More

Commentary on Mark 6:1-6

Jesus returns to his home town in the company of his disciples. On the Sabbath day, as was his right, he began teaching in the synagogue. His listeners, who all knew him since he was a child, are staggered at the authoritative way he speaks, and by what he says:

Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!

He had no more education than any of his fellow-villagers. But the point is that they do recognise his wisdom and his power to perform miracles. Yet, he is ‘only’ the son of a carpenter and of Mary, related to James and Joses and Jude and Simon, and with “sisters” as well.

And because they knew him so well, because they were so familiar with him, they could not accept him. They deliberately chose not to see what was happening before their very eyes. This, of course, is the irony of the whole situation—they did not know him at all. They were blinded by their superficial familiarity.

This trap of familiarity is one we can all fall into very easily. How many times have we failed to recognise the voice of Jesus speaking to us because the person is someone we meet every day, a person we may not like or may even despise? But God can and does talk to us through all kinds of people, Catholic or not, relative, friend, colleague, our own children, total stranger, educated, uneducated and many others.

Jesus says to them:

Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown and among their own kin and in their own house.

This is a saying known in other cultures and an experience all too often repeated in our own day. In comparing himself to the Hebrew prophets who went before him, Jesus foreshadows his ultimate rejection by many of his own people. We have already seen his problems with his own family, and now with his townspeople—and it is not the end.

As a result of the townspeople’s deliberate blindness, we are told Jesus:

…could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

He could not help those who had no faith in him. Jesus never forces himself on us. Jesus waits patiently and works only when we cooperate and open ourselves to him. Mark often says how amazed the people are at Jesus’ teaching. Sadly now, as the last line reads, it is Jesus’ turn to be amazed at his hometown’s lack of faith and trust in him.

More

Commentary on Hebrews 12:4-7,11-15

Today Hebrews has a very important lesson. It tells us how to look at the pains and sufferings that occur in our life. We should not be discouraged by such experiences, nor should we take such things lightly.

The reading opens with the concluding verse of yesterday’s reading, where the author reminds the Hebrew Christians that in their struggle against sin, they have not yet been called on to shed their blood (as the martyrs did). The ‘struggle’ evokes a boxing match or a military conflict.

He reminds them with an exhortation that is taken from the Book of Proverbs (3:11-12, quoting from the Greek Septuagint text), in which they are addressed lovingly as a “child”, but a child who needs correction.

Proverbs urges that any punishment that comes from the Lord should not be taken lightly. At the same time, one should not become despondent because of such punishment. The reason is clear:

…the Lord disciplines those whom he loves
and chastises every child whom he accepts.

Clearly, the Hebrews felt that their trials were a form of punishment or rejection by God. On the contrary, they are urged to endure their trials from God as a form of discipline or training.

They need to realise that the trials they are undergoing are because God is treating them as children whom he dearly loves. Are there any parents who do not discipline their children, especially when those children are acting out of line? Not to discipline misbehaving children is to spoil them and guarantee they will not turn out well. It is not a sign of real love.

Of course, discipline at the time seems painful and may be resented, but later it is appreciated because of its formative effects:

…discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

So the Hebrew Christians are told to hold up their limp arms, steady their trembling knees and smooth out the path they tread. They are not to slump into a kind of despair and feeling of being abandoned. The phrase comes from Isaiah:

Strengthen the weak hands
and make firm the feeble knees. (Is 35:3)

If they do accept the trials they are sent:

…what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

It is exercise, not passivity, that restores strength to damaged limbs.

God’s love is in fact present in every single experience, both good and bad. At the time, it can be difficult to see this, but later on we may be able to see a real good in what happened, e.g. a stint in hospital or the loss of a loved person. A serious sickness can help one to re-evaluate the quality and direction of one’s life. As Paul says:

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God… (Rom 8:28)

The final lesson is wise advice:

Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

It is an echo of the Beatitude:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)

The reason for this is not just to have peace in one’s own life, but to bring peace into the lives of others:

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and through it many become defiled.

A peace-filled person can be a source of much strength to people in need of affirmation and support. We may not be able to avoid pain coming into our own lives, but we should never be the source of pain in the lives of other people.

More

Commentary on Mark 5:21-43

Today’s passage illustrates a feature of Mark’s Gospel—inclusion, where one passage is contained inside another. Today we have two miracles, with one of them narrated inside the other. Again we are told of large crowds gathering around Jesus on the shore as once again he crosses the lake.

A synagogue official, Jairus, approaches and begs Jesus to lay his healing hands on his daughter who is very ill. Jairus was a person responsible for conducting services at the synagogue and keeping order. Sometimes the position was honorary, without any administrative responsibility.

Jairus asks Jesus to come and lay his healing hands on his daughter, as he has done for so many others. As Jesus makes his way to the house followed by a large crowd, there is a woman who had been haemorrhaging for 12 years. She had tried every kind of medical treatment in vain, and she was getting worse. Apart from the distress caused by the ailment, her bleeding rendered her ritually unclean. If the people around her knew of her condition, she might have been attacked. Hence she felt great anxiety about approaching Jesus without being identified or drawing attention.

She had this tremendous faith that, just by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. And she was—immediately. In both cases, there was a deep conviction that physical contact, together with faith in Jesus’ power to heal, would bring about a cure. It is important for us to recover the connection between physical touch and healing.

Jesus knew something had happened:

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?”

His disciples naturally wondered why he would say this when so many people were pressing in on him.

In fear and trembling, probably more afraid of the crowd than of Jesus, the woman identified herself. She then hears the beautiful words:

Daughter, your faith [i.e. your total trust in me] has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.

Peace indeed. Not only was she physically cured, but she could now mix freely with people again. She was fully restored to society and her community, without the shame that a woman of that time would feel, and without having to hide.

After this, we resume the first story. Messengers come to say that Jairus’ daughter has died. There is no need to bother Jesus any more. Jesus urges Jairus to keep believing. As he approaches the house, he separates from the crowd and brings only Peter, James and John with him as witnesses to a very special event. The house is full of mourners, wailing and weeping in the customary way.

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

In so speaking, Jesus is not denying the child’s real death, but it is an assurance that she will be wakened from her sleep of death. Death in the Old Testament is often described as sleep. And we, too, read on gravestones that so-and-so “went to sleep in the Lord”.

The crowd, often portrayed as so supportive of Jesus, is here shown as incredulous. They laugh at him. So everyone is put out of the room except the child’s parents and Jesus’ three companions. Then:

Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!”

The words suggest resurrection to new life. Immediately the girl got up and began to walk around. She was just 12 years old.

Those present are “overcome with amazement” and are told not to say anything to anyone. They are also reminded to give the poor girl some food. This is another step in the unfolding of Jesus’ true identity, while at the same time, he does not want that identity to be made public at this stage. It is another indication of Jesus’ mission:

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(John 10:10)

More

Commentary on Hebrews 12:1-4

More words of encouragement today for the Hebrew Christians to whom this letter is addressed, urging them to remain faithful to their Christian calling and not to be tempted to fall back to the old ways. First, the author reminds them of “so great a cloud of witnesses” to the faith. He is referring to that impressive list of Old Testament heroes mentioned in the previous chapter, some of whom we saw in the readings of the past two days. The Greek term for “witnesses” (martyres) gives us our English-language word for “martyr”.

The imagery here suggests an athletic contest in a great amphitheatre. But the witnesses in this case are not mere spectators; they are inspiring examples. They bear witness (as martyrs) to the power of faith and God’s faithfulness.

These Hebrews should follow in their footsteps and lay aside every obstacle, especially sin, which can be so difficult to shake off. Instead, let them “run with perseverance the race” that is set before them.

Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians uses a similar image:

Run in such a way that you may win it [i.e. a race]….I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air…
(1 Cor 9:24,26)

Again, to the Philippians, this is precisely what the author is telling his readers to do:

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. (2 Tim 4:7)

We may say, too, that Christian life is pictured as a long-distance race rather than a short sprint. Some Hebrew Christians were tempted to drop out of the contest because of persecution and obstacles to the practice of their faith. Perhaps they were among those pestered by the ‘Judaisers’ whom Paul speaks about in the Letter to the Galatians (chap 2).

As their model, they are to look to Jesus, the “pioneer and perfecter” of their faith. He both leads the way in showing how to lead a life of faith and, through his death, at the same time gives the strength and grace for them fully to develop their own faith.

Just as a runner concentrates on the finishing line, we should concentrate on Jesus, the goal and objective of our faith (see Phil 3:13-14). Jesus is both the start and the end of the race. He is also the supreme witness who has already run the race and overcome.

Jesus set a marvelous example. In order to reach the unending joy and happiness which was offered to him, he underwent the appalling pain of the cross and the despised terrible shame of such a death, hanging naked in a public place as a criminal. Because of this, he now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. If they (and we) follow in his footsteps, they (and we), too, can be with Jesus sharing the same glory.

And, whenever they are tempted to give up or lose heart, let them remember:

…him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners…

—in other words, from sinners like them and sinners like us.

Finally, he reminds them that, unlike their Master and Lord Jesus and many other martyrs, they have not yet been asked to shed their blood in their living out of the Gospel. They may have been persecuted and even lost their possessions, but they have not had to die for their faith. The whole passage can be applied word for word to our own situation.

More

Commentary on Jonah 3:1-5,10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

Last Sunday we saw the call of two disciples and we considered the nature of God’s call and how he calls each one of us. In today’s Mass we again look at Jesus calling disciples and see how they responded to that call. Today’s Gospel is in two parts, 1) the call and the challenge, and 2) the responses to the call.

The setting of today’s Gospel is immediately after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, when he received the endorsement of his Father and was filled with the Spirit of God. John the Baptist has been recently arrested (literally, ‘handed over’ or ‘given up’ – in Latin: tradetur) as Jesus himself will be, and his followers after him. We are reminded of this in the consecration of every Mass when the priest says:

This is my Body which will be given up for you.

The Kingdom is near
So now Jesus, in Galilee, begins his public life and mission. He begins to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel. It is summed up very simply in two lines:

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.

and

Repent, and believe in the good news.

The expected time has come, i.e. the arrival of the Messiah, the Saviour King. And so the kingdom of God is close at hand, the kingship, the reign of God. This ‘kingdom’ is not a place, but rather a web of relationships. Those belonging to the kingdom are those who accept the life vision that Jesus gave to us and whose lives are based on that vision. It does not matter who they are or where they are and it exists here and now. The Kingdom extends far wider than the Church, which is called to be the sign pointing to the Kingdom’s presence among us.

The key to the Kingdom
How are we to enter that kingdom?

Repent, and believe in the Good News.

In the First Reading we see Jonah, the reluctant prophet, preaching repentance to the great city of Niniveh. Contrary to his expectations, the pagan:

…people of Nineveh believed God…[and] turned from their evil ways…

‘Repent’ here is more than just being sorry for the past; it involves a radical conversion (Greek, metanoia), a change of direction and priorities in my life. It is a turning from – but much more – a turning to.

This consists in believing in the Good News. It is not just to accept as true what Jesus or the Church teaches. To ‘believe in’ involves a total commitment, a throwing in of one’s lot with Jesus without any guarantees or preconditions. It is to invest one’s whole self (as people do in a good marriage, for better or for worse, in good times and in bad…).

Responding to the call
The second part of today’s Gospel shows the first responses to this call. Four fishermen are called:

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.

At once, we are told, Peter and Andrew left their nets (the means of their livelihood) and followed after Jesus. At once, leaving their father Zebedee and his hired men, James and John also went after him.

It was a complete act of trust and a total surrender of themselves. To what? Actually, they had no idea where they were going. They had no idea of what the future held. This was the extent of their great trust in this man who came out of the blue into their lives and challenged them to leave behind their security and throw in their lot with him. They would, in fact, go through many unexpected experiences, some of them joyful, some of them full of pain.

They would indeed become “fishers of people” (Greek, anthropon – both men and women), continuing a great movement begun by their Master Jesus to bring people to a new way of living in truth, love, freedom and justice. But they never regretted that day they walked away from their security. They found experiences that transcended all their dreams.

Our response
The call is still going out to each one of us. Am I ready to answer? to follow? What are my nets, those things limiting my freedom to follow? What personal relationships are blocking my way? What anxieties? What self-centred ambitions?

Paul in today’s Second Reading tells the Corinthians to live in total freedom and detachment. Whether they be things or personal attachments, nothing we have is permanent; they can disappear at a moment’s notice. Whether life is very good or very bad: nothing lasts except the fundamental values of truth and love, of freedom and justice. It is what we are, not what we have that counts.

So ask today to hear the call. Ask to have the freedom to follow the call and to be ready to go wherever Jesus is asking us to go.

More

Commentary on 1 Samuel 3:3-10,19; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15,17-20; John 1:35-42

Today’s Mass is about vocation, about God’s call. Vocation is not just for a few chosen people. And to say, “There are no vocations now” is simply not true. Everyone is called by God to be something, to do something for others with their life and with their unique gifts.

The First Reading is about a young man who did not recognise God’s call at first. God called Samuel and he thought it was his master Eli. Twice God called, twice Samuel went to Eli, twice Eli told him to go back to sleep. The third time God called, Eli realised what was happening and told Samuel:

Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

When the Lord called the fourth time, Samuel was ready, ready to listen to God. And:

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

That is, he continued to listen carefully to what God was saying, to listen to God’s call. And in turn, he passed on what he had heard to others. God’s Word is never to be kept just for ourselves. That would be like the man who kept the talent he had been given wrapped up in a cloth and buried it in the ground.

God is calling me now, today. What is he saying to me? Am I really listening?

What are you looking for?
The Gospel is also about calling, in fact, about a second calling. It is about two men who are already disciples of John the Baptist. John points Jesus out to them:

Look, here is the Lamb of God!

John knows that his role of leadership is temporary, that he is to yield to the leadership of Jesus.

The disciples begin, perhaps out of curiosity, to go after Jesus. Jesus turns round and asks them:

What are you looking for?

Hear Jesus ask you that question today. Generally we tend to think that we should be asking, What does God want? But no, he also wants to know what we’re looking for, what we want. The answer to that question is less for his benefit than for ours. Our answer will tell us what our real priorities are with regard both to God and to the people and the world around us.

What do we really want from life…from God? It is not such an easy question to answer – it is easy to be superficial or flippant – but it tells us where we really are. And it is a question we will have to answer at different stages in our life as circumstances change.

Come and see
And what is the disciples’ response? Another question, but also an answer to Jesus’ query:

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), where are you staying?

‘Stay’, in Greek menein, means ‘to remain’ (a favourite Johannine word). In other words they are asking, “Jesus, where are you to be found? Where are we to go to find you, to be with you? Where in our lives do we encounter you?” If that were to be our answer to Jesus’ question, “What are you looking for?”, we would be doing very well.

Jesus, answering their question, says:

Come and see.

Knowing Jesus and where he stays is not primarily a matter of intellectual knowledge. It is not a matter of information. Nor is it a question of knowing all theology, dogmatic and moral. As well, it is not a question of being an expert in all the teaching and the rules of the Church – Pharisees of all times are good at that.

Knowing Jesus is a matter of experience. One could know the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, all 700 pages of it, by heart and still not know Jesus. To know him in the Gospel sense is to seek, find and respond to his loving presence in the fabric of our daily lives.

It comes from taking a plunge, trying out the teaching of Jesus even when it seems to go against what most people think:

“Come and see” – that is the Way to follow, there is no other way.

Sharing one’s experience of Christ
The two disciples accept the invitation:

They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day.

And what was the result of staying with Jesus? One of the two, Andrew, became not only a committed follower, but also an evangeliser – the two cannot be separated. He immediately went in great excitement and found his brother, Simon, and told him:

We have found the Messiah…

And thus Simon became Peter and also a follower, an apostle, and the leader of the new community.

It is important to note that Peter, in spite of his future important role, was not called directly by Jesus, but through his brother. And that happens again and again. Nearly everyone, including the greatest saints, were called by another, often lesser, person and brought to Christ. Each one of us in the here and now was led to Jesus by other people.

So, in conclusion, we ask ourselves:

More

Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28

On the past two Sundays we have seen Jesus baptised, he has announced the meaning and purpose of his work, and he has called his first disciples. In today’s Mass we see him beginning that work.

The words of Deuteronomy (First Reading) are being fulfilled:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet…from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.

Jesus has appeared, a Jew of Palestine like all those around him. And he is a prophet. Not in the current sense of someone who can foretell the future but rather as one who speaks the word of God. For that reason, he should be listened to.

A day in the life…
Today’s passage from Mark is really the beginning of a busy day (and night) for Jesus in which are contained, one might say, all the main characteristics of his public life. He joins in public worship, he teaches, he heals, he drives out evil spirits – and he prays privately. There is also the astounded reaction of the ordinary people. In Mark’s Gospel we find three kinds of people, all of whom react differently to Jesus – his own disciples, the religious leaders, and the ordinary people. Usually, it is only the ordinary people who come off with any credit and insight.

This first reported day in Jesus’ public life is a Sabbath day. And we find Jesus with his fellow townsmen in the synagogue. It is important for us to realise that Jesus was a practising Jew and he normally observed the requirements of the Jewish faith, as did his disciples, even after the resurrection. He never criticised that faith. What he did criticise were what he saw as distortions, hypocrisies and other corrupting elements. Jesus’ message is, as he says himself in Matthew, not an abrogation of the Jewish faith, but carrying it to its logical fulfilment:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
(Matt 5:17)

In the synagogue
The synagogue service was basically a Scripture and prayer service. There was no sacrifice; that was confined to one place, the Temple in Jerusalem. Most Jews very seldom went to the Temple for the simple reason that, for most of them, it was too far away. We see Jesus apparently going there about once a year like his compatriots, for some of the major feasts.

However, on every Sabbath (Saturday to us) they went to their local synagogue for common worship and prayer. The service was simple: some prayers, reading from the Scripture (the Hebrew or Old Testament, of course) and someone preached. There were no formal clergy or priests in the synagogue. Again, these were confined to the Temple in Jerusalem; John the Baptist’s father was one of them. It is only when Jesus goes to Jerusalem that he comes in confrontation with Temple priests (and they are not to be confused with either the Pharisees or the Scribes).

In the synagogue, then, anyone could be invited to get up and preach. On this particular Sabbath day, Jesus was invited. Perhaps he already had a name as a speaker. In any case, as soon as he opens his mouth the people feel immediately that here is someone who is different.

When the scribes, the experts in the Law, preached, they were primarily explaining the given meaning of the Jewish Law in the sacred books. But when Jesus spoke it was with ‘authority.’ Somehow the people realised that he was not giving out someone else’s teaching. He was giving out his own. As we hear it in Matthew’s Gospel:

You have heard that it was said…But I say to you…
(Matt 5:43)

A man possessed
But Jesus not only spoke with authority. He also acted with authority. Right there as he spoke there was a man with an ‘evil spirit.’ What exactly does that mean? Have you ever encountered a person with an “unclean spirit”? Have you ever met a so-called ‘possessed’ person? We need to remember that in the time of Jesus, people believed that the world was full of spirits – some good, some bad. They were everywhere and could attack people in all kinds of ways. You could even ask that evil spirits attack other people, for instance, people you wanted to take revenge on.

This is by no means a thing of the past. Such beliefs are still very much alive in many parts of the world. Even in sophisticated ‘developed’ societies it is often difficult to find someone who will walk calmly through a cemetery in the dark. Amid the glass and steel skyscrapers of many modern cities, people are still careful about choosing a wedding date or anxious about feng shui, the propitious orientation of their house or office.

In the time of Jesus, if any person was sick, or acted in an ‘abnormal’ way, they were said to have an evil spirit. It was natural to think that people with epilepsy, a palsy, or mental illness were the victims of some force that had invaded their bodies. Because of the “unclean” or evil spirit, people seemed to lose control of their speech and movements. The spirit had taken over. Were these evil spirits real? It is difficult to say. Obviously, some would have a simple medical diagnosis today. But one does meet people in some parts of the world who are convinced that there are forms of possession. The point is that they were healed, made whole again, by Jesus and liberated from their affliction.

The evil spirits of our own day
That there are evil forces in our world today is difficult to deny. Some of the appalling sufferings that people are made to endure by the heinous inhuman behaviour of individuals and groups are hard to explain otherwise. And, while we often look on helplessly, somehow we are part of it ourselves.

What is important is that, in the time of Jesus, people really believed in the existence of all kinds of forces. These forces were the source of great and even paralysing fears. What Jesus does is to liberate people from their fears. It was not the evil spirit that was the problem so much as the victim’s fear of that spirit. It is not objective reality that limits our freedom and effectiveness, but the way it is seen by us.

Jesus shows no fear in the face of the spirit in the synagogue:

Be quiet and come out of him!

The man is thrown into convulsions, but he is free. And what is really important is that he feels free.

What are our fears? What spirits are we afraid of? What are the things, the persons, the places which prevent us from doing what we really want to do, from being the person we really want to be? It is important that we identify our fears and that we see them within ourselves and not simply blame others for them. Once we recognise them within ourselves, we can ask Jesus to help us drop them. Let us put ourselves under his authority and he will liberate us.

The people in the synagogue are simply astounded:

What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

No wonder his name rapidly becomes known all over the countryside (the rural grapevine works faster than any fax or text message!).

Jesus, a man of authority
We can see here how powerfully Mark presents the impact that Jesus makes. His work of salvation has begun. The Kingdom of God is near when he acts like this. People experience the power. But what kind of power is it?

It is the power of authority. The word authority comes from a Latin verb augere, which means to make something increase. Its root can be found in words like ‘authority,’ or ‘author’. Real authority is not just, as we often interpret it, having power over people so that we can make them do what we want them to do. Genuine authority is the ability to ‘en-able’ people, to ’em-power’ them. To enable them to transcend themselves, to grow as persons, to be more effective in the development and use of their innate gifts.

Authority as service
This is the kind of authority which Jesus wields. Jesus did not come to rule and control people. He came, he said:

…not to be served but to serve… (Matt 20:28)

He came, above all, to make people free. So that in their freedom, they could generate all the productive and growth energies within them and be alive with the life of God within them. He freed them from all the ‘evil spirits’ of fear, compulsions, narrow self-centredness, anger, resentment, hostility and violence which prevent people from truly enjoying the experience of being alive:

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(John 10:10)

How sad it is then that so many people see being faithful to the Christian faith as a burden to be sloughed off so that they can be “free” of oppression and limitation. To what extent is the Church responsible for giving this image which is such a contradiction of the Gospel message?

So, let us all pray today that Jesus, with his growth-inducing authority will be a real source of liberation for us. May he free us from all those spirits which make us deaf, mute, blind and lame in life – and paralysed by fear.

More

Catherine of Siena was a member of the Third Order of the Dominicans (Order of Preachers, OP), a scholar, philosopher and theologian. She was born in Siena, Italy, on 25 March, 1347. Her parents were Giacomo di Benincasa, a cloth-dyer, and Lapa Piagenti, daughter of a local poet. She was their 23rd child out of 25. Catherine’s twin sister, the 24th, died at birth.

The family belonged to the lower middle class of tradesmen and minor notaries, known as the “Party of the Twelve”, which, between revolutions, ruled the Republic of Siena from 1355 to 1368. Catherine received no formal education and could neither read nor write. At the age of seven she consecrated her virginity to Christ against the wishes of her family who wanted her to live a normal life and marry. Against her parents’ will, she dedicated her life to praying, meditating and living in total solitude into her late teens.

At the age of sixteen, she took the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries. Catherine gathered a group of companions, both women and men, and travelled with them throughout Northern Italy. They called for a reform of the clergy, the launching of a new crusade and told people that true repentance and renewal could only be achieved through a “total love for God”. Catherine also dedicated her life to the study of religious texts. 

About 1366, at the age of 19, Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a “Mystical Marriage” with Jesus, after which she began to tend the sick and serve the poor, taking care of them in hospitals or homes.

In 1370, when she was 23, she received a series of visions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, after which she heard a command to leave her secluded life and enter the world of public life. Although illiterate, she dictated letters to people in positions of authority, especially calling for peace between the squabbling republics and principalities of Italy and also for the return of the papacy from its exile in Avignon, in the south of France, back to Rome.

She carried on a long correspondence with Pope Gregory XI, also calling on him both to reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal States, which had become embroiled with a war with Florence. In June of 1376, Catherine went to Avignon herself, as the ambassador of Florence, to make peace with the Papal States and to urge Pope Gregory to return to Rome. She was not successful but, the following year, at the beginning of 1377, she had impressed the pope so much that he did return to Rome.

After Gregory’s death in 1378, the cardinals, mostly French, elected an Italian Pope, Urban VI, who turned out, among other defects, to be arrogant and tyrannical. The cardinals met again, declared that the first election had been under duress from the Roman mob and hence invalid. They elected a new pope, Clement VII, who established his residence at Avignon.

Catherine, now in Rome, worked tirelessly to persuade Urban to mend his ways. Her letters to him are respectful, but uncompromising. As one historian has said, she perfected the art of kissing the Pope’s feet while simultaneously twisting his arm, and she worked to persuade dissidents that the peace and unity of the Church required the recognition of Urban as lawful Pope. Despite her efforts, the Western Schism continued until 1417. It greatly weakened the prestige of the Bishops of Rome and helped to pave the way for the Protestant Reformation in the following century.

Driven by politics rather than any real theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance (1414-1418). Catherine remained at the papal court and tried to convince the nobility and cardinals that Urban was the rightful pope. The problems of the Western Schism would trouble her to the end of her life. Catherine’s dictated letters are considered among the great works of early Tuscan literature. More than 300 of her letters have survived. In her letters to the Pope, she often referred to him affectionately as “Papa” or “Daddy” (Babbo in Italian). Her major work is the Dialogue of Divine Providence.

After a prolonged period of suffering lasting three months, which she endured with total acceptance, she died on 29 April, 1380. Her last political achievement, accomplished practically from her death-bed, was the reconciliation of Pope Urban VI with the Roman Republic in 1380. After her death, the people of Siena wished to have her body interred in their city.

There is a legend which explains how Catherine’s head did reach the city, where it is now entombed in the basilica of San Domenico. The people of Siena knew they could not get her whole body past Papal State guards and so decided to take only her head, which they placed in a bag. They were still stopped by guards and prayed to Catherine to help them because they knew Catherine would rather lie in her native city. When they opened the bag to show the guards, it no longer held her head, but was full of rose petals. Once they got back to Siena they reopened the bag and her head was there.

Because of this legend, Catherine is often shown holding a rose. Her body is buried in the basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, close to the Pantheon. Catherine was canonised in 1461. Her feast day at first was not included in the Tridentine Calendar. When it was later added to the Roman Calendar, it was put on 30 April, the day after her date of death which had already been taken by the feast of St Peter of Verona. In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic calendar, it was decided to leave his celebration to local calendars, as he was less known outside of Italy. St Catherine’s feast was then finally put on 29 April, the date of her death.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI gave her the title of Doctor of the Church, making her the first woman, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, to receive this honour. In 1999, Pope John Paul II made her one of the patrons of Europe, together with Saints Benedict, Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden, and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). She is also, together with St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy.

More

Peter Canisius was a Jesuit priest and an important figure in the Counter Reformation, which tried to stem the tide of Protestantism sweeping over Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Switzerland. The restoration of Catholicism in Germany after the Reformation is largely attributed to his work.

He was born Peter Kanis on 8 May, 1521, in the Duchy of Guelders (until 1549, part of the Holy Roman Empire and now in The Netherlands). While at the University of Cologne, he met Peter Faber, a companion of St Ignatius Loyola and with him one of the founders of the Society of Jesus.

In 1543, Canisius (the Latinised form of his name) became the first Dutchman to join the Jesuit order, just three years after the Society got papal approval. Through his missionary work, Peter became one of the most influential Catholics of his day. He supervised the founding and maintenance of the early German Jesuit colleges, often with the backing of meagre resources. Because of his frequent travels between the colleges, a tedious and dangerous undertaking at the time, he became known as the Second Apostle of Germany.

Canisius also exerted a strong influence on Emperor Ferdinand I. He constantly reminded the emperor of the great danger to his eternal salvation should he surrender more rights to Protestants in return for their military support. And when Canisius perceived a strong danger of Ferdinand’s son and heir, King Maximilian, openly declaring himself Protestant, he convinced Ferdinand to threaten disinheritance should Maximilian desert the Catholic faith.

Canisius was an influential teacher and preacher, especially through his famous Catechism, a book that defined the basic teachings of Catholicism in the German language, and was widely read in German-speaking countries. He was offered the post of bishop of Vienna, but declined in order to continue his travelling and teaching. However, he was administrator of the Diocese of Vienna from 1554 to 1555, and the principal preacher in Augsburg Cathedral from 1559 to 1568. His preaching was said to have been so convincing that it drew hundreds of Protestants back to the Catholic faith.

He was one of the main Catholic theologians at the Colloquy of Worms from 11 September to 8 October, 1557, the last such colloquy in the 16th century. At the Diet of Augsburg in 1555, it had been agreed that dialogue on controversial religious issues should be continued. Catholics Michael Helding, John Gropper, and Peter Canisius met with Protestants Philip Melanchthon, Johannes Brenz and Erhard Schnepf. The main issue was the relation between the Bible and tradition.

When Canisius alluded to differences among the Protestants themselves in their doctrine of original sin and justification by faith, which they could not resolve, the meeting broke up. By the time Canisius left Germany in 1590, the Jesuits in Germany had evolved from almost nothing into a powerful tool of the Counter Reformation.

Canisius spent the last 20 years of his life in Fribourg, Switzerland, where he founded the Jesuit College that became the core of today’s University of Fribourg. He died in Fribourg on 21 December, 1597. He was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.  

Peter is remembered for his courtesy in debate, his powerful preaching, and his use of the written word to promote the Catholic revival after the Council of Trent.

In recognition of his early work in the establishment of Jesuit education, there are many Jesuit colleges named after him. Among them is Canisius College, a Jesuit secondary school in his hometown of Nijmegen. Among others, there is a secondary and post-secondary complex of schools, (Canisius College) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Apologetische Vereniging St Petrus Canisius (St Peter Canisius Association for Apologetics) was founded in the Netherlands in 1904. The purpose of this association was the defence of the Roman Catholic Church against the values of socialism and liberalism, and the restoration of a more Catholic way of life into Dutch society.

More

A John Mark first appears in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 12:12), after Peter was miraculously released from prison. When Peter realised that he was really free, he made his way to the house of Mary, who was the mother of John Mark, and whose house seems to have been a meeting place for Jerusalem Christians. At the end of the same chapter, we are told that Saul and Barnabas, who had earlier gone to Jerusalem on a relief mission to provide food for the Christians there, had returned to Antioch bringing John Mark with them. Soon after this, Barnabas and Paul were chosen by the community in Antioch to go on a missionary enterprise, known now as Paul’s First Missionary Journey. They sailed from the nearby port of Seleucia and went first to Salamis on the island of Cyprus. Along with them, they brought John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas. From Salamis they went on to Paphos at the other end of the island, where they converted the governor to Christianity.

From Paphos, the missionaries left Cyprus and went on to Perga, a city in Pamphylia, on the south coast of what is now Turkey. It was here we are told John Mark left Barnabas and Paul and returned to Jerusalem, although the reason is not given. Later, when Barnabas and Saul were setting out on their second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them. Paul, however, was not willing to take John Mark (who is now called Mark), because he had left them at Perga on their first mission. This caused a serious disagreement between Barnabas and Paul. Barnabas left Paul and, taking his cousin (John) Mark with him, went back to Cyprus. Paul then chose Silas as his missionary companion.

Relations seem to have improved subsequently because in Paul’s Letter to the Christians at Colosse, Paul writes:

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him.

In the Second Letter to Timothy, Paul writes:

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me in ministry. (2 Tim 4:11)

As well, in the short Letter to Philemon (Phil 1:24), Mark is cited as one of the helpers of Paul. And at the end of the First Letter of Peter we read:

Your sister church in Babylon [a code word for Rome], chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. (1 Peter 5:13)

There is also a tradition that Mark was the founder of the Church in Alexandria, in northern Egypt.

The writing of the second Gospel is also attributed to Mark, but it is not absolutely certain that it is the same person (the authorship of ancient texts is always tricky). The Gospel was probably written in Rome before 60 AD, and there are certainly indications that John Mark was there at the time. It was written in Greek and directed to Gentile converts to Christianity. Tradition says that Mark was requested by the Christians of Rome to set down the teachings of Peter. This seems confirmed by the position which Peter has in this Gospel.

The Gospel is thus understood as a record of the mission of Jesus as seen through the eyes of Peter. It is also the first Gospel to be written, and both Matthew and Luke in their longer Gospels certainly borrow extensively from Mark. Mark’s Gospel is one of the most lively and readable accounts with more emphasis on the actions of Jesus, and where Jesus teaches more by what he does than what he says.