SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION

April 21 2024 - Fourth Sunday of Easter

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.

April 14th 2024.  Third Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL   Luke 24: 35-48

​

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

​

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

​

GOSPEL   Luke 24:35-48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,

and how Jesus was made known to them

in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,

he stood in their midst and said to them,

"Peace be with you."

But they were startled and terrified

and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?

And why do questions arise in your hearts?

Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.

Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones

as you can see I have."

And as he said this,

he showed them his hands and his feet.

While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,

he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"

They gave him a piece of baked fish;

he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them,

"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,

that everything written about me in the law of Moses

and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

And he said to them,

"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer

and rise from the dead on the third day

and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,

would be preached in his name

to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things."

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SHORTER HOMILY

While the two disciples who have returned from Emmaus are describing their encounter with Christ, Jesus appears in their midst once again. This tells us that the proper place for the encounter with Jesus is in the Church assembly, in the relations between the Christian community. Even St Paul required another member of the Christian community for his eyes to be opened. The Gospel passage tells us that the disciples were afraid because they thought they were seeing a ghost. But the resurrection is not being liberated from a mortal body, it is the rendering immortal of that same body! The life of the resurrection involves the transfiguration of suffering, not its simple elimination. In fact, Jesus eats with the disciples to show that the resurrection is not just a mental thing but concerns the entire person, spirit and body. Jesus saves us completely, not just in part. In the first reading, St Peter proclaims to the Jews that they have crucified the Saviour through ignorance. They did not know where they were doing. The biblical concept of “knowledge” refers to a complete and personal experience. The Gospel then speaks of Christ “opening their minds” to understand Scripture. St Jerome once said that he who ignores Scripture ignores Christ. It is essential that we turn more and more to the fountain of Scripture in order to know Christ. But the contrary is also true. He does not know Christ does not know Scripture because only the lived encounter with Christ can open our minds and intelligence to comprehend the sense of the Bible. Christ is saving us, and this salvation illuminates the entire history of salvation recounted in Scripture. Without  the light of the resurrection of Christ, our understanding of the history of the patriarchs, the sacrifice of Isaac, the story of Joseph, the exodus, etc., is insufficient.  It is the operation of Christ in us that brings this illumination. To be converted in the original Greek means to go beyond one’s customary way of thinking. We are being offered this possibility of entering into the life of Christ, to receive the promises that were made in the Old Testament. Israel had these promises to hand but did not understand them. Salvation involves looking completely anew, with the aid of Christ, at the reality that we already possess. We need to remain with the Christian community in order to receive these Scriptures that illuminate Christ. Equally, we need to receive Christ so that the scriptures will be illuminated, transfiguring our lives. Sometimes we think that by our own efforts we can take on Christ. But what we really need to do is be faithful to the liturgy, accepting that we are ignorant and insufficient by ourselves, that we understand poorly on our own efforts. We must relativize our own knowledge and open ourselves to the power of God who will show us his life and his salvation.

​

LONGER HOMILY FOLLOWS

Jesus prepared the chosen people over centuries for his resurrection. In our personal lives too, God has prepared us in various ways to deepen our encounter with the risen Lord

In this third Sunday of Easter we hear the proclamation that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has glorified his servant Jesus. Why is this affirmation so important? We find it in the third chapter of the Acts of the Apostle, one of the first announcements by Peter following the resurrection of Jesus. The point is that Jesus does not appear out of nowhere: he is the fulfilment of ancient promises. In the Gospel he tells the disciples: "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." This is a precise description of the three parts of the Old Testament: the law, the prophets and the wisdom literature (represented by the psalms). The Lord Jesus prepared the world for his coming. His resurrection is the fulfilment of the history of his people. But in our personal stories also there are promises that the Lord brings to completion. There are things that prepare us for our encounter with him. In cases where people are converted to the Lord, one discovers afterwards that these conversions were prepared for over a long period.

​

Christianity proclaims a life after death, but this afterlife is not some kind of spiritual or ethereal existence. It involves the resurrection of the body, a notion that is difficult to comprehend, but firmly rooted in our faith

There is another important feature of this text. That which we proclaim in this joyful time of Easter is what is perhaps most obvious – the resurrection! This is not just about life after death. Other religions too speak of life after death. Christianity goes beyond vague references to the next life with its eleventh article of the creed which affirms belief in the resurrection of the body. We believe in a resurrection that is not some form of abstract or ethereal existence. But it is not easy to explain what is meant by the resurrection of the body.  In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul provides the analogy of the seed with the plant that eventually comes into existence from the seed. The plant is very different to the seed, but is nevertheless inextricably bound to the seed. In the same way, we will plant one kind of body and rise again with a different, spiritual, body, but the two bodies are nevertheless intimately linked. This mystery cannot be penetrated by rationalistic methods, but its basis in Scripture is clear. In the Gospel, the disciples think that Jesus is a ghost. The original Greek text refers to him as a “spirit”. Jesus says to them: "Why are you troubled? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost [a “spirit”] does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." Jesus eats with them to demonstrate that he can engage in acts that imply corporeality. It is hard for us to comprehend the meaning of this: how can the risen Lord eat the things of this world? Nevertheless, the Church has seen in these appearances of the risen Christ a truth about the resurrection of the body that it is compelled to proclaim. The great fathers of the Church have been clear on this issue. St Irenaeus of Lyon, a martyr, had an essential motto: “Caro cardo salutis”. This means that the flesh is the pivot of salvation.

​

Christianity is not opposed to the flesh, but the contrary. It is in the flesh that we are redeemed. It is with our bodies that we are called to love others through concrete actions and service

Are we inclined to think that Christianity is against the flesh? The opposite is the case! The flesh is the place where we are saved. Without the flesh we cannot be saved. The business of redemption is not just mental comprehension. It involves acts and the globality of the person, our muscles and our bones, the things that make us who we are. When spirit and body are separated, we are dead, we are no longer complete! Completeness requires the unity of the human person. The first letter of St John emphasizes this point a lot and condemns those who deny that Christ has come in the flesh. The first heretical movements in the Church were the Gnostics, and they are still with us today. The attempt is to turn Christianity into a theory, a system of abstract values, a philosophy, a specialised form of knowledge. But authentic Christianity is nothing of the sort. The love of a man for a woman involves his body, his actions, his service. It is not a concept and not even a sentiment. In fact, it only becomes a genuine sentiment when it involves corporeal action. If our bodies do not manifest our faith, then our faith is worth nothing. St James says this in his letter, “I will show you my faith by my works”. How else can we demonstrate our faith if not in terms of concrete acts? If I truly encounter God, then this will illuminate every aspect of my person and life. The way I eat and sleep will be redeemed. The way I walk, work, welcome a child; the way I live things concretely, wash the dishes, the way I serve you. How can I love if not with the body? Love is not an abstract, idealised thing. Life is not an abstract thing. The Lord Jesus rises in his flesh because our flesh is destined for the fullness of life of the children of God

“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.

Easter Sunday Homily, March 31 2024

GOSPEL   John 20, 1-9

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

 

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

​

GOSPEL   John 20, 1-9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SHORTER HOMILY . . . Easter Sunday is described in the Gospel as the “first day” of the week, but it is really the eighth day of the Lord’s creation since it follows upon all the sublime events of the previous seven days. If we allow Christ’s resurrection to penetrate into our existence, then everything changes, for everything is now understood from the perspective of heaven and eternal life. In fact, the second reading encourages us to stop thinking of things from an earthly perspective, since our real lives are hidden with Christ in God. We cannot live this new life according to our usual categories of defending ourselves, depending on our own efforts and seeking our own advancement. It is that very “survival” approach that entrapped us in a life without perspective. The second reading goes on to say that, when Christ appears, we too will appear with him in glory. This does not refer only to glory after death. Easter calls for a shift in my life from a perspective on worldly things to the perspective of the resurrection.  When Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb, she finds that the stone has been moved. No-one could move this stone by themselves. What happens in the resurrection is purely the work of God. Why was the stone moved? To allow Christ out? No! Jesus does not need physical doors to be opened to him any longer. You do not come out of death to return to the old mode of existence. You exit to enter into a new kind of life. Jesus did not come out of death to resume being a carpenter in Nazareth. Instead he passed to an existence with the Father. Why then was the stone moved? For our benefit. It is we who do not see the resurrection, who do not see the true glory of life, who need to stop living out of the multitude of infantile perspectives that we carry inside. Our dependencies on material and self-referential things only render us mediocre, incomplete and take away our beauty. Converts or those who rediscover their faith come to realize that their entire existence has been redeemed. The stone is taken away and a new life is ignited. Only God can remove this stone, but what is important to realize is that this life is ALREADY there and waiting for us. This stone is in the hearts of every man and woman, a stone that only the Lord can move. In the Gospel, the beloved disciple arrives first at the tomb. He allows Peter to enter and then he too goes in, sees and believes. It is only now, in the light of the resurrection, that the Scriptures begin to make sense to the disciples. They did not need new Scriptures or new writings. The removal of the stone and the fact of the resurrection enlightened what they already possessed. Let us celebrate Easter, let us celebrate newness! May the Lord remove the stone so that we may enter into life. In the resurrection, all of our weakness and fragility take on the potential of new life, because in Christ everything that is ours is redeemed.

 

LONGER HOMILY 

God’s solutions are always surprising. The people of Israel escape from Egypt right through the middle of the Red Sea. Abraham receives the promise of the Lord during the night of faith in which he was asked to sacrifice his only son.

On this joyous feast of Easter we listen to the narrative regarding the discovery of the empty tomb. This is described in both the Gospel of the Easter Vigil and that of the Sunday Mass. The stone has been moved and Jesus’ body is no longer there. Peter and John race to the tomb. John arrives first but awaits Peter before entering. There is much symbolism in these different speeds of running and the respectful waiting by John. Peter goes inside and sees the cloths, but the body is certainly not there. Then John enters, “sees and believes”. They had not yet understood the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. Easter is something imponderable, the surprising action of God. It is the aspect of reality that we never calculated. It is the escape route, the solution that we never considered. That which we never understood, the sacred Scriptures, were the deposit in which all of these promises were contained. They tell us that God is surprising, that he is not like us, that his solutions are not the ones that we think us. The escape route for the people of Israel in the great story of the Jewish Passover was through the sea! Who would have ever suspected it! Moses appeared to be leading the people to a dead end, but the sea opened and they had the incredible experience of passing through it. The water that was their salvation was also the instrument by which the oppression of the Egyptians was destroyed. In a similar way, during the night of faith of Abraham, the Lord asked for the very thing that Abraham was most attached to. It was necessary for Abraham to discover that God does not ask; God gives. That which appears death becomes life; that which appears the end becomes the beginning.

 

Salvation always involves the unexpected action of God

The first three readings from the Vigil recount the great works of the Lord. In the first reading God creates from nothing. He puts life where there is no life. These are things that we are asked to understand, but we are unable to understand this creation from absolutely nothing. We do not comprehend a faith that is actually gaining everything at the very moment when it appears to be losing everything. We do not understand the solution of God which is always in the place where no one would think of looking. The successful escape of the Exodus did not depend on the speed of the people but on the power of God.

 

Let us free ourselves from our stagnant ways of thinking! The Lord opens roadways in the sea and brings life from nothing!

Our sin leads to destruction, but the Lord places himself there, in the midst of our confused and contradictory pathways. He accepts our sin, takes it upon himself, and transforms it into unexpected salvation. In the night of Easter we sing the proclamation which has the famous patristic phrase “O felix culpa!” - the happy fault that merited such a great Saviour. Because of the Lord, the sin is no longer closed up in itself but open to the saving action of God. The death that we inflict on Jesus is resolved in the response of the Father, the resurrection, the beginning of something that we will never fully understand. Let us free ourselves from our preconceived modes of thinking! God moves the stones and makes the dead rise! He opens roadways in the sea and brings life forth from nothingness.

 

In order to experience the Easter of the Lord, we do not need any special techniques or mental schemes. All we need to do is abandon ourselves to him and allow him to lead us on his unexpected pathway to life.

It is one thing to be fixated with our own capacities and limits, and to think that life depends on what we make of it; it is something completely different to abandon ourselves to the Lord and be led by him along pathways that are completely unexpected and are not our own. I will never know how the Lord intends to lead me, how he intends me to progress, but the important thing is that he is calling me to let myself be led by him. This Sunday, we proclaim the joyous resurrection of Jesus, which is not a preconceived scheme, or a spiritual technique, but an act of abandonment. It involves handing ourselves over to him and allowing him to lead us to a fuller life, a life that no one will ever be able to take from us. When someone experiences the Easter of the Lord, he will never forget it again. When our pain or our oppression has been illuminated by the power and providence of the paternity of the Lord, then it will remain with us forever. The Christian celebrates Easter over and over again because the seas part in front of us over and over again, the tomb opens in front of us many times, and that which seemed the end becomes a new beginning.

“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.

March 24th 2024.  Palm Sunday

PROCESSIONAL GOSPEL   Mk 11:1-10

 

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

 

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

​

PROCESSIONAL GOSPEL   Mk 11:1-10

When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem,

to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, 

he sent two of his disciples and said to them, 

"Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it, 

you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone should say to you, 'Why are you doing this?' reply,

'The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once.'"

So they went off  and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street, 

and they untied it.

Some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?"

They answered them just as Jesus had told them to, 

and they permitted them to do it.

So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it.

And he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, 

and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.

Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:

"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!

Hosanna in the highest!"

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY

On Palm Sunday of Year B we read the Passion of Our Lord from Mark’s Gospel and so begins Holy Week, which finds its maximum expression in the Easter Triduum. From a literary point of view, all four Gospels are really a long introduction to the account of the Passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord. The liturgy of Holy Week normally envisages the dynamic participation of the faithful. The procession on Palm Sunday should begin outside the Church and move through the streets of the neighbourhood. This year, our movements will be very much restricted on account of the pandemic. However, we can still participate bodily by shaking the palm branches at the appropriate times, kneeling during the account of the death of Jesus, kissing the cross, fasting on Good Friday and having a festive vigil on Saturday night. In order to celebrate these events fully, it is important that we enter into these bodily gestures. Why? Because the salvation that the Lord offers us is not an intellectual thing! If we try to approach the events of Holy Week in an intellectual way, it will slip through our grasp and will have no effect upon us. Christ loved us by undertaking the Passion with his body, not with an abstract discourse. He gave us bread and wine as true sacramental signs of his body and blood. Prostrate in Gethsemane, he offered himself to the Father with his entire body. He was beaten, spat upon, crowned with thorns and nailed to a cross. With his body, he passed through the events of Easter and arrived at the resurrection and the Father. The salvation of Christ is not assimilated by reading a book or attending a conference. It is assimilated in the sacraments which trigger the working of grace in our lives. Tertullian said that the flesh is the hinge of salvation. If we wish this Holy Week to be meaningful then we must participate in its liturgies with our bodies. Sometimes it is good when the Lord strips us of what we have so that we can appreciate the things that matter. Easter must become tattooed and engraved on our bodies, for it is in our bodies that we have been loved by Christ. And with our bodies we can give glory to Christ by loving in return. This Holy Week is an appeal to enter into the fullness of life. We love with acts, not simply with sentiments. A sentiment which does not transform itself into acts is simply a transient state of soul. The Lord loved us with his entire body and his love is concrete.

 

The passion and death of Jesus is at the heart of the Gospel. This is not a passage to be read on an intellectual level. It must be lived, and for that reason we are asked to enter into the liturgy with our bodies

Palm Sunday is dedicated to the proclamation of the Passion. Literally speaking, the Gospels are long preparations for the narration of Our Lord's Passover, at which point the rhythm and intensity of the story clearly change. This proclamation is the heart of the Gospel, and it must always be remembered that passion and death are only a part of a single story, which, without the resurrection, is incomplete. There are essential elements in these texts that go beyond their vocal proclamation. In fact, vocal proclamation is not sufficient: one must "celebrate" this story; it is not enough to just read it or listen to it. It is not something to be comprehended solely with the mind, but something which must be lived. In fact, on Palm Sunday we are entering Holy Week, and it is an opening that has a lively and engaging liturgy. The event starts with a joyful procession and involves the use of palms. We are asked to kneel down when the story arrives at the point of Jesus' death, and we are asked to shake the palms during the Sanctus. The other liturgies of this week will introduce further gestures: the washing of the feet, the veneration of the cross on a day of fasting, and finally a festive night vigil. In short, it is a week when the whole body is invited to be involved, as always, in the liturgy. Because the salvation that Our Lord brings us is not just a different way of looking at things. With his body and through his body Christ saves us; and he saves our whole body, not just our intellect. It is in his true body that, passing through the events of Easter, he arrives at the Father.

 

Christ saved us with his body. He was anointed, gave us the bread and wine as sacramental signs of his body and blood, was beaten, spat upon, was crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross. With his body he loved us, and we are asked to respond with our bodies during these liturgies: through our fasting, our prayers, our physical and wholehearted participation in the liturgy.

He will receive perfume on his head, because the name “Christ” means "anointed with perfumed oil"; in the bread and wine he will give us the sacramental sign of his body and blood; prostrate in Gethsemane, he will invoke the heavenly Father with the intimate word of a child ("Abba"), while he hands himself over to the most terrible of fates; he will be betrayed with a kiss, they will lay their hands on him; and he will receive spits, blows and slaps; on his head will be placed a crown of thorns, and his hands and feet will be nailed to the cross. These are the essential features of the Passion as summarized in the Gospel of Mark. In his real body he will rise again, because in his real body he has been killed. The salvation he has wrought for us cannot be assimilated in a book or by attending a conference, but with the sacraments, with these liturgical acts that seal and trigger the works of grace in our lives. Tertullian, in the third century, said: Caro salutis est cardo, which means "the flesh is the cornerstone of salvation". If we approach Holy Week seeking to understand it intellectually, it will slip out of our hands and have no effect. In order for it to influence our existence, we must allow it to be written on our bodies, through liturgy, by acts of fasting, in genuine prayer, taking advantage of the opportunities that Providence gives us to be in communion with others and do deeds of mercy. Easter is something that must be tattooed, engraved on the body. We have been loved with the body. With the body we love

“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.