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Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 Read Monday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Boniface was born at Crediton in Devon, England, in 675 AD and baptised with the name Wynfrith (Winfred). The name means “Friend of Peace”, possibly because his father was a Saxon and his mother a Briton, to show that the two peoples had come together.

He entered a monastery at Nursling near Southampton and became a monk and a priest. He had a strong desire to become a missionary abroad. Finally his abbot let him go, and in 716, he set out for the land of the Frisians (in the Netherlands). Another English missionary, Willibrord, from Northumbria, had already preached the gospel there for several years. But wars and the hostility of non-Christians were big obstacles for the young Wynfrith. Some months later, having failed in his mission, he returned to his monastery in England, to devote two more years preparing for his apostolic work.

In 718, Wynfrith once again left his monastery, this time for good. He would never return to England. He set off for Rome to ask the pope for his commissioning and blessing. On 14 May, 719, he threw himself at the feet of Pope Gregory II who gave him the new name “Boniface” (one who does good). He then went north across the Alps and embarked on 35 years of missionary work in various parts of Germany, which included a return visit to Frisia.

In 722, he was consecrated by the pope as bishop of the whole of Germany east of the Rhine. On his return to Germany as bishop, Boniface decided to tackle heathen superstitions head-on. At a place called Geismar in front of hostile tribesmen he chopped down a sacred oak tree, where they worshipped Thor, the god of thunder (after whom Thursday is named), and laid the foundations of a flourishing new church there.

According to tradition, when he chopped down the pagan Thor’s Oak, Boniface claimed a tiny fir tree growing in its roots as the new Christian symbol. He told the heathen tribes:

This humble tree’s wood is used to build your homes: let Christ be at the centre of your households; its leaves remain evergreen in the darkest days: let Christ be your constant light; its branches reach out to embrace and its top points to heaven: let Christ be your comfort and your guide.

So the fir tree became a sign of Christ among the German peoples and eventually a world-wide symbol of Christmas.

Boniface went on to establish many new churches and monasteries and to reorganise the existing ones so that they were more effective Christian communities, and properly ‘equipped for mission’. After another six years, the pope made him archbishop of all Germany, based at Mainz.

As well as expanding the churches in Germany, Boniface was equally concerned to ensure that the political authorities and rulers became firmly committed to Christianity. He crowned Pepin as King of all the “Franks” (the people of France and Germany), whose son Charlemagne was to become the first “Holy Roman Emperor”—a title which continued for the next 1,000 years.

Boniface was constantly travelling, encouraging churches, appointing good leaders, and negotiating with political leaders. His journeys and letters indicate his energy and spirituality. Many of his fellow-workers came from his native England. Whenever he felt tired, he withdrew to the new abbey he had founded at Fulda, in central Germany, for rest and refreshment. But even in his late 70s he was not prepared to remain idle for long.

At the age of nearly 80, when most archbishops would have retired, he had other ideas. He still wanted to take the gospel to Frisia, where his first efforts had failed nearly 40 years earlier. He set off with 52 companions on an evangelising mission. At Pentecost, on 5 June, 755, near the modern town of Dokkum in The Netherlands, the whole party was massacred by heathen brigands. Boniface was himself struck down by a sword which pierced the bible he had raised to shield his head. As requested in his will, his body was taken back to his monastery at Fulda, where a magnificent cathedral now encloses his tomb and where the Catholic bishops of Germany hold their meetings every year.

Boniface was the Patron of England for 300 years and is still Patron of Germany and The Netherlands. A historian has written of him:

“Everything which has developed afterwards (in Germany) in the realm of politics, the church and spirituality, is established on the foundation laid by Boniface, whose tomb should be more sacred for us than the tombs of the patriarchs were for the Jews, because he is truly the spiritual father of our people. Boniface has given us, as well as our successors, more than any of our great emperors and kings has been able to contribute.”

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Commentary on 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14; Matthew 5:1-12

The Gospel reading for today’s celebration comes from Matthew and contains the Beatitudes, which form the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon, in general, is an outline of how the individual Christian should live his life. The prominent place given to the Beatitudes indicates that they take the place of the Ten Commandments which hold a similar prominence in the Law of Moses.

The Commandments are expressed in legal terms of ‘Do’ and ‘Do not’ and are relatively straightforward and, to some extent, not too difficult to observe. In fact, those expressed negatively can theoretically be kept by doing nothing at all!

The Beatitudes are quite different. They are not a list of Do’s and Don’t’s, but are a list of values and attitudes which should be characteristic of a follower of Christ. They describe the kind of person the Christian should be. In fact, they can also be seen as a portrait of Christ himself.

And rather than listing activities that one should or should not do, they throw out a challenge, calling a person ever forward to a goal that can never be fully reached. They are also a recipe not just of good moral behaviour, but of happiness. Fortunate are those who can claim those qualities to be truly part of their lives and character.

We see Charles and his companions living out these qualities under very challenging circumstances. And certainly the last Beatitude applies to them:

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven [i.e. in the sight of God], for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The First Reading is the famous scene from the Second Book of the Maccabees where seven brothers are executed for refusing to renounce their Jewish faith by eating pork. In today’s passage, we hear the second son, who has had the hair and skin of his head removed, refusing to give in. Just before dying he cried out:

You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to a renewal of everlasting life…

This is a very similar call to that made by the Ugandan martyrs before their death.

On the death of the third son in Maccabees:

…the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man’s spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

It was similar to the reaction of those who put Charles and his companions to death.

None of us will likely be asked to make such sacrifices in remaining faithful the call of Jesus in the Gospel, but the courage of these young men should help us in facing the much smaller challenges we are likely to face.

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Note: In Ireland, because of the feast of St Kevin, this June 3 memorial for St Charles Lwanga and companions is celebrated on June 4.

Charles Lwanga at a very early age was sent to Buddu in the south west of Uganda to be brought up by Kaddu, whom some believe to be his biological father, but who may have been an uncle. Charles was a Ganda who belonged to the Bush-Buck clan. Members of this clan were traditionally banned from the royal court, so when Lwanga took service at court he passed as a member of the Colobus Monkey clan, to which his former master and patron belonged.

In 1878, Kaddu placed Lwanga (then aged about eighteen) in the service of Mawulugungu, the chief of Kirwanyi, mentioned by the explorer HM Stanley. The following year the chief was transferred to Ssingo County, accompanied by Lwanga. On a visit to the capital in 1880, Lwanga became interested in the teaching of the White Father missionaries and began taking instruction. When Mawugungu died in 1882, his court was dispersed and Lwanga joined a group of recently baptized Christians in Bulemezi County.

On the accession of King Mwanga in 1884, Lwanga entered the royal service. His personality was such that he was at once placed in charge of the royal pages in the great audience hall, immediately winning their confidence and affection. His immediate superior was Joseph Mukasa (Mkasa), chief steward of Mwanga’s court, a 25-year-old Catholic who was the leader of the small community of 200 Christians. He came to rely more and more completely on Lwanga for the instruction and guidance of the royal pages and for shielding them from the evil influences at court. King Mwanga was a violent ruler and a paedophile, who forced himself on the young boys and men who served in his court.

On 15 November, 1885, the day of Joseph Mukasa’s martyrdom, Lwanga and some other royal servants, whose lives were in danger because they were catechumens, went to the White Fathers’ Mission and were baptized by Fr Simeon Lourdel. The following day, the king assembled all the pages and demanded under pain of death that they confess their Christian allegiance. All of them, Catholic and Anglican, except for three, did so. Mwanga was baffled by the solidarity and constancy of the young Christians, but hesitated to carry out his threat to kill them all. On one occasion, Lwanga exclaimed that, far from helping the white men take over the kingdom, he was ready to lay down his life for the king.

After a fire in the royal palace on 22 February, 1886, Mwanga moved the court temporarily to his hunting lodge on the shore of Lake Victoria. Here Lwanga continued to protect the pages from the King’s sexual advances and to prepare them for possible martyrdom. By this time, Mwanga had obtained the consent of his chiefs for a massacre of the Christians. Meanwhile, Lwanga himself baptized five of the most promising catechumens.

On May 26, the pages entered the royal courtyard to receive judgement and were once again called upon to confess their faith. This they did, declaring that they were ready to die rather than deny it. Mwanga ordered them all, 16 Catholics and 10 Anglicans, to be burnt alive at Namugongo. The cruelly-bound prisoners passed the home of the White Fathers on their way to execution. Fr Lourdel almost fainted at the courage and joy these condemned converts, his friends, showed on their way to martyrdom. He noted how tightly they were bound, but more especially their calmness and even joyful disposition in the face of death.

The martyrs were taken to the execution place of Namugongo where they were kept in confinement for a week. Preparations for the execution pyre were not completed until June 2. During this time the martyrs prayed and sang together, while the missionaries, both Catholic and Anglican, paid fruitless visits to the king to appeal for the lives of their young converts.

On June 3, before killing the main body of prisoners, Charles Lwanga was put to death on a small pyre on the hill above the execution place. He was wrapped in a reed mat, with a slave yoke on his neck, but was allowed to arrange the pyre himself. To make him suffer more, the fire was first lit under his feet and legs. These were burnt to charred bones before the flames were allowed to reach the rest of his body. Taunted by the executioner, Charles replied: “You are burning me, but it is as if you are pouring water over my body.” He then remained quietly praying. Just before the end, he cried out in a loud voice Katonda! “My God!” After his death, the rest were incinerated further down the hill.

When the White Fathers were expelled from the country, the new Christians continued to practice their faith. Without priests, they kept the Catholic Church alive and growing in Uganda. When the White Fathers returned after King Mwanga’s death, they found 500 Christians and 1,000 catchumens waiting for them.

Charles Lwanga was beatified along with 21 other martyrs by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. All 22 were canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964. In 1969, Paul VI laid the foundation stone of the Catholic shrine at Namugongo, Uganda on the place of Saint Charles Lwanga’s martyrdom. This shrine was dedicated on 3 June 1975, by a specially appointed papal legate, Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli.

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Kevin (Coemghen or Caoimhin meaning ‘Fair-begotten’) is the Principal Patron of Dublin Archdiocese and is said to have been born in 498 into a family which belonged to the Dál Messe Corb, a noble Leinster people who lived in what is now West Wicklow. The story of his life is not felt to be reliable as there is little contemporary material available.

He is said to have been baptised by a St Crónán and educated by St Petroc, a Briton, during that saint’s stay in Ireland. He studied for the priesthood in Cell na Manach (Killnamanagh). After Bishop Lugidus ordained him priest he left Killnamanagh and set out to find his own hermitage. On arrival in Glendalough (Valley of Two Lakes), in County Wicklow, Kevin chose the area of the upper lake and settled on the south side of the foot of that lake in what is now known as St Kevin’s Bed, an artificial cave about 30 feet above the level of the lake and which was originally a Bronze Age tomb. Kevin lived the life of a hermit there with an extraordinary closeness to nature. His companions were the animals and birds all around him. He lived as a hermit for seven years wearing only animal skins, sleeping on stones and eating very sparingly.

Disciples were soon attracted to Kevin and a settlement was established enclosed by a wall, called Kevin’s Cell and Reefert Church, situated nearer the lakeshore. All this expansion probably would not have pleased Kevin who never really wanted to change his hermit’s life.

Subsequently he founded the famous monastery of Glendalough, the parent of several other monastic foundations. Eventually, Glendalough, with its seven churches, became one of the chief pilgrimage destinations in Ireland. In time it grew into a renowned seminary of saints and scholars.

By 540, Kevin’s fame as a teacher and holy man had spread far and wide. Many came to seek his help and guidance.

In 544, Kevin went to the Hill of Uisneach in Co. Westmeath to establish a league of brotherly friendship with other holy abbots—Sts Columba, Comgall, and Cannich. From there he proceeded to Clonmacnoise, where St Ciaran had died three days before. Having firmly established his community, he retired into solitude for four years and only returned to Glendalough at the earnest entreaty of his monks.

Until his death about 618, Kevin presided over his monastery in Glendalough, living his life by fasting, praying and teaching. Legend says he lived to the venerable age of 120.

So numerous were Kevin’s followers that Glendalough became a veritable city in the desert. Glendalough became an episcopal see, but is now incorporated with Dublin. And it is now a favourite visiting place for pilgrims and tourists. St Kevin is one of the patron saints of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

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Justin (100-165) was an early Christian apologist (i.e. a defender of the Christian faith against heresies and false beliefs). His works represent the earliest surviving Christian apologies of significance. Most of what we know about the life of Justin comes from his own writings, although they have to be read with some caution.

He was born at Flavia Neapolis (ancient Shechem in Judaea and now modern-day Nablus). He called himself a Samaritan, but his father and grandfather were probably Greek or Roman and he was brought up a non-believer. It seems that Justin had property, studied philosophy, converted to Christianity about the age of 30, and devoted the rest of his life to teaching what he considered the true philosophy, still wearing his philosopher’s gown to indicate that he had attained the truth. It is thought he travelled widely and, having spent some time in Ephesus, ultimately settled in Rome as a Christian teacher.

The earliest mention of Justin is found in the Oratio ad Graecos by Tatian, who calls him “the most admirable Justin”. Irenaeus speaks of his martyrdom and of Tatian as his disciple. He quotes him twice. Tertullian, in his Adversus Valentinianos, calls him a philosopher and martyr and the earliest antagonist of heretics. Hippolytus and Methodius of Olympus also mention or quote him. Eusebius of Caesarea deals with him at some length and gives a list of his writings. Among his writings are the ‘apology’ (i.e. defence) Against Marcion and a Refutation of All Heresies. Both of these writings are now lost. Other writings are the Dialogue with Trypho, the First Apology and the Second Apology.

In the opening of the Dialogue, Justin relates his vain search among the Stoics, Peripatetics, and Pythagoreans for a satisfying knowledge of God; his finding in the ideas of Plato ways to attain the contemplation of the Godhead; and his meeting on the seashore with an elderly man who told him that only by divine revelation could blessedness be attained, that the prophets had conveyed this revelation to humanity, and that their words had been fulfilled. Through his own studies he became convinced of the truth of their teachings. And the daily life of Christians, and the courage of the martyrs, convinced him that the accusations thrown against them were false.

From him we have one of the earliest descriptions of how baptism was administered and of the rite of the Eucharist. According to church tradition, Justin suffered martyrdom with six others—five men and one woman—in Rome under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, when Rusticus was prefect of the city (between 162 and 168).

His relics are said to be housed in the church of St John the Baptist in Sacrofano, a few kilometers north of Rome. Pope Leo XIII had a Mass and an Office composed in his honour and set his feast day on April 14. It is now celebrated on June 1.

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Commentary on Mark 11:27-33

Jesus has now come to Jerusalem.  It is the last phase of his public life and hostility is building up against him.  In today’s reading, while walking in the Temple area, he is confronted by a group of Jewish leaders, chief priests, scribes and elders.  These are the people who formed the supreme council which will later condemn him to death. They ask:

By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?

The implication is that he is not doing it on their authority, which they regard as supreme.  In his usual manner, Jesus counters with another question.  He asks them if the work of John the Baptist was of human or divine origin.

They immediately realise that answering Jesus’ question raises a serious dilemma. If they were to say John’s baptism was from God, then it could be asked why they did not take part in it (as large numbers of the ordinary people did—and as Jesus himself did).  The Gospel had described the leaders as simply coming to observe John as outsiders and judges.

On the other hand, if they were to say they considered John’s baptism as merely a human thing, then it would offend all those people who had the highest respect for John and saw in him a prophet of God.

Weakly Jesus’ questioners reply: “We do not know.”  A strange and not very convincing reply from the spiritual leaders of the people! Jesus then refuses to answer the question they asked him.

But Jesus’ case was similar to that of John.  The people, who had heard Jesus speak (“Never has anyone spoken like this!”) and saw his cures (“God has visited his people”), had no doubts whatever about the source of Jesus’ authority:

They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. (Mark 1:22)

The leaders’ own question was a clear indication of their prejudice and wilful blindness in the face of overwhelming evidence.

We too, of course, can have a similar blindness.  We can refuse to see the presence and activity of God in situations where we do not want to see it—or in people where we do not want to see it.  But God can use any person, any experience, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, to communicate with us. We pray:

Help me, Lord, to seek and find and respond to you in every experience of my life.

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Commentary on Sirach 51:12-20

Today, we finish our selected readings from Sirach with a poem which is a quest for wisdom. It comes from the last chapter and closing pages of the book.

In the original Hebrew text it is an ‘alphabetical poem’ in which each verse begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. Sadly, the original version has not reached us in a good state of preservation. Our English-language reading follows the Greek. A good example of a similarly constructed poem can be found in Proverbs 31, which gives a picture of the perfect housewife, and which can be read on the feasts of ‘Holy Men and Women’.

The poem describes the approach to wisdom through prayer, persistent study and instruction, purification from sin, enlightenment and ardent desire. Ben Sira opens with words of praise and thanks to God and what follows is an autobiographical poem on Wisdom.

As a young man, before he set out on his travels, he was already praying for the gift of wisdom.

Outside the sanctuary I would pray for her, and to the last I will continue to seek her.

From the earliest stages to its maturation, “from her blossoming to the ripening of her grape”, he has delighted in her. Once again he personifies Wisdom as a ‘she’.

Now, since his young days he has been walking in her steps and so has been able to follow a straight path. By paying careful attention, he has learned much from her. And, because of her, he has made great progress.

Glory be to him who has given me wisdom!

God is the source of all Wisdom and it is perhaps the greatest gift that God can give to anyone. Wisdom gives vision, the ability to see and understand the meaning and direction of life. What could be more precious? When God asked the new king Solomon what he would most like as a gift from God, he asked for wisdom, a reply which greatly pleased God.

The writer says that from his youth he has sought wisdom and has continued to cultivate it.

I became resolutely devoted to her. It was the good I persistently strove for. I will not be put to shame.

In his struggle to possess her – like a lover pursuing the beloved – he has kept the Law scrupulously. He has reached to Heaven, to the God from which she comes, and bemoans his ignorance of her.

He has directed his whole being towards her and “in purity”, by a life of perfect integrity, has found her.

The search for wisdom is one we also should pursue. There is no greater treasure we can have in life because, more than anything it brings us closer to God and to the end for which we were made. Through wisdom, we understand how all things relate to each other, to God and to ourselves. It is based, not on knowledge, but on deep insight into what we know. As mentioned at the beginning, wisdom has to be worked for. It comes through prayer, through a constant effort to understand every experience in life, through freeing ourselves from everything which threatens our wholeness and integrity as persons, and through various forms of enlightenment and a deep desire that she be part of our being.

Let us repeat again and again the prayer of the blind man Bartimaeus in Mark’s gospel:

Lord, that I may see.

And, when Bartimaeus was able to see, he became a disciple of Christ and walked on the road with them to Jerusalem to share in Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.

Wisdom consists in being able to see – seeing with great clarity. Without it, we grope in the darkness.

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Commentary on Mark 11:11-26

We are now entering the final part of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus is now in Jerusalem and in the final days of his ministry.

Today we have the strange incident of the fig tree. Jesus was leaving Bethany for nearby Jerusalem and was hungry. He went up to a fig tree looking for fruit to eat even though it was not the time of year for figs. Jesus then cursed the tree:

May no one ever eat fruit from you again.

Why curse a tree for not having what it could not have at that time of year? And in the evening on their way back to Bethany, the disciples saw the fig tree that Jesus had cursed all withered.

This story is generally understood as a kind of parable. The fig tree without fruit represents those people among the Jews who rejected Jesus. When he came to them looking for faith in his message, he found nothing. In a sense, they had closed their minds and withered up.

This meaning is reinforced by another event which is sandwiched into the middle of the fig tree story. This is a common device used by Mark and it is called an ‘inclusion’, i.e. when one passage is enclosed within another. Another example is the story of the woman with the haemorrhage, which is included within the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter.

After cursing the fig tree Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem and began driving out all those who were trading in the Temple court. He accused them of turning God’s house of prayer into “a den of robbers”—a market place. It was an example of people who had reduced their religious faith to mere commercialism. Religious ritual had been turned into an opportunity for making money. The meaning of the Temple as the symbol of God’s presence among his people was being lost. As well, there was also the failure to see the presence and power of God working through Jesus himself. The fig tree was adorned with beautiful leaves, but there was no fruit.

And so at the end, Jesus urges his disciples to develop real faith, a real trust and insight into God’s presence in their lives. He says:

Have faith in God. Truly I tell you…what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.

It is an essential condition for prayer. And prayer must include a willingness to forgive and be reconciled with those who cause us difficulties so that we may find forgiveness and reconciliation from God for our own faults and failings in his service. Let us pray today for that kind of faith. A faith that produces much fruit.

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Commentary on Sirach 44:1, 9-13

We now come to a section of Sirach, near the end of the book, which is a hymn in honour of the great ancestors of Israel. The eulogy shows how a devout Jew of the second century BC thought of the history of his people.

He recalls two sets of people – both the famous and the unknown. In today’s reading he recalls those countless good people who have lived down through the ages but of whom nothing is known and everything forgotten. Generation after generation, they brought children into the world and handed on their traditions and will continue to do so.

Later he will sing the praises, one by one, of some of the prominent personalities of the Hebrew Testament. Some of these portraits are read in our weekday liturgies at the end of a week which features one of these people.

The Harper Collins Study Bible makes the following introduction to this section of Sirach:

“Chapters 44 to 51 comprise a long poem eulogising the great leaders of the people throughout the epic history of Israel. It consists of an introductory poem in praise of all the ancestors, even those who left no name, a series of poetic units dedicated to specific figures from Enoch to Nehemiah and a concluding encomium, or work of praise, on the high priest (Simon) from Ben Sira’s own time…

The hymn as a whole is patterned on the model of Hellenistic encomia, eulogistic histories in commemoration of local shrines and cities, in this case with an eye on the temple at Jerusalem…

The ancestors are glorious because of their recognition by God, their honourable achievements, their recognition by their own generations, their godlikeness, their legacy to their children, and their lasting name and memory.” (Edited and abbreviated)

The passage opens with a phrase which has passed into the English language – “Let us now praise illustrious men (sic)”. In fact, all the names mentioned later are only of men, all ancestors of the Israelites; there are no tributes to any of the famous women.

However, the author also mentions that that there are others, a far greater number who have left no memories behind. It was as if they never existed, and it is no different with the children who followed them. The vast majority of the human race falls into this category, and many of us will be among them when we pass on, remembered only by some relatives and the friends we made in life.

But Ben Sira wants to introduce a list of “generous men”, whose good works remain in people’s memories. They have left behind a rich inheritance in their descendants. Not in the sense of material things, but in their ongoing observance of the covenants, expressed in the Mosaic Law and other traditions. And these traditions have been handed down to succeeding generations.

These covenants were contracts or agreements made between God and the patriarchs or the leaders of Israel at the time. They led to the setting up of institutions for the social and religious structure of the people. Most covenants, too, were linked with special ritual, and the stories surrounding them set the pattern for the rituals. Later in the poem, covenants with God will be mentioned for Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob-Israel, Moses, Aaron and Phinehas, from the ancient period and for David after Israel has settled in the Promised Land.

Lastly, Sirach asserts that the descendants of these great people will last forever and “their glory will not fade”. And, as we Christians regard ourselves as the continuation of that covenant tradition through the new covenant made through Jesus, this prophecy has been confirmed.

Perhaps today is an opportunity for us to recall with gratitude our ancestors without whom we would not be here today and who handed on the cultural and religious treasures of earlier ages, especially our Christian faith. The people of East Asia (the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese) have always demonstrated a great sense of the contributions their ancestors made, and pay the greatest reverence to them. In ways consonant with our own culture and beliefs, we should do the same.