SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION

October 13 2024. Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Exclusive to this website English translation of a great homily from Vatican Radio for this Sunday's Gospel. The homilist, Fr Fabio Rosini, is a renowned speaker and fills the Roman basilicas with young people!

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, 

Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

October 6th 2024. Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL Mark 10:2-16

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 
GOSPEL Mark 10:2-16

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,
"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"
They were testing him.
He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"
They replied,
"Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her."
But Jesus told them,
"Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate."
In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
He said to them,
"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her;
and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery."
And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
"Let the children come to me;
do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to
such as these.
Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it."
Then he embraced them and blessed them,
placing his hands on them.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

 

1. This Gospel is for everyone because our nature is SPOUSAL.

The first reading from Genesis and the Gospel from Mark both speak of the call of married couples to indissoluble union. As always, the Gospel is not just relevant for one sector of humanity (married couples) but speaks to every person in every condition of life. Each one of us is challenged to deepen our understanding of our fundamentally spousal nature. St Paul tells us that the union of man and woman must be understood in the light of the relationship between Christ and the Church, which is all about the gift of oneself. In Italian, there is the expression, “You have not wed yourself to this plan”. Of course, you cannot marry an idea or a thing, but the expression refers to one’s self-involvement in a project. It is possible to live without ever entering into a spousal type of relationship. Some people have been married for decades without ever donating themselves to the other! On the other hand, there are single people who live lives of love, putting themselves entirely into the service of others. God issues a universal and radical call to do everything by giving ourselves, by offering ourselves, by uniting ourselves to others.

 

2. What stops us from true spousal behaviour? Hardness of heart

What opposes this universal call? The hardness of our hearts. At the very moment we need to be true to our call, we invent rules that permit us to be released from the bond. In moments of crisis, when it is hard to remain with the other person, our hearts harden and we return to the business of defending my own little space. Once we enter into marriage, we soon discover that reality is different to our dreams. The moment comes when we must transcend ourselves and enter into God’s plan for us, no longer being two separate people, but one flesh only, where we forget ourselves. We can go through life, selecting our relationships, uniting ourselves to others insofar as it suits us, rejecting the very things that we are called to do. The word “conjugal” has interesting origins. It means to have the same yoke (the instrument laid upon a beast of burden so that they will bear the weight of the load they are carrying). This requires that both walk at the same pace. If one beast of burden in a pair stops, then the other must stop also. Either the rhythm of my life is dictated by my own egotistical preoccupations or it is open to walking with others. How beautiful it is to do things together, to sing together, to do the little and large things of life together. This is the call of the Gospel.

 

3. We should have no fear of living in a spousal way; this is how Christ loves us

The passage ends with the disciples trying to stop people bringing children to Jesus. He rebukes them, saying, “To ones such as these belongs the Kingdom of Heaven”. What does he mean, that we take on attitudes that are infantile or immature? No. We are to welcome the Kingdom as a pure gift, without the tortuous suspicions of adults who wonder what God really wants from us. In fact, there is an ambiguity in the original Greek. It might mean, “to welcome the Kingdom as a child welcomes the Kingdom”, OR, “to welcome the Kingdom as you would welcome a child”. We should have no fear of the Kingdom, of God’s rule, no more than we fear a child. He calls us to live. The Gospel ends with Jesus embracing the children. Everything that Christ does is an echo of the love he receives from the Father, a love that he has brought to us so that we might love each other as Christ has loved us.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY . . . Would you try to climb the Himalayas with tennis shoes? No, but how often people in our world try to embark on the journey of marriage without being remotely equipped in the right way! In the Gospel this Sunday, the Scribes want to talk about how to escape from marriage once it has gone wrong. Jesus, instead, wants to return to the ultimate foundation of marriage, a matter of the heart. He takes a child, embraces it and places it in the centre of the discussion. We must first of all embrace Christ in a childlike way before we can embrace each other. The relationship with Jesus is the basis of the indissolubility of marriage and the eternity of all our other relationships. The problem is that we seek to undertake marriage on the basis of hormones or passions, but these come to an end all too quickly. If we try to found our relationships on the capabilities of our own flesh, then we will find that it is a very fragile foundation indeed. And if our marriage is in difficulty, then trying to straighten out some of its superficial features can only have very limited success. The solution to marriage problems is to return to the origin of marriage: God’s love for us, his forgiveness, and his call to us to love and forgive each other. This is the true source of the indissolubility of marriage

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, 

Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

September 29  2024.  Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 16, 19-31

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 
GOSPEL   Luke 16,19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied,
'My child, remember that you received
what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go
from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

The Gospel on Sunday contains the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man is so pampered by his own self-indulgence that he does not even notice the plight of the suffering Lazarus. Isn’t this true of our world today? The technological advances of our age has meant that our younger generation has a massive input of images on a scale never seen in the history of humanity. This leads to a form of apathy and passivity. Like the rich man who is blind to the condition of Lazarus, our self-indulgence and constant self-pampering leads us to be blind, stupid and indifferent to what is true and meaningful. The word “imbecile” derives from the term “imbelle” which means “one who cannot fight”. The fact is that our over indulgence dims our senses to such an extent that we become limited in what we perceive and in how we react. Let us open our eyes to this situation! The basic foundation of discernment is to ask what are the consequences of any course of action. The consequence of our preoccupation with our own comfort and wellbeing is that we would fail to recognize the risen Christ if he stood among us, as the parable hints. God sends us crosses, sufferings and inconveniences so that we will open our eyes, begin to truly listen and return to ourselves. He does it so that we will see where we are in danger of ending up, and change course.

The comfort and the self-indulgence of our world can make us blind and deaf to what is true and meaningful

Our age is marked by great technological advances, with undoubted positive consequences, but also with serious human repercussions. Children who grow up attached to the screens of tablets or smartphones suffer - say the studies - the under-development of their own imaginations. Put simply: having such a massive input of images - as has never been the case before in human history - they do not imagine "on their own" but are conditioned by the images they receive. It is an example, among many others, of a form of passivity. This important theme is present in Sunday's Gospel, where there is a rich man, "who wore robes of purple and very fine linen, and dined lavishly every day" without realizing where this series of over-indulgences was taking him. We too, if we become over-satisfied, lose awareness of the consequences: comfort, pleasure and aesthetics can make us blind and deaf to what is really going on around us.

 

We have become lethargic, passive and foolish as a result of our self-indulgence and constant self-pampering

The story of Lazarus is that of a poor man who lives surrounded by people who do not see him, who do not even notice him. The detail regarding the dogs that go to lick his wounds is very revealing. The rich people are so distracted with their comforts and satisfactions that they have become less human. The dogs surpass them in sensitivity. We find something similar in the first reading of Sunday's liturgy. The passage from Amos speaks of those who are “complacent” in Israel. These people live lives of self-indulgence, but Amos warns them that they will be taken into exile. Once upon a time, in the Italian language, there was an unfortunate phrase which referred to people in an impaired mental condition as a result of war trauma – “fools of war”. Today we have "fools of peace", an army of people, mainly the young and very young, who have become passive and lethargic as a result of constant self-indulgence and excessive wellbeing. The word "imbecile" derives from the Latin term "imbelle", meaning the one who cannot fight.

God allows us to suffer pain and inconvenience so that our eyes will be open and our senses attuned to what is real and important

It is not a matter of re-introducing an absurd form of machismo, but of considering with attention the consequences of my actions. The basic foundation of the art of discernment is the question: if I do, think, or choose this, where will it lead me? If I live a life of complete self-indulgence then the consequence will be that my senses will become so dimmed that I would not recognize the risen Christ even if he were standing before me. "Please send Lazarus to my father's house, because I have five brothers. Admonish them severely, so that they too do not come to this place of torment," pleads the rich man. Abraham replies: "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if one were to rise from the dead". It's a tragic answer: if the senses don't work, they just don't work. Not even if the risen Christ appears. In order for the senses to start working again, they must be used; they must be re-sensitized. God sends us crosses, sufferings and inconveniences so that we will open our eyes, resume listening and return to ourselves. He does it so that we will see where we are in danger of ending up, and change course. In today’s world we are over preoccupied by what we wear and what we eat. We dress in designer clothes and are very taken with the satisfaction of our palate. We risk perdition with this behaviour. Lazarus was nothing other than the rich man’s opportunity for salvation. Similarly, the poor around us are our opportunity for salvation. These irritating and uncomfortable beggars are a gift from God for us! The sufferings of others around us is our chance to respond to grace. The Lord visits us precisely with these appetites, these mouths to be fed that we encounter on a daily basis

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, 

Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

September 22nd  2024. Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Mark 9, 30-37

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 
GOSPEL: Mark  9, 30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. We do not want to embrace the kind of life that Jesus is calling us to.

In the first reading from Wisdom, we hear how the godless persecute the just man and put him to the test, to see if he is truly the son of God. This prepares us for the Gospel. Chapter 9 of Mark’s Gospel has the third announcement of Christ’s Passion. Here, Jesus is being very specific. The Son of Man is to be given into the custody of men, when he will be killed before rising on the third day. The disciples do not understand but are afraid to question him. This is the fear we all experience when we do not want to go beyond our customary mode of survival, our own ideas, our own mentality, to a deeper and more authentic form of existence.

 

2. We all make something the centre of our existence. Often, it is comparison to others that becomes our fixation.

Later, Jesus asks them what they were discussing on the road. They were debating which of them was the greatest. This is a microcosm of ecclesial life! For any of us to live, we must have a source of life. If we do not make God the source and centre of our life, if abandonment to the Fatherhood of God is not the wellspring of our existence, then we turn to other things, such as carnal pleasures. Eventually, we begin to seek meaning in being superior in some sense to others, in constant comparisons of myself to the people around me. Thus we live by seeking to assure ourselves that others are lesser than me. How many of our “Christian” projects, for all their appearances of worth, are really directed towards self-promotion and self-gratification. The effort to be the first among the disciples is an effort of this sort.

 

3. It is through love, which involves making ourselves last, that we find fulfilment.

Jesus responds by saying that he who wishes to be first must put himself in last place. He agrees that the desire to be the greatest is itself acceptable. It is right that we should seek as much as possible in life, to want things that really count. Ok! Let’s be the greatest! How? By being the servant of all, just as Christ is the first but makes himself last. Then Jesus takes a child, embraces it, and says that whoever welcomes a child like this, welcomes Christ and the Father who sent him. This is a key message. Our call is to welcome other people, not compete with them. From the time of Adam and Eve, we have sought to be like God. But the key is to be with God, to be with other people, not superior to them or in competition with them. The drive for victory, for self-affirmation, is not the life of the Spirit. In the Our Father, Jesus teaches us that God’s name be held holy before all else. It is not our name that we must seek to promote. True joy does not come in victory but in love. When we love, we cease to be the centre; service becomes the centre. That which gives us the most fulfilment in life is to truly welcome another, putting his needs before my own. We are not talking about a slavish, servile existence, but authentic love. Whenever you welcome someone as you would welcome a child, then you welcome God himself.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, 

Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

September 15th 2024. Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL Mark 8:27-35

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

GOSPEL Mark 8:27-35

Jesus and his disciples set out

for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.

Along the way he asked his disciples,

"Who do people say that I am?"

They said in reply,

"John the Baptist, others Elijah,

still others one of the prophets."

And he asked them,

"But who do you say that I am?"

Peter said to him in reply,

"You are the Christ."

Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He began to teach them

that the Son of Man must suffer greatly

and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed, and rise after three days.

He spoke this openly.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,

rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan.

You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,

take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake

and that of the gospel will save it."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

​

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1.THE CROSSROADS OF EVERY DAY: SURRENDER TO GOD OR DEFEND MYSELF. The readings this week are very serious and challenge us to enter into the right relationship with the things that happen to us. The first reading from Isaiah (usually read in Holy Week) speaks of a suffering servant, a prefigurement of Christ, who opens his ear and does not offer resistance to what is happening to him, offering his back to those who strike him and his cheek to those who tear at his beard. The point is that this man has his ears open and is aware that all of history is in the hands of God. “Who will accuse me?” the servant asks, “for God is close to me and he will come to my aid”. We are at this crossroads regularly in life: will I entrust myself to God in what is happening, or defend my little corner? In the Gospel, Peter confesses his faith in Christ, but, in the next moment, is called “Satan” by Christ. Jesus had just asked Peter to remain silent about his divine identity. Why? Shouldn’t we broadcast the identity of Christ from the rooftops, using all the social media tools that we can? Indiscriminate dissemination of information about Christ is of questionable value, because the real issue is not to obtain information but to enter into a relationship with Jesus. In fact, salvation is not information but a place of death, the cross, where we encounter life. In order to be saved, we must learn to respond to the difficult and embarrassing situations that life places in front of us.

​

2. THE FAITH IS NOT AN INSURANCE POLICY AGAINST PROBLEM

Why does Peter not think as God does but as men do? It is comical that Peter takes Jesus to one side to tell him what he should say or not say! Jesus tells Peter to get behind and follow him, not vice-versa. When each one of us is confronted with suffering, we have a tendency not to open the ear, as the servant did in the first reading; we say to ourselves, “This shouldn’t happen to me”. We transform the faith into an insurance policy against problems and our prayers are pleas for our problems and our sufferings to be resolved. Such prayers are understandable but the fundamental thing is to trust in the Lord and to be led by him. We will never find a place where suffering, temptations, error and evil cannot afflict us! We do not live to avoid death or avoid problems. What we need is a response to problems, and this response is the salvation of Christ, which involves losing one’s life in order to find it. At times when our lives seem to be gone astray, we can raise all of our systems of defence (which don’t solve the problems but displace them temporarily), or we can trust the Lord, finally taking the opportunity to live as his children, in the name of Jesus Christ, asking the Holy Spirit to assist us in abandoning ourselves to God in the things that happen to us.

​

3. JESUS IS TO BE FOLLOWED, NOT TALKED ABOUT

What are we called to disseminate in the world, information or a way of life? What is more important, to tell everyone what we know, or live according to what we know? A person who makes an act of faith illuminates the people around him much more than any amount of information received! If someone imparts a lot of information to me about Jesus, I assimilate it according to my impoverished categories, preoccupation, fears and desires. I insert Jesus into a scheme of thinking that is as small as I am myself. However, when I encounter new life, a person who has abandoned themselves to God, then I find a real point of reference for my own life. We talk too much! Jesus is to be followed, in the place in the world where God has placed me, in the concrete situation I find myself in today

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, 

Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.