Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:13-14)
Happy Easter to all who have read this blog over the years
Some news...
The past few weeks have been a period of intense reflection for me. As a result, I recently discerned that it is time for me to take a little break from blogging.
There are many reasons behind this decision, from health related ones to more spiritual and practical reasons. One day, I hope to return to blogging. When I do, I expect (Deo volente) to offer some reflections on my decision and on the rather unexpected path the Lord now seems to be calling me to walk along.
Comments are disabled for the time being, and I will soon be removing old comments, images and music, before also deleting a few of my older posts. And, although, I will no longer be able to answer blog-related emails, I still hope to be able to continue any necessary Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma activities.
In the meantime, please keep me in your prayers, and be assured of mine for you. Also, please forgive me my many sins, be they of commission or omission, especially those that I have committed during the process of blogging.
Thank you for your support and many acts of kindness!
And now, I will let me someone else speak for me:
Y Drindod rhag cydfod cwyn A mawr ferw, a Mair Forwyn, A faddeuo 'nghamdramwy. Amen, ac ni chanaf mwy.
To view similar Catholic meditations to the one above, which is created by YouTube user DiligoDeus, please click here
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk
23:34)
With these words the world is transformed. Uttered by Our Blessed
Lord from the Cross, they proclaim an extraordinary power: violence is
conquered by peace, hatred is defeated by love, and the bitter cycle of
vengeance is halted by mercy -- and sin was atoned for by the sinless One. Even
under the greatest pressure and whilst enduring the most gruesome and humiliating pain, Our Lord lived out his ‘better way’ – responding
to evil with love, to hatred and violence with mercy and forgiveness. God really
is love.
At that moment in history, Our Lord could have destroyed the
whole world, could have enacted great vengeance against those who were
crucifying him. Instead, he chose, with the greatest humility, to turn a brutal event of savage barbarity
into a sacred act of civilising redemption. His crucifixion became, at his own
request, humanity's redeeming sacrifice – ensuring the Father’s forgiveness to every
man, woman and child. (Whether we want to be forgiven is another matter, of
course.)
Why did Jesus say that those who were crucifying him ‘did
not know what they were doing’? It seems to me that they were, on one level at
least, aware of their actions. The soldiers knew that they were viciously driving
nails into a poor man’s hands; the political and religious leaders knew that they
were acting unjustly; the mockers must have known that their vile words and
actions were cowardly and hateful.
And yet, and yet … They did act in ignorance. On various levels, they did not really know what they were doing, or to whom they were doing it.
On the ordinary human level, the soldiers
probably thought that it was better to obey orders than question those in authority over them, whereas the political and religious
leaders assumed that they were dealing with a blasphemer, someone who deserved
to be punished. It could be said that both the secular and religious players genuinely thought they were doing something good. They also probably saw Our Lord either as a trouble-maker or as a man of little consequence.
On the spiritual or theological level, none of the immediate protagonists knew that they were crucifying the one Christians now know to be the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah, and the Saviour of mankind. In that respect, they did not know what they were doing. I would assume that if they had known who Jesus is, they would not have acted as they did.
St Peter addressing the men of Jerusalem soon after the Resurrection
confirmed that those who put Jesus to death did not really know what they were doing:
“[Y]ou rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given
to you, and you killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead. To
this we are witnesses … friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did
also your rulers” (Acts 3:14-15, 17). (Emphasis mine.)
St Paul, too, understood that he had acted in ignorance when
he persecuted Christ by hounding the Church’s earliest members:
I am
grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged
me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a
blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I
had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me
with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy
of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of
whom I am the foremost (1 Tim 1:12-15) (Emphasis mine.)
Benedict XVI commented on this passage
with these words: “In view of his
earlier self-assurance as a perfect disciple of the Law who knew and lived by
the Scriptures, these are strong words: he who had studied under the best masters
and who might reasonably have considered himself a real expert in the
Scriptures, has to acknowledge, in retrospect, that he was ignorant. Yet his
very ignorance is what saved him and made him fit for conversion and
forgiveness. This combination of expert knowledge and deep ignorance certainly
causes us to ponder.” (Jesus of Nazareth:
Holy Week, Ignatius / CTS 2011)
It also seems that Our Lord’s
own disciples appeared oblivious to the real mystery of the Cross until after the event. Their ignorance and confusion was only dispelled after the Resurrection. We see something
of this in the following passage:
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village
called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other
about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and
discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were
kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with
each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of
them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in
Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these
days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of
Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the
people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned
to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem
Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things
took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the
tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came
back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he
was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as
the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how
foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and
then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. (Lk 24: 13-27)
We, too, often act in ignorance, even when we believe with great conviction that we are
expert thinkers on all religious or moral issues. It takes deep humility to own up to the fact that we do not really
understand God’s ways, and that -- on the whole -- we are even unaware of our own actions and motivations.
God's ways and thoughts are very different to ours (cf Is
55:8-9), and even his foolishness is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:25). Often, we sin the most when we think we were doing something that would
please Him, but which, in retrospect, was actually only pleasing to our own
selfish and darkened wants or understandings. Maybe this is why Our Lord commands his disciples to abstain from judging
others, and requires them to be merciful to all?
Of course, we all sin and sometimes we even know with some clarity that what we are
doing is wrong. Yet, even when we appear to know what we are
doing, we are often also fooling ourselves – "I do not understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Rm 7:15).
We humans
act on so many levels: consciously and subconsciously. We often try and please
God, only to then – through true ignorance, weakness, blindness, fear, pressure and pain – fall short or do
the opposite of what was intended. It can take a lifetime of prayer and penance to know something of the
pain caused by our sins, our deeper motivations, or our horrific part in the Crucifixion. If we truly knew
what we were doing, would we ever choose to sin? If we could really see our part in the
Passion of Jesus Christ, would we be able to survive the awfulness of it all?
Thankfully, we know
that Our Lord is aware of our ignorance and weakness; and seeks nothing but our salvation.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. His love for us knows no bounds.
St Paul warns us against the trap of thinking that knowledge or expertise will somehow save us. Ignorance is a finite creature’s constant companion –
and knowledge, without love, is useless (cf 1 Cor 13). In fact, love covers a
multitude of sins and raises us beyond knowledge (1 Pet 4:8). Our Lord’s love
for us all on the Cross bears testament to this. Love is God’s way. God is love.
The more we
abandon ourselves to loving as he did, even to the point of becoming fools for Christ, the
more we begin to understand ourselves and our failures as Our Lord sees us: ‘they know not what
they do’. By experiencing his love, that compassion which seeks to excuse the other, then we can seek forgiveness as ones who truly trust in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the great lover of our souls. Like any lover, he is
seeks to excuse his beloved: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they
do.” Let's accept the gift of the Father's forgiveness by repenting of our sins through the grace of Christ's most precious blood.
St Francis on the Glory of the Cross
Here is a passage from the writings of St Francis of Assisi
on the Cross of Christ (emphases mine):
Consider, O man, how great the excellence in which the Lord has placed you because He has created and formed you to the image of His beloved Son according to the body and to His own likeness according to the spirit. And all the creatures that are under heaven serve and know and obey their Creator in their own way better than you. And even the demons did not crucify Him, but you together with them crucified Him and still crucify Him by taking delight in vices and sins. Wherefore then can you glory. For if you were so clever and wise that you possessed all science, and if you knew how to interpret every form of language and to investigate heavenly things minutely, you could not glory in all this, because one demon has known more of heavenly things and still knows more of earthly things than all men, although there may be some man who has received from the Lord a special knowledge of sovereign wisdom. In like manner, if you were handsomer and richer than all others, and even if you could work wonders and put the demons to flight, all these things are hurtful to you and in nowise belong to you, and in them you cannot glory; that, however, in which we may glory is in our infirmities, bearing daily the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us all, brothers, consider the Good Shepherd who to save His sheep bore the suffering of the Cross. The sheep of the Lord followed Him in tribulation and persecution and shame, in hunger and thirst, in infirmity and temptations and in all other ways; and for these things they have received everlasting life from the Lord. Wherefore it is a great shame for us, the servants of God, that, whereas the Saints have practised works, we should expect to receive honor and glory for reading and preaching the same.
The badge of San Lorenzo de Almagro football team In the public domain (source: Wikimedia)
Last Saturday, San Lorenzo de Almagro played a football (soccer) match against Argentinian Primera Division rivals, Colón. Pope Francis is a
loyal San Lorenzo supporter, and has been for most of his life. Therefore, in
thanksgiving for their most famous fan’s election to the Throne of St Peter, San Lorenzo players all wore for the game a picture of the new Pope on their shirts. The image was surrounded by the words: ‘Papa Francesco’.
According to Yahoo
Sports, the decision to add the image of the new Pope to their kit may have
resulted in a 'minor miracle', as San Lorenzo beat their rivals in a rather fortuitous way. Thanks to a comedic own-goal by Colón striker Ruben Ramirez, the ‘Pope’s
team’ won the game 1-0. Fans have credited this bizarre win to Divine
intervention, and are therefore keen for San Lorenzo to keep the image of the
Pope on the team’s strip – despite a FIFA ban on images that seem to endorse a particular religion or faith!
A recent Rome
Reports’ story mentioned that many San Lorenzo fans attended the Papal
inauguration on Tuesday. Apparently, they had travelled from Argentina at the request of
the new Pope. One fan, called Rodolfo Martinez, said that Pope Francis had
asked them “ to bring [him] the wooden image of the Virgin Mary from the old
wooden stadium in San Lorenzo, an old picture of the stadium, and the new team
shirt.” It seems that the Pope has been an avid fan of the team -- also known as 'the Saints' -- since he was a
small child, and has been a season ticket-holder for many years.
Pope Francis’s favourite football team was founded by Fr Lorenzo
Massa, a priest based in the Almagro district of Buenos Aires during the early
part of the twentieth century. Fr Massa wanted to help youngsters avoid the temptations of youth by
encouraging them to take up sport. He named the team after St Laurence, and after only a few years the club had become one of the best sides in Argentina. Here
in the UK, many of the now famous football teams also started in the a similar way – often as parish clubs set up by local priests or ministers to provide young men with
a healthy, disciplined, and productive alternative to a 'life on the streets'.
In related news, one of the ‘finest footballers of all time’
(see Metro), Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, believes he may have played the
game with Pope Francis when they were both youngsters. Di Stefano grew up in the
same Buenos Aires neighbourhood as Jorge Bergoglio and, as a child, played football with other local boys every evening. Writing in his regular
column for the Spanish newspaper, Marca, the former Real Madrid footballer said
that the current Pope was ‘probably’ among those with whom he played.
Below is a video showing Saturday’s so-called ‘miracle’ own goal!
Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri Credit: Jose Cruz/Agencia Brasil Published under Creative Commons (source: Wikimedia Commons)
It seems that Pope Francis revived an ancient tradition at
the end of the Conclave that elected him to the Papacy.
After accepting the
Petrine Ministry, the Holy Father placed his old cardinal’s zucchetto on Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri's head. Archbishop Baldisseri is the Secretary to the College of Cardinals, and therefore, by virtue of his office, served as Secretary to the
Conclave. This act means that Archbishop Baldisseri will be formally created a cardinal
at the next consistory.
Until recent times, it was common for a newly elected Pope to elevate the (non-cardinal) Secretary of the Conclave to the ranks of the cardinalate upon his own election to the Papacy. He would do this by giving the Secretary his own cardinal's zucchetto, as he himself was given the white one reserved for the Pope.
The last Pope to do this was Blessed John XXIII, who, immediately
after being elected to the See of Peter in 1958, gave his old red skullcap to
the then Secretary of the Conclave, Alberto di Jorio. The tradition, until last week, seemed to have come to an end with the election of Paul VI in 1963.
According to a friend, some commentators had noticed
that Archbishop Baldisseri was wearing a cardinal’s zucchetto when he appeared in public during Pope Francis's greeting from the Loggia of St Peter’s on the night of his
election. The story has since been confirmed by Vatican Radio’s Portuguese language news section.
Many congratulations to Archbishop Baldisseri! It is also good
to note that Pope Francis decided to revive this beautiful and ancient custom.
Over the past few days, the virtue of humility, especially in relation to our Supreme Pontiffs, has been discussed at great length within the Catholic blogosphere. Of course, humility is hard to define. It seems, though, that once we think or declare ourselves to be humble, any humility we may have possessed is probably lost amidst the puffed up smoke of pride.
No truly humble man declares himself to be so -- for he knows that that is for God alone to judge. Having said that, authentic humility shines forth from those who possess this gracious gift -- despite outward appearances or even hidden lives.
Other men and women recognise a humble soul -- even if that soul's humiliation consists of having to bear the secret pains and indignities which often come with the trappings of high office. A king who feels embarrassed at having to wear a crown, but who submits to his duty, is often more humble, for example, than a monarch who merely abandons the wearing of such ornaments, throwing his crown away so as to ease his ego.
Humility is a slippery fish, and often (but not always), those who appear humble are not as humble as those who don't seem (by outward appearances) to be so. A person's humility, or lack of, is something known to God alone -- He searches the hidden depth of our hearts. For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse, my sacrifice, a contrite spirit, a humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn (Ps 50 [51]:18-19).
Personally, I think that, as a man, Eugenio Pacelli -- the Venerable Pius XII -- must rank as one of the Papacy's humblest popes. Here he is greeting Allied (British and Canadian) troops after the liberation of Rome in 1944. (His address begins 3 minutes into the clip.)
Another interesting video (here) also contains parts of the same footage.
It's truly wonderful to be able to watch this great man of God like this. It is also amazing to hear him speaking in English, whilst referring to some of my favourite saints!
May God the Father grant us all some share in His Son's Cross -- that Tree which never fails to produce a rich harvest of good fruit, including humility.
Pope Francis (c) Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk Creative Commons Licence (source: Flickr)
Today, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, told reporters that he wanted a ‘poor Church, for the poor.’ Of
course, this is something that all Catholics should desire. It is also a
reflection of the Church as she already is and always has been – most of her members live in spiritual
and material poverty. Many souls endure unimaginable sufferings due to homelessness,
hunger, and other horrific hardships; whilst others lack priests, places of
worship, or the sacraments. Contrary to what the world would have us believe –
the Church is poor. In her poverty, though, she is also the richest body the world has ever seen!
God loves the poor
Our God has a special regard for the poor. Jesus said that those
who are poor in spirit are blessed inheritors of the Kingdom of God (cf Mt 5:3), whilst Our Lady
sang with great joy these most sacred words: ‘He hath filled the hungry with
good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away’ (Lk 1:53). The Psalms also tell us that the Lord has no time for the man of ‘proud looks and haughty
heart’ (Ps 101:5), but hears the prayer of the poor (cf Ps 34:7). Those who put their trust in
their own wealth or power are as nothing before God, whilst those who
acknowledge their spiritual poverty, or who endure great material hardships and
injustices, offering their sufferings before the Lord, will be raised up as
princes in the Kingdom of our God.
It is often the case that our churches are places where the
poor come to praise God. It is the treasury of their suffering and pain that
adds sweetness to the incense of the Church’s divine worship. They are the ones
who, especially when they are filled with Christ-like humility, show us the face of Our
Blessed Lord. It is your face that I seek, O Lord, hide not your face (Ps 27:8). Surely, that
Face of Beauty is found in the millions of faces that are suffering throughout the
world at this very moment. A poor disciple is an extraordinary reflection of Jesus Christ. We know this. How we
treat the least of our brothers in this life, will determine our place in the
next – for they are accounted by Christ as one with him, so much so that how we act towards them (justly, or unjustly) determines our real attitude towards
Our Lord himself (cf Mt 25:31-46).
If we disregard the poor, we have no faith
St James warns us that our faith is only real if we treat with justice and compassion those members of the Church -- our brothers and sisters -- who are materially poorer than ourselves.
What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but
hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him? And if a brother or
sister be naked, and want daily food: And one of you say to them: Go in
peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet give them not those things that are
necessary for the body, what shall it profit? So faith also, if it have
not works, is dead in itself. (James 2:14-17)
To disregard those beloved souls who belong to the Body of
Christ, but who suffer greatly through hunger, homelessness, lack of justice,
oppression, and other such evils, is a sign that our faith does not exist – despite a multitude of
religious devotions and pious supplications we may also be serenely offering. In fact, such false piety will probably count against us when we are called before the Lord -- especially if we have ignored him in the hungry, the naked, the weak, and the vulnerable.
Liturgical beauty should not lead to human pomposity
Our Lord separates the Sheep and Goats at the Last Judgement Painting by Fra Angelico (source: Wikimedia Commons)
I believe passionately in the necessity of liturgical reverence
and beauty -- without it, the Church is lost. This doesn’t mean that in pursuing one Christian duty – the worship
of Almighty God – we should wilfully neglect another – justice and true love towards our neighbour. In fact, I have often found that the majority of those who prefer to
attend Mass according to the Extraordinary Form, or Ordinary Form Masses
celebrated with reverence and true dignity, are actually materially quite poor and / or concerned with the plight of those who have nothing.
Contrary to an assumption popular among some Catholics, most devotees of traditional Catholicism are not
tweedy wannabes or stuck up snobs. Most of us are normal, down to earth, if not
relatively poor people. All we want to do is worship God as best we can.
Having said that, there can be a very fine line between the desire to promote liturgical beauty and plain human pomposity. What’s the point
of grand Masses, set to some great composer, and perfectly performed, if, at
the end of it all, charity is diminished or lost? What’s the point of a liturgy
that seems, sometimes and in some places at least, to promote cold-heartedness and disdain towards the poor and needy? Someone recently told me that he had
stopped attending one place of worship because the external beauty of
the liturgy offered there was too distracting (too focused on human
entertainment – as if the church was a concert hall). He also told me that he
couldn’t bear to see the way the poor, the ordinary and the lowly, were treated in
that particular place. I have often found myself sharing my friend’s sentiments. As a
relatively poor man, I know what it feels like to be treated with disdain by
the pious.
Completely ignoring human aspects of the liturgy is dangerous
Another danger in sacralising the liturgy to the point that
it completely loses its human element is that we may begin to act in less than human ways.
When the liturgy becomes a way to avoid reality or other people, then we may
find ourselves committing the greatest liturgical abuse of all – one that I
have often fallen into. That abuse is to over-emphasise fantasy and religiosity
at the expense of reality and the need to live lives of holiness and love.
Liturgical nit-picking is a form of modern-day 'Pharisaism' – being too vexed about linen
or lace whilst a man is dying of hunger outside the church door is a great
scandal. It is not good for us to obsess about things that will not ultimately save us,
especially when such obsessions are mere devices in our battle against love.
May Pope Francis help eradicate 'Christian snobbery'
During my life, I have twice been homeless -- one of these occasions actually
saw me on the streets. Last year nearly saw me on the streets again.
During these periods of extreme anguish and material discomfort, I noticed
that atheists or agnostics were often far more ready to help than so-called religious people -- surely, there is something wrong there? Many good Christian souls have also helped me, of course – but they have tended to have been those members of the Church who know all about poverty and hardship themselves.
Once,
when I was very desperate for some material help, I asked a priest if there was a poor box in
his church. He looked at me as if I’d lost my marbles! “Poor box?” He asked
with a look of disdain on his face, before tutting and walking off.... Under Pope Francis, I
hope to see an end to such snobbery and inhuman behaviour throughout the whole Church, but especially within the sacred priesthood. Ignoring the poor and needy makes every act of worship we perform an act of sacrilege and is a cause of scandal to the whole world.
And there was a certain man in Caesarea, named Cornelius, a centurion of that which is called the Italian band; A religious man, and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms to the needy, and always praying to God. This man saw in a vision manifestly, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in unto him, and saying to him: Cornelius. And he, beholding him, being seized with fear, said: What is it, Lord? And he said to him: Thy prayers and thy alms to the poor are ascended for a memorial in the sight of God. And now send men to Joppe, and call hither one Simon, who is surnamed Peter. (Acts 10:1-5)
