June 30 2024. Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL Mark 5:21-43

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

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

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GOSPEL  Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
"My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live."
He went off with him,
and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.
There was a woman afflicted with haemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured."
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?"
But his disciples said to Jesus,
"You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."
While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said,
"Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" 
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
"Do not be afraid; just have faith."
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
"Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep."
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child's father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum,"
which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!"
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

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

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SHORTER HOMILY 

The first reading from Wisdom tells us that God creates man for incorruptible life. The Gospel for Sunday begins with the statement that Jesus “crossed to the other side”. This is always a reference to the Passover, to redemption, and, in fact, the text tells the story of two women – both of whom are redeemed from death to life by their encounter with Jesus. Jesus is asked to lay his hands on the sick daughter of Jairus. This laying on of hands is usually an act of fatherhood, an act of bestowing the inheritance upon the children. Jesus agrees to go and in the meantime a woman who has haemorrhaged for twelve years touches his mantle. According to the rabbinic law, this woman with her loss of blood should not touch anyone. So we have two women, one who cannot be a mother because of her loss of blood, and the other who cannot become a mother because she dies on the threshold of maturity. How many young people struggle to become mature adults! How many adults struggle to have the capacity to be mature parents! Jesus comes to heal femininity, masculinity, fecundity, the capacity to be channels of life. All of us need to be visited by grace to bring to completion our capacity for maternity and paternity! There are many particulars in this passage regarding redemption, life and healing. Let us not attend the liturgy on Sunday to perform a ritual! Instead, let us approach the Lord to touch his mantle, and to be touched by him. Jesus can heal our haemorrhages and our illness if we allow him, but we look everywhere else to have solutions to our incompleteness! In this passage we see that many doctors failed to heal the woman, whilst the girl was not saved by the fact that her father was an official of the synagogue. All of our religious efforts and human science will never be able to heal us. What saves us is the fact that Christ has come. Jesus says to the girl, “Little girl, I tell you, arise!” Jesus calls all of us to life. Sometimes, we need permission or encouragement from someone in order to go ahead. When a parent has faith is his child, that trust helps them to grow. Christ shows similar faith in us and says to each one of us, “Arise!” permitting us to escape from our supressed and fearful existences. Within us there is something incomplete or unresolved, so long as we look within ourselves or to the world for permission to be. But Christ himself is saying to each one of us, “Arise!” As the first reading says, God created humanity for life, not for death.

“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.

JUNE 20th 2021.  TWELFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: Mark 4:35-41

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

​

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

​

GOSPEL: Mark 4:35-41

With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’

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

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SUMMMARY

Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary time and the Gospel is from the fourth chapter of St Mark. Let us begin with the phrase that comes at the end of the passage: “Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” This reveals that it is not just some simple story about Christ’s power over the elements. Rather, it is a paradigm of faith. Even though it is evening, Jesus directs the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee, a sea that is very susceptible to bad storms at night. Of course, the phrase “to pass over to the other side” evokes the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea. It was a paradigmatic event of the faith for Israel and represents the event of liberation from slavery and entering into freedom. This is a characteristic of faith. It permits us to pass over to the other side at moments of anguish, at times when our own strengths fail. The disciples get into the boat and begin their journey and then the storm begins. There is always a storm in life! In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the parable of the man who builds his house upon rock while the other builds it on sand. For both of them, the storm comes! Being built on rock does not stop the storm. What tends to happen in life is that we make God into a “pocket god”, someone we carry around in our pockets until the moment when he is needed. The disciples take Jesus in the boat and discover that they are not able to overcome the storm by themselves. Jesus is asleep and seems useless. In fact, we make Jesus useless by the way we reduce him to someone to be invoked only when all else fails. It is essential that we pass from a relationship of instrumentalising Jesus to a relationship of trusting abandonment. When the disciples finally invoke Jesus as Lord, which he is, he tells the storm to be silent. This is the same phrase used in exorcisms, because these forces of nature have in them the aspect of worldliness. It is worldliness that enters the boat and enters the Church and prevents the Church from accomplishing its mission. This is the story of the faith. Storms happen very often in life. When they occur, let us stop using the Lord and instead entrust ourselves to him. Faith is an experience of God in the storm. In the first reading, Job is living a time of great suffering but encounters God in the hurricane. Faith is the passing to the other side in the midst of our tribulations. Let us let go of the steering wheel (by which we also try to tell Jesus the way he should go) and give ourselves over to him. This is true of us individually and also for the Church as a whole. Let us consign ourselves into the hands of the Father.

“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.

 June 16 2024. Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Mark 4:26-34

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

​

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

GOSPEL   Mark 4:26-34
Jesus said to the crowds: ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’

He also said, ‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’

Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they were capable of understanding it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone.

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

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SHORTER HOMILY

These short parables from Mark’s Gospel are short and simple but very significant. The parable of the sower reveals that the spiritual life is analogous to biological life. The characteristics of biological life are that it is something gradual, something dynamic, which begins from an event of fertilisation. This event is not a mental thing; it is not something that can be achieved simply by thinking or with effort. There is always an element of gift in the generation of new life. In an analogous manner, the Lord gifts us with his word which generates new life in us. This new life cannot be generated by our intelligence or our effort. Our task is to welcome this life. As the parable makes clear, the power of the seed is not determined by the man who sows. Whether he is asleep or awake, the seed has a power all of its own. In a similar way, the word of the Lord is invested with the power of God. Each Christian is unique, generated by the Father and unrepeatable, just as every human life has a unique and unrepeatable genetic blueprint. The word of God, sown in us, gives rise to our missionary activity. Just as seed sown in the ground results in fruit, so too we have been created to bear fruit. There is a synthesis between the word of God sown in us and our unique characteristics. Now consider the second parable. It might seem like a small thing, this welcoming of the seed of the word, but it can provide shelter for many. The seed of the word is sown in the ground of each unique Christian, but it is an organic thing because there is one Spirit creating a united multiform reality. This fruitful Christian life is attractive to other people because there is a peacefulness and mercifulness about that person. People can find in him the shelter of the glory of God. May the Lord bring this word to fruition in the Church, following this dynamic of beginning small and insignificant, but become greater. This is the way that life works. We can’t ask for fruit when it is not time for fruit. The seed must first be present, and it will achieve its goal if it is welcomed and nourished.

“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.

June 9 2024. Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL Mark 3:20-35

​

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

​

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

GOSPEL  Mark 3:20-35
Jesus went home with his disciples, and such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.

The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him,’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.

‘I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.’

His mother and brothers now arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’

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

 

SUMMARY

Jesus tells us in this Sunday’s Gospel that we cannot make compromises with evil. If we wish to be liberated from sin, then it is only Christ that can liberate us authentically. Any other means of “liberation” will not be genuine. It is only Christ that can bind up the “strong man” of evil and free us from sin. At the end of the Gospel, Jesus appears to make a negative comment on his family. He says that his real family are not those according to the flesh but those who do the will of God. But this is actually a hymn of praise to his mother! The Church Fathers tell us that she is even more his mother according to faith than according to the flesh, because she is the one who believed and submitted to the will of God in such a perfect manner. The overall message of the Gospel is this: we must be freed from all dependencies on sin, on flesh, on familial ties, and our freedom allows us to follow the will of God. Only Jesus can liberate us from these dependencies. Once we are free, then, like Mary, we are enabled to enter into full communion with others. Then, like Mary, we will be brothers, sisters and mother of Jesus. While we remain in sin, we are not in communion even with those who are right next to us!

 

The Gospel tells us that there can be no compromise with evil. If we want to be liberated from evil, then we must embrace the only good - Jesus

The liturgy for the tenth Sunday of ordinary time has readings that are acute, profound and serious, although not readily comprehensible. The first reading contains the dialogue between the Lord and our first parents after the original sin. The serpent is cursed and we are told that the offspring of the woman will crush its head. Between the offspring of the woman and that of the serpent there will be enmity. “I will make you enemies of each other”, we are told. This enmity is actually a gift! It is a gift to consider evil to be an alien thing; it is a gift to be no longer under the sway of something that we once considered to be to our advantage. The history of the first sin consisted in the delusion of believing something to be good that was actually evil, of considering disobedience to God to be something beneficial. The fact is that there is no acceptable middle ground between good and evil. The Didache – one of the most ancient texts from the early Church – begins in this manner: “The ways of man are two in number: one is the way of life and the other is the way of death, and the difference between these two ways is great”. In the Gospel, Jesus is accused of being possessed by Beelzebul, of casting our demons through the power of the demon. The response of Jesus is uncompromising. Satan cannot do good. The most he can do is act for a false good, or convince us that something that is actually evil is good, or hide himself within something good so that it eventually leads to evil. But a man cannot enter the house of a strong man unless he has first tied up the strong man. What is needed is someone stronger than evil, someone who opposes evil, and this is who Jesus is. Jesus is the light who vanquishes darkness. Jesus does not do things in half measures, and with sin and vice one cannot use half measures. God cannot liberate us from sin unless we want to be liberated. We don’t wake up in the morning and find that we are freed from some vice as if by magic. The Lord asks our permission and the permission we give must be true and authentic. We cannot be liberated from slavery unless we hate that state of enslavement. Often we love our enslavement because we actually enjoy being dependent on it. Such dependency can give security whilst freedom has an inherent insecurity about it.

 

To live in God, I must be freed from every dependency, even the dependency on familial ties in the purely physical sense. Mary is mother of Jesus even more in the faith than in the flesh, because the true nature of her bond with Jesus is more through the power of the Holy Spirit than through physical considerations. I, too, am called to live in God, free from all dependencies. In this way I will be in true communion with others.

This Sunday we focus on the fact that the Lord Jesus is not ambiguous. We cannot seek to make him compatible with things that he is opposed to. We come face to face with the Lord Jesus when we discover the way that he is working in our lives. Each one of us, by the power of the Gospel, is challenged to be liberated and redeemed. This requires that we break away from everything that we are dependent on. It is interesting that in this Gospel the family of Jesus appears and they make certain demands upon Jesus. The mother of the Lord is also present. It is clear that Jesus is focussed on the things that lead to heaven, the things that are directed to his heavenly Father. Jesus responds to the request of his family with the words: “‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’”. What might appear at first sight to be a slight on his family and his mother, is actually a hymn of praise to his mother! What Jesus is saying is this: “These relationships that are based on their point of origin no longer have value. All that matters is how the relationship fits within the plan of God. Whoever is faithful to the plan of God enters into relationship with me. The relationships that matter are those that have their origin in the action of the Holy Spirit”. The Fathers of the Church assert that Mary is even more the mother of Christ by faith than by the flesh. Mary first assents to the word of the angel, and it is only in the second instance that she becomes mother according to the flesh. The mission of Christ demands that he fulfil the will of God, not that he be at home with his family. Jesus’ apparent “negation” of the maternity of Mary in this sense actually underlines the fact that Mary is mother of Jesus according to the plan of God. They are tied together by faith and they have no need to be tied together physically in the familial sense. When I am faithful to the plan of God, I am in communion with the angels and the saints, the prophets and all who have ever wished me well. When I am in the faith, I am in communion with my parents who are no longer alive and with friends that I have not seen for a long time. When I am not in the faith, I am not even in communion with those who are right next to me! When I am in God, I am in communion with everyone, but when I am not in God, I am in a state of ambiguity and will not be able to take a single step, either interiorly or exteriorly, towards another person to love them authentically. This Sunday we are called to be liberated from every dependency and every ambiguity, and enter into the life that Jesus has brought through his power and grace.

“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.