More

Commentary on Num 13:1-2, 26-14:1, 26-35 Read Wednesday of week 18 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

More

Commentary on Ezekiel 3:17-21; Psalm 116; Matthew 9:35-10:1

The Gospel reading describes the mission work of Jesus. It tells us that Jesus moved from town to town, teaching in synagogues and proclaiming the coming of the Reign of God in his person and, as a sign of that Reign, the healing of all kinds of diseases and sicknesses.

Crowds gathered to listen to him and to be touched by his healing powers. Jesus, for his part, was moved to the depths of his Heart with compassion for them. The word ‘compassion’ means to share in the feelings and sufferings of others. Not just to feel sorry for them, but to show that he knows what they are experiencing in himself. He saw them as lost sheep needing the guidance and support of a shepherd. Jesus, of course, is that shepherd. He is, in his own words, the Good Shepherd.

He then turned to his disciples, inviting them to take part in this work and, after he has left them, to continue it. The harvest, the numbers of people in need, are huge. Not only were his disciples to take part in the work of Jesus, they were to pray for others to join them in this work. He then called them together and passed on to them the power to drive out evil forces and to heal every kind of disease.

One of those who clearly aligned himself with the work of the Good Shepherd was John Vianney. Truly he was an extraordinarily devoted shepherd, not only to the people in his own parish but literally to thousands of others who came to him, in search of healing of body and spirit. His life was one of total commitment in the service of others. A life of utter simplicity with long hours spent in prayer.

The First Reading is a passage from the prophet Ezekiel and was apparently inserted at this point in the text by a later editor, but points out one of the prophet’s most characteristic qualities. It is a passage which is both a warning and a reassurance, and its relevance to today’s feast is very clear.

Yahweh is presented as speaking to Ezekiel, his prophet and messenger. Ezekiel’s responsibility is to hand on the word of God as he has received it. So, if the prophet fails to pass on God’s warnings to the wicked person and dissuade him from his behaviour, that person will die in his sin, but Ezekiel will be held responsible for his fate. On the other hand, if the wicked person, in spite of being given clear warnings about God’s will, perseveres in his evil behaviour, he will be punished, but the prophet will not be held responsible.

And if a good person yields to a temptation to do something evil, that person, too, will die in sin. His former good deeds will not be remembered but, if the prophet had failed to give warning, then the prophet will be held responsible for the person’s death. But, if a good person has been given warning about not falling into sin and does not sin, he will live, and the prophet too will have saved his own life.

This passage tells us something important. Namely, that God sees us as we are here and now and does not really take our past into account. God is not an accountant. There is not a book with a list of our good deeds in black and our sins in red which, at the end, are totted up. If we are in the ‘black’, well and good; if we are in the ‘red’, too bad. Again and again in the Gospel we see Jesus bringing forgiveness and reconciliation into the lives of people who had seriously sinned. The two most striking examples are the sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7) or the criminal who died on the cross with Jesus (“this day you will be with me in Paradise” – Luke 23:43). We might remember, too, that the Sacrament of Penance is less concerned with our past (about which we can do little) than with the new directions in which God wants our lives to go.

The passage is very relevant to John Vianney. We know he spent hours every day – sometimes as many as 16 hours – reconciling people to God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He had a very deep horror of sin, and expressed it clearly. Hearing these confessions deeply pained him, but there was also in him the compassion of Jesus for people to change their ways and be reconciled. The vast numbers of outsiders who made the journey to Ars just for John to hear their expressions of repentance speaks volumes for the comfort and consolation they must have received from their experience with him.

It is not surprising that John Vianney should be the patron of diocesan priests, but the whole pattern of his life carries a message for all priests and religious and indeed for every single person.

More

Commentary on Matthew 14:22-36 Read Tuesday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – Gospel »

More

Commentary on Numbers 12:1-13

Not only do the people complain, but Aaron and Miriam, the brother and sister of Moses, are also grumbling against their brother.
Ostensibly their complaint was that Moses had married a Cushite woman. This seems to be Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro and a Midianite, whom Moses married when he was in hiding for killing a man prior to his becoming leader of his people (see Exod 2:21). There is an element of contempt in the expression.

However, it seems their real grievance was that God spoke not only through Moses, but also through them. The prophet Micah speaks of Moses, Aaron and Miriam as God’s gracious provision for Israel (Micah 6:4). Yet they were not given the treatment they felt they deserved, the kind of treatment that he was getting from God. Miriam appears as the chief complainer and Aaron simply goes along with her, so she alone will be punished.

In spite of the favours God showered on him, Moses himself is described as being the meekest man on earth (though he could, when need be, speak in very harsh language to wrongdoers). The complaint thrown against him could not be attributed to any arrogance on his part.

So God (how human he appears in all these accounts!) overhears their murmurings and summons all three to the Tent of Meeting. He comes down in a pillar of cloud, stands at the entrance to the Tent and calls Aaron and Miriam to come forward.

God makes his meaning very clear to them. He makes a distinction between other prophets and Moses (Miriam herself was a prophetess). God communicates with prophets through visions and dreams, but only Moses is at home in God’s house and God speaks to him face to face, plainly and not in riddles and Moses sees the very form of Yahweh.

With other prophets and seers, God’s revelation did not always come to them with complete clarity. A prophet might not fully understand the oracles he uttered, and they might seem to be riddles and mysteries. But, in Moses’ case, God spoke with special clarity – like two people speaking face to face. Clearly this was a privilege granted to no other human being.

By way of exception, some others would be given a share in the divine spirit, and God would raise up prophets after Moses’ death, but Moses will remain the greatest of them all, until John the Baptist comes, the forerunner of the new covenant.

How then could Aaron and Miriam have the temerity to speak against someone who had such a close relationship with him? So angry was God with the way Miriam and Aaron criticised God’s special friend that, as soon as he left and the cloud disappeared, Miriam found herself a leper, her whole body as white as snow. Actually, it was not strictly speaking leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but an affliction known as “white leprosy” that is not regarded as serious or of long duration. However, it had the effect of ostracising her from the community for some time.

Aaron then begged that the sin they had foolishly committed be not held against them. He begged that his sister not be left to look like a still-born baby “with its flesh half consumed”. Moses too, begs God to bring healing to his sister. On this note the reading ends.

Later, Aaron will pray to God on behalf of his sister. She will be cured, but not before she spends seven days outside the camp in quarantine and isolation until her skin returns to normal.

Perhaps today we could look into our own hearts and see if there are any traces of jealousy there. What or who are we jealous about and why? And how do we relate with the people towards whom we feel jealous or envious? Can we learn to thank God for the gifts we see in other people?

More

Commentary on Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 or 2 Peter 1:16-19; Psalm 96; Matthew 17:1-9 (Year A); Mark 9:2-10 (Year B); Luke 9:28-36 (Year C)

Note: The Transfiguration of the Lord commemorates an event in the life of Jesus as recorded by the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is not recorded in John’s Gospel. It is also referred to in the Second Letter of Peter, which is used as an alternate weekday reading or as the Second Reading on a Sunday. One each of the three Gospel versions is read according to the Liturgical cycle of Years A, B, and C. The three versions are very similar, so this single reflection is given to cover all three years.

In all three Synoptic Gospels the story of the Transfiguration occurs in the same context, and that context is significant. Today’s verses are in the middle of the Gospel account and things have been building up to a climax. A previous reading describes how, as the disciples spend more time with Jesus, as they hear what he is saying and see what he is doing, they must have been asking, “Who is this Rabbi to whom we have attached ourselves; who is this Jesus?” Strangely, the answer comes from their own mouths.

One day, when Jesus was with them, he asked them:

Who do the crowds say I am? (Luke 9:18)

Jesus was using this strange title of himself. Based on what they must have been hearing from people around them, they said there were various speculative answers – John the Baptist (resurrected from the dead), Elijah (ditto) or some other of the prophets.

Jesus then pressed them further:

But who do you say that I am? (Luke 9:20)

It is then that Peter speaks up:

You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. (Matt 16:16)

It was a peak moment in their relationship with Jesus, and an exciting one. How their imaginations must have begun to work on what it meant to be so closely associated with the Messiah, the King who would be the Saviour and Liberator of Israel! What glories and privileges awaited them as his disciples!

But almost immediately, Jesus begins to speak in a very different way. For the first time (it will happen three times altogether) he tells them what his future is going to be. And it must have come as a terrible shock. Jesus told them he was going to suffer greatly, be rejected by the leaders of their own people, be killed and then rise again after three days. They could not believe their ears. How could this happen to the Messiah? How could their own leaders do such a thing? And what would it mean for the dazzling future they saw dangling before their eyes?

The impetuous Peter immediately stepped forward. He cried:

God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.
(Matt 16:22)

He can hardly have expected the reaction of Jesus:

Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. (Mark 8:33)

And while they are recovering from this, Jesus continues by saying that not only will he himself suffer but, if they want to be his disciples, they will have to be ready to walk the same road:

If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

It is after this depressing situation of disillusionment and incomprehension that today’s reading describing the Transfiguration takes place. We are told that six days later (eight days in Luke) Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John up a high mountain by themselves. The identity of the mountain is not given and it is not important. In the Scriptures, mountains are holy places and special things always happen there – we think for instance of Mount Sinai (Moses), Mount Carmel (Elijah), the Sermon on the Mountain, the Feeding of the 5,000, and Calvary (Golgotha), a hill outside Jerusalem.

There before them, Jesus is suddenly transformed and is dazzlingly bright. They can hardly look on him. Suddenly there appear with him Moses and Elijah. They represent the whole Jewish tradition of the Law and the Prophets. They are seen talking with Jesus. The message is clear. They fully endorse what Jesus is doing and saying and the future he has foretold about himself.

Peter becomes utterly confused. He suggests the building of three shelters – one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. As Mark comments:

He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

But that was not all. Just then, a cloud came down and covered them. This was not just a change in the weather. To the biblical mind it spoke of only one thing – the presence of Yahweh himself. And then out of the cloud came a voice; it could only be the voice of One Being:

This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!

Here now is the supreme endorsement of the Son by his Father. “Listen to him!” Yes, listen, even when he says things that you don’t like, things that you do not yet understand. It is a confirmation of all that has gone on before – the real identity of who Jesus is and the reliability of everything that he says will happen to him and what is expected of them.

It is a special moment of encouragement which will help carry them through the difficult days ahead. They already have the answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” But now they have to learn the answer to a more important question, “What kind of Messiah is Jesus going to be?” They will not fully accept that until after the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus when they will boldly continue his mission and not hesitate to carry their cross in doing so.

Let us follow in their footsteps. That is where true happiness and fulfilment lie.

The First Reading (from the Book of Daniel) records a vision that Daniel had of God in glory and it echoes the scene that is described in the Gospel:

…an Ancient One took his throne;
his clothing was white as snow
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames,
and its wheels were burning fire.

The alternate First Reading (or the Second Reading in some countries) is from the Second Letter of Peter in which he says he and his companions are not dispensing clever myths, but rather he claims to be a first-hand witness of the glory that was behind Jesus. Referring to the Transfiguration experience he says they had been “eyewitnesses of his majesty”. He and his companions heard the words of confirmation coming from God in his glory:

This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.

Peter says that they heard:

…this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

Hence, the message that he and his companions are now proclaiming is “completely reliable” and we should take it very seriously. Because, he says in a lovely phrase, this message is:

…a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

More

Commentary on Romans 8:1-4; Psalm 118; Matthew 5:13-19

The Gospel reading comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. It touches on two themes relevant to Alphonsus. The first is where Jesus tells his followers that they must not keep his message to themselves. It is a message that must be shared and promulgated as widely as possible. And Jesus uses several images to make his meaning clear. His followers are to be the “salt of the earth”. But, if they lose their taste, that is, if the message becomes dead in them, they are useless as salt and should be got rid of. We might add that salt only works when it is fully inserted in the food; it is no good if it just remains at the side of the plate. We, too, can only be effective ‘salt’ in our society when we are totally inserted into it.

Other images that Jesus uses are that his followers are to be the “light of the world”, shining the light of Jesus’ Way by word and example. They are to be like a “city built on a hill” which cannot be hidden. An invisible Christian is no Christian (although perhaps a good person). Similarly, no one lights a light and then hides it under a cover. On the contrary, a light is set up in the place where its light is most effective. Lastly, our light is to “shine before others”, not so that people will praise us for being so good, but so that they will be led to serve and praise God.

In the second theme, Jesus speaks of his attitude to the Jewish law. Jesus did not come to put an end to this law. Rather, he came to go beyond it and bring it to a higher level. So the Jewish law was not to be changed or invalidated, but superseded. In subsequent passages (not in our reading today), he will give six examples of what he means. He will say it is not enough not to kill, but it is wrong even to have hateful and hurting thoughts in the depths of one’s mind.

Alphonsus spent much of his time teaching people how to observe God’s law as it comes to us in the Scriptures. He constantly sought a balance between excessive legalism, the law for its own sake, and excessive laxity in watering down the moral requirements of the laws. Let him, then, be a model for us both in our readiness to share our Christian life with others in word and action, and also in being truly moral people – a morality motivated above all by love.

In the First Reading, from the Letter to the Romans, Paul distinguishes between living in the ‘flesh’ and in the Spirit. To live in the ‘flesh’ is to live a life of pure self-interest. To live in the Spirit is to be inspired by the vision of life that Jesus has given us. It is, above all, the law of love that is to govern our every action. Paul writes that:

God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

This was the deep concern of Alphonsus, that all live in the Spirit of Christ. And in his writings, he tried to show how this was to be done in the various situations of life.

More

Commentary on Deuteronomy 30:15-20 or 10-14; Psalm 1:1-4,6; 1 Corinthians 10:31—11:1; Luke 9:18-25 or Matthew 8:18-27 or John 1:35-42

Three Gospel readings are suggested for today’s feast. Each of them reflects some of the spirituality of the Spiritual Exercises.

The first, from Luke, is his version of Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, followed by the first prediction of his suffering, death and resurrection and, finally, the conditions for following Jesus. In the last verse of this text occur the words:

For what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves?

It is said that this text was proposed by Ignatius to Francis Xavier, who at the time was bent on a career of material success. After doing the Spiritual Exercises under Ignatius, Francis would devote himself to the Way of the Gospel and become an outstanding missionary, covering huge territories of Asia. It is for us, too, to hear those words of Jesus and reflect on the values that govern our lives.

The second proposed passage is from Matthew. It is about two people who wanted to become disciples of Jesus. The first, a Scribe, said he would follow Jesus wherever he went. Jesus replied:

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

It is clear that the man had to realise that to be a follower of Jesus, he had to be ready to let go of absolutely everything. Another person, who seems to be already a disciple, says: “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” To which Jesus replies:

Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.

It seems a severe answer, but the message is the same. It is possible, too, that the man’s father was not yet dead, but he wanted to be there when it happened. For Jesus, the service of God is always in the now. Ignatius expressed this teaching by his emphasis on ‘indifference’, a total openness to the will of God without expressing any preference one way or another.

The third text is from Gospel of John. John the Baptist is with two of his disciples and, as Jesus walks by, John says,

Look, here is the Lamb of God!

The two disciples, one of whom was Andrew, begin walking behind Jesus. Jesus turns and asks them:

What are you looking for?

They reply with a question of their own:

Rabbi…where are you staying?

And Jesus answers:

Come and see.

So they went and saw where he stayed. A simple dialogue, but full of meaning.

It is a dialogue that each one of us can have with Jesus. If he asks me, “What are you looking for?”, how will I answer? My answer will say a lot about where I am in my relationship with Jesus. And I can also ask, “Where are you staying?” Where do I go to find Jesus? Where in my life is he to be found? Finally, there is the invitation “Come and see”. Knowing Jesus is not a question of doctrines and deep theology. It is a matter of a personal experience of Jesus in my life. This is the purpose of the Spiritual Exercises – to know Jesus more clearly, to love him more dearly, to follow him more nearly.

Two texts from the Book of Deuteronomy are suggested for the First Reading. They are both from Chapter 30. We read:

If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

The commandments mentioned here, of course, are the Law of Moses, but we will rather look at the law of love that Jesus taught. Jesuits, too, will find God’s law expressed in the Constitutions of their Society and in the wishes of their superiors, in whom they recognise the voice of God. For a congregation whose members were often scattered far and wide and living very much on their own, obedience was very important as a bond joining them all together.

The Second Reading is from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. It reflects the motto of the Jesuits:

…whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

And the passage ends:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

The work of Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, was much loved by Ignatius. And the goal of doing the Spiritual Exercises is to become as like to Christ as possible.

There is also a beautiful prayer at the beginning of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (1:3-10) which speaks of how each one of us has been chosen by God long before we came into existence.

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Ignatius would have been very much aware of how God worked in his life. Step by step, God brought him from the life of a rather worldly soldier to a hermit’s life, and eventually to become the leader of an apostolic group devoted to the spread of the Kingdom and God’s greater glory. Perhaps, we, too, can see God acting in our lives at different stages and see how he has brought us to situations of which we had never dreamt – and how he has lavished his gifts on us through the people we have encountered and experiences we have had.

More

Commentary on 1 John 4:7-16; Psalm 33; John 11:19-27 or Luke 10:38-42

There is a choice of Gospel readings for today’s Memorial, each one featuring Martha and Mary and one focused around the death of Lazarus.

The first is from Luke’s Gospel and describes an occasion when Jesus went to visit the family’s house in Bethany. It was not far from Jerusalem and it seems that Jesus was a regular visitor there. On this occasion we are told that Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him. Martha, on the other hand, was fussing about in the kitchen getting the meal ready. After a while, Martha complained (perhaps there was there a slight hint of jealousy and resentment here):

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.

Jesus replied:

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

Jesus had said elsewhere that his followers should not be anxious or worried:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt 6:25,33)

Jesuit Father Anthony de Mello used to say: “Why worry? If you worry, you will die. If you don’t worry, you will die. So why worry?” Martha gives the impression that Mary is just sitting there doing nothing. But in fact, she is listening to Jesus – listening to the Word of God.

Many of us are very busy, run off our feet from dawn to dusk. But what are we busy about? What was Martha busy about? We need to stop and listen, as Mary did. ‘Busy-ness’ is not a virtue. The important thing is to be active about the right things – and to know what is the right thing to do, we have to stop and listen.

The alternative Gospel reading is from John. It is story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. Jesus had been told some days before that Lazarus was seriously ill but did not immediately respond. By the time Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus was already dead for four days.

When the sisters heard that Jesus had arrived, Martha, typically, rushed out to greet him while Mary stayed mourning in the house. As soon as she saw Jesus, she told him that if Jesus had been there earlier, Lazarus would not have died. But she was confident that any prayer Jesus would make to his Father would be answered.

Jesus said to her:

Your brother will rise again.

Replied Martha, expressing her faith in a future life:

I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

In so speaking, she draws from Jesus one of the great sayings of John’s Gospel:

I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

In other words, those who believe in Jesus as Lord and follow his Way immediately enter a life that will never end, although the body, of course, will pass away.

This, in turn, draws a great profession of faith from Martha:

Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.

It is a statement on a par with that of Peter at Caesarea Philippi earlier on.

And that, of course, is what this whole chapter is about. Jesus, the Son of God, as the Source of Life. It is also a preparation for Jesus’ own death from which he will rise in glory and be reunited with his Father. The same future is promised to us.

The First Reading for the Memorial is from the First Letter of John. It is one of the most central passages in all of the New Testament. It is about love being at the very centre of our lives. Love here is agape, a very special kind of love. It can be defined as an unconditional reaching out for the well-being of the other person. It is the love that God extends to us. It is the love that motivated all that Jesus did and said. It has to be at the heart of all we do and say. It is the essence of Christian living. The word agape, or some form of it, occurs 16 times in the short passage of today’s reading. We are to love in this way because that is what God does. It is what Jesus did. When we love in this way we become like God. And wherever this kind of love is expressed, God is there, because God is this love.

We Christians do not have any monopoly on this love. It can be found in all kinds of people. But let us make sure it is the driving force in our own lives, not just for our own sake but for the sake of everyone else, for:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love [agape] for one another. (John 13:35)

By this will all people know you are my followers that you have love [agape] one for another.

It is the best thing that could be said about any of us and the only thing that matters.

More

Commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Psalm 125; Matthew 20:20-28

The Gospel reading comes from Matthew. Jesus has just made the third prediction of his suffering, death and resurrection. Immediately afterwards, we are told that the mother of James and John approached Jesus with a request. When asked by Jesus what it was, she said:

Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.

After the first two predictions, the disciples had been very upset at the idea of their Master being put to death by the leaders of their own people. One gets the impression here that the disciples are coming to terms with this warning and are beginning to hear the last part – that he will be “raised on the third day”. And it looks as if James and John want to be first in line for the future that Jesus is talking about. What is interesting is that in Matthew, it is the mother who makes the request, while in Mark’s account, it is the two disciples who ask the favour.

In either case, it is clear that they show little real understanding of the spirit of Jesus. He tells them, in answer to the request:

You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

Here, Jesus is clearly referring to his coming suffering and death. Obviously, not understanding his real meaning, they reply: “We are able.” In fact, when the time comes, they will be nowhere within sight, having run for their lives.

But Jesus does say to them:

You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

Yes, when the time comes they will be ready to give their lives for their Master. But, even then, the places on the right and left of Jesus cannot be ‘booked’; they will go to those who most deserve them, to those who are closest in spirit to Jesus.

Not surprisingly, when the other ten disciples heard what was going on they were extremely angry. Not because they were shocked at the request, but because it was done behind their backs. One thinks that, given the chance, they would have done exactly the same!

So Jesus takes them all aside and gives them a lesson in what constitutes true greatness in his world. It is not a question of status or power. Greatness in Jesus’ world, in his Kingdom, comes to those who dedicate themselves most to the well-being of their brothers and sisters. And Jesus himself was a living example of this. He, the Son of God, came to serve and not to be served. His whole life, up to his last breath, was a mission of love and service given unconditionally to every single person. He died in shame and disgrace, a nobody. He totally emptied himself – for us. That is greatness. Of course, in time James would learn this lesson and would follow his Master in giving his life for the sake of the Gospel.

The First Reading is a wonderful passage from the Second Letter to the Corinthians. Here Paul speaks of the paradox of how the power of Christ’s message is communicated through people who are weak and are the objects of hatred and contempt.

…we have this treasure in clay jars [i.e. fragile and easily broken]…We are afflicted in every way…but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed… always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

This is a picture of Paul himself, but also of James and of all the martyred missionaries in the history of the Church. They are a stimulus and encouragement for us to follow in their footsteps.

More

Commentary on Galatians 2:19-20; Psalm 33; John 15:1-8

The Gospel reading from John’s Gospel comes from Jesus’ long discourse at the Last Supper. In the passage, Jesus speaks of himself as the True Vine. His Father is the vine grower and his disciples are the branches. Jesus, as the trunk of the vine, is the source of life for the branches. As long as the branches remain on the tree, they will produce fruit. Any branches which do not produce fruit will be cut off and burnt. Other branches will be pruned so that they will produce even more fruit.

The images clearly indicate the relationship that exists between Jesus the Son and his Father. They also show the relationship that should exist between Jesus and his followers. Jesus is the source of real life through the Vision of Life that he gives to us, as well as through the grace that he pours into receptive hearts.

We can expect, too, that there will be times of trial. We should not see these as punishment, but rather as challenges to our faithfulness and opportunities for spiritual growth. There can be no real growth in a life where everything goes too easily.

And a test of our discipleship is that we bear fruit. We do not just live for ourselves; it is not just a question of being in ‘a state of grace’ and ‘saving our souls’. We have to carry out Jesus’ injunction to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Our lives are to be marked by a deep desire for the well-being of our brothers and and a dedication to service to their needs.

This was the pattern of life which Bridget followed from her earliest years. Her deepest concern was for the moral uplift of people everywhere. Her life is perfectly expressed in the First Reading, a short passage from the Letter to the Galatians:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Like Paul, she is so close to Jesus that she finds it hard to distinguish between her own identity and that of Jesus. They have become one. That should be our goal too.