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In the Entrance Antiphon today we are reminded that the Lord is ‘…Saviour of all people…’ who, unlike even the best intentioned earthly friend, will be ‘…always there…’ and, very significantly, is unlimited in His ability to help us through life. We are expected, of course, to actively seek and use these opportunities to attain Salvation! Isaiah (55:6-9), very wisely, urges us to seize every opportunity offered us by our Creator while we live on Earth, and ‘Seek the Lord while He is still to be found’. Until we draw our final breath we can, should we sin, repent and be assured of God’s Forgiveness; not that we should gamble our eternity on living apart from God and ‘getting in at the last moment’. God, who is so superior to His creatures, nevertheless leaves the final choice with us! As the Responsorial Psalm (From Ps. 144), recalls to mind, God ‘…is close to all who call Him….” How aware are we of our constant need to examine our conscience and make sure that we are not living in ways that take us further away from God? Saint Paul (Phil. 1:20-24, 27), while looking with longing towards his entry into Heaven, acknowledges that, while he lives on earth, he has a vital role (as does each one of us) to play in the Salvation of Mankind. Paul’s ‘rule of thumb’ for the here and now, which will stand us in good stead when we die, is to keep from anything in our everyday life which will set us off in an opposing direction to God. Our Saviour, knowing our weaknesses, has left us the Sacrament of Reconciliation, through which we can, as long as life lasts, keep close to or even return to God. God, who clearly sees our exact knowledge of good and evil and our intentions, cannot lose any soul which, in all honesty, has striven to be faithful to Him.
Previously we have recalled our duty to correct error. Today we look at a basic condition for being, ourselves, forgiven by God, which is that we forgive, ‘…those who trespass against us’. Straight away, not mincing his words, the writer of Ecclesiasticus condemns emotions which so often set up barriers to our forgiving those who hurt or offend us: “Resentment and anger…foul things…found with the sinner.” Whilst we must certainly ‘hate the sin’ we know that we must ‘love the sinner’. If we set ourselves up to judge and condemn any person, we become, in a way, like them. We are presented with the undeniable logic that we cannot reasonably expect God to approve plans to ‘get our own back’ for wrongs done to us, or to be able to show us Compassion if we deny this to our Neighbour. The extract finishes with what is (or should be) a chilling reminder that, as we deal with offences from our fellow humans, so will the same, in justice, be meted out to us at our Judgement!
The Responsorial Psalm highlights the attributes of our Creator, “…compassion…love…slow to anger…rich in mercy”, which, in spite of our fallen nature can, should we wish, sustain us in the ups and downs of life. Saint Paul, writing to the Romans, simply reminds us that both here on earth and in the hereafter, we are all God’s creatures and, however much we may think that we live in ‘our own little bubble’, each life lived has an effect on others. How often do we think of this? Do we attract others to God, or do we undermine their search for the Truth? Do those around us, seeking meaning and purpose in life, perceive that we look, as the Alleluia verse proclaims, to God Who, alone, can bring us to Eternal Happiness? In the Gospel our Lord, very emphatically, removes any limits to forgiveness. In a dramatic Parable, He delivers a stern warning that, just as the servant who refused to forgive a comparatively ‘trivial’ debt owed by a fellow servant was, as a result, severely punished for his own much greater debt to his Master, so our own forgiveness (or not) will determine the Judgement we receive at the end of our life. We need to recognise, of course, that Jesus is not saying that we shall not be wronged, perhaps deeply, during the course of our life. We may well be unable to forget grave wrongs done to us or our loved ones. We must, however (and we have some profoundly moving examples following recent terrorist murders) strive to forgive, whatever effort this may cost, those who have set out to hurt us. We may well recall, also, how the Mother of Saint Maria Goretti forgave Alessandro, who had attempted to rape and had then killed her daughter, Maria (who also had forgiven him on her deathbed). Also the example of Saint Pope John Paul II who, following his life-saving treatment in hospital, visited Mehmet Ali Ağca, his would-be murderer, in prison, publicly forgiving this man who had shot him with the intention of killing him. How many examples might we, personally, recall of, perhaps, very ‘costly’ forgiveness?
The Responsorial Psalm highlights our innate obstinacy, or hardness of heart, which can blind us to the gravity of an action; our fallen nature inclines more readily, as we know, to sin than to goodness which often involves self-denial. It is, sometimes, frighteningly easy to justify what we know in our heart to be wrong. Saint Paul makes it very clear that God insists on the Commandments and our obedience to them out of Love. That is not, of course, what is so often portrayed by the media as love, which is often directly opposed to this Virtue! Promoting Love as God intends can make one very unpopular indeed, even among one's fellow Christians! Through the Alleluia verse we beg that Truth will underpin all that we do in life. Jesus, in the Gospel, echoes Ezekiel's call for the correction of sinfulness among those around us. He also confirms that, in binding us to certain ways of conduct or, indeed in absolving us of any, the Pope and Bishops act with His Authority. Lord, grant us courage!
Today, in the Entrance Antiphon, we call on our Merciful God Who, in His Goodness and great Love, is ever ready to forgive our sins, should we repent and put us, spiritually, ‘back on our feet’. The Responsorial Psalm speaks first of our great longing for God’s Grace which, alone, can give Life to our souls. A soul fallen from Grace may be compared to drought-stricken land, lifeless without water but in which plants will spring into growth when rain falls and irrigates it. Through the words of the psalm we proclaim our belief that it is only by constantly drawing on the Strength that comes from God, that only by looking to Him, whose ‘…love is better than life’, will we attain the Eternal Life He has created us to live! We recognise that true happiness lies in ever drawing on the Source of Life and Help, staying close to our Father who, unlike the fallible promoters of solely material success, will never let go of us and can and will actually give all He promises! In the First Reading we are reminded that fidelity to God’s Call does not promise Heaven on Earth as we hear the Prophet, Jonah’s lament over the humiliation he is facing from those who resist his preaching of the Truth. If one really sets one’s sights on living God’s Way, then one may well experience a ‘bumpy ride’ or even, as are many of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in various parts of the world, be called to lay down one’s life. In the Second Reading Saint Paul underlines the Sacrificial aspect of being ‘in the world but not of it’; our priority must, of necessity, be that of loving and pleasing God, however ‘uncool’ such a way of life may appear to those for whom the world and material success are the be all and end all of life! Through our example of fidelity to God may we draw lost souls back on track! In the Alleluia verse we call for help to be able see beyond the here and now, with its ups and downs, to the true goal of Eternal Life, often obscured by materialism. Finally, in the Gospel we see, from the words of Our Lord, that there is no cosy alternative to self-denial in this life. As Jesus, very bluntly, reminds a well-meaning Peter, who had expressed horror at the thought of His coming Passion and Death, eternal unhappiness is the only destination of a life lived, knowingly and intentionally, apart from God. However self-sufficient our life in this world may appear, it will very definitely come to an end and we will be rewarded, “…each one according to his behaviour…”. Our eternity is, very clearly, in our hands (we have Free-Will) but, if we are to be eternally happy with God, we are personally charged with working at it! We are crew, not passengers! On Friday we will celebrate the Birthday of Our Blessed Lady who set us a striking example of Faith, Hope and Love in embracing God’s Way over Man’s! Sinless from conception, therefore unflawed by a fallen nature, Mary was dedicated to God as an infant by her Parents, Joachim and Anne. Her whole life, untainted by personal sin, was a preparation for her mission. As a young woman she took up the challenging assignment offered her by the Father through the Archangel Gabriel and, in her Womb, ‘the Word was made Flesh and Dwelt among us!’. Mary, our Mother, is ever watchful over us. ‘…Dark night has come down on this…world… and the tempest-tossed Church, all her eyes are on thee….’ May we never cease to implore Mary’s protection throughout our life’s journey towards Eternal Bliss with her Divine Son!
Infallibility, per se, covers the formal definition of a Doctrine, which we must believe, by the Pope, in his Office of Supreme Pastor and Teacher of all the Faithful. This gift is extended to the College (or Body) of Bishops who, perhaps in an Ecumenical Council, in union with the Pope, propose, as coming from God, a Doctrine for our belief. For a more detailed explanation of Infallibility, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 890-892. See also the Vatican Council document, Lumen Gentium, 25. How does this freedom from error in the Teaching of Catholic Dogma work? We know, for example, how certain changes have been made to the outward way (i.e. the language and actions) that Mass has been offered. The essence of the Mass, however, is unchanged. Acting in the person of Our Lord, who commanded, “Do this in memory of Me”, Father, our priest, still re-enacts the once-and-for-all Saving Sacrifice of Calvary for our participation; he changes bread and Wine into Jesus Himself, offers Him for us all to the Heavenly Father, Who Himself offers Jesus to us in Holy Communion.
During the coming week we will recall two other great defenders of the Truth: Monday, Convert and Theologian, Saint Augustine of Hippo; Tuesday, Saint John the Baptist, beheaded for publicly defending God’s Laws regarding Marriage. Then, on Wednesday, comes the memorial of Saints Margaret Mary Clitherow, Anne Line and Margaret Ward, three of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, all of whom were put to death for hiding, sheltering and protecting Catholic Priests. May their Prayers strengthen all who are called to be our Shepherds!
Monday marks the Memorial of Pope Saint Pius X. He is sometimes referred to as 'the Pope of the Holy Eucharist' as it was he who decreed that children should receive their First Holy Communion as soon as they were capable, through reason, of acknowledging that, at the Consecration, the Bread and wine, though appearing unchanged to the senses of sight, touch, taste and smell, were completely changed into Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Thanks to this Pope our children have the great joy and privilege of receiving Jesus round about the age of 7. St Pius X also worked hard, as Pope, to ensure that those who sought to deny or 'water down' the Church's Teachings were not allowed to mislead the Faithful, who had the right to receive the whole Truth, challenging though this can be. Having worked tirelessly to achieve a peaceful resolution to the then growing hostilities in Europe, he died, some say of a broken heart, in 1914. On Tuesday we celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, acknowledging Mary as Mother and Queen. Jesus, as He hung, Dying on the Cross, gave her to us (in the person of the Apostle, John) as our very own Mother. In the 5th Glorious Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary, we meditate on Her Coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth. How seriously do we take Mary’s Queenship? How often do we call on her ever available help in following God? How apt the words of St Louis Marie de Montfort, “to Jesus through Mary”. Then, on Thursday, with Masses at 7.30am and 10am as usual, we come together to celebrate the Feast of the Patron Saint of our own parish, Saint Bartholomew. His name comes from the Aramaic ‘bar-Tȏlmay’, meaning ‘son of Talmai’.
Take a look at the mosaic above the central door of our church. Here we see Saint Bartholomew, portrayed holding a flaying knife. He accepted the fate of being skinned alive rather than deny God! This gruesome death led him to be declared the Patron Saint of tanners, that is those who convert animal skins into materials such as leather.
In an age when there is often determined opposition to, and rejection of, the Church's Teachings, especially in the area of Morality, we can never have too many of these exemplary helpers! May we never be led astray but, rather, may we, through the Examples and Prayers of Our Lady and the Saints, live so as to, through our example, '...bring home the lost sheep...'. Saint Bartholomew, pray for us. This coming Tuesday, we shall celebrate, as a Holy Day of Obligation, (i.e. we are obliged to go to Mass as we are on a Sunday) the Assumption of our Blessed Mother, Mary, body and soul into Heaven, at the end of her life on Earth. This Truth, to be believed by the Faithful Worldwide, was officially proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on 1st November 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus, although, as research will show, this Privilege of Our Lady had been celebrated by the Faithful in various parts of the world for a long time prior to this.
How does today’s Solemnity relate to this? As we know, God did not abandon our First Parents as they clearly deserved. He promised that, in the fullness of time, He would send his Son, in human form, through a Virgin Mother, to live among us, undo the consequences of man’s sin and so lead us back onto the ‘road’ to Heaven, that destiny which Original Sin had denied us. In order that His Son would ‘take flesh’ the Father chose and prepared a very special Mother. As a member of the Human Race Jesus would, as are all babies, be conceived (in His case through the Power of the Holy Spirit rather than through a human father) and grow in His Mother’s Womb for nine months. As Perfect God-made-man, Our Lord would come to us through a Perfect human Mother. Those of us who are familiar with the history of Mary’s appearances to Saint Bernadette in Lourdes, in 1858, will recall that Our Lady, when asked by Bernadette for her name, replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception”. This Teaching had, at the time, only recently been formally proclaimed by Pope Pius IX, on 8th December 1854, in the papal bull, Ineffabilis Deus, as an article of Faith, to be believed by us all. Put simply, it means that from the very moment she was conceived through the love of her human Parents, Saints Joachim and Anne, the stain of Original Sin was prevented from touching her soul. God, being Infinite, seeing past, present and future, applied the Saving Merits of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection to Mary’s soul at its creation; she was, from the very start of her existence, ‘Full of Grace’ as Adam and Eve had been in their state of innocence, before they sinned. What Mary never lost, we regain through Baptism. The Church also holds that, in addition to her perfection of soul and freedom from any inclination to sin from conception, Mary, endowed as we all are, with Free Will, never committed any personal sin throughout her life. We all live, grow old (please God) and die. Our body, through burial or cremation, returns ‘to the dust of the Earth’. Our soul, if we die in the State of Grace, enters Heaven, usually by way of purification in Purgatory (unless we die as Saints!). The Church teaches that, at the end of time, our bodies, then perfect, will be restored to us. As Perfect Mother of God, Mary was not to have to wait for her bodily glorification until the end of time; Through today’s Solemnity, the Church continues to teach that Mary, at the end of her earthly life, however that end actually came, was Assumed (or taken, body and Soul) into Heavenly Glory. This Solemnity of the Church is sometimes referred to as the ‘Dormition’ (or ‘falling asleep’) of Mary. Mary watches over us, her children, ever calling us to, “Do whatever He tells you”. “O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for us who have recourse to thee!”
In the Gospel account, the humanity and humility of Saint Peter are demonstrated in his offer to construct some kind of earthly dwelling for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Of course, as The Father reminds him (and us), what is needed for our worship of God and consequent Salvation is firstly internal, i.e. our loving acceptance of and positive response to the Truth.
As created beings of flesh and blood, we are called to and certainly must employ our God-given bodies and our senses in participating in the Life of the Church. Today’s Feast firmly grounds all that we think, do and say on the ‘Truth that comes from God…’ which, alone, can strengthen us against and, ultimately, free us forever from the constant ‘pull’ of our Fallen Nature. Through the Teachings of the Church, challenging as they undoubtedly can be in this life, and through the Mass and the Sacraments, we are provided with a sure ‘route-map’ to our Heavenly destiny. God has endowed Humans, His highest Creation, with intelligence; we are capable of reason and can discern right and wrong. While intimately knowing our weakened Nature and making full allowance for our being misled, through ignorance, into genuine error, He will respect any choices we make with full knowledge and understanding for or against His Laws. Perhaps we can interpret The Father’s words to the Apostles that day as reminding us that although, being Human, we must live as and where God has put us, we have immortal spiritual Souls and so we must keep our sights firmly set on our true purpose, to ‘know, love and serve God in this life so as to be Happy forever with Him in Heaven’. May God continue to grant us the Gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity, ever drawing us Homewards! May we ever, ‘…listen to Him...’. Once again we are into Summer time! Thoughts, naturally, turn with thankful hope to extended leisure – a brief respite from the continual ‘grind’ of everyday life such as commuting, school runs and other ‘everyday’ pursuits. Teachers, Parents and Students look forward to ‘recharging their batteries’ before September rolls round again!  The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland; photo' taken by Michal Osmenda While, of course, a break from routine work is indeed good and necessary for physical and mental wellbeing (none of us is indestructible) let us not forget the Source of Life and wellbeing, God who ‘…slumbers not, nor sleeps…’. Fortunately for us, He has no need to rest from His eternal labours; everything and everyone will, through His Will, continue uninterruptedly in existence and will do so until the end of time when, please God, life will continue eternally in Heaven. God, in His infinite Love, watches over and calls us to share in His Life 24/7, 365 days a year! Our debt of thanks to God is immeasurable.
How, then, might we capitalise on holiday time to draw closer to our Creator? Hopefully daily prayer is already an integral part of Family life (‘The Family that Prays together, stays together’) but do we consider that, time permitting, we could ‘dig deeper’ into the immense Treasury of Grace, so vital to our Heavenward journey? Unlike some parishes which, due to shortages of Priests and Laity, have been forced to either close down or greatly curtail their spiritual services, Saint Bartholomew’s is, through the generosity of retired Priests and of those able and willing to come and say Mass and lead other liturgies in addition to responsibilities in their own parishes, able to offer this great treasure throughout the year. While, of course, parents cannot simply ‘down tools’ and relax with their children for six weeks or so because of ongoing financial and/or work commitments, to say nothing of day to day issues involved in raising a Family, hopefully opportunities will arise when you can bring your children to weekday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Mass in addition to Sundays and Holy-Days. Even if this is not possible, how about suggesting to those of the children who are Altar Servers and, of course, able to go out and about independently, that they might like to take up the great privilege of serving at an extra Mass during the week. Children may well take more notice of peers than they do adults; please God some of these young people, in making daily Mass a priority on even just one extra day during the week, will encourage others of their circle of friends to see that it has an important role in their free time. When arranging your holidays away, is it a priority to ensure that Sunday and Holy-Day Masses, at least, are factored into your plans? So many of the foundations of future Catholic Practice among our Young People are laid at a very early age. The world is increasingly a place where religion is not regarded as ‘cool’ and may well be actively opposed as ‘irrelevant’. Our Parish Deacon is currently studying the worrying claim that the Sacrament of Confirmation, for example, can mark, for some, not a more mature and personal commitment to and practice of one’s Faith but rather its abandonment! Faith must be presented and lived as integral to Life rather than as an appendage ‘tacked on’, a ‘passing phase’ in life. We are blessed, at Saint Bartholomew’s, with a diverse and active Community, encompassing a wide age range. May we ever centre the life of our Catholic Parish Family on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In striving to take an ever greater part in the Liturgy, let us also not forget that, even today, in these apparently ‘enlightened’ times, many of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ still risk persecution and even death for their fidelity to the Mass and Sacraments which, perhaps, we may take for granted. May God grant us the Grace to be ‘..light and salt..’, a constant sign in a darkened world of His Saving Presence! God, as we know, loves us as only He, our Creator, can. The reason for our continued existence, from the moment of our conception, is that He holds us, constantly, in His Mind; in fact, everything that exists, whether animal, vegetable or mineral, down to the smallest undiscovered particle, exists because it is ever in the Mind of God. Even the most loving and conscientious of earthly parents cannot have this infinite view of the Life of their offspring or see clearly how and when we will come to face Eternity. Small wonder then, that the Church, founded by Our Lord to protect and guide us in His stead, is very definite in Her Teachings. As any loving parent will direct their children’s lives towards Good and train them to perceive and avoid what is (even if outwardly attractive) evil and, therefore, harmful, so the Church makes very clear to us what must be done and indeed what must be avoided if we are to reach Heaven as planned. God’s creatures are, as Matthew underlines in his Gospel, a ‘mixed bunch’. Due to the Original Sin of our First Parents, Adam and Eve, we do not, naturally, incline to Good. We can become very worldly, in danger of coming to believe that our destiny is entirely our own affair and that, whatever we do or do not do in this life, ‘everything will come right in the end’, seemingly believing that we know better than God!
God, unlike His creatures, cannot change. Our love for Him cannot be forced; it must freely come ‘from the heart’. However, all is not ‘doom and gloom’. As the psalmist says, God knows us ‘…through and through…’. Unlike the often subjective media, He truly sees our good points and our bad; more importantly, He sees our intentions in making decisions and whether it is through ignorance or wilful rejection of the truth that any of us depart from the, ‘...straight and narrow way…’. God will keep calling us to Him until our earthly life is over. Let us continually beg Him, challenging though life may well be, for the Grace to enable us to stay on (or get back on) the road to Eternal Happiness!
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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark
A Registered Incorporated Charity - CIO No. 1173050
A Registered Incorporated Charity - CIO No. 1173050
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