POPE FRANCIS' GENERAL AUDIENCE 15 APRIL

"God has entrusted the earth to the alliance of man and of woman: its failure makes the world arid of affections and darkens the sky of hope."

Today’s catechesis is dedicated to a central aspect of the subject of the family: that of the great gift that God made to humanity with the creation of man and woman and with the Sacrament of Marriage. This catechesis and the next are concerned with the difference and complementarity between man and woman, who are at the summit of the divine creation; the two following ones will be on Marriage.

We begin with a brief comment on the first account of Creation in the Book of Genesis. Here we read that God, after having created the universe and all living beings, created his masterpiece, namely, the human being, which he made in his own image: “in the image of God He created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

As we all know, sexual difference is present in so many forms of life, in the long scale of the living. However, only in man and in woman does it bear in itself the image and likeness of God: the biblical text repeats it a good three times in two verses (26-27): Man and woman are image and likeness of God! This tells us that not only man in himself is the image of God, not only woman in herself is the image of God, but also man and woman, as a couple, are the image of God. The difference between man and woman is not for opposition, or for subordination, but for communion and creation, always in the image and likeness of God.

Experience teaches it: to know himself well and to grow harmoniously, the human being is in need of reciprocity between man and woman. When this does not happen, the consequences are seen. We are made to listen to and to help one another. We can say that without the reciprocal enrichment in this relation – in thought and in action, in affections and in work, also in the faith – the two cannot understand in depth what it means to be a man and a woman.

Modern and contemporary culture has opened new areas, new freedoms and new depths for the enrichment of the understanding of this difference. However, it has also introduced many doubts and much skepticism. For instance, I wonder, for example, if the so-called gender theory is not also an expression of a frustration and of a resignation, which aims to cancel the sexual difference because it no longer knows how to address it. Yes, we risk taking a step backward. The removal of the difference, in fact, is the problem, not the solution. To resolve their problems of relation, man and woman must instead talk more to one another, listen more to one another, know one another more, love one another more. They must relate to one another with respect and cooperate with friendship. With these human bases, sustained by the grace of God, it is possible to plan the matrimonial and family union for the whole of life. The matrimonial and family bond is something serious, and it is for everyone, not only for believers. I would like to exhort the intellectuals not to abandon this topic, as if it had become secondary for the commitment in favor of a freer and more just society.

God has entrusted the earth to the alliance of man and of woman: its failure makes the world arid of affections and darkens the sky of hope. The signs are already worrying, and we see them. I would like to indicate, among many, two points that I believe must be attended with greater urgency.

The first. It is without doubt that we must do much more in favor of woman if we want to give back more strength to the reciprocity between men and women. In fact, it is necessary that women not only be more listened to, but that her voice has real weight, a recognized authoritativeness in the society and in the Church. The way itself with which Jesus considered women –we read it in the Gospel, it is so! -- in a context less favorable than ours, because in those times women were in fact in second place ... and Jesus considered her in a way which gives a powerful light, which enlightens a path that leads far, of which we have only followed a small piece. We have not yet understood in depth what things the feminine genius can give us, which woman can give to society and also to us. Perhaps to see things with other eyes that complements the thoughts of men. It is a path to follow with more creativity and more audacity.

A second reflection concerns the topic of man and woman created in the image of God. I wonder if the crisis of collective trust in God, which does us so much harm, and makes us become sick with resignation, incredulity and cynicism, is not also connected to the crisis of the alliance between man and woman. In fact the biblical account, with the great symbolic fresco on the earthly paradise and original sin, tells us in fact that the communion with God is reflected in the communion of the human couple and the loss of trust in the celestial Father generates division and conflict between man and woman.

From here comes the great responsibility of the Church, of all believers, and first of all of believing families, to rediscover the beauty of the creative design that inscribes the image of God also in the alliance between man and woman. The earth is filled with harmony and trust when the alliance between man and woman is lived well. And if man and woman seek it together between themselves and with God, without a doubt they will find it. Jesus encourages us explicitly to give witness to this beauty, which is the image of God. 

REFLECTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

It is a common accusation of non-believers that Christianity cannot prove the existence of God. But then, neither can non-believers disprove his existence. For the Christian, the argument goes much deeper that a mere disagreement between proof and non-proof. A Christian believes in the existence of God on the very solid basis of faith.

For example, there is no physical proof of the Resurrection of Jesus. There is the historical fact of the empty tomb. That is history! But it is only through faith that the risen Jesus presents himself to us. Reason can lead us so far: it is only when we step out in faith, beyond reason, placing our faith in the existence of God, that we discover He actually does exist.

The disciples accepted Jesus’ teaching that He would suffer and die and rise again on the third day. But they did not accept it literally. It was only when he actually appeared before them, that they saw the literalness of His prophesies. But they, nevertheless, actually saw the Risen Lord before them on that Easter Sunday. It was only Thomas who was not present. It is not surprising that Thomas, like the other disciples, refused to believe unless they were confronted with the evidence. But it is Jesus’ words to Thomas, “You believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe,” that are important. This he meant for us. We are presented with evidence of the Risen Jesus in so many ways: the sacraments, the scriptures, the 2 000 year continued existence of the Church, the Body of Christ. But all of these are pointers, even very strong ones, to the reality of the Resurrection. It is only when we take that step of faith: starting to live as though Jesus is Lord and had really risen from the dead, that He will  become a living presence in our lives. Faith, that wonderful gift of God, is what makes the whole story of Jesus and his revealing of the Father real for us. The Apostles saw and believed: even Doubting Thomas saw and believed: we too, if we begin by accepting the Gift of Faith which God gives us, can, by the gift of that same faith, see and believe. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” The Apostles started with seeing which led to believing: We, who begin with faith and end with believing, are specially blessed. Let us thank God today for the gift of Faith, which enables us to believe. May that faith grow ever stronger in us, that we might see Him more clearly every day, and that in turn, our faith may grow yet stronger in the Risen Lord and that He in turn, may become an ever more powerful presence in our lives.

Fr. Phillip

REFLECTION FOR EASTER SUNDAY

One of the most dramatic images of the Risen Jesus in the New Testament is to be found in the heavenly assembly in the Book of Revelation – also known as the Apocalypse of John. In it, John describes the risen Jesus as follows: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” (Rev. 5,6). It is a striking, even terrifying image. The woolly lamb is, in our imagination, the weakest and most helplessly gentle of creatures. Yet here it becomes a divine creature with the fullness of power – seven horns – and the all-seeing vision of God – seven eyes.

Almost all of us would pass over the word “standing” as merely describing the Lamb’s physical position. Yet it is, perhaps, the most important word in the verse. In Greek, the word is hestekos, which comes from another Greek word, anhistemi, which means to “rise up.” In other words, the Lamb “standing” means the resurrected Lamb, and standing “as if it had been slain” is the crucified and resurrected Jesus, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The Afrikaans word “opstanding” translates it perfectly.

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus, because it is simply, without qualification or rival, the most important event in history. Resurrection is a Jewish idea, the basis for which we first encounter in the Bible as early as Genesis 2,7: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being”. For a Hebrew, we are formed from those two most fragile of things; dust and breath. 

And yet, in this image, it is the breath, the Spirit, of God that gives us life. When God takes back his Spirit, life leaves us and we return “to the dust from which we came.” It is easy to see from where this imagery comes.

In other words, for the Hebrews, man is not a spirit trapped is a body; he is a living body. We are dependent upon God for our very existence. And for this reason, eternal life is impossible without a body. Therefore, without a resurrection, there can be no eternal life. And for a Christian, the Resurrection of Jesus makes possible our own resurrection; if he has not risen from the dead, then we cannot rise from the dead, and there is nothing beyond death for us. Paul puts this all exquisitely in 1 Corinthians 15.

And so, during this season of the Church, there is an explosion of joy in the Resurrection. “He is risen! He is risen! He is risen!” For in the Resurrection of Jesus is all our hope, and it is our only hope. It is strange, is it not, that all our hope should be placed in an empty tomb? Yet this is exactly the basis of all our hopes, our longings, our desires. May God grant us a blessed and happy Easter 2015, and may we all experience the life-giving power of his Resurrection in our lives.

POPE FRANCIS' GENERAL AUDIENCE 1 APRIL

Tomorrow is Holy Thursday, with the Holy Mass that is called “the Lord’s Supper,” which begins the Easter Triduum of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, culmination of the whole Liturgical Year.

The Triduum opens with the commemoration of the Last Supper. On the eve of his Passion, Jesus offered the Father his Body and his Blood under the species of bread and wine and, giving it as nutriment to the Apostles, he commanded them to perpetuate the offer in his memory. Recalling the washing of the feet, the Gospel of this celebration expresses the same meaning of the Eucharist under another perspective. Jesus – as a servant – washes the feet of Simon Peter and the other eleven disciples (Cf. John 13:4-5). With this prophetic gesture, He expresses the meaning of his life and of his Passion, as service to God and to brothers: “For the Son of man has come not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45).

This happened also in our Baptism, when the grace of God washed us from sin and we were clothed in Christ (Cf. Colossians 3:10). This happens every time we do the memorial of the Lord in the Eucharist: we enter into communion with Christ the Servant to obey his commandment, to love one another as He has loved us (Cf. John 13:34; 15:12). If we approach Holy Communion without being sincerely disposed to wash one another’s feet, we do not recognize the Body of the Lord. It is Jesus’ service, giving himself totally.

Then, day after tomorrow, in the liturgy of Good Friday we meditate on the mystery of the Death of Christ and we adore the Cross. In the last moments of his life, before rendering his spirit to the Father, Jesus said: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). What does this word mean that Jesus says “It is finished”? It means that the work of salvation is finished, that all the Scriptures find their fulfilment in the love of Christ, immolated Lamb. With his sacrifice, Jesus transformed the greatest iniquity into the greatest love.

There have been men and women in the course of the centuries, who with the testimony of their life reflect a ray of this perfect, full, uncontaminated love. I like to remember a heroic witness of our days, Don Andrea Santoro, priest of the diocese of Rome and missionary in Turkey. A few days before being killed at Trabzon, he wrote: “I am here to dwell amid these people and enable Jesus to do so by lending him my flesh ... One becomes capable of salvation only by offering one’s flesh. The evil of the world is borne and the pain is shared, absorbing it in one’s flesh to the end, as Jesus did” (A. Polselli, Don Andrea Santoro, The legacy, Citta Nuova, Rome, 2008, p. 31)

This example of a man of our times, and so many others, sustain us in offering our life as gift of love to brothers, in imitation of Jesus. And there are also today so many men and women, true martyrs, who offer their life with Jesus to confess the faith; for that sole reason. It is a service: service of Christian witness to the point of blood. The service that Christ did for us, has redeemed us to the end. And this is the meaning of that word “It is finished.” How good it will be that at the end of our life, all of us, with our mistakes, our sins, also with our good works, with out love of neighbor, can say to the Father like Jesus ”It is finished!” However, not with the perfection that he said it, but to say: ‘But Lord, I did all that I could. It is finished’ Adoring the cross, looking at Jesus, we think of love, in service, in our life, in the Christian martyrs and also ... None of us knows when this will happen. However, we can ask for the grace to be able to say ‘But Father, I did what I could. It is finished!’

Holy Saturday is the day in which the Church contemplates Christ’s rest in the tomb after the victorious combat of the cross. On Holy Saturday the Church identifies herself, once again, with Mary: all her faith is gathered in Her, the first and perfect disciple, the first and perfect believer. In the darkness that enveloped Creation, She remains alone holding the flame of faith lighted, hoping against all hope (Cf. Romans 4:18).

And in the great Easter Vigil, in the late evening, in which the Alleluia resounds again, we celebrate the Risen Christ, center and end of the cosmos and of history; we watch full of hope while awaiting his return, when Easter will have its full manifestation.

Sometimes the darkness of night seems to penetrate the soul; sometimes we think: “now there is nothing to be done,” and the heart no longer finds the strength to love ... However, precisely in that darkness Christ lights the fire of the love of God: a flash breaks the darkness and announces a new beginning.  Something begins in the most profound darkness!

We know that the night is darkest before the day begins. However, precisely in the darkness, it is Christ that conquers and lights the fire of love. The stone of sorrow is overturned leaving space for hope. See the great mystery of Easter! On this holy night the Church gives us the light of the Risen One, so that in us there is not the lament of the one who says “now ...”, but the hope of one who opens himself to a present full of [promise for] future: Christ has conquered death, and we with Him. Our life does not end before the stone of the sepulcher! Our life goes beyond with the hope of Christ who has risen! – in fact, from that sepulcher. We are called as Christians to be watchmen of the morning, who are able to perceive the signs of the Risen One, as the women and the disciples did who went to the sepulcher at dawn on the first day of the week.

Dear brothers and sisters, in these days of the Holy Triduum, let us not limit ourselves to commemorating the Lord’s Passion, but let us enter in the mystery, let us make his sentiments are own, his attitudes, as the Apostle Paul invites us to do: ”Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Then ours will be a “good Easter.”

PASCHAL MEAL

On the Monday night of Holy Week the parish came together for the Paschal meal, organised by the ladies of the Catholic Women's League.

Some of the ladies who helped prepare the delicious food!

The high table. The Everett family were our family for the night. Fr Mafu said grace and blessed the food, and Br Alan acted as the narrator. 

Despite being a CBC teacher, Fr Phillip enjoys a moment with some Eunice girls

A view down the Donovan Hall

Friends from Port Elizabeth come to visit!

PALM SUNDAY AT THE CATHEDRAL

On Sunday, Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo joined his Cathedral parish to begin the solemn Holy Week. A few images from the 9am Mass....

The Archbishop blesses the palms before Mass

Frs Johnson and Mafu, and the Archbishop process through the Cathedral gardens.

The walk up Green Street towards the South Door

Br Alan leading the Archbishop around the altar during the incensation before the Collect

The reading of the Passion

Fr Johnson delivering his homily

The Eucharistic Prayer

Fr Phillip led the choir for the first time. They used his own Mass setting, the Missa Brevis Juvenal Ancina, for the ordinary.

 With thanks to Gerald Letters for taking these pics!

REFLECTION FOR PALM SUNDAY

As Jesus approached the walls of Jerusalem through the Kidron valley which runs along the eastern side of the city, cloaks were thrown in his path and the people cried: “Hosanna!” (“Save us!”) to the man whom they believed to be the Messiah, the Anointed One, the one who was to ”restore the kingdom to Israel.” Scarcely five days later those same lips were shouting “Crucify him!” – one of the greatest ironies in all history. What had happened?

For over 900 years Israel had been, first a divided country, then  a country slowly dominated by foreigners, then broken up and finally destroyed. Eventually, by the grace of the Persian conqueror Cyrus, they were allowed to return to their wrecked country, to rebuild it as best they could, still dominated, first by the Persians, then the Greeks under Alexander the Great. They had had a brief period of independence under the Maccabees. Then, about sixty years before Christ, the Romans had marched in, and Israel was again a dominated nation. They believed by this time that only a direct intervention by God could save them, and they awaited the Messiah whom God would anoint to carry out this task. They thought that Jesus was this Man. They had seen his miracles, heard how he “spoke with authority” and they really thought that he had come to Jerusalem to lead a revolt against the Romans, to be like one of the great figures of old who had “judged”, then saved, Israel.

It was not to be. He rode a donkey into Jerusalem, not a war-horse; a sign of peace. He attacked not the Romans, but the Jewish traders in the Temple, thus angering the priests. He argued strongly against the “traditions of men” of the Scribes and Pharisees, setting them against him. They, fearing that he was to begin an uprising that would drive the Romans into removing what little power they still held, and carrying out mass reprisals pour encourager les autres, trumped up a case of sedition against him and managed to convince Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, into crucifying him. Part of this consisted of convincing the people, who had been frankly disappointed in the actions of their Messiah, to support them in this, thus threatening the very uprising of which they were afraid!

But the irony of God is far greater than the irony of man. When the High Priest said “It is better that one man should die for the people” he meant, “Let’s kill Jesus before he starts an uprising and we all suffer.” But in saying this, he could not possibly know that the actual meaning of his words would be what God intended: “If this man dies, he will take away the sins of everyone.” None of his countrymen wanted what Jesus offered, yet his death “restored the kingdom” not only to little Israel, but, to quote John again,  he became “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

There are many lessons for us in this, but one in particular is worth singling out as we begin the Holy Week of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. It is this; that whatever we do, we cannot avoid carrying out God’s Will. Whether we love and obey him, or oppose him and reject him, his Will really is Sovereign. The High Priest, Caiaphas, wanted to get rid of Jesus by having the Romans execute him as a criminal. What he actually did was to ensure that God’s will, the saving death of the Messiah, was carried out. In his opposing of God’s will, he executed God’s will perfectly. The choice is ours, too. We will, by hook or by crook, carry out God’s will, whether we like it or not. Do we wish to do so as his friend or as his enemy?

Fr. Phillip

POPE FRANCIS' GENERAL AUDIENCE 25 MARCH

In our course of catecheses on the family, today is a rather special stage – it will be a pause for prayer.  

On March 25, in fact, we celebrate solemnly in the Church the Annunciation, the beginning of the Mystery of the Incarnation. The Archangel Gabriel visits the humble Maiden of Nazareth and announces that she will conceive and give birth to the Son of God. With this Announcement, the Lord enlightens and reinforces Mary’s faith, as He will later do also for her husband Joseph, so that Jesus can be born in a human family.

This is very beautiful: it shows us how profoundly the Mystery of the Incarnation, as God willed it, includes not only the conception in the mother’s womb but also the reception in a true family. Today I would like to contemplate with you the beauty of this bond, the beauty of this condescension of God; and we can do so reciting together the Hail Mary, which in the first part takes up, precisely, the words of the Angel, those which he addresses to the Virgin. Let us pray together:

Hail Mary…

And now a second aspect: Celebrated in many countries on March 25, Solemnity of the Annunciation, is the Day for Life. Therefore, 20 years ago, on this date, Saint John Paul II signed the Encyclical Evangelium vitae. To recall this anniversary, present today in the Square are many followers of the Pro-Life Movement. In Evangelium vitae the family occupies a central place, in as much as it is the womb of human life. The word of my venerable Predecessor reminds us that the human couple is blessed by God from the beginning to form a community of love and of life, to which is entrusted the mission of procreation.  Celebrating the Sacrament of Marriage, Christian spouses render themselves available to honor this blessing, with Christ’s grace, for their whole life. On her part, the Church commits herself solemnly to take care of the family that is born, as gift of God for its life itself, in good and bad times: the bond between the Church and the family is sacred and inviolable. The Church, as Mother, never abandons the family, even when it is humiliated, wounded and mortified in so many ways. Not even when it falls into sin, or distances itself from the Church; she will always do everything to try to take care of it and heal it, to invite it to conversion and to reconcile it with the Lord.

Well, if this is the task, it is clear how much prayer the Church needs to be able, at all times, to fulfil this mission! -- a prayer full of love for the family and for life, a prayer that is able to rejoice with those who rejoice and suffer with those who suffer.

See then what we thought, together with my collaborators, to propose today: to renew theprayer for the Synod of Bishops on the Family. We re-launch this commitment until next October, when the Ordinary Synodal Assembly will take place, dedicated to the family. I would like this prayer, as the whole Synodal course, to be animated by the compassion of the Good Shepherd for his flock, especially for the persons and families that, for different reasons, are “tired and finished,” as sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

Thus, sustained and animated by God’s grace, the Church will be able to be committed again, and still more united, in the testimony of the truth of the love of God and of his mercy for the families of the world, none excluded, be it inside o outside the sheepfold.

I ask you, please, that your prayer not be lacking. All -- Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, priests, men and women religious, lay faithful – we are all called to pray for the Synod. There is need of this, not of gossip! I also invite you to pray those who feel far away, or who are no longer accustomed to doing so. This prayer for the Synod on the Family is for the good of all. I know that this morning you were given a little prayer card and that you have it in your hands. (Perhaps it’s a bit wet). I invite you to keep it and to carry it with you, so that in the coming months you can recite it often, with holy insistence, as Jesus has asked us. Now we recite it together:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

In you we contemplate

The splendor of true love,

We turn to you with confidence.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

Make our families, also,

Places of communion and cenacles of prayer,

Authentic schools of the Gospel,

And little domestic Churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth

May our families never more experience

Violence, isolation, and division:

May anyone who was wounded or scandalized

Rapidly experience consolation and healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

May the upcoming Synod of Bishops

Re-awaken in all an awareness

Of the sacred character and inviolability of the family,

Its beauty in the project of God.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Hear and answer our prayer. Amen.

STATUES VEILED FOR PASSIONTIDE

REFLECTION ON THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

The heart of Israel’s faith was the Law given them by God. God was so holy that to look upon him meant death for sinful man. He manifested himself as thunder, lightning, earthquakes, smoke and fire, even, it seems, volcanic eruption. It was by obeying the Law he gave through Moses that Israel could keep the command of God: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God am holy.” Israel was meant to be a holy nation, through which God would reveal himself to the world.

It is a matter of record that Israel did not live up to this vocation. Slowly but surely, God’s people, and the land he gave to them, were divided and destroyed by the powerful nations around them as they came to rely less and less on Him. Eventually, in 587 BC, the last remnant of Israel, including its capital, the holy city of Jerusalem, was destroyed, and its people scattered across the Babylonian Empire.

At about this time, prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel began to see that the Old Covenant with God had broken down irreparably. A covenant written on tablets of stone had produced hearts of stone. They looked forward to a New Covenant, written on the hearts of humans beings, a covenant within, so to speak. In the words of Ezekiel (Chapter 36), “I will take you from among the nations, and pour clean water over you, and cleanse you from all your defilements. I will take out from your chest the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, and cause you to walk in my commandments. You shall live in the land I gave to your ancestors. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

For Christians, the presence of God is no longer terrifying. We see him and know him through a person; the person of Jesus Christ. “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” And the new covenant he brings is sealed in his blood, shed upon the cross for us. We celebrate it in the words of Jesus himself at the Passover Meal which was his Last Supper, the very first New Passover: “Take and eat…take and drink…this is my body…this is my blood…do this in memory of me.” Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we become heirs to the promises of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, promises fulfilled in and through Jesus’ saving death. It is when we come before Jesus in sorrow for our sins that he forgives us and purifies our hearts.  “Deep within you I will plant my Law, writing it on your hearts…” This is the promise he has fulfilled for us. We have but to ask, but to listen, but to obey, and the New Covenant,  the Law of Christ, will be written on our hearts, too.

Fr. Phillip

POPE FRANCIS GENERAL AUDIENCE 18 MARCH

Children in themselves are richness for humanity and for the Church, because they recall to us constantly the necessary condition to enter in the Kingdom of God

After having reviewed the different figures of family life – mother, father, children, siblings, and grandparents --, I would like to end this first group of catecheses on the family to speak about children. I will do so in two sessions: today I shall reflect on the great gift that children are for humanity. But this is true; thank you for applauding. They are the great gift for humanity, but they are also greatly excluded. And next week I shall reflect on some wounds that, unfortunately, harm children. There comes to mind the many children I met during my last trip to Asia: full of life, of enthusiasm and, on the other hand, I see that many of them live in the world in conditions that are undignified. In fact, a society can be judged by the way its children are treated. Not only morally, but also sociologically: if it is a free society or a society slave of international interests.

The first thing that children remind us of is that all of us, in the first years of life, were totally dependent on the care and benevolence of others. And the Son of God did not spare himself this stage. It is the mystery we contemplate every year at Christmas. The Manger is the icon that communicates this reality to us in the simplest and most direct way. But it’s curious. God has no difficulty in making himself understood by children, and children don’t have problems in understanding God. It’s no accident that in the Gospel there are very beautiful and intense words of Jesus on the “little ones.” This term “little” indicates all persons that depend on the help of others, and, in particular, children. For instance, Jesus says: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” (Matthew 11:25). And again: “See that you not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven: (Matthew 18:10). Therefore, children in themselves are richness for humanity and for the Church, because they recall to us constantly the necessary condition to enter in the Kingdom of God: not to consider ourselves self-sufficient, but in need of help, of love and of forgiveness. And we are all in need of help, of love and of forgiveness. Everyone!

Children remind us of another good thing: they remind us that we are always children: even if one becomes an adult or elderly, even if one becomes a parent, if one has a position of responsibility, underneath all this remains the identity of a child. We are all children! And this refers us to the fact that we did not give life to ourselves but that we received it. The great gift of life, the first gift we received: life! Sometimes we live forgetting this, as if we were the masters of our existence; instead, we are radically dependent. In reality, it is a reason for great joy to know that in every age of life, in every situation, in every social condition, we are and remain children. This is the principal message that children give us, with their very presence. Their presence alone reminds us that each and all of us are children.

But there are so many gifts, so many riches that children bring to humanity. I shall recall only a few. They bring their way of seeing reality, with a trusting and pure look. A child has spontaneous trust in its father and in its mother: and it has spontaneous trust in God, in Jesus and in Our Lady. At the same time, its interior look is pure, it is not yet polluted by malice, by duplicity, by the “incrustations” of life that harden the heart.

We know that children also have original sin, that they have their selfishness, but they have a purity, an interior simplicity. But children are not diplomatic! They say what they feel. They say what they see directly! And so often they put their parents in difficulty. They say, “But I don’t like this because it’s ugly, in front of other persons. But children say what they see. They are not two-faced, they have not yet learnt that science of duplicity that we, adults, have learnt.

Moreover, in their interior simplicity they bear in themselves the capacity of receiving and giving tenderness. Tenderness means to have a heart “of flesh” and not “of stone,” as the Bible says (Cf. Ezekiel 36:26). Tenderness is also poetry: it is “to feel” things and events, not to treat them as mere objects, just to be used, because they are useful ... Children have the capacity to smile and to cry: some smile when I lift them to kiss them. Others see me in white, they think I’m the doctor, and that I am going to vaccinate them, and they cry – but spontaneously. Children are like this, they smile and cry: two things that in us adults are often “blocked,” we are no longer capable.... and so often our smile becomes a cardboard smile, something without life, a smile that’s not vivacious -- also an artificial smile, of a clown. Children smile spontaneously and cry spontaneously ... it always depends on the heart and our heart is blocked and often loses this capacity to smile and cry...

And, therefore, children can teach us again to smile and cry. However, we must often ask ourselves: do I smile spontaneously with freshness, with love or is my smile artificial? Do I still cry or have I lost the capacity to cry? But these are two very human questions that children teach us.

For all these reasons Jesus invites his disciples “to become like children,” because “He who is as they are belongs to the Kingdom of God” (Cf. Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:14).

Dear brothers and sisters, children bring life, joy, hope, also trouble, but life is like this. They certainly also bring worries and sometimes problems. However, it’s better to have a society with these worries and problems than a sad and grey society because it has remained without children! And when we see that the level of births hardly reaches 1%, we can say that this society is grey because it has remained without children.

REFLECTION ON THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

If you read any one of the first three gospels, you will find Jesus predicting his passion three times. In John this does not happen. In John’s gospel, Jesus speaks three times of being “lifted up” from the earth.

In the first, he speaks of being lifted up “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert”. When Israel complain against God in the wilderness, God” sent fiery serpents among them, and their bite brought death to many in Israel”. When they repent, God tells Moses to make a bronze image of the serpent and place it on a high pole, so that anyone who is bitten can look upon it and live. In other words, God does not take away the serpents, but gives a means of healing from them. Just so, God does not take away sin from among us, but gives us the choice to turn from it and receive salvation from Jesus Christ. The serpent on the pole becomes a symbol of Jesus on the cross. There is also a wonderful irony here; just as the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted our first parents to sin, so now the symbol of a serpent is made into a means of healing.

The other meaning of being “lifted up” comes from the culture of kings in the time that the gospel was written. In public, a king was carried on a special chair on a platform, borne on the shoulders of servants or slaves, so that his feet were above his subjects’ heads. Thus being “lifted up” was a sign of majesty. In Isaiah 53, the king is “lifted up” – but wounded and humiliated, dying on behalf of his people: “On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and by his stripes we are healed”. The Christian tradition has always seen this passage as a prophecy of Jesus the Messiah, brutally treated, crowned with thorns, raised high on a cross, which is the nearest thing, as the King of the Jews”, that he ever had to a throne.

John shows the crucified Jesus as the Saviour in his use of the words “lifted up”. Jesus’ words about it are: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me…then the will know that I am He (the Messiah and Saviour)”. As we reflect on, and participate in the mysteries of Easter this year, let us keep in mind this image of the crucified Christ, “lifted up” from the earth on our behalf, to take away our sins, the only One who can turn sin into a means of healing. Let us approach the cross, contrite and ashamed of our sinfulness, and ask him to bring us to healing, so that we can be renewed and changed, and may come back to him with all our hearts.

Fr. Phillip

POPE FRANCIS' GENERAL AUDIENCE 11 MARCH 2015

"How I would like a Church that challenges the disposable culture with the overflowing joy of a new embrace between young people and the elderly"

In today’s catechesis we continue the reflection on grandparents, considering the value and importance of their role in the family. I do so, identifying myself with these persons, because I also belong to this phase of age.

When I was in the Philippines, the Filipino people greeted me, saying: “Lolo Kiko,” – that is, Grandfather Francis – “Lolo Kiko,” they said! It is important to stress one thing first: it is true that society tends to discard us, but certainly not the Lord. The Lord never discards us. He calls us to follow Him in every age of life, and old age also contains a grace and a mission, a true vocation of the Lord. Old age is a vocation. It is not yet the moment “to rest on one’s oars.” Without a doubt, this period of life is different from the preceding. We also must somehow “invent it for ourselves” Because our societies are not ready, spiritually and morally, to give its full value to this moment of life. Once, in fact, it was not normal to have time at one’s disposal; today it is much more so. And Christian spirituality has also been caught somewhat by surprise, and an attempt is being made to delineate a spirituality of elderly persons. However, thanks be to God there is no lack of testimonies of elderly men and women Saints!

I was very moved by the “Day for the Elderly,” which we held here in Saint Peter’s Square last year. The Square was full. I heard stories of elderly people who spent themselves for others, and also stories of married couples, who said: “We are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary; we are celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary.” It is important to have young people see this, who get tired immediately. The testimony of fidelity of the elderly is important. And there were so many of them in the Square that day. It is a reflection to be continued, be it in the ecclesial as well as in the civil realm. The Gospel comes to meet us with a very beautiful, moving and encouraging image. It is the image of Simeon and Anna, of which the Gospel of Jesus’ infancy speaks to us, composed by Saint Luke. They certainly were old, the “old man” Simeon and the “prophetess” Anna who was 84. This woman did not hide her age. The Gospel says that they awaited the coming of God every day, with great fidelity, for long years. In fact, they wanted to see him that day, gather the signs, and intuit the beginning. Perhaps they were somewhat resigned, by now, to die before: however, that long awaiting continued to occupy their whole life, they had no other important commitments than this: to await the Lord and pray. Well, when Mary and Joseph reached the Temple to fulfil the dispositions of the Law, Simenon and Anna were suddenly moved, animated by the Holy Spirit (Cf. Luke 2:27). The weight of their age and of the awaiting disappeared in a moment. They recognized the Child, and discovered new strength for a new task: to render thanks and render witness to this Signs of God. Simeon improvised a very beautiful hymn of jubilation (Cf. Luke  2:29-32) – he was a poet at that moment – and Anna became the first preacher of Jesus: she ”spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

 Dear grandparents, dear elderly, let us put ourselves in the track of these extraordinary old people. Let us also become somewhat poets of prayer: let us enjoy looking for our words; let us re-appropriate for ourselves those that the Word of God teaches us. The prayer of grandparents and the elderly is a great gift for the Church; it is richness! It is a great injection of wisdom also for the whole of human society, especially for that which is too busy, too seizing, too distracted. Someone must sing also for them the signs of God, must proclaim the signs of God, must pray for them! We look at Benedict XVI, who has chosen to spend the last stage of his life in prayer and in listening to God! This is beautiful! Olivier Clement, a great believer of the last century, of Orthodox tradition, said: “A civilization where there is no longer prayer is a civilization where old age no longer makes sense. And this is terrifying. We are in need first of all of elderly people that pray, because old age is given to us for this.” We are in need of elderly people that pray because old age is given to us precisely for this. The prayer of the elderly is a beautiful thing.

We can thank the Lord for the benefits received and fill the void of ingratitude that surrounds him. We can intercede for the expectations of the new generations and give dignity to the memory and the sacrifices of the past ones. We can remind ambitious young people that a life without love is an arid life. We can say to fearful young people that anguish over the future can be overcome. We can teach young people too enamoured of themselves that there is more joy in giving than in receiving. Grandfathers and grandmothers make up the permanent “chorale” of a great spiritual shrine, where the prayer of supplication and the singing of praise sustain the community that works and struggles in the field of life.

Finally, prayer purifies the heart incessantly. Praise and supplication to God prevent the hardening of the heart in resentment and egoism. How awful is the cynicism of an old man who has lost the meaning of his testimony, scorns young people and does not communicate the wisdom of life! Instead, how good is the encouragement that elderly man is able to give the youth in search of faith and the meaning of life! It is truly the mission of grandparents, the vocation of the elderly. Grandparents’ words have something special for young people. And they know it. I still carry with me always in my Breviary the words my grandmother consigned to me in writing the day of my priestly Ordination, and I read them often and it does me good.

How I would like a Church that challenges the disposable culture with the overflowing joy of a new embrace between young people and the elderly! And this is what I ask the Lord today, this embrace!

REFLECTION ON THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Think of the outrage. The Messiah comes, for the first time, to the Holy City of God. He, the successor of King David, who is to rule on David’s throne for ever, arrives “veiled in flesh” at his capital city. He enters by the Golden Gate, climbs the steps right up to the great esplanade on which the Temple is built; mount Zion itself! And his first view is not of a place of prayer, but of a chaotic Middle-Eastern market. A market with a monopoly on over-priced sacrificial animals which could only be bought with special Temple shekels at exorbitant rates of exchange (something about which we South Africans know a thing or two!) and clearly based on kickbacks to the controlling interests.

Are we surprised to see Jesus burst forth into righteous anger? That not even the worship of God is sacred, but merely a means for turning in a dishonest shekel. When we think of how big that market must have been, we get an inkling of how terrifying the righteous anger of God must be; Jesus, on his own, literally wrecked the entire market, and no-one appears to have resisted him.

There is a serious warning to us in today’s Gospel. It is quite simply this; that those who exploit the work of God for financial or any other gain, will incur the wrath of God. Governments who try to manipulate the Church, religious leaders, businesses or individuals, anyone, in fact, who exploits religion for gain; all of these set themselves against God. There is no kinder way of putting it. Jesus does not put it kindly; for him, the Temple market is simply a “den of thieves”. In days gone by it was called simony, after Simon Magus in the Acts of the Apostles, who tried to buy the “secret” by which the Apostles were able to heal the sick. But call it what you will, it is still with us today.

But righteous anger is not negative. Jesus is not only anti-something, he is he is much more pro-something. He wants his Father’s house truly to be a house of prayer. And he is, in this, unstoppable. “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up”, he says, referring to his own Body and Resurrection. Jesus’ anger is because “…God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through him the world might be saved.” When we read about the anger of Jesus we must not simply react to it, either by trying to excuse it or being shocked or outraged by it. Jesus shows righteous anger out of love for us, outrage against anything that threatens our faith. And for that, there is only one response: profound thankfulness.

Fr. Phillip

REFLECTION ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Today Jesus ascends a high mountain with three of his disciples. In the cosmology of that time, high places were closest to heaven and therefore to God. There, for just a brief moment, He allows his heavenly glory, unbearable to sinful human eyes, to shine through, so that his disciples can have a glimpse of the glory that will be given to all who trust in Him.

In the Old Testament, there are two words used to describe the glory of the Lord. There is shekinah, which is associated with an unbearable brightness, the light which shines forth from God. When Moses emerged from the Tent of Meeting in the desert after consulting with God, we are told that he had to veil his face so that the other Israelites would be able to stand his presence.

The other word associated with glory is kavod. This word is associated with heaviness, or weightiness. It was used of people to indicate importance and honour, much as we use the word “weighty” today. It was frequently used to describe the majesty of kings and other important figures. Both these words are undoubtedly associated with Jesus in today’s gospel.

In other words, Jesus today is revealed as the path to heavenly glory, and the Lord of all, the most important person that we can honour and worship. He reveals a power and a glory that are beyond our capacity to understand. He means to share it with each of us, if we really want him to. “Arise! Shine out! For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for you have created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” With words like these from Isaiah and Revelation, we should contemplate the place in glory which Jesus has gone to prepare for us, and ask him to make us worthy of receiving a place in his kingdom.

Fr. Phillip