Month: May 2017

‘The Lord goes up with shouts of joy.’ Sunday Reflections, The Ascension

The Ascension, Andrea della Robbia [Web Gallery of Art]

 

For Readings for the Ascension and the Seventh Sunday of Easter and for Reflections on the Ascension click on the following:

The Ascension

Three White Cottages in Saintes-Maries, van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

A work of art is the fruit of the creative capacity of the human being who stands in wonder before the visible reality, and who seeks to discover the depths of its meaning and to communicate it through the language of forms, colors and sounds. Art has the capacity to express and to make visible man’s need to go beyond what he sees; it manifests his thirst and his search for the infinite. In fact, it is like a door opened to the infinite — to a beauty and a truth that goes beyond the everyday. And a work of art can open the eyes of the mind and heart, carrying them higher. (Pope Benedict XVI).

‘Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.’ Sunday Reflections, Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A

St Philip, Giuseppe Mazzuoli [Web Gallery of Art]
 
Readings and Reflections: 
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A
Canonizations in Fatima

Lucia Santos, left, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto [Wikipedia]

On Saturday 13 May Pope Francis will canonise Blessed Francisco Marto (1908 – 1919) and his sister Jacinta (1910 – 1920) in Fátima, Portugal, on the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of the Blessed Mother there to the three children.

A good friend of mine who is a priest and a Scripture scholar once pointed out to me that in all the places where the Church has affirmed that our Blessed Mother truly appeared it was to poor people. We can see this in such places as Guadalupe (1531) in Mexico, La Salette (1846) and Lourdes (1858) in France, Beauraing (1932-33) and Banneux (1933) in Belgium, Fátima (1917) in Portugal and Knock (1879) in Ireland. I have been blessed by having taken part in pilgrimages to all of these except La Salette and Guadalupe.

You may find this article of interest: The surprising connection between Our Lady of Fatima and Islam.

Ave de Fátima

Sung in Portuguese by the Choir of the Shrine in Fátima

 

Beatification in Dublin of Blessed John Sullivan SJ

Blessed John Sullivan SJ 

[Facebook. Portrait by Seán O’Sullivan]

Also on 13 May, for the first time in history, a beatification will take place in Ireland, that of Fr John Sullivan SJ (1861 – 1933), by  Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The ceremony will be held in St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner Street, Dublin, a church that is closely associated also with the Venerable Matt Talbot (1856 – 1925). These two men grew up within walking distance of each other, but in totally different circumstances, John Sullivan in prosperity and Matt Talbot in poverty. God called both of them to sanctity, as indeed he calls each of us through our baptism. They responded to this call.

St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner St, Dublin [Wikipedia]

For some reason, Dubliners rarely refer to their churches by their patronal name but rather by the street name. Had this ceremony been held in Dublin 50 or 60 years ago it would not have taken place in this or in any other church but in an open, public space. It will be interesting to see how the Irish media will cover the event.

Please pray this weekend for a renewal  of the Catholic Christian faith in Ireland where to a large extent in recent decades it has been rejected or marginalized as a purely private matter, and despised by some.

Sunday Reflections, Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A. Columban ordination to diaconate.

The Good Shepherd, Martin van Cleve the Elder [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Gospel John 10:1-10  (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

Jesus said:

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

You’ll find the Reflections here.

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Columban Ordination to Diaconate

Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco of Cubao ordained Erl Dylan J. Tabaco to the diaconate on 30 April in the Columban House of Studies, Cubao, Quezon City. The new deacon is from Holy Rosary Parish, Agusan, Cagayan de Oro City. He spent two years, 2014 to 2016, on First Mission Assignment in Peru as part of his preparation for the Columban missionary priesthood. You can read about his work there with children who are profoundly deaf and with young persons with intellectual disabilities here. 

Erl Dylan J. Tabaco with youngsters in Peru
 
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Bring Flowers of the Fairest, also known as Queen of the May, a very popular Marian hymn in Ireland, especially during the month of May, was written by Mary E. Walsh and is sung here by the late Irish tenor, Frank Patterson.