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Today’s feast is clearly linked with yesterday when we celebrated the Exaltation of the Cross. Only the Gospel of John records that the “mother of Jesus” stood by the cross with her sister, Mary of Magdala and the “beloved disciple”. In the Synoptic Gospels, women are recorded as standing at some distance from the cross, but Mary is not mentioned among them. One can hardly imagine the pain and grief that Mary must have undergone to see her only Son dying in such terrible suffering over a period of several hours. Mary, as the first and greatest disciple of her Son, shared in a very special way in the redeeming death of her Son and Lord.

Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows flourished in the Middle Ages. From that time comes the well-known hymn, Stabat Mater, which we still recite during the Stations of the Cross:

At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

Since the 14th century, these seven sorrows have been linked to Mary:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon – During the Presentation in the Temple, when Simeon foretold that a sword of sorrow would pierce Mary’s heart (Luke 2:22-37).
2. The Flight into Egypt – When Mary and Joseph took the new-born Jesus to the safety of Egypt to escape the massacre of the children in Bethlehem (Matt 3:16-18).
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days – When Jesus was 12 years old, he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. After being missing for three days, his distraught parents found Jesus in the Temple in discussion with the teachers of the Law (Luke 2:41-52).
4. Meeting Jesus on the Way to Calvary – A traditional scene, familiar from the Stations of the Cross, where Jesus meets his mother as he carries his Cross on the way to his crucifixion on Calvary (but not mentioned in Scripture).
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus – As the Gospel of John tells us, the Mother of Jesus was present at the foot of the Cross and kept vigil with her Son as he died (John 19:25-27).
6. Jesus Taken Down from the Cross – Again, a traditional scene from the 13th Station of the Cross and also represented in art by the Pieta (though again, there is no scriptural reference for this scene).
7. Jesus Laid in the Tomb – This is recorded in all four Gospels. The burial took place close to the place of crucifixion because of the coming Sabbath day. It must have been a painfully sad moment for the Mother who must have believed this would be the very last time she would lay eyes on her Son (Matt 28:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-50).

By remembering Mary’s sufferings in this way, we realise how close she was to the redeeming work of her Son. As mentioned, she is his first and closest disciple.

Especially in Mediterranean countries, statues of Our Lady of Sorrows are traditionally carried in processions on the days leading to Good Friday.

No feast in her honour was included in St Pius V’s Tridentine Calendar in 1570. Approval for the celebration of a feast in honour of Our Lady of Sorrows was first granted to the Servite order in 1667. By inserting the feast into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, Pope Pius VII extended the celebration to the whole of the Latin Church in 1814. It was assigned to the third Sunday in September. In 1913, Pope Pius X moved it to 15 September, the day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Our Lady of Sorrows is traditionally depicted in art dressed in black with seven swords piercing her heart. These seven swords symbolize the chief seven sorrows of her life. Devotion to the Sorrows of Mary inspired the works of art we call the Pieta, the grieving Mother holding her dead Son in her arms, after he has been taken down from the Cross.

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Commentary on Numbers 21:4-9 or Philippians 2:6-11; Psalm 77; John 3:13-17

The Gospel reading is from John. He compares Jesus’ being lifted up on the Cross to the incident in the Book of Numbers (one of today’s First Readings), where a plague of serpents is sent against the Israelites because of their constant complaining against God. When they beg Moses for help, God tells him to put an image of a serpent on a pole. All those who look at the bronze serpent would be healed.

In a much more radical way, Jesus is also lifted up so:

…that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

And this life comes because Jesus’ giving of his life on the Cross is a sign of his Father’s love for each and every one of us. For, as Jesus will tell his disciples at the Last Supper:

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

And in today’s reading he also says:

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The word “Exaltation” in the name of today’s feast means a ‘lifting up’, and in the Gospel of John, Jesus says that he, being “lifted up” will draw all peoples to himself. This ‘lifting up’ refers not only to Jesus’ being physically raised on the Cross. In John’s presentation of the Paschal Mystery, Jesus dies on the Cross, passes to new life (Resurrection), returns to the Father (Ascension), and breathes forth the Spirit (Pentecost). Jesus is totally ‘exalted’ on the Cross.

The alternative First Reading is from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians. It contains the famous kenosis hymn about Jesus. Kenosis means an ‘emptying’. Jesus was the Incarnate Son of God and shared the divinity with his Father and the Spirit on an equal level. Yet, in order to bring us salvation and life without end, Jesus:

…emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.

He did this in service to us. He adopted our human condition totally and he even went lower than this by submitting to one of the most terrible forms of death, death by crucifixion. And all of this was to help us understand the extent of his Father’s love for each one of us.

Because of this self-giving and self-emptying:

Therefore God exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Hence, the Cross is a much esteemed symbol for Christians everywhere and a way by which they express their faith. We place a cross in our churches and homes, in the classrooms of our schools and in other Christian institutions. Many wear a cross as part of their dress.

We remember Jesus’ words to his followers:

…whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matt 10:38-39)

As we often sing after the Consecration during the Eucharist:

Dying, you destroyed our death; rising you restored our life.

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The Cross is one of the most central objects of the Christian faith. It is the symbol of God’s love for us expressed by the self-sacrificing death of Jesus, his Incarnate Son.

The public veneration of the Cross originated in the fourth century. According to legend it began with the miraculous discovery of the True Cross by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, on 14 September, 326, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross placed inside it in 335. This was a two-day festival. Although the actual consecration of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could come forward to venerate it.

In the year 627, during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius I of Constantinople, the Persians conquered the city of Jerusalem and removed a major part of the Cross from its sanctuary. The emperor determined to recover the relic which he regarded as the new Ark of the Covenant for the new People of God. Before leaving Constantinople with his army, Heraclius went to the church wearing black in a spirit of penance; he prostrated himself before the altar and begged God to sustain his courage. In the ensuing war, the emperor was victorious. One of the conditions of a peace treaty was the return of the Cross in the same condition as when it was removed. On his return to Constantinople Heraclius was received by the acclamations of the people. They came out to meet him with olive branches and torches. The Cross was honoured with a grand triumph.

The emperor then wished to give thanks to God by going in person to return the Cross to Jerusalem, after an absence of 14 years. In Jerusalem, he wished to carry the Cross on his shoulders, but on reaching the gate leading to Calvary, he could not go forward. He was astonished and his retinue could not understand. The Patriarch Zachary then said to him:

Take care, O Emperor! In truth, the imperial clothing you are wearing does not sufficiently resemble the poor and humiliated condition of Jesus carrying His cross.

Heraclius then removed his shoes and bejewelled robes. Wearing a poor man’s tunic, he was able to proceed to Calvary and replace the Cross. It is said the occasion was marked by a number of miracles: a dead man returning to life, four paralytics cured, ten lepers healed, 15 blind men given their sight, several possessed people exorcised and many sick people totally healed.

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Commentary on Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35

All of Mark’s Gospel is describing a learning experience, first for the disciples of Jesus, but also for the reader and hearer of any time. Knowing who Jesus is and what following him means is something that the disciples did not tumble to all at once. It was a painful journey for them.

Last Sunday we saw the story of the healing of “a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech”. It is the beginning of a central learning section in this Gospel which finds its partial climax in today’s reading. The story is a kind of parable of how we gradually learn to listen to and understand the meaning of Christ’s life and message, and how we then learn how to share our experience effectively with others. It is not enough to have heard the message; it has also to be shared and communicated with others.

Today’s passage is immediately preceded by another healing story, this time that of a man who was blind (Mark 8:22-26). The interesting thing about this story is that his blindness was healed in stages. That is exactly what was happening to the disciples’ understanding, and we see it clearly illustrated in today’s story.

Who do people say I am?
Today’s encounter of Jesus with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi (a meeting place of Jewish and Greek cultures) represents a high point in Mark’s Gospel and in their relationship with Jesus. It is a question of Jesus’ identity. He asks them:

Who do people say that I am?

They give various answers. The general opinion is that Jesus is certainly some kind of prophet sent by God—perhaps John the Baptist resurrected, or Elijah, who was expected to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah—or some other prophet.

Jesus presses:

But who do you say that I am?

Peter, speaking in the name of them all, says:

You are the Messiah.

That is, you are the Christ, the long-awaited liberator king of Israel. ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ (Greek, Christos) means the ‘anointed One’. Kings (remember David?) were inaugurated by an anointing. To call Jesus the ‘anointed One’ is to say that he is King.

An exciting moment
It must truly have been an exciting moment for the disciples. Their Master was no mere rabbi; he was the Messiah, the King of Israel! And they were part of his inner circle, his close friends and companions. They were now courtiers. Wow! Would they be moving into a palace? Would they be getting important jobs or have power, influence, lots of money and beautiful clothes? It was mind-boggling! What a future was unfolding for these uneducated men!

And then—totally unexpected—comes the shock, a large bucket of very cold water. Because Jesus begins to tell them what is going to happen to him, the Messiah. He will be rejected by the religious and civic leaders of his own people, he will undergo terrible sufferings, he will suffer a horrible and shameful death by execution on a cross, and at the end will rise on the third day (whatever that meant).

An unacceptable scenario
Peter, again clearly representing the thoughts of all his companions:

…took him aside and began to rebuke him.

It was unthinkable that the Messiah should meet a fate like this. It was totally against all reason that the Messiah should suffer at the hands of his own people. On the contrary, he was to be victorious over all Israel’s outside enemies. What Jesus was saying just did not make any sense. This was not part of the scenario which had been built up for the Hebrew people over such a long period of expectation. And what was going to happen to them? All this nonsense had to be nipped in the bud.

The reaction of Jesus feels almost savage:

Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.

Peter—the Rock—is now seen as a stumbling block. Jesus could be tempted to think like Peter. It would make a much more pleasant future than the one he had just described. But he knew the way he was being called to follow.

It is clear that the disciples’ (and our) learning experience was not over. They had reached the critical stage of knowing who Jesus was—the Messiah. But now they had to discover—very painfully—just what kind of Messiah he was going to be. They won’t know this, and they will not see its terrible and compelling beauty until after the resurrection.

The rest of Mark’s Gospel deals with this topic in which we are intended to be the real learners (remember that most of those disciples were dead and gone by the time Mark’s Gospel appeared).

More to come
But Jesus is still not finished with them! Addressing his words not only to them but to everybody, Jesus continues:

If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Jesus’ Way has also to be our way. So much of the time we try to straddle the fences: be ‘good’ Catholics and have the good things that everyone else wants as well. We don’t want crosses. We even think that one of the purposes of prayer is to ask Jesus to take away the nasty things and make life smooth all the way.

But Jesus is urging us to let go. To ‘save our life’, we cannot cling to ‘things’ want security in them. Our happiness, we need to learn, is not in having or grabbing, but in sharing what we have. It is in giving, not in getting. It is in ‘letting go and letting God’, as they say.

Who are those with real faith?
James today in the Second Reading speaks about those people who have “faith”. That is, they claim to be believers in Christ and the Gospel, but nothing of that appears in their lives. They pray piously, are seen at Mass every Sunday, they are experts in doctrine and orthodox teaching, but they do very little to help others. They show very little involvement in the apostolic and social life of the Church. Above all, they show little interest in working with others to tackle the problems of poverty, disease, loneliness and alienation, exploitation and injustice. Often they are social climbers and snobs both inside and outside the Church.

St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) used to say, “Love until it hurts.” That is what carrying the cross means. She constantly lived the example. She reached out incessantly to the poorest she could find, the abandoned sick and dying. She had strong views on morality, but she never judged those she helped whether they were women who had abortions or men who became ill through promiscuous sex. She was famous, but the trappings of fame meant nothing to her. Although she did use her fame to twist the arms of the rich and separate them from their money—it was not for herself, but for those who needed it most.

James tells us that:

…faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Love that does not cost anything is not love.

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Commentary on Ephesians 6:10-18; Ps 62; Luke 14:1, 7-11

The Gospel reading from Luke reflects attitudes which were the total opposite of the spirit of Francisco Gárate. We are told that on a sabbath Jesus went to dine with at the house of one of the leading Pharisees. We might notice that Jesus was no social snob. He was ready to communicate with people of all classes; he came to bring his message to everyone without exception.

During the meal, Jesus told a parable arising out of his observation that those invited were jockeying for the best places at the table. He said that when people are invited they should not try to get the place of honour. Another guest may come and be given that place and one will be humiliated by being asked to go to a lower place.
Instead, when invited to a meal, one should go to the lowest place. Then the host may say, ‘Friend, please move to a higher position.’ And then one will gain honour in the presence of the other guests. Of course, it is also possible that one will be left in the lower position!

The point that Jesus is making is that for a true disciple such concerns are totally irrelevant. And indeed in the long run it is the truly humble person who is most respected and not the social climber who is really a pathetic figure.

Francisco Gárate spent more than 40 years of his Jesuit life as ‘only’ a doorkeeper or receptionist. But over those years people developed a deep respect for his personality, his charity, politeness and total dedication to his job. We might look at the pattern of our own working life. Are we concerned about status and position? Are we only concerned about the money we are earning? Or are we concerned about how we can be most of service to others by the work we do?

The First Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians speaks about the precautions we need to take against the various temptations that we are likely to encounter. We are urged to “put on the armour of God… to stand fast with loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace”.
Faith is to be our shield, we are to take “the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit”, which is the word of God. And, finally, to pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.

Francisco was known as a man of deep prayer. It is there that we, too, can find the “armour of God” which will give us the strength to live lives of truth and love.

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Blessed Francisco Gárate, Religious, SJ

Francisco Gárate was born in Recarte, a village not far from Loyola, in the Basque region of northern Spain in 1857. At the age of 14, after a few years of elementary education, he began work as a domestic servant at the Jesuit college in Orduna before entering the Society of Jesus as a Brother. From 1877-1888 he served as infirmarian and sacristan at the Jesuit college in La Guardia. For the next 40 years he was doorkeeper at the University of Deusto in Bilbao. As doorkeeper. As the first person most people would see on entering the university building he became also effectively receptionist, public relations officer, student counsellor and benefactor of the poor. He was noted by all for his innate goodness, humility, and prayerfulness. He has been called a “modern Alphonsus” because his Jesuit life reflected that of another doorkeeper, St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ.

He died on 9 September 1929 (the feast of fellow Jesuit, Peter Claver) and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1985.
Blessed Francisco is remembered for his outstanding charity, courtesy, and dedication to work.

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Peter Claver was born in Verdu, in Catalonia (Spain) in 1580 and educated at Barcelona University. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1602 at Tarragona. While still in his studies he was sent to the Jesuit college in Palma de Mallorca (Majorca). Here he met Alphonsus Rodriguez, a Jesuit Brother who was the doorkeeper of the college (and who was later canonised as a saint). In conversations with Alphonsus, Peter was fired with a desire to do missionary work in the New World then being colonised by Spain and Portugal. He did his theological studies at Barcelona and then was sent to Cartagena (now in Colombia) in 1610. Six years later, he was ordained priest in 1616.

At this time Cartagena was one of the main clearing houses of a flourishing, but shameful trading of Africans from Angola and other parts of West Africa, who were brought over in huge numbers under dreadful conditions to work as slaves in the New World. It has been estimated that some 10,000 individuals were shipped to Cartagena every year. Peter began his work with the slaves under Fr Alfonso de Sandoval, who had already spent 40 years in this work. Peter walked in his predecessor’s footsteps and did even more.

When a slave-ship arrived in the port, the slaves were crowded like animals into large enclosures, crammed together in intense heat without care or medical attention of any kind. Peter would visit them bringing medicine, food, brandy and tobacco. He had a group of assistants who helped in the distribution and also acted as interpreters. With their help and also by using pictures, Peter taught the basics of Christianity and prepared many slaves for baptism. In their dreadful living conditions, he also tried to increase their awareness of their basic dignity as people for each one of whom Christ died.

From Cartagena, the slaves would then be sent to work in the mines (work which was regarded as too difficult for the native peoples) and also to plantations. Peter would visit these places in the spring, not always with the approval of their owners. He would also take personal care of slaves reduced to living in conditions which no one else could endure. When he had pronounced his final vows in 1622, he signed his name, “Peter Claver, slave of the slaves forever” (Aethiopum semper servus). It was a promise he more than lived up to.

He did not confine his ministry to the slaves. He was also concerned about the spiritual welfare of the more prosperous members of society, as well as traders and others passing through, including Muslims and English Protestants. He also helped prepare condemned prisoners for death and was a regular visitor to the hospitals. Every autumn he would go on a preaching mission to merchants and seamen in every port.

As well as leading a life of great austerity, miracles, prophetic statements and the gift of reading hearts were attributed to him. In 1650, he was taken ill while preaching to the slaves. It seems to have been a stroke because he was partially paralysed for the remaining four years of his life. Neglected by the young African who was supposed to take care of him, he was only able to go for short visits to the hospital or friends. However, he did live long enough to welcome his successor in his work. At his death on September 8, 1654 the civil authorities and the clergy, who had been highly critical of him in life, were now united in his praise. While he was given a civic funeral, the slaves and the native people arranged a Requiem of their own.

Peter is revered for his great love of neighbour and his work in overcoming racial barriers and hatred. Pope Leo XIII canonized him in 1888, and in 1896, the same pope declared him special patron of missions to the black peoples. His feast is now celebrated on 10-September, two days after his death.

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Commentary on Micah 5:1-4 or Romans 8:28-30; Psalm 12; Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

The Gospel reading is the genealogy of Jesus as given by Matthew at the beginning of his Gospel. It is largely an artificial composition divided into three sets of 14 generations – 42 altogether. It begins with Abraham, the Father of God’s people and there follow many names from the biblical account in the Hebrew Testament.

It is a very mixed group of people, including the very good and the not good at all. There are also four women in the list, each of them with a special interest of their own. It represents the very diverse history of loyalty and infidelity which was the story of God’s people. Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, is truly identified with our world.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
(John 1:14)

He dwelt among all of us, the good, the bad and indifferent. Mary, too, was born into this world and, with her Son, and, though, like him, without sin is fully part of it. The ancestry leads down to Joseph, the “husband of Mary”. But it is of Mary that Jesus the Messiah is born.

There is a choice of texts for the First Reading. The first comes from the prophet Micah. He has been speaking against the rulers of Israel who are paying dearly for their sinful ways. In today’s passage he is speaking of the restoration of Israel through a Messiah. Just before today’s passage he speaks against Jerusalem (called Bat-gader) which is under siege by the Assyrians. But in today’s passage he contrasts the powerful ruler of Israel under siege with the tiny city and clan of Bethlehem-Ephrathah who are:

…too little to be among the clans of Judah…

For, from this tiny, insignificant place:

…shall come forth…one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

His origins are from the royal Davidic line.

The Lord will give up these people until the time:

…when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.

“She who is in labor has given birth” is a clear reference to Mary, mother of the Messiah. And that Son with the strength of Yahweh:

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock…he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

The Gospels will show how all of these predictions are fulfilled in Jesus. And the birth of the Incarnate Messiah comes through Mary. It is not surprising, then, that we celebrate the birth of such a person in a very special way. And that she herself, in preparation for this, should be blessed with special favours and graces.

The second choice for the First Reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. He speaks of how all are picked out specially by God:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

This is an important statement for us to take on board. We see it in Mary’s acceptance of the angel’s invitation, even though she did not fully understand its implication at the time.

Like Mary, all of us have been called to be “conformed to the image of his Son”, so that he becomes the first among many brothers and sisters. Mary, too, was of course, even as Mother, totally conformed to the Way of her Son. The last words also apply in a special way to Mary:

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Mary, from the first moment of her existence, was totally conformed to the will of her Son, and so deserves the special glory which she merited after her death.

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Clearly there is no historical record of the birth of Mary. The Church does believe, however, that from the very moment of her conception she was totally free from sin and remained free of sin for her whole life. It was not acceptable that Jesus, the Son of God, should be conceived in a body tainted by sin. Her birth is clearly something to celebrate. The Church, too, has given names to her parents – Joachim and Ann, whose feast we celebrated on 26 July.

Churches both in the East, in Constantinople, and in the West, in Rome, have been celebrating Mary’s birth since the 6th and 7th centuries. The liturgy traces its origins to the consecration of a church in Jerusalem, known as St Ann’s Basilica, in the 6th century. Before that there had been a 5th century basilica in honour of Mary on a site known as the “Shepherd’s Field” and supposedly the home of Joachim and Ann. It was replaced by a new basilica in the 6th century which was consecrated to St Ann.

Monks from the East brought the feast to Rome in the 7th century. From there it spread through the western Church. By the 13th century it had been raised to a solemnity with a major octave and a vigil which was a fast day. Pope Sergius I (687-701) instituted a procession from the Roman Forum to the basilica of St Mary Major for the feast.

Following the liturgical reforms of Pope St Pius X, the feast had just a simple octave and in 1955, Pope Pius XII abolished the octave altogether. The liturgy now has the rank of feast.

The date, September 8, was chosen as the octave day of the former Byzantine New Year. Although the feast was celebrated on various dates over the centuries, September 8 predominated. The feast celebrating Mary’s conception without sin on December 8, was later set to correspond to nine months preceding Mary’s birth (just as the Annunciation precedes the Birth of Jesus by nine months).

In the Eastern Church, Mary’s birthday is celebrated as one of the twelve great liturgies. The title for the liturgy in the East is: “The Birth of Our Exalted Queen, the Birthgiver of God and Ever-Virgin Mary”.

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Commentary on Philippians 4:4-9; Psalm 33; John 17:20-26

The Gospel reading is part of Jesus’ prayer for unity among his followers. It comes from his long discourse during the Last Supper as given to us in John’s Gospel. In this particular part of the prayer, he is praying not for those disciples who are with him at the supper, but “for those who believe in me through their word”.

Jesus prays:

…that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

This is the way that people will come to recognise the true identity of Jesus.

To be a follower of Jesus is not simply to believe in him and lead a good life. It is not to see the Church as some kind of outside organisation distinct from me, but to which I go to get the ‘graces’ I need to be a good person, to keep the commandments and as a place where I can carry out my ‘religious obligations’ and in the end ‘save my soul’.

To be a follower of Jesus is essentially to be a follower with and through others. The Christian life is essentially communal. And Jesus is saying here that the most potent witness we can give of who he is, is that we who claim to follow him do so as part of a fellowship. It is said that in the early Church there was a saying: “See those Christians how they love one another!” That was one of the most striking characteristics to the pagan eye, namely, that people who came from different ethnic and social backgrounds could live together in such harmony. This was something strange to societies which strongly and defensively identified with their own group.

Jesus had said this earlier during the same discourse. In giving his disciples a “new” commandment, he had told them:

Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)

This was to be the defining mark of the Christian—to be a ‘with-person’ or an ‘inter-person’. There is no room for individualism, going it alone to Jesus. This is a very relevant message for our individualistic, self-seeking, post-modern times.

Of course, the life of Philip Neri was very much along the line presented by Jesus. This is evident, first, from the concern he showed to the poor and needy, even to the prostitutes of Rome whom he tried to rescue from their slavery. It is seen in the congregation that he established, which is based so much on a brotherhood of equals, rather than on a structure of discipline and obedience. It is seen in the outgoing, warm character of Philip Neri.

It is not surprising, then, that the First Reading is from the Letter to the Philippians where the underlying theme is joy and happiness—traits particularly linked with Philip.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything…

These are the words of Paul to the Christians at Philippi. Worry should never be part of the Christian’s life. As Jesuit Fr Tony de Mello used to say:

“If you worry, you will die. If you do not worry, you will die. So why worry!”

On the contrary, focus on the good things that have come our way. Be full of gratitude. And then what will happen?

…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And Paul tells them (and us):

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things…and the God of peace will be with you.

This could be a word portrait of Philip Neri and what a lovely world it would be if everyone was like this!