope in their hearts.

INDIVIDUAL VERSUS COLLECTIVE REPENTANCE

But at the moment when John was preaching repentance it must have seemed to the Jews that the nation as a group had no need for repentance. Under the Macchabees they had fought valiantly to defend their ancient faith in the one true God. Their struggle had been successful.

Even though they were now under the political domination of the Romans, their ancient faith remained intact. Jahweh was worshipped daily in the Temple at Jerusalem. To this extent the message of John was unexpected. It was clear he was calling to personal repentance. That he meant this and that they so understood him is shown by the fact that they confessed their sins when they were baptised by him in the Jordan.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES ‘THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND’ MEAN?

‘Repent,’ John told them, ‘for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Repentance is necessary because the kingdom of heaven is approaching; it is here. To understand John’s message we must understand the significance of the phrase ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ The word ‘kingdom’ as it is used here does not mean a geographical kingdom, a portion of earth ruled by a king. It means the reign of the rule of the king himself. And the word ‘heaven’ does not mean the sky, nor even the abode of the saints of God. It means God Himself, for the word ‘heaven(s)’ was a word used by pious Jews to designate God Himself. What John was announcing then was this: Repent, for God has come to rule His world; the reign of God over men is now being established.

‘THE CROOKED SHALL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH WAYS PLAIN’

John presents himself to the Jews, then, as a messenger of God, as one preparing men for the coming of God Himself. The Evangelists Matthew, Mark and Luke consider John in this light, for they say that his preaching fulfils the prophecies of Malachias and Isaias.

Malachias had said that God would send a messenger to prepare the way for the Lord Whom the Jews would seek: ‘Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you desire shall come to his Temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of Hosts’ (Malachias [Malachi] 3:1). Isaias had written: ‘The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed’ (Isaias [Isaiah] 40:3-5). John himself would also apply the prophecy of Isaias to himself and to his role in history.

THE BIBLICAL EQUIVALENT OF ‘ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET’ FOR V.I.P.s

Now it was the custom in those ancient times for men to go before a ruler when he was visiting the parts of his kingdom and level the roads for his passage, building them up where necessary and cutting them down to make his passage smooth. John, then, sees himself as one who goes before the Lord to prepare a smooth passage for Him. He is the messenger sent to announce the establishment of God’s rule over men. He makes the path of the Lord smooth by preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

WHAT PRECISELY DID JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACH?

It is probable that we do not know the full content of John’s preaching. But both St Matthew and St Luke give us the impression that his call to repentance was more detailed than the general exhortation to repent.

To the publicans, that is, to the tax collectors, John said: ‘Exact no more than what has been appointed you’ (Luke 3:13). To the soldiers he said, ‘Do violence to no man, neither calumniate any man; and be content with your pay’ (Luke 3:14). To the tax collectors and soldiers he counselled the practice of justice and the forsaking of avarice and violence. To the Pharisees and to the people generally he preached humility and love of neighbour. The Pharisees he rebuked because they took pride in being sons of Abraham and acted as if God depended on them for the accomplishment of His plans. To the people he said, ‘Let him who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise’ (Luke 3:11).

JOHN’S BAPTISM WAS INTENDED TO SYMBOLISE INTERNAL CHANGE

Those who believed in John and repented of their sins were baptised by him in the Jordan. It seems clear that the rite of washing in the Jordan was intended by John to symbolise the internal change of heart which true repentance demands. As the washing of the body in the flowing waters of the Jordan purifies the body, so does true repentance of heart purify the soul of man. It is quite clear that this baptism of John is not to be confused with the baptism which Jesus will later institute. John himself tells the people that one mightier than he will baptise them, not just with water but with the Holy Spirit.

OUR LORD JESUS GETS BAPTISED BY JOHN IN THE RIVER JORDAN

While John was still preaching repentance and baptising his followers, Jesus Himself came to him one day to be baptised. St Matthew tells us that John was reluctant to do so. ‘It is I,’ he said, ‘who ought to be baptised by you, and dost thou come to me?’ (Matthew 3:14). Jesus insisted, ‘Let it be so now, for so it becomes us to fulfil all justice’ (Matthew 3:15). When Jesus had been baptised the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove and the voice of God the Father came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22).

A VERY SIGNIFICANT MOMENT

This is a significant moment in the history of Jesus. It is clear from the words of John that Jesus had no personal need to receive the baptism of John. Certainly His desire to be baptised by John could be taken as a manifestation of His intention, as a pious Israelite, to dedicate Himself wholly to the service of God even beyond the ordinary requirements of the Mosaic Law. But the aftermath of the baptism shows us that something more than this was involved in the baptism of Jesus.

THE SACRAMENT: BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT

Later on Jesus will command that those who believe in Him be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Now these same three mysterious personages appear here at the baptism of Jesus. The Holy Spirit appears bodily in the form of a dove. The Father speaks from heaven and He addresses Jesus as His beloved Son. It is possible that God is here instituting the Sacrament of Baptism. John has already said that Jesus will baptise men, not just with water but with the Holy Spirit. How fitting, then, that He Who is to give the Holy Spirit to men should here be seen visibly to receive the Spirit or to be filled with the Spirit.

THE BEGINNING OF JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY

Moreover, this manifestation of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit at the baptism of Jesus seems to mark the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Himself. Jesus is seen to receive or to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. God speaks of Him as His well-beloved Son, thereby approving His subsequent ministry.

And, after this manifestation of divine approval, Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit for forty days, there to wrestle with the devil, the enemy of God and of men. The temptation of Jesus by the devil shows that the evil spirit is already disturbed by the appearance of Jesus. He believes himself threatened by his designs to destroy men and he would try this new adversary to determine his strength. Even though the temptation of Jesus by the devil took place in secret, it seems to be a fitting symbol of the future triumph of Jesus over the devil in the struggle for the salvation of men. From that point of view it reinforces the idea that the baptism of Jesus by John and the divine manifestation following it mark the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, the divine commission or sanction for Jesus to begin the public fulfilment of His role in the divine plan of salvation.”
– Martin J. Healy S.T.D., 1959

 

TODAY’S BIBLE READING (TOBIT 3:1-11, 16-17)

THE PRAYER OF EACH OF THEM FOUND FAVOUR BEFORE THE GLORY OF GOD.

Sad at heart, I, Tobit, sighed and wept, and began this prayer of lamentation:

You are just, O Lord,
and just are all your works.
All your ways are grace and truth,
and you are the Judge of the world.
Therefore, Lord,
remember me, look on me.
Do not punish me for my sins
or for my heedless faults
or for those of my fathers.
For we have sinned against you
and broken your commandments;
and you have given us over to be plundered,
to captivity and death,
to be the talk, the laughing-stock and scorn
of all the nations among whom you have dispersed us.
Whereas all your decrees are true
when you deal with me as my faults deserve,
and those of my fathers,
since we have neither kept your commandments
nor walked in truth before you;
so now, do with me as you will;
be pleased to take my life from me;
I desire to be delivered from earth
and to become earth again.
For death is better for me than life.
I have been reviled without a cause
and I am distressed beyond measure.
Lord, I wait for the sentence you will give
to deliver me from this affliction.
Let me go away to my everlasting home;
do not turn your face from me, O Lord.
For it is better to die than still to live
in the face of trouble that knows no pity;
I am weary of hearing myself traduced.”

It chanced on the same day that Sarah the daughter of Raguel, who lived in Media at Ecbatana, also heard insults from one of her father’s maids. You must know that she had been given in marriage seven times, and that Asmodeus, that worst of demons, had killed her bridegrooms one after another before ever they had slept with her as man and wife. The servant-girl said, “Yes, you kill your bridegrooms yourself. That makes seven already to whom you have been given, and you have not once been in luck yet. Just because your bridegrooms have died, that is no reason for punishing us. Go and join them, and may we be spared the sight of any child of yours!”

That day, she grieved, she sobbed, and went up to her father’s room intending to hang herself. But then she thought, “Suppose they blamed my father! They will say, ‘You had an only daughter whom you loved, and now she has hanged herself for grief.’ I cannot cause my father a sorrow which would bring down his old age to the dwelling of the dead. I should do better not to hang myself, but to beg the Lord to let me die and not to live to hear any more insults.”

This time the prayer of each of them found favour before the glory of God, and Raphael was sent to bring remedy to them both.

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF PENTECOST

O Mary, preferred Daughter of the Father, most holy Mother of our Saviour, Mystical Spouse of the Holy Spirit, our Lady of Pentecost, we consecrate ourselves to your maternal love and we consider you the perfect model of praising God, sanctity, and the missionary and evangelising spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, you, together with the apostles, were graced with the indescribable gift of the Holy Spirit. By the effusion of the same Spirit that we received the day we were baptised, help us be constantly faithful to the Lord. Amen.

Our Lady of Pentecost, pray for us who call on you.

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (JOHN 16:23-28)

THE FATHER LOVES YOU FOR LOVING ME AND BELIEVING.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you most solemnly,
anything you ask for from the Father
he will grant in my name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.
Ask and you will receive,
and so your joy will be complete.
I have been telling you all this in metaphors;
the hour is coming
when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors,
but tell you about the Father in plain words.
When that day comes
you will ask in my name;
and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,
because the Father himself loves you
for loving me
and believing that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world
and now I leave the world to go to the Father.”

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

GRACES IN COPIOUS STREAM (HYMN)

Graces in copious stream
from that pure fount are welling,
where, in our heart of hearts,
our God has set his dwelling.
His word our lantern is,
his peace our comfort still,
his sweetness all our rest,
our law, our life, our will.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son, and Holy Ghost
enthroned in highest heaven;
the one, eternal God,
whom earth and heav’n adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.
– Frederick Oakley,
tr. Catherine Winkworth

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (JOHN 14:27-31)

MY OWN PEACE I GIVE YOU.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I bequeath you,
my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say:
I am going away, and shall return.

If you loved me you would have been glad that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it happens,
so that when it does happen you may believe.
I shall not talk with you any longer,
because the prince of this world is on his way.
He has no power over me,
but the world must be brought to know that I love the Father
and that I am doing exactly what the Father told me.”

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (JOHN 14:7-14)

TO HAVE SEEN ME IS TO HAVE SEEN THE FATHER.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you know me, you know the Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.” “Have I been with you all this time, Philip,” said Jesus to him, “and you still do not know me?”

“To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, ‘Let us see the Father’?
Do you not believe
that I am the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.”

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“IT IS GOOD TO LIVE EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT ALWAYS PERCEIVE IT. I AM WANTED”

BY POPE BENEDICT XVI

“Father – with this word I express my certainty that someone is there who hears me, who never leaves me alone, who is always present. I express my certainty that God, despite the infinite difference between him and me, is such that I can speak to him, may even address him familiarly as “thou” (German “du”). His greatness does not overwhelm me, does not reject me as insignificant and unimportant. Certainly I am subject to him as a child is subject to his father, yet there is such a fundamental similarity and likeness between him and me, yes, I am so important to him, I belong so closely to him, that I can rightly address him as “Father”.

My being born is not a mistake, then, but a grace. It is good to live even though I do not always perceive it. I am wanted; not a child of chance or necessity, but of choice and freedom. Therefore I shall also have a purpose in life; there will always be a meaning for me, a task designed just for me, there is a conception of me that I can seek and find and fulfil. When the school of life becoms unbearably hard, when I would like to cry out as Job did, as the psalmist did – then I can transform this cry into the word “Father” and the cry will gradually become a word, a reminder to trust, because from the Father’s perspective it is clear that my distress, yes, my agony, is part of the greater love for which I give thanks.”