Author: Father Sean Coyle

The Inspiration of St Matthew, Caravaggio [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 Matthew 5: 38-48 (New Revised  Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

Jesus said to his disciples:

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Columban Fr Rufus Halley (1944 – 28 August 2001) 

Father Rufus Halley was one year behind me in the Columban seminary in Ireland. We were close friends. He came to the Philippines in 1969, two years before I did. He spent his early years in the country in Tagalog-speaking parishes in an area of the Archdiocese of Manila south of the metropolitan area, now the Diocese of Antipolo. He was fluent in the language. He began to feel a clear call from God to leave the security of working in an area overwhelmingly Christian and mostly Catholic to a part of Mindanao where Columbans had worked for many years that is overwhelmingly Muslim, the Prelature of Marawi. There he became fluent in two more Filipino languages, Meranao, spoken by the majority of Muslims in the area, and Cebuano, spoken by most of the Christians.

Both Muslims and Christians saw Father Rufus as a man of prayer, a man of peace, a man of God. Over the years he earned the trust of some Muslim leaders despite the long history of distrust between Muslims and Christians that sometimes led to outright conflict. Because of the trust he had built up he got an extraordinary request: to mediate in a feud between two groups of Meranaos. He was a foreigner, a Christian and a Catholic priest.

Father Rufus saw this as another call from God and agreed. He also sought the advice of a Muslim elder who wasn’t involved in the conflict. Over a period of many weeks he was going back and forth between the leaders of the two factions until eventually they agreed to meed. The morning of the meeting was filled with tension but when the leaders arrived they agreed to end the feud.

A week or so later Father Rufus dropped into the house of one of the leaders of the conflict and, to his delight, saw a leader of the other faction having coffee with him, the two men engaged in a lively, friendly conversation into which they invited the Irish priest.

Father Rufus used to speak about this event as the highlight of the twenty years he spent living among Muslims, a period when tension was seldom absent from his life and where there was often danger. Though a person who had a naturally optimistic disposition – five minutes in his company would get rid of any ‘blues’ you might feel – that didn’t keep him going. His Christian hope and faith did.

Both Christians and Muslims were devastated by his death.

Father Rufus came from a privileged background and could have entered any profession. But he chose to answer God’s call to be a missionary priest. Our Columban superiors sent him to the Philippines.

Young Jew as Christ, Rembrandt [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 Matthew 5: 17-37 [20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37] (New Revised  Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

For the shorter reading everything in [square brackets] may be omitted.

Jesus said to his disciples:

[“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; [and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister,  and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.]

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.]

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, [either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.] Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.^”

Entrance Antiphon   Antiphona ad introitum

The Marriage at Cana, Martin de Vos [Web Gallery of Art]

More than thirty-five years ago I spent part of a summer working in a parish near New York City. One day when I was on duty I answered the phone. The man calling gave me his name, which I wrote down. He told me he was living in an irregular situation, having been divorced from his wife. He was asking what the Church could do for him in that situation. I tried to tell him about programs that the Church had in the diocese for Catholics who were divorced and re-married civilly or living with someone else. The latter situation wasn’t nearly as common then as it is now.

I was able to find his mailing address easily and wrote him a letter letting him know that I had understood his situation and the reason for his anger and frustration. Again, I informed him of the ways the Church was trying to be with those who found themselves in situations such as his.

The following day I had another phone call from the man. He thanked me profusely for my letter, for having listened to him and for having heard what he was trying to say. He also acknowledged that he was in a situation that he himself had created.

Today’s Gospel shows us a Jesus who is somewhat different from the ‘domesticated’ meek and mild Jesus that we often imagine or create. He speaks of hard things: the consequences of breaking God’s law, the necessity of forgiving and accepting forgiveness, the fruits of anger – not the feeling, which is something spontaneous, but the decision to remain angry/to hate – and the effects of adultery. Some of the most difficult parts of the gospel may be omitted and probably will be by many priests, for various reasons.

The media at the moment are giving lots of coverage to how the Church approaches those who are living with someone not their spouse. One might be led to think that the Church is being harsh for the sake of being harsh, imposing impossible difficulties on some of its members and failing to be ‘merciful’ and ‘pastoral’.

On 11 February 2014 Fr Edward McNamara LC, who writes for the Catholic news agency Zenit, replied to a question about this very matter. He quotes from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nos 1650 and 1651. The latter says, Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons: ‘They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts for justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God’s grace.

I have close friends in such situations and in visiting parishes in Britain to do mission appeals for the Columbans I’ve met couples in irregular situations who are very much involved in their parishes, but who accept the teaching of Jesus, expressed through his Church, and live with that painful reality which they know they have created for themselves, for whatever reasons.

[I wrote this reflection three years ago but right now this very question is causing quite a bit of distress, division and confusion in the Church in the context of one part of Amoris Laetitia, the document by Pope Francis on love in the family published last year.]

Christ and the woman taken in adultery, Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

In the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) we find this exchange at the end:

Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

Jesus shows the woman the greatest respect. Part of that respect is not denying that she had sinned. She knew that she had. God alone knew what had been going on in her heart. Jesus restored her dignity to her, gave her hope: Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.

Jesus has taught us very clearly what marriage is: Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ (Matthew 19:3-6). 

This is a hard saying. Many utterly reject it, even the part about male and female. Others wrestle with the consequences of not accepting the teaching of Jesus when they find themselves in difficult situations.

Some think, wrongly, that the Church does not allow persons who are divorced to receive Holy Communion. That is not true. An ongoing seriously sinful situation is created when two persons, at least one of whom is married in the eyes of the Church, choose to live together whether after a civil wedding or otherwise. The same, of course, applies to any two persons not married to each other who live together in a sexually intimate relationship. That is a choice people make. But if a divorced person lives a chaste life he or she isn’t living in a sinful situation.

The First Reading makes it very clear that God gives us the freedom to choose – and that there are consequences to the choices we make:

If you choose, you can keep the commandments,

    and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.

He has placed before you fire and water;

    stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.

 Before each person are life and death,

    and whichever one chooses will be given.

For great is the wisdom of the Lord;

    he is mighty in power and sees everything;

his eyes are on those who fear him,

    and he knows every human action.

 He has not commanded anyone to be wicked,  

    he has not given anyone permission to sin.

Responsorial Psalm (NAB Lectionary, Philippines, USA)

The response in the responsorial psalm, which is an echo of the first reading, is Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! (NAB). This is taken from Psalm 119 [118], as are the verses used in the responsorial psalm. this is the longest psalm, 176 verses in groups of eight in praise of God’s law as something that makes us free.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus challenges us in every aspect of our lives. He challenges us to think with a new mindset. St Paul expresses it well: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).

That means taking to heart the words that Jesus repeated a number of times in the Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that it was said . . . But I say to you . . .

God So Loved the World (from Stainer’s ’The Crucifixion’)

Words: Text compiled by William John Sparrow-Simpson

Music: God So Loved the World (from Stainer’s ‘The Crucifixion’) John Stainer

 

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

But have everlasting life.

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,

But that the world through Him might be saved.

Communion Antiphon (John 3:16)

God so loved the world 

that he gave his Only Begotten Son, 

so that all who believe in him may not perish, 

but may have eternal life.

 

 

A View of Toledo, El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

‘A city built on a hill cannot be hidden’ (Mt 5:14).

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Matthew 5:13-16 (New RevisedStandard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition) 

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’

Childhood of Christ, Gerrit van Honthorst [Web Gallery of Art]

‘Let your light shine before others . . .’ (Mt 5:16).

One of the darkest periods in the history of the world was 1939 to 1945 when much of the world was at war. At the heart of the darkness was Nazi Germany, where freedom had been almost entirely suppressed. But not quite. Between June 1942 and February 1943 a small group of students at the University of Munich with their philosophy professor Kurt Huber formed The White Rose, a non-violent resistance group working against Hitler and the Nazi regime. 

Sophie Scholl

(9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) [Wikipedia]

Among the leaders were Sophie Scholl and her older brother Hans. They were executed together. Both were devout Lutherans. It is said that she was influenced by the writings of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman. Others in the group, such as Willi Graf, were devout Catholics. Not all were Christians but they shared a commitment to speaking the truth, even if it cost them their young lives. Most were in their early 20s.

Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen [Wikipedia]

One German Catholic who had a great impact on the group was Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Münster, Germany, who died just after being made a cardinal in 1946, a giant of a man physically (6 feet 7 inches /2.01 m tall), morally and spiritually. He was known as ‘The Lion of Münster‘. In a series of sermons in 1941 he denounced some of the policies of Hitler, including that of euthanasia. Hans and Sophie Scholl used one of these in a leaflet that The White Rose printed and distributed secretly.

It was while distributing leaflets – the movement produced a total of six, their only means of communication – at the University of Munich, that Hans and Sophie were caught and then executed.

The members of The White Rose are remembered and honored today and a number of films have been made about them. The video above contains footage from one of those.

You can see Franz Josef Müller, a member of The White Rose who survived, speak about the movement here. [The video, by request, can’t be embedded.]

White Rose Memorial, University of Munich [Wikipedia]

I remember the late Fr Vincent San Juan SJ, a Filipino who spent most of his life as a priest in the family life apostolate, telling me that during the days of Martial Law here in the Philippines when the government was conducting a vigorous campaign of promoting contraception – doctors in government hospitals often ligated women shortly after they had given birth, with no regard for their husbands or for their feelings – he sometimes gave seminars to government workers. They had little real freedom. But they were happy and encouraged to hear what they recognized as the truth from Father San Juan. To the participants in these seminars who were bombarded daily with government propaganda the Jesuit priest speaking the truth of the Gospel in a quiet and encouraging way was the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world.

The Department of Health and the Department of Education in the Philippines were planning to distribute condoms to students in government high schools in 2017-18 – ‘with great sensitivity‘. Thank God, the Secretary of the Department of Education announced on 30 January that her department would not go ahead with this. Those who showed their opposition to this were being, in this situation, the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world.

Hans and Sophie Scholl and their companions knew that their lives were in danger. But their Christian faith led them to be the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world. Through them at least some experienced the truth of the words of Isaiah 9:2 quoted in Matthew 4:16, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. 

Salt is of use only when it is mixed with other things. The light of the sun doesn’t exist for itself, for us to look at it. If we did we would be blinded. It is meant to light up everything around us, as we are meant by being salt and light to bring others to taste and see the joy of knowing Jesus the Risen Lord.

Not many are called, as some of the members of The White Rose were, to be the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world by laying down their lives. But those in The White Rose got their Christian faith, their moral values from others who for them were the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world. Some of them had belonged to various Nazi movements for young people but saw through the false values being promoted and left. In other words, they had been formed in solid values by others, older persons such as parents, some teachers perhaps. others trying to live honest and upright lives as followers of Jesus, ‘missionary disciples’, as Pope Francis calls us to be in Evangelii Gaudium No 120, without even being aware that they were such.

If you google ‘Sophie Scholl’ or ‘The White Rose’ on YouTube you will find many videos about the movement. There have been two movies made about Sophie and the movement, The White Rose (with English subtitles) directed by Michael Verhoeven in 1982 and Sophie Scholl – the Final Days  (with English subtitles) directed by Marc Rothemund in 2005.

Pope Francis [Wikipedia]

On 27 October 2013 in his homily in St Peter’s Square on World Family Day Pope Francis explicitly called families to be the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world. And, characteristically, he called them to be such in a spirit of joy. He ended his homily with these words:

Dear families, you know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that everything seems to be going well . . . True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journey. But the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all. God alone knows how to create harmony from differences. But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centredness prevails and joy fades. But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society.

Dear families, always live in faith and simplicity, like the Holy Family of Nazareth! The joy and peace of the Lord be always with you!

Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt (Mt 2:14).

Sermon on the Mountain, Károly Ferenczy, [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 Matthew 4:12-23 [or 12-17]  (NewRevised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition) 

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.’

Isenheim Altarpiece (First View), Matthias Grünewald 

[Web Gallery of Art]

Quicumque enim vult perfecte vivere, nihil aliud faciat nisi quod contemnat quae Christus in cruce contempsit, et appetat quae Christus appetiit. 

Whoever wishes to live perfectly need do nothing other than despise what Christ despised on the cross, and desire what Christ desired. (St ThomasAquinas).

In the video below Fr Robert Barron (now Bishop Barron, Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles) offers a reflection on the Beatitudes based on St Thomas Aquinas and the painting of the Crucifixion by Matthias Grünewald, part of the Isenheim Altarpiece (First View).

Fr Barron uses the word ‘happy’ rather than ‘blessed’. The Jerusalem Bible uses ‘happy’ but the New Jerusalem Bible returned to the more widely used ‘blessed’. However, Fr Barron explains elsewhere: The Greek term in Matthew’s Gospel is makarios, which is probably best rendered with the simple word ‘happy’. The law that the new Moses offers is a pattern of life that promises, quite simply, to make us happy.

Fr Barron’s words reflect those of St Paul: When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). 

They reflect the words of Jesus himself: for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38).

They reflect the words of Bishop Edward Galvin of Hanyang, China, Co-founder of the Missionary Society of St Columban to which I belong: We are not here to convert China but to do God’s will. The Columbans were founded to preach the Gospel in China but experienced a real sharing in the Crucifixion of Jesus and were all expelled by the early 1950s, including Bishop Galvin himself. (Columbans are working again in China in very different circumstances).

The late Swiss theologian Fr Hans Urs von Balthasar writes  in his book Light of the World about today’s gospel: What Jesus says here in programmatic fashion is no generalized morality that anyone could understand, rather, it is the pure expression of his most personal mission and destiny. He is the one who has become poor for our sake, who wept over Jerusalem. He is the nonviolent one against whom all the world’s violence rages and is shattered. He is the one who hungers and thirsts for God’s justice, who reveals and accomplishes God’s compassion on earth. He has the pure heart that always sees the Father; he is, as Paul says, ‘our peace’ by virtue of having destroyed enmity with his crucified body (Ephesians 2:14-17). He is the one who is persecuted by the entire world because he has incarnated God’s righteousness. In all of these he is the blessed one because he perfectly incarnates and mediates the salvation God intends for the world. He exults in this even in the midst of tribulation in the world (Luke 10:21) and he will eternally exult in this as the One who returns to the Father with his mission accomplished. He begins his ministry of proclamation with a self-portrait that invites his listeners to follow him.

God wants us to be our brother’s keeper. To feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to instruct the ignorant, at a personal sacrifice, is what God wants us to do. What we give to the poor for Christ’s sake is what we carry with us when we die. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau says: ‘When man dies he carries in his clutched hands only that which he has given away’. Peter Maurin.

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

Les Béatitudes – The Beatitudes sung in French