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Commentary on Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16

We touch today on a very topical, very sensitive and very painful reality of life in our time—the question of divorce. Similarly, today’s Gospel indicates that it was a controversial question in Jesus’ time and in his society also.

In reply to the Pharisees’ question about the permissibility of divorce, Jesus quotes from the book of Genesis in a passage used in our First Reading today. It expresses in beautiful language the ideal of the perfect marriage. Speaking about the companion God had given him:

…the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.”

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

We are hardly shocked nowadays when we hear that a couple we know have decided to divorce. There are some places where as many as half of the marriages end in the divorce courts. And the percentage among Catholics is often on a par with the rest of the population. Even where the figures are not high, they are growing nearly everywhere and are a matter of serious concern.

More than one kind of divorce?
The problem may even be more widespread than official figures indicate. We might say that there are two kinds of divorce. First, there is the obvious case when a couple decided legally to separate and terminate their marriage permanently. However, there is another kind of ‘virtual’ divorce which may be almost as bad and, in some cases, even worse. This is where the husband and wife nominally remain a couple, but where, in fact, their lives have become completely separate. One or both partners may even have established new liaisons of their own. This second kind of ‘divorce’ may be more common than we realise.

Some time ago a woman wrote to me in these terms:

“Yesterday was our 40th wedding anniversary. No big deal really despite attending two Marriage Encounter sessions, a Cana weekend, and reading umpteen books on how to have a better marriage. Love, whatever that is, flew out of the window a long time ago. I’m committed to this marriage physically, but my thoughts and fantasies in a ‘different world’ make me wonder is this what life is all about? A half life? We try to do all the right things. [My husband] seems quite content with his life, but I don’t really know. I might appear to be content with my life, but how can this be when I find myself thinking…‘Oh well, when I’m a widow, I shall be able to do this, that and the other.’ Before, it was ‘when I retire, I shall…’ but this has not worked out at all… How do I know if I will outlive [my husband]?”

One wonders how many are living in half-marriages like this: neither in nor out.

Can Catholics divorce?
Is divorce possible for Catholics? Our first reaction would be to say, “Of course, not.” Yet, strictly speaking, there is nothing to prevent Catholics deciding not to live together any more. They can even go to a civil divorce court and have their civil marriage and all the legal responsibilities connected with it set aside. What is ruled out for baptised Catholics is remarriage with someone else. The Church would also exclude remarriage for non-Christians who are, in its eyes, validly married. There are, however, limited exceptions to this which we cannot go into here.

No matter how high our ideals may be, we have to face the fact—and it is a fact—that marriage relationships can and do break down. They can break down completely and irrevocably. It is not something that happens overnight, but if the warning signs are ignored, a couple can reach a point of no return and a relationship becomes stone dead. If the symptoms had been dealt with in good time, perhaps it need not have been like this. Perhaps, with hindsight, they should never have got married at all. But right now, the couple is faced with an apparently unresolvable incompatibility.

If this happens in a marriage between Catholics, what are they to do? If it is clear that they can no longer live together, the Church very clearly provides for separation, even permanent separation from bed and board. This is not divorce nor is it annulment; the marriage bond still exists. (In annulment the marriage is regarded as never having validly existed.)

Where a legitimate separation takes place and where, after a reasonable period of time, it is clear that the separation is permanent, there would seem to be no problem for the couple to go through a civil divorce. This in no way affects the obligations arising from their Christian marriage, but it does withdraw the state’s recognition of the marriage and the civil obligations that arise from it.

In this way, the separated couple may come to a legal and satisfactory arrangement over material goods they were holding in common. The court may also help to decide equitably the status of the children and the rights of access of each parent to them. Yet, as Catholics they need to remember that their Church marriage still holds and any further marriage is, according to Church law, ruled out.

Remarriage of separated couples
Nevertheless, it is not unknown that, after a separation and civil divorce, one of the couple does remarry—though not, obviously, in church. It is also not unknown that the first (church) marriage may have ended in disaster quite early on. Once the first flush of romance had faded, it was seen that the marriage was a terrible mistake. But the second marriage, what the Church prefers to call an ‘attempted’ marriage, may prove to be stable, deeply happy and last for decades until the death of one partner.

In this case, what is to be done? May this remarried couple, who are both fervent Catholics, whose children are being formed in the Christian faith, be reconciled with the Church? Must they continue to be severed from the Eucharistic table at which their children partake—and thus be prevented from expressing their union as a family?

Again, according to the letter of the law, this is possible provided the parents no longer have sexual relations with each other and that no scandal is given to other Catholics who know their situation. In practice, it should be said that the Church, in its pastoral concern, may apply more sympathetic solutions on a case by case basis. In reality, can we say that a remarried couple who are now members of a deeply Christian family community and sharing their marriage bed should still be regarded as ‘living in sin’? Are we to be guided by the existential relationship (i.e. non-relationship) that now exists between two separated partners, or are we to have our lives determined by a legal prescription?

However, for the Church in its official teaching we are not dealing just with a law, but with the very nature of things which cannot be changed. The question remains, though, whether we understand the nature of things differently now and under what circumstances divorce was seen in the past. The whole institution of marriage has undergone radical changes in recent times. This is likely to affect the question of divorce also.

Whatever the case, it is important for the Church to be always mindful of the healing compassion of Jesus who came to save and not to condemn. It remembers the words of Jesus that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

A painful experience
In spite of its being so widespread, there is no doubt that a divorce is a most painful experience for a married couple. Although we are told that people nowadays find commitment more difficult, it is not likely that most married couples enter marriage on a trial basis, to ‘see if it works’. On their wedding day they presume this is for keeps. (In preparing people for marriage, I have never met a couple who had any doubt that it was for keeps.)

Facing the threat of divorce is an experience no one would want to go through. It is an admission of failure. Two people who once seemed so sure about each other have now to admit that they can no longer live at the level of union expected of a marriage relationship. Some individuals have even said that the pain of divorce is too great for them to contemplate another marriage.

And then there are the children. They, of course, are the real victims. How long into their future lives will the experience of seeing their parents’ marriage falling apart affect their own interpersonal experiences later on? The tragedy is made even greater when divorce is seen as being the lesser pain than continuing to live in a home riven by constant conflict.

What to do?
What is the answer to divorce? As in most sicknesses, physical or social, the best cure is surely prevention. Yet how can divorce be prevented? One important way must surely be a much better preparation for marriage. In most cases, so much time, effort and money is poured into preparing for the wedding day which lasts a matter of hours. Next to nothing may be done to prepare for the decades of living in intimate relationship together.

Somehow there is a naive belief that with the wedding over, the couple can be left to their own devices and that nature will take care of the rest. What could be more natural than sexual union and procreation? Millions of broken marriages and divorces should long ago have told us that things are not so simple.

Today’s Gospel says that the couple are no longer two persons, but “one flesh”. To develop that kind of two-becomes-one relationship requires a lot of work. It requires a good deal of guidance and help to make it happen. In fact, marriages don’t happen, they are made. The psychologist and philosopher Eric Fromm wrote about the art of loving. It is an art, a skill to be learned.

The Church, in its wisdom, in many parts of the world insists that couples intending to get married must follow a comprehensive pre-marriage course led by experienced married people. What the Church—and society—does not do sufficiently is to follow up the couple after they are married. Marriages often run into trouble simply because there is no one around to give support and counsel when a marriage runs into a rough patch. While in our society there are expected roles for parents and relatives of young married couples, they often do not provide the kind of effective wisdom-sharing approach that is really needed in today’s pressurised living. For Catholics, however, there are in most places ‘Marriage Encounter’ experiences or ‘Cana Conferences’ where couples can re-affirm the marriage commitment in a highly supportive environment. But Jesus is right. Divorce is not the answer.

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Commentary on Exodus 23:20-23; Psalm 90; Matthew 18:1-5,10

Coincidentally, the Gospel reading for today’s Memorial to the Holy Guardian Angels is the same as yesterday’s for the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux (unless her feast falls on a Sunday). The emphasis on St Thérèse’s feast was on the childlike qualities of Thérèse. There, Jesus was saying that true greatness only comes to those who in a spirit of complete docility and trust submit themselves totally to the will of their Father in heaven.

Today the focus is more on Jesus’ statement at the end of the reading where he says:

Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

The meaning is that those considered as of least consequence—children, the poor, the marginalised—are all very special in God’s eyes and, through their angels, can be sure of God’s loving concern.

The First Reading is from the Book of Exodus. It comes from a long passage of commandments covering a wide range of issues which Yahweh gave to the Israelites. This happened after Moses had gone up Mount Sinai and spoken face to face with Yahweh. The passage, beginning with chapter 20, starts with the giving of the Ten Commandments. These are then followed by a long list of instructions on how the Israelites are to behave.

Towards the end of Yahweh’s words (in chapter 23) we have the short passage which is today’s reading. It is a promise of God’s protection for his people as they continue their long and dangerous journey through the desert on their way to the Promised Land:

I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.

It is the promise of Yahweh’s protection over his people. But they are warned to listen to the voice of the angel; there will be no forgiveness for their failure to obey—because Yahweh’s authority resides in his angel.

But, if they follow Yahweh’s angel in everything:

…then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

Their angel will go before them and will help them defeat the various peoples—Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites—who will try to prevent them reaching the goal promised them by God.

Today, we pray that God’s ever-loving protection will be always with us and that he will guide us on the right paths. Help us always to follow the paths shown to us by Jesus our Lord.

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The Church has never formally declared that every individual has a protecting angel. However, a writer as far back as St Jerome said it was the “mind of the Church”. He wrote in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew:

How great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from birth an angel commissioned to guard it.

Belief in guardian angels was common among many cultures in ancient times. Examples can be given from Menander, Plutarch and Plotinus as well as from the Babylonians and Assyrians. In fact, it was their belief which was taken up by the Jews following their periods of conquest and exile.

In the Old Testament, the evidence of protecting angels is frequent. For example, an angel led Lot to safety before the destruction of Sodom. During the Exodus, an angel is appointed as leader of the Israelites. As well, God tells Moses in today’s Memorial’s First Reading:

I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. (Exodus 23:20)

There is also the lovely story of the angel (Raphael) who took protective care of Tobias as he went in search of a bride and for medicine to heal his blind father (Tobit chap 5).

In Psalm 91:11 we read:

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Ironically, these same words were used by Satan tempting Jesus to jump from the top of the Temple.

In chapter 10 of the Book of Daniel, angels are entrusted to take care of particular districts. It is clear the Old Testament understood God’s angels as messengers carrying out his will, including the protection of people.

In the New Testament, angels are frequently the links between God and his people. We hear Jesus saying:

Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matt 18:10)

There was the angel who consoled Jesus during his Agony in the Garden (Luke 22:43), and it was an angel who delivered Peter from prison (Acts 12:6-10). And finally, in the Letter to the Hebrews we read:

Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? (Heb 1:14)

As children, many of us remember the prayer we were taught to say every night before sleep:

Angel of God, my guardian dear
to whom God’s love commits me here.
Ever this day/night be at my side
to light, to guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.

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Commentary on Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 130; Matthew 18:1-5

The Gospel reading from Matthew speaks of those who are really great in the Kingdom of God. It is the beginning of the fourth discourse given by Jesus in this Gospel, a discourse which discusses the relationships between members of the Christian community.

As the reading opens, Jesus’ disciples approach him and ask who is the greatest in the Kingdom. Probably to their surprise, Jesus called over a small child and placed him among them. He then told them that unless they “change”, i.e. make a radical internal change in themselves, and become like little children, they will not be able to be part of the Kingdom. And what does becoming like a little child mean:

Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

What Jesus is emphasising here is a particular quality of a good child—docility, that is, openness to learn what is true and good. It is this docility towards God and his will for us that is most important for growth as a person and also in making one an effective influence for the good of other people.

Greatness, then, does not consist in great wealth, high intelligence, in power over other people, in high status or fame. It consists, as the Gospel will show elsewhere, in a spirit of dedicated love and service seeking always the well-being of other people.

Jesus also says in today’s reading that:

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

This is an exhortation for the follower of Jesus to reach out in love and care especially for those who are insignificant and weak in our society. In reaching out to them, we reach out to Jesus himself. Later, in this Gospel, Jesus will say:

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. (Matt 24:40)

And, in the passages immediately following today’s reading, he will speak very strongly in condemnation of those who lead the small and the weak astray and away from God.

We can easily see why this reading was chosen for today’s feast. Thérèse was a young Sister living in the total seclusion of a Carmelite convent. In the eyes of the world, which neither knew or cared about her existence, she was a nobody. Yet, after her death, her real greatness in being a perfect child of Christ was revealed and she became a model and inspiration for thousands of people.

The First Reading is from the last chapter of the Book of Isaiah. The reading is part of a hymn to “Mother Zion”, that is, Jerusalem. Here, Jerusalem is taken as an image of God’s loving care for his people and should be read in the context of St Thérèse:

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her…that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.

This is a lovely description of the love that Thérèse had for her Lord from whom she received so much.

And again:

As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

In a life that was not always easy, and one that ended in a lengthy illness, Thérèse found comfort in her Lord. In spite of her sufferings and through her sufferings she found Jesus close to her. Let us ask her that she may give us the courage to follow her example in our trials and difficulties.

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Marie Francoise Thérèse Martin was born on 2 January, 1873 at Alencon, southwest of Rouen in the north of France. She was the youngest daughter of Louis Martin, a watchmaker, and his wife, Zelie-Marie Guerin, a lacemaker, who died of breast cancer when Theresa was four years old. Both parents had wanted to enter religious life and, when they could not, hoped their children would do so. There were nine children, but only five girls survived.

Thérèse grew up in a traditional religious home having little contact with the world, typical of middle-class Catholicism of the time. In 1877, the family moved to Lisieux in Normandy, where an aunt helped to look after the girls and where Thérèse went to the Benedictine convent of Notre Dame du Pré. One after the other her elder sisters entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. At 15, after her sister Marie entered the convent, Thérèse tried follow her, but the superior of the convent would not allow it on account of her age. Later, her father took Thérèse on a pilgrimage to Rome and, during a general audience with Pope Leo XIII, she asked him to allow her to enter at 15, but the Pope said: “Well, my child, do what the superiors decide.” Soon after, the Bishop of Bayeux gave his consent for her to enter as a postulant in 1888. Her name in religion was Sister Thérèse of the Infant Jesus and of the Holy Face. The following year, 1894, her father suffered a stroke and died, and the fourth sister, who had been looking after him, was now able to enter the Carmel.

Not surprisingly, the overall description of Thérèse’s life is easily told. She followed the daily routine of a Carmelite sister from day to day, but did so with great commitment and devotion.

Apart from being made assistant to the novice mistress in 1893 at the age of 20, she never held any other significant responsibility in the community.

Thérèse is known for her “Little Way”. In her quest for sanctity, she realized that it was not necessary to accomplish heroic acts, or ‘great deeds’, in order to attain holiness and to express her love of God. She wrote:

Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.

Thérèse would later be known as the “Little Flower”.

Thérèse’s final years were marked by a steady decline that she bore without complaint. In 1895, she suffered a haemorrhage which was the first sign of the tuberculosis which was to bring about her early death. On the morning of Good Friday, 1896, she began bleeding at the mouth brought on by her pulmonary condition. Her TB had now taken a turn for the worse.

As a result, she was not able, as she had so dearly wanted, to offer herself for a Carmelite mission foundation in Hanoi, Vietnam (then French Indo-China). She remained at the Lisieux convent, accepting great suffering without complaint. In July 1897, she was moved to the convent infirmary, and just three months later died on 30 September, 1897 at age 24. On her death-bed, she is reported to have said:

I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me.

Carmelite convent in Lisieux
It is most likely that, like most Sisters in her secluded situation, nothing more would have been heard of her. However, she had been told, under obedience to write a short spiritual autobiography now known as L’Histoire d’une Ame (The Story of a Soul). In 1895, she began writing a memoir of her childhood under instructions from her sister, Pauline, known in religious life as Mother Agnes of Jesus. While on retreat in September 1896, Thérèse wrote the second part, consisting of a letter to her eldest sister, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart. In June 1897, when Mother Agnes realised the gravity of Thérèse’s illness, she immediately asked Mother Marie, the prioress, to allow Thérèse write another memoir with more details of her religious life. It was published after Thérèse’s death, after editing by her sister, Pauline (Mother Agnes).

The book became a religious best-seller of the 20th century, and was translated into most European languages. It was also a best seller in Asia as well. Its publication was accompanied by reports of miraculous cures and countless ‘favours’ granted through her intercession—and it is still in print.

Since 1973, further editions (including the original version of The Story of a Soul), her letters, poems, prayers, and plays she wrote for convent recreations have been published.

Pope Pius X signed the decree starting the process of canonization on 10 June, 1914. Pope Benedict XV, in an unusual move, dispensed with the usual 50-year delay required between death and beatification. On 14 August, 1921, he promulgated a decree on the heroic virtues of Thérèse and gave an address on Thérèse’s way of confidence and love, as a model for the whole Church.

Thérèse was beatified in April 1923, and canonized two years later, on 17 May, 1925, by Pope Pius XI, just 28 years after her death. Her feast day was added to the Catholic liturgical calendar in 1927, to be celebrated on October 3. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved it to 1 October, the day after her death.

Thérèse of Lisieux is the patron saint of those with HIV-AIDS, aviators, florists and missions. In 1927, Pope Pius XI named her a patron of the missions (with St Francis Xavier) and in 1944, Pope Pius XII named her co-patroness of France (along with St Joan of Arc).

By the Apostolic Letter, Divini Amoris Scientia (The Science of Divine Love) of 19 October, 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Universal Church, one of only three women so named (the others being Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena). In fact, Thérèse was the only saint named as a Doctor of the Church during John Paul II’s pontificate.

While presenting a deceptively simple and even pious image, it is clear that Thérèse was very close to the message of the Gospel and, in her sufferings, she showed a great spirit of courage, strength and self-sacrifice. Her interior asceticism was based on selfless and unconditional obedience rather than on simple exterior acts of penance.

The influence of her spirituality would lead many in her own convent, in her Order and in the Church generally to a greater appreciation of the asceticism arising from a faithful living out of ordinary community and daily life. In art Thérèse is represented in a Carmelite habit holding a bunch of roses in memory of her promise to “let fall a shower of roses” of miracles and other favours.

Some things which Thérèse said:

• I am a very little soul, who can offer only very little things to the Lord.
• I will spend my Heaven doing good on earth.
• After my death I will let fall a shower of roses.
• While desiring to be a priest, I admire and envy the humility of St Francis of Assisi and I feel the vocation of imitating him in refusing the sublime dignity of the priesthood.

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Commentary on 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Psalm 118; Matthew 13:47-52

The Gospel reading is taken from Matthew. It is the end of chapter 13 which consists of a set of parables told by Jesus and all relating to the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven, as Matthew prefers to say). It is the third of the five discourses given by Jesus that we find in Matthew’s Gospel.

The last parable speaks of the end of the world, the time of judgement. Jesus compares it to a net which fishermen cast into the sea. When they pull it in, they find there are fish they want to keep and others which they will throw away.

Jesus says that at the end of the world it will be like that. Those who are good will be set apart for eternal happiness while others will be rejected into a life of eternal suffering. It is important for us to realise that this choice is not really made by God, but by us.

During our life, we have the choice to be on the side of God, to walk the Way of life that Jesus has shown us—a life of love and service and mutual caring—the choice to say ‘Yes’ to Jesus. On the other hand, we have the freedom to say ‘No’, to live a life of total self-centredness, doing whatever we feel like with total disregard for the needs of those around us. If we persevere like that to the end, God will say to us: “Your will be done” and we will go into an eternity of total isolation.

Finally, Jesus concludes the parables by saying:

Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.

‘Scribe’ here seems to refer to those who have teaching authority in the Church, especially the Twelve taught by Jesus and chosen by him to continue his mission. They know both the teaching of Jesus (the new) and the Law and the Prophets (the old) and will incorporate both in their teaching, as understood in the light of the new. In many ways, this is a description of Matthew’s Gospel, in which he often shows that the Old Testament is being realised and fulfilled in the New.

Jerome, we know, was deeply learned in the whole of the Scriptures and wrote much to help us in our understanding of it. Every Christian needs to be as familiar as possible with the Word of God if they wish to be truly faithful to the call of Jesus.

In the First Reading from the Second Letter to Timothy, the author (presumed to be Paul) speaks about the value and importance of Scripture:

…from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

It is not just knowledge and information we get from the Scriptures, but true wisdom, true insight into the meaning and direction of our lives. Its foundation is our faith, our total trust that the truth is in the Way of Jesus.

Paul says:

All scripture is inspired by God…

As such, we call it the “Word of God”. And so it is our guide in evaluating our thinking and our values and the goodness of our words and actions. And, Paul says, it:

…is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Jerome’s whole life, of course, was based on these ideas. He was himself steeped in the Scriptures. They were the guide of his life and he helped others to take it as their guide too. What role do the Scriptures play in my Christian living—central or peripheral? It is never too late to start.

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Jerome was born about 341 AD at Strido in Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia). He was first educated by his father and then was taught by the grammarian Donatus in Rome. His study of rhetoric is apparent in the quality of his later writing. Prior to his baptism just before 366 AD, he liked to visit the churches and catacombs of Rome. He also travelled in Gaul, his native Dalmatia, and Italy.

It was at Trier in Aquileia, he decided, with some good friends, to become a monk. But, after a quarrel, arising from some real or supposed scandal, Jerome left for Palestine. In 374 AD, he was in Antioch in Syria where two of his companions died and Jerome himself became seriously ill. It was during his sickness that he had a dream in which he saw God condemning him for being a Ciceronian rather than a Christian, and this experience affected him for a number of years.

He became a hermit in the Syrian desert for five years, gave up his beloved classics and began learning Hebrew in order to study the Old Testament in its original language. With his knowledge of Greek and his training in style and rhetoric, he was now ready for his future work as a writer and translator. Unfortunately, Jerome also had the reputation of being cantankerous and sarcastic, which led to his making a number of enemies all during his life.

He was raised to the priesthood in Antioch, even though he did not want to be ordained and in fact never celebrated the Eucharist. He then went to study in Constantinople under Gregory of Nazianzus, where he felt more at home than with monks in the deserts of Syria.

He translated Eusebius’ Chronicon (Chronicle) from Greek into Latin, as well as some of Origen’s homilies. He also wrote his first scriptural work on the Vision of Isaiah, which in a later form was dedicated to Pope Damasus I. Subsequently, he returned to Rome as interpreter to Paulinus, a claimant to the See of Antioch, and was retained as ‘secretary’ by Damasus, then a very old man.

He produced a number of small pieces, mainly involving translations of Scripture. It was at this point that he began the enormous task of making a standard Latin text of the whole Bible. It was not really a completely new translation, but more a revision of existing texts made from the original Hebrew and Greek. He began with the four Gospels and the psalms. He eventually completed almost the whole text of the Bible which became known as the Vulgate (literally, ‘popularised version’). He also wrote much appreciated commentaries on the Prophets and the Letters of the New Testament. His commentary on Matthew’s Gospel became a standard work.

During his three years in Rome, he also became the spiritual director of a group of semi-monastic women. This relationship gave rise to some gossip, generally regarded as unjustified, but it was not helped by his sarcasm and arrogance. He left Rome in 385 AD—as he had left Syria and Constantinople before—under something of a cloud. He was determined to make a new start, this time in Bethlehem, where Paula, one of his Roman directees, established a convent and Jerome a monastery. It was here that he would spend the rest of his life teaching, writing and studying.

During his life he aimed to produce the most accurate version of the Bible and to explain the meaning of the text through sound interpretation. He also believed that monastic life should be based on Scripture-centred prayer, what we now call lectio divina. Such a life should be based on the teachings of the Gospel and Paul, and its finest example was Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Although marred by his difficult temperament, his learning had no equal at that period except for Augustine. His Letters are regarded as the finest of the time. And his deep spirituality and austerity of life were unquestioned.

Jerome died in Bethlehem on 30 September, 420, and was buried under the church of the Nativity there, close to the graves of his spiritual companions, Paula and Eustochium, and close to the traditional site of the birth of Christ. Later his body was transferred to the basilica of St Mary Major in Rome.

In art, it has been common to represent Jerome as a cardinal, although there was no such thing at the time. Even when shown as a scantilly clad anchorite, with cross, skull and Bible as the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other indication of his rank is usually introduced somewhere.

He is also often shown with a lion, due to a medieval story in which he removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, and, less often, an owl, the symbol of wisdom and scholarship. Writing materials and the trumpet of final judgment are also part of his iconography. One Renaissance pope commented that it was well Jerome was shown holding a stone, representing his penitential life, because otherwise it would be difficult to regard him a saint! He is also one of the four Latin Doctors.

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Commentary on Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 or Revelations 12:7-12; Psalm 137; John 1:47-51

The Gospel reading from John is the scene in the beginning of his gospel where Jesus meets Nathanael, who has been introduced to him by Philip. Nathanael who had somewhat sneeringly asked if anything good could come from Nazareth must have been somewhat surprised to hear Jesus say to him:

Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!

Of how many people can that be said (including ourselves)?

Puzzled, Nathanael asks Jesus:

Where did you get to know me?

Rather enigmatically Jesus tells him:

I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.

The fig tree was often seen as a symbol of messianic peace. They were words, then, of commendation. Nathanael, deeply impressed, tells Jesus:

Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!

This declaration is on a par with Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity,and concludes the list of Jesus’ titles which are given in this first chapter of John.

And yet Jesus says he will see much more:

Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these…Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

The allusion is clearly to the dream of Jacob who saw God’s angels-messengers going up and down on a ladder linking Heaven with Earth, God with his People. Jesus, as the Incarnate Son of God is the bridge which links God with his People. He is like a ladder by which God comes to his People and his People go to God.

In a sense Jesus is the Archangel of archangels, the Ultimate Messenger of God’s Truth and Love. Through Him God comes to us, and through Him we go to God.

There is a choice of two First Readings. The first is from the Book of Daniel and speaks of a vision that the prophet has of God on his Throne, which is described in graphic and apocalyptic language. Among other things we are told that:

A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

These are the angels who serve at God’s throne.

The second part of this reading is taken from the New Testament to refer to the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour King of Israel. He is said to be:

…one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven.

Some translations have it as “one like the son of man”.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.

This is an image that the Gospel will use to describe the return of the Risen Jesus at the end of time as he calls his people to himself (see Matt 25).

The alternative First Reading is from the Book of Revelation and speaks of Michael defeating Satan and the powers of evil, which was mentioned above. With the defeat of Satan:

…come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah…

These angels are symbols of God’s ever-loving relationship with us. It is a two-way communication. We listen to what God tells us and try to make it part of our lives. At the same time, we reach out to him in faith and trust and in a complete surrender of our being.

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There are few explicit references to angels in the earlier books of the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament). The word ‘angel’ comes from the Greek angelos and simply means a ‘messenger’.

They begin to appear in the later books, for instance, in the Book of Daniel and seem to date from after the Babylonian exile. However, in chapters 18 and 19 of the Book of Genesis, there are the three men who visit Abraham, who gives them hospitality. One of them seems to be Yahweh and the other two angels. While Yahweh stays with Abraham, the other two go on to Sodom. There they are received by Lot and while in his house, the people of Sodom come and demand to have intimacies with his visitors. The next day, the visitors urge Lot to leave Sodom with his wife and two daughters. The city, along with Gomorrah is then destroyed.

As well, angels are mentioned in the story of Jacob, who had a dream of “angels of God ascending and descending” a stairway or ladder which reached to the heavens (Gen 28:12).

According to some Jewish texts, there were seven archangels, three of whom we remember in today’s feast – Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

Angels are mentioned frequently in the New Testament. Angels brought messages to Mary, Joseph, Zechariah (father of John the Baptist), the shepherds at Bethlehem, angels ministering to Jesus during his fasting in the wilderness, consoling him during his Agony in the Garden, at the tomb of Jesus after his resurrection, and the angel who freed Peter from prison in the Acts of the Apostles.

Only two references are made to ‘archangels’ in the New Testament – Michael in Jude 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Revelation 12:7-9, and Gabriel in Luke 1:26.

Michael
In Jude, the author is speaking against false teachers. He says they behave immorally and revile God’s “glorious beings”, perhaps a reference to angels. But unlike them, Michael in his dispute with Satan over the body of Moses never spoke judgement against him, but left it to God’s own decision.

In the First Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul is speaking about the Second Coming of Christ which he believes will come in the lifetime of the present believers. At that moment:

…the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thess 4:16)

The archangel here is understood to be Michael.

In the Book of Revelation chapter 12, in a passage speaking of the power of evil in opposition to God and his people, we are told that war broke out in heaven between Michael and his angels and the dragon, representing the powers of evil. Evil could not prevail and was driven from the presence of God.

In the Hebrew language, ‘Michael’, means “Who is like unto God?” or “Who is equal to God?” Michael has been depicted from earliest Christian times as a commander, who holds in his right hand a spear with which he attacks Lucifer (Satan) and in his left hand a green palm branch. At the top of the spear there is a linen ribbon with a red cross.

Gabriel
The archangel Gabriel is mentioned just once in the whole Bible – in the New Testament. It is in the lovely scene in Nazareth where he visits the virgin called Mary and tells her that she will become pregnant, that she will bear a son who will be called Jesus, and that he will the Son of the Most High God. Mary, who is betrothed to Joseph, but not yet living with him as his wife, is alarmed. But she is assured that the Child will be born by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary then submits completely and unconditionally to God’s will:

Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:26-38)

‘Gabriel’ means “Man of God” or “Might of God”. He is regarded as the herald of the mysteries of God, especially the Incarnation of God and all other mysteries related to it. In art, he is depicted holding a lantern with a lighted taper in his right hand and, in his left, a mirror of green jasper. The mirror signifies the wisdom of God as a hidden mystery.

Raphael
The archangel Raphael appears in the lovely Book of Tobit (not found in the Hebrew Testament or many Protestant Bibles). The archangel is the unrecognised friend of Tobit who goes in search of his inheritance and a bride. The girl he finds is Sarah. Alarmingly, he discovers that all her previous husbands died on the wedding night. But God’s blessing was on this relationship. Raphael also helped Tobit catch the fish whose gall would cure his father’s cataracts and restore his sight.

‘Raphael’ means “God’s healing” or “God the Healer”, and he is depicted leading Tobit, who is carrying a fish caught in the Tigris in his right hand and holding a physician’s alabaster jar in his left.

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Commentary on Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15; Mark 5:21-43

Today’s readings are about Jesus as the giver of life. The Gospel consists of two related stories, with one inside the other, a typical feature of Mark’s Gospel known as ‘inclusion’. Jesus is approached by an official of the synagogue, called Jairus. His daughter is seriously ill and he wants Jesus to come and lay his hands on her “so that she may be made well and live”. So Jesus sets out for Jairus’ house and is followed by a huge crowd of jostling people.

A woman in fear
It is at this point that the second story begins. An unfortunate woman who has suffered a haemorrhage for 12 years is in the crowd. Mark says she had spent all her resources on treatment from doctors. There was no improvement; in fact, she was feeling worse than ever. (Interestingly, Luke, who is traditionally thought to be a physician, omits this detail!)

Like many others, she had heard about Jesus and, moved by a deep faith in him, she believed that if she could just touch the hem of his cloak it would be enough for her to be healed. In fact, the moment she touched Jesus’ clothes her bleeding stopped instantly. She knew that she had been cured. It was then that Jesus turned round and asked: “Who touched my cloak?” He knew that power had gone out from him. The disciples remonstrate with him. How can he complain of someone touching his clothes when such a large crowd is pressing in on him? Many people must have been jostling him, but Jesus knew that one person had touched him in a different way, a way that had drawn out his healing power.

Why she was afraid
Then the woman, in fear and trembling, stepped forward. She was not really afraid of Jesus. She was afraid because she should not have been there at all. And that is why she had not approached him openly in the first place. Her bleeding problem made her unclean and, if the people around had known about it, she would have been in deep trouble. It is similar to an earlier period in our own time when a person living with HIV/AIDS felt they had to remain concealed. She was, of course, no threat to anyone, but fear does not know reason. Now her secret is going to be exposed; no wonder she is even more afraid. But she steps forward, falls at Jesus’ feet and tells him everything. There is no anger or indignation on Jesus’ part. He says kindly:

Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.

Jesus, the resurrection and the life, has restored her to fullness of life. Not only is she physically cured, but she is fully restored to a normal social life and can be fully integrated into her society. She is a whole person in every sense, individually and socially. But it was her deep faith in Jesus, symbolised by her merely touching the hem of his garment, which was a major factor in her healing.

‘Do not be afraid’
We now move back to our first story. Just as Jesus finishes with the woman, Jairus is told that his daughter has died and that there is no need to bother Jesus any further. Jesus may be a healer, but he is not expected to resuscitate the dead.

Jesus, however, insists on going and he says beautiful words which we need to hear him saying often in our own lives:

Do not be afraid; only believe.

This phrase is repeated like a refrain, hundreds of times in our Bible.

He only allows three of his disciples, the inner circle of Peter, James and John, to accompany him. He wants them to see what is going to happen, but he does not want to satisfy the merely curious, or cater to the sensational reaction of the excitable crowd.

As they approach the house, there is the sound of mourning and wailing. Jesus asks:

Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.

And they laughed at him…they knew a dead person when they saw one. Was the girl in fact dead or was she in a death-like state of unconsciousness like a coma? It does not really matter; because, as far as those present were concerned, she was dead. If Jesus had not been there, she would very likely have been buried within a short time.

Giver of life
Jesus goes into the house with just the parents and his three close companions. He takes the girl by the hand and says to her:

Talitha koum, which means, “Little girl, get up!”

And the 12-year-old girl immediately got up and walked around quite normally, as if nothing had been wrong with her. Those words “get up” have overtones of resurrection, the “getting up” of Jesus from his own tomb. This is Mark’s way of presenting what Jesus says more explicitly in John’s Gospel:

I am the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25)

Whether she was dead or in a coma, she was restored to fullness of life, and Jesus is revealed as the Lord of life. No wonder that those who witnessed the scene “were overcome with amazement”. So much so that they had to be reminded by Jesus to give the girl some food to eat. This is a small touch on Jesus’ part, but it reveals how ‘other-centred’ and caring he is. He could have been basking in the admiration of the onlookers, but he continues to focus on the girl and her needs.

We are meant for wholeness
Both of these stories – with one, as it were, enfolded in the other – reveal Jesus as the source of life and healing. As the First Reading says today, God:

does not delight in the destruction of the living.

And it goes on to say:

For he created all things so that they might exist…the dominion of Hades is not on earth. For righteousness is immortal.

We have been made, the book of Wisdom tells us, to be in the image of God’s own nature:

God created us for incorruption
and made us in the image of his own eternity…

This is the goal of our lives: to know, to love and to share his life forever. Yet all of us, in some way or another, are constantly in need of God’s healing. Healing, health, wholeness, and holiness are, in English, all linked words. We pray for healing which will give us health in every aspect of our lives, and not just in our bodies. The realisation of full health is to become a whole person, where every part of me – spiritual, intellectual, social, psychological and physiological – functions as it ought and in perfect harmony within itself, with people around, and with the environment.

Wholeness comes in sharing
And part of that wholeness is indicated by Paul in the Second Reading. He reminds the Corinthians how Jesus, rich though he was (not with money, but in things of the spirit):

…for your sakes…became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Naked and destitute on the cross, he poured out his love on us. He even gave his life that we might have life. And because of that he, too, lives forever – and we have been immeasurably enriched. Paul gives that as a model for the way that the Corinthians should share whatever they can spare for their poorer brothers in other churches.

Interestingly, he says that in sharing with others we are not expected to give away what we genuinely need ourselves, but only from our surplus. And, when I share my surplus today with someone in greater need, I myself can hope to be treated in the same way in my own hour of need. (Of course, it is important that I distinguish clearly and honestly what I genuinely need and what I think I cannot do without – my Mercedes sports car or my Rolex watch.) In this way, a balance is maintained and Paul quotes from Scripture:

The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.
(2 Cor 8:15)

That is an example of wholeness in our society, in our communities – the way it should be.

Part of our healing is in the wholeness of our communities, a wholeness which is based on truth, love, compassion and a deep sense of justice for all. And this, too, is holiness, because God is an integral part of the wholeness. He is recognised as the Creator, the Conserver and the Final Goal of all that I am and can be, of all that we are and can be. Let us pray today to Jesus as Lord of life and ask him to help us reach that level of health, wholeness and holiness to which he is calling us.