Synod on the Family

The final wording of the final synod document says nothing at all about Communion or access to the sacraments for people who have remarried without a decree of nullity.  By saying nothing, the matter is left to Pope Francis to issue his own definitive teaching on the matter. 

Synods are simply a way for the Pope to canvass opinion before prayerfully making up his mind and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, formulating a document which lays out and clarifies the teaching of the Church and directions for pastoral practice.

Pope Francis might also reflect upon the thoughts of previous popes on these issues.  In 1985, then Cardinal Ratzinger, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter to Archbishop Hunthausen of Seattle in which he addressed exactly the questions raised by the Synodal relatio.  

He formulated answers to these questions in the Magisterium of the Church and in the jurisprudence of the Roman Rota and Apostolic Signatura.

Many commentators have recently sought to establish some differences between doctrine, law, individual conscience and pastoral practice on the matters of marriage, decrees of nullity and remarriage.

Cardinal Ratzinger explicitly rules out the so-called "Kasper Proposal" because it goes against both doctrinal truth and canonical discipline.  Cardinal Ratzinger (later Benedict XVI) specifically warns against encouraging ambiguity on these points.  

Following are excerpts from Cardinal Ratzinger's  letter:

SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO DOCTRINA FIDEl

Prot. N. 102/79

Your Excellency, 

I am writing to bring to a close the Apostolic Visitation process, which was assisted by the visit of Archbishop James Hickey of Washington, DC, to the Archdiocese of Seattle from November 2-8, 1983.

Prior to that visit, both significant criticism and considerable praise had been directed toward your own pastoral ministry and that of your collaborators in Seattle. To quote from this Congregation's own October 4, 1983, letter to you, 'It was precisely because it did not want to give uncritical acceptance to the published and private criticisms made about the Archdiocese of Seattle that the Holy See...has undertaken this project.' Toward that end, the Visitor conferred with at least sixty-seven members of the clergy, religious and laity. In addition, he examined many pertinent documents, statements issued by the Archdiocese, and letters. Principally, though, Archbishop Hickey spent some four to five hours of intense discussion with you. That interview, taped and transcribed, was later reviewed by you and approved. Archbishop Hickey, with a model sense of cooperation and collegial concern, filed a lengthy and exhaustively documented report with this Congregation, and with that, his involvement with the Apostolic Visitation process ended.

After a careful review of the entire body of testimony, and of other materials as well, this Congregation is now in a position to make the following observations which, we hope, will be received by you in the spirit in which they are offered, and will be of assistance to you as Archbishop of Seattle

1.  There are many indications that you have striven with heart and mind to be a good bishop of the Church, eager to implement the renewal called for in the decrees of the Vatican Council II. You have worked zealously to bring into existence the various consultative bodies promoted by the Council and mandated by the recently revised Code of Canon Law . . . .

2.  It is also true that you and those who assist you have suffered from exaggerated criticism and routine misunderstanding. Our observations are based neither on the complaints of your more strident critics, nor on publications that are obviously biased. Nor do we wish to encourage extremist groups who are wholly lacking in a spirit of cooperation and seek to destroy or suppress whatever is not to their liking. It is our intention, rather, to support what you have done to promote the renewal of the Church in Seattle and to point out, at the same time, areas which we consider are in need of correction and improvement.

3.  It is with this background of your own commitment to the real service of the Lord and the authentic renewal of His people, that this congregation wishes to outline these problems and to enlist your cooperation in resolving them.

4.  It appears that there has been a rather widespread practice of admitting divorced persons to a subsequent Church marriage without prior review by your Tribunal, or even after they have received a negative sentence. Catholics have been advised that after divorce and civil remarriage, they may in conscience return to the Sacraments.

Such a practice lacks foundation in the Church's clear teaching about the indissolubility of a sacramental marriage after consummation, and in sound jurisprudence. A clear presentation, then, of the sacramentality and indissolubility of Christian marriage should be made to all your people . . . .

5.  A number of other basic doctrinal problems can be identified. While it is impossible to judge how widespread they are, and although they may seem to be abstract, they too often have had real implications and concrete effects in the day-to-day life of the Church in Seattle.

a.  It is important that clear and firm guidance be offered to those in the Archdiocese who seem reluctant to accept the Magisterium as capable of giving definitive direction in matters of faith and morals.

b.  It is important that the nature and mission of the Church be taught in their entirety. The Church should be understood as more than a merely social entity, governed chiefly by psychological, sociological, and political processes. When it is viewed in this way, its institutional or visible dimension is placed in opposition to its Divine Origin, mission, and authority. such a view misunderstands the meaning of the Church and destroys all prospects of the authentic renewal for which the Vatican Council II so clearly called.

c.  Incorrect notions of the Church's mission and nature, as well as flawed understandings of the dignity of the human person, can frequently be traced to faulty Christology's. It is imperative that every effort be made to ensure that the Church's integral faith concerning Christ be handed on: His divinity, His humanity, His salvific mission, His inseparable union with and Lordship over the Church.

d.  Vigorous efforts must be made to engender in priests, religious and laity, a correct appreciation of the sacramental structure of the Church, especially as it provides for sacred ministry in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. An effective seminary program needs to be established which inculcate in candidates for the priesthood an understanding of the sacraments as the Lord's gifts to His Church. While efforts to encourage the laity to fulfill their apostolate and assume their proper roles in the Church should continue, the unique ministry and office of the Bishop, as well as that of the priests who assist him, must never be obscured.

e.  A critical reexamination of policies and programs of the Archdiocese should be conducted to ensure that they are based on the clear vision of the human person which is at the heart of the Gospel message. An anthropology which is dominated by the tentative conclusions of the human sciences could well undermine many pastoral initiatives, however well intentioned.

f.  There is a need to correct misunderstandings concerning the role which conscience plays in making moral decisions. In particular it is necessary to highlight the valid claim on the Catholic conscience which is made by the authoritative teaching of the church.

In all these areas it is vitally important to consult with competent, faithful theologians, clergy, and religious to determine how best to proclaim the Church's entire deposit of faith in our changing times.

When guided by an authentic theological method such efforts are not only not in conflict with the teaching of the Church, they are a faithful response of her constant call to vindicate the rights of the poor. It is also important that the faith be imparted in a way, which is sensitive to the suffering and the powerless.

No bishop should hesitate to overrule advisors who propose opinions at variance with the authentic teaching of the Holy See. At the same time, he must seek ways to hand on that teaching convincingly.

6. As per your letter of March 14, 1984, we realize that you have taken steps to correct the practice of contraceptive sterilization which had been followed in local Catholic hospitals. Such procedures are clearly and explicitly forbidden in all Catholic institutions.

The clear moral teaching contained in this Congregation's 1976 Declaration on Sexual Ethics, as well as the teaching found in the documents of the U.S. Bishops' Conference must be maintained and explained in an effective manner . . . .

In bringing all the above points to your attention it has been our purpose to assist you as effectively as possible in your office as Archbishop of Seattle. We commend you for your kindness and patience during the Apostolic Visit and during the many months needed by the Holy See for careful review and appropriate action.

May the Holy Spirit of Christ be with you and with His people whom you serve.

With my own best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours in the Lord,
Signed/ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Prefect

Anglican Patrimony and St. Charles Borromeo - Nov. 4

Following are some excerpts from an article by Fr. James Bradley recently.

The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum cœtibus was promulgated on 4 November 2009, the feast of Saint Charles Borromeo. Saint Charles was the Archbishop of Milan, an important See in Italy, and a place on the way between England and Rome for those brave men from Britain who, during the years of Protestant Reformation, travelled in secret to the continent for formation as priests. 

In Giovanni Pietro Giussano’s biography of the saint, we read that Borromeo welcomed many of those men as they travelled both to Rome for their studies and, again, on their way to certain martyrdom in England. Amongst the names that Giussano records we find Saint Ralph Sherwin and Saint Edmund Campion. In a letter to the Rector of the English College, Borromeo wrote, “I saw and willingly received those English who departed hence the other day, as their goodness deserved, and the cause for which they had undertaken their journey. If in future your Reverence shall send any other to me, be assured that I will take care to receive them with all charity, and that it will be most pleasing to me to have occasion to perform the duties of hospitality, so proper for a Bishops, toward the Catholics of that nation.”

Borromeo’s concern and respect for the British extended further still. He appointed the former Bishop of Saint Asaph, Thomas Goldwell, who had escaped from England in June 1559, as a suffragan bishop in Milan (incidentally, Goldwell ordained the composer Tomás Luis de Victoria to the priesthood), he appointed a Welshman, Owen Lewis, as his Vicar-General, and another Welshman, William Gifford, as his confessor and Canon Theologian. This, together with the significance of the distinctive liturgical traditions of the Rite of Milan—alluded to by Cardinal William Levada during a speech on the personal ordinariates in 2011—shows something of the importance of this date for the project of the personal ordinariates, and sets something of a context for what the ordinariates are called to be. Who, having made the journey from Anglicanism to the Catholic Church, can read those lines of Borromeo to the Rector of the Venerabile without recalling the welcome we ourselves have received?

St. Charles with St. Thomas More

The forthcoming Divine Worship missal shares in this heritage. It will enter into use in the communities of the personal ordinariates on the First Sunday of Advent 2015, the start of the new liturgical year, and was itself promulgated on 27 May 2015, the feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury. This latter date is of real significance for reasons best explained by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia OP, Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and former Chairman of the Interdiscasterial Commission Anglicanæ Traditiones, in his recent paper on Divine Worship and the Liturgical Vitality of the Church, published in Antiphon (Vol. 19, No. 2, 109-115) and delivered to the clergy and lay faithful of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in Westminster on 19 September 2015, a date which is itself significant as the day on which Pope Benedict XVI called the Bishops of England and Wales, and Scotland, to be generous in their implementation of Anglicanorum cœtibus, and to view it as “a prophetic gesture.”

As Archbishop Di Noia rightly pointed out in his presentation in Westminster, the significance of Divine Worship: The Missal cannot be overstated. It is, to use his words, “immensely important.” In his paper the archbishop says, “Just as it would be unthinkable to describe the Catholic Church without reference to its liturgical and sacramental life, so it would in some sense be for every ecclesial body. The manner in which an ecclesial community worships uniquely expresses its inner life.”

Archbishop Di Noia further relates the famous dialogue between Saint Augustine of Canterbury and Pope Saint Gregory the Great, recorded by the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (I, 27). This discourse reveals Saint Augustine’s concern regarding the diversity of liturgical rites found in England, which “differ in the holy Roman Church and the Churches of Gaul.” In his reply, Pope Saint Gregory reassured Saint Augustine with these words which, again, echo through the text of Anglicanorum cœtibus: “If you have found customs, whether in the Roman, Gallican, or any other Churches that may be more acceptable to God, I wish you to make a careful selection of them, and teach the Church of the English, which is still young in the Faith, whatever you can profitably learn from the various Churches. For things should not be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things. Therefore select from each of the Churches whatever things are devout, religious, and right; and when you have arranged them into a unified rite, let the minds of the English grow accustomed to it.”

As Archbishop Di Noia states, “One can think that Saint Gregory plays with the word for ‘places’ here, meaning not only geographical places, but textual ‘places,’ or diverse formulæ and traditions of worship . . . This pastoral concern is the overarching content in which the inclusion of Anglican liturgical patrimony into Catholic worship should be seen.”

Conclusion.

In other words, by aligning itself with Saint Augustine and his mission, through the date of its promulgation (incidentally, the most significant mission of a Bishop of Rome to the English-speaking peoples), Divine Worship: The Missal can again be identified as an essential element for the authentic life of the personal ordinariates. Just as the dates of the announcement and promulgation of Anglicanorum cœtibus reveal something of the significance of the mission entrusted to them, so the dates of the promulgation of the liturgical provision for the personal ordinariates show how, in the liturgical books approved by the Holy See for these communities, this is intended to form its life. May the prayers of these unwitting patrons keep us faithful to that task.

FAQs about the Ordinariate from the CDF

Introducing Divine Worship: 

The Missal

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Divine Worship: The Missal? 

Divine Worship is the liturgical provision for the celebration of Mass and the Sacraments for use by the Personal Ordinariates established under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. As such, it gives expression to and preserves for Catholic worship the worthy Anglican liturgical patrimony, understood as that which has nourished the Catholic faith throughout the history of the Anglican tradition and prompted aspirations towards ecclesial unity. 

2. Is the liturgical provision for the Ordinariates its own proper Rite? 

No. The Anglican liturgical tradition draws on the English monastic tradition and develops entirely out of the context of the Roman Rite. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist expressed by Divine Worship is at once distinctively and traditionally Anglican in character, linguistic register, and structure, while also being clearly and recognizable an expression of the Roman Rite. The title page of the Missal itself bears the designation “In conformity with the Roman Rite.” The liturgical norms and principles of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal are therefore normative for this expression or form of the Roman Rite. The Missal also includes a Rubrical Directory which proves instructions for those areas in which Divine Worship diverges from the Roman Missal. 

3. Why is it called Divine Worship?

Divine Worship is the name given by the Holy See to the liturgical provision for the Ordinariates. The Missal for the celebration of Mass is called Divine Worship: The Missal. The liturgical texts for baptisms, weddings, and funerals are collected in Divine Worship: Occasional Services. The Holy See chose the designation in part to harken back to the 2003 Book of Divine Worship, the first ritual book which authorized some Anglican liturgical patrimony for Catholic worship. The name Divine Worship purposely avoids some familiar but inaccurate designations for Anglican and Anglican-inspired liturgical forms (“Anglican Use,” “Anglo-Catholic,” etc.). This is in view of overcoming the confusion caused by the great variety of liturgical forms in the Anglican world, each of which advances a competing claim to authority as “Anglican use.” The intention is to situate Divine Worship firmly within the shape and context of the Roman Rite so that it might be approached in a manner which respects its own integrity and authority. 

4. Can any Catholic attend Mass according to Divine Worship? 

Yes. Ordinariate parishes and communities are part of the Roman Catholic Church. Any Catholic may licitly attend Mass in an Ordinariate parish. 

5. Can any priest celebrate Mass according to Divine Worship?

No. Public liturgical celebration according to Divine Worship is restricted to the parishes and communities of the Personal Ordinariates established under the auspices of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. Any priest incardinated in such a Personal Ordinariate may also publicly celebrate the Mass according to Divine Worship outside the parishes of the Ordinariate with the permission of the rector/pastor of the corresponding church or parish. Priests of the Ordinariate may always celebrate Mass without a congregation according to Divine Worship. 

In cases of pastoral necessity or in the absence of a priest incardinated in an Ordinariate, any Catholic priest in good standing may celebrate the Holy Eucharist according to Divine Worship for members of the Ordinariate who request it. For example, since the parishes of the Ordinariate are often spread out over a large geographic territory, the pastor of an Ordinariate parish may ask a priest at a nearby diocesan parish to fill in during illness or vacation leave. 

6.  Can any priest concelebrate Mass according to Divine Worship? 

Yes. Any Catholic priest may concelebrate Mass according to Divine Worship. 

7. What is the language of Divine Worship? 

The liturgical texts found in Divine Worship are in English, but an idiom of English best described as “Prayer Book English.” Insofar as Divine Worship respects received texts in their integrity, variations of idiom and linguistic register have been harmonized so that the texts chosen are broadly representative of the classic Prayer Book tradition while also attempting to avoid undue preference for wordings distinctive to any particular country. The texts provide for a certain adaptability to local custom such as, for example, using “Holy Ghost” interchangeably with “Holy Spirit” throughout the celebration of Mass. 

Divine Worship gives expression to and preserves for Catholic worship the worthy Anglican liturgical patrimony, understood as that which has nourished the Catholic faith throughout the history of the Anglican tradition and prompted aspirations towards ecclesial unity.

8. Does Divine Worship provide the texts of chants/minor propers?

Yes. In addition to the orations for Mass, the texts of the chants (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory, and Communion) are provided in Divine Worship as found in the musical patrimony of the Anglican tradition. The Coverdale translations of the Psalm texts in the chants are common to the Anglican Missals and Anglican translations of the Graduale Romanum. The Gradual and the Alleluia given in the Missal may always be replaced by the Responsorial Psalm and Alleluia of the Lectionary. In addition to, or in place of, the Introit, Offertory, and Communion, an appropriate hymn may also be sung. 

9. How does Mass according to Divine Worship begin?

The rites preceding the Liturgy of the Word, namely the Entrance, the Reverence of the Altar, the Collect for Purity, the Summary of the Law, the Kyrie, the Gloria, the greeting, and the Collect have the character of a beginning and preparation. Their purpose is to ensure that the faithful who gather as one dispose themselves to listen properly to God’s Word and to celebrate the Eucharist worthily. The Missal includes several appendices with additional options for these preparatory rites. The Prayers of Preparation may be prayed by the Priest and Ministers in the sacristy before Mass, or the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar may be prayed at the lowest steps of the altar after the Priest and Ministers have vested. The Rite of Sprinkling of Holy Water as a memorial of Baptism may precede the principal Sunday Mass and is especially fitting during the Sundays in Eastertide. On occasion, especially during Lent, the recitation of the Decalogue may replace the Summary of the Law.

10. Is this the Penitential Rite? 

No. The Penitential Rite emanates from the Liturgy of the Word and prepares the community for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. After the recitation of the Nicene Creed and the Prayers of the People, the Deacon or Priest incites all those present to take part in the Penitential Rite carried out through a formula of corporate acknowledgement of sin. This concludes with the Priest’s prayer for the forgiveness of sins which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance and is not a general absolution. The Penitential Rite may be followed by the recitation of The Comfortable Words.

11. Are the readings at Mass the same in Ordinariate parishes as in other Catholic parishes? 

Yes. The readings follow the Year A/B/C cycle for Sundays, and the Year I/II cycle for weekdays. The scriptural readings at Mass are taken from the Lectionary in the Revised Standard Version (Second Catholic Edition). 

12. Why are there two forms of the Offertory? 

Divine Worship provides for two forms of the Offertory, in order to respect a divergence in the liturgical experience among the Ordinariate communities. The first form of the Offertory is drawn from the Anglican Missal tradition. The second form reflects the Roman Missal as revised following the Second Vatican Council. The choice of the Offertory form should reflect the overall shape of the liturgical celebration, such as the distinction between Sunday and weekday Masses, and is made within the context of the particular tradition of a parish of the Ordinariate. It is not meant to provide variety from Sunday to Sunday. 

13. Which Eucharistic Prayer is used? 

The Missal contains two Eucharistic Prayers. The Roman Canon is the normative Eucharistic Prayer of the Divine Worship celebration of Mass. The Alternative Eucharistic Prayer, which corresponds to Eucharistic Prayer II of the Roman Missal, is provided for Masses on weekdays, for Masses with children, and other Masses where pastoral needs suggest it. 

14. Are there differences in the Communion Rite?

The Communion Rite in Divine Worship follows the same structure as the Roman Missal, with three additions drawn from the Anglican tradition. At the Fraction, the priest begins breaking the Eucharistic Bread while singing or saying the anthem, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, to which the People respond, Therefore let us keep the feast. Following the Fraction, the Priest and all who will receive Holy Communion recite together the Prayer of Humble Access, a communal preparation for Holy Communion. When the distribution of Communion is concluded, the Priest and the People make a corporate act of Thanksgiving using the prayer, Almighty and everliving God. This is followed by the Postcommunion Prayer, in which the Priest prays for the fruits of the mystery just celebrated. 

15. How does Mass end? 

The Concluding Rites consist of the Priest’s greeting and blessing, the dismissal of the People, and the reverence to the altar. Where it is the custom, the Last Gospel (the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel) may follow as a concluding devotion and is recited immediately after the dismissal. The Last Gospel is especially appropriate in Christmastide. 

16. Are there differences in the celebration of the liturgical year? 

Yes. The notable difference between Divine Worship and the Roman Missal is that Divine Worship does not include a period called Ordinary Time. The period between the celebration of the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday is called Time After Epiphany (Epiphanytide) and Pre-Lent. Pre-Lent begins with the third Sunday before Lent, or Septuagesima. After Eastertide, the Sundays of the Year are collectively known as Trinitytide, beginning with Trinity Sunday and being numbered as Sundays After Trinity until the celebration of Christ the King. The liturgical time of Advent/Christmas, Lent/Easter are celebrated in common throughout the Church. The Divine Worship Missal also includes the celebration of the Ember Days in Advent, Lent, in Whitsun Week (Pentecost), and in September. Similarly, the Rogation Days, traditionally marked by processions and prayers for Divine assistance, are observed on the three days preceding the Ascension of the Lord. 

17. How is the celebration of the Saints observed in Divine Worship?

The Divine Worship Missal includes all of the liturgical texts for the celebration of the Saints, either in proper prayers or in a series of Commons. The Calendar of the Missal follows the General Roman Calendar. Because of the geographic distribution of the Ordinariates, the Calendar also makes provision for the national calendars of Australia, Canada, England, the United States, as also the particular calendars of the three Ordinariates. 

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter | www.ordinariate.net | 713.609.9292

PROJECT HOPE

We are now at the midpoint of Project Hope, the 100 day emergency refugee sponsorship campaign put in place by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

The Archdiocese of Toronto, with which the Ordinariate is in association, is providing a short update on progress to date. See the link below.  

During the final 50 days of the campaign, parishes are asked to encourage and promote donations to support Project Hope.

At the midway point of the campaign, we are at $1.7 million of the $3 million goal.

Please feel free to direct any questions regarding Project Hope to the following:

·         Donations/Finances – Development Office (416) 934-3411

·         Refugee Sponsorship/Volunteer Committees – Office for Refugees (416) 645-0827

·         Media Inquiries – Office of Public Relations & Communications (416) 934-3400 ext. 563

You can visit www.archtoronto.org/projecthope for more details and resources regarding Project Hope.

Thank you for your efforts to support Christian and other refugees fleeing violence and persecution. 

An excellent homily on our response to the recent Synod of Bishops in Rome

Fr. William Bradley in Washington has posted a prayerful response to reports about the recent Synod of Bishops in Rome.  Here are some excerpts:

. . .  The Synod of Bishops “is a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet together at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world” (c. 342). It is their role to discuss specific questions, outlined in a document called the Instrumentum laboris or working document, but neither to resolve them, nor themselves issue decisions without the express permission of the Pope himself (c. 343). During this most recent meeting the delegates discussed the vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world.

At the opening of the Synod, the Holy Father acknowledged the many challenges that beset the Church in the area of the family today, and gave parameters for engaging in this dialogue. Amidst cries for the Church to submit to the scrutiny of this world, he affirmed that it is the duty of the Church (and so all of us), “to carry out her mission in truth, which is not changed by passing fads or popular opinions”; that is, to present to the world the unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable revelation of Christ, the law of the kingdom of heaven, so all might come to know Christ as he really is and, knowing him, be drawn into his gift of salvation. It must be said that despite the Holy Father’s appeal, this basic principle of truth was perhaps not always clear to see in the presentation of the deliberations of the past few weeks. . .  Indeed, the Holy Father alluded to this in his final discourse yesterday afternoon, when he said of the meeting, “different opinions […] were freely expressed—and at times, unfortunately, not in entirely well-meaning ways.”

What are we to make of all of this and how, in faith, are we to respond? The first response is of course that based on our natural reaction. When we hear an inaccurate report or read an insincere remark, particularly in the area of Church affairs, it is instinctive for the faithful Christian to recoil, both in defence of ourself (and perhaps also of those for whom we have some care or responsibility) and in order to show our displeasure at the comment itself. A well-formed conscience and a sound knowledge of the faith can, should, and does change our outlook. Thus it is not, in and of itself, wrong for us to be frustrated or displeased, either with error or with the persons or situation that has brought it about. Where this risks becoming problematic, though—even to the point of being sinful—is when that natural reaction, albeit based on a well-formed knowledge of the faith, is where we stop. It is insufficient to respond to such a situation in a simply natural way. Instead, by virtue of the grace which calls us to seek that knowledge in the first place, our response must be one founded on supernatural, and not simply natural, principles.

Practically speaking this means that our instinctive natural reaction must become a catalyst for giving ourselves more freely over to the will of God, and to the means of his grace in our lives. It means, to use a rather belaboured phrase, that we must “offer up” our trials, and seek to draw from our natural instinct a desire for the comforting  peace that comes only from the supernatural source of our strength: God himself. This does not mean setting-aside our concerns, nor seeking to ignore the things of the world in a spiritual equivalent of running for the hills. We are not called to be naive by our Christian faith. On the contrary, it means engaging with our concerns and displeasure, but doing so in the light of our knowledge of God, according to the fullness of the person whom God has called us to be, and trusting in his care for us and for his Holy Catholic Church.

This response is not, of course, limited to dealing with ecclesiastical affairs! It is as true of our personal relationships, with work colleagues and family members, even—dare I say it?—the driver in front of us in beltway traffic. This spiritual response to the frustration and trials of our daily lives is a necessary means, not only of resolving the concerns themselves, but of seeking to avoid a cycle of behaviour that risks our separation from God and from the source of his saving grace.

And we see all of this, in a particular way, in the person of Christ and in his sacrifice for us on the cross. Indeed, when we come to the Eucharistic altar it is that self-same sacrifice that is re-presented before us, albeit in an unbloody manner, so that we might join ourselves to his eternal prayer to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, and learn here the manner of our own sanctification. In the Eucharistic celebration we become children, humbled before the throne of our God and King, schooled in the means of our holiness. Here we see in the sacrifice of Christ the rich fruits of taking upon ourselves those wounds that are designed to inflict pain and suffering. And here, too, we see how, through obedience to the will of the Father, those scars are healed, and those weapons of torment are turned into instruments which resound to the glory of God: an affront to our enemies, but the source of our hope and, what is more, of our joy! Here, and likewise in a supernatural response to trials and disappointment, we see Christ the suffering servant crowned as Christ the King.

It is in that supreme gift that we find our consolation—not in idle gossip, nor fighting-talk, nor polemical rhetoric, nor even in mere academic debate, but in giving ourselves more and more to the person of Christ, our King and our friend, and in offering ourselves more and more freely to him within his sacrificial life. Here we not only gain a share in his crown, the gift which is offered to us through such fidelity to his way, but we are equipped with the armour that protects us from the assaults we face, and the supernatural means to overcome those things which threaten us and which, ultimately, risk our eternal happiness by bringing about a course of events at odds with the new and living way given us in Christ.

May this and every offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice bring about a renewed knowledge of this reality for us. May we see here the model of the life to which we are each called. And may our prayerful participation in this divine action strengthen us to live now, here in this earth, the supernatural reality of the life of the kingdom of heaven, that “happy home” for which we long and which, in the end, is the only thing that really matters.

________________________________

You can read (and hear) the full homily delivered by Fr. Bradley: In His Service

A Homily for TRINITY 21 (OT 30B) St Thomas More, Toronto

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Today’s Gospel is built around an irony – a blind man, Bartimaeus, becomes the first person apart from the apostles to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Also, the healing of Baritmaeus is the last miracle Jesus performs before entering the holy city of Jerusalem for His last week on earth.

Over the last few Sundays, the readings at Mass have explored the theme of  powerlessness: the young rich man not finding the strength to follow Jesus and so leaving in despair; how can the rich find salvation? A camel going through the eye of the needle is easier. The high standards set for us for marriage challenge all of us. We tend to be left saying: Who can do this?  We are powerless!

The scene on the road to Jerusalem evokes the joyful procession prophesied by Jeremiah in today’s First Reading. In Jesus this prophecy is fulfilled. God, through the Messiah, is delivering His people from exile and bringing them back from the ends of the earth along with the blind and lame in their midst. God is doing this not the people, not us.

Jesus, as Bartimaeus proclaims, is the long-awaited Son promised to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 11:9). Upon the triumphal arrival in Jerusalem, all will see that the everlasting kingdom promised to King David has come (Mark 11:9-10).

We hear in today’s Epistle, the Son of David was expected to be the Son of God (Psalm 2:7). He was to be a priest-king in the order of  Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4), who offered bread and wine to God Most High at the dawn of human history (Genesis 14:18-20).

Bartimaeus is a symbol of his people – captive Zion of which we sing of in today’s Psalm: Restore our fortunes, O Lord, as the rivers of the South. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

God  has done great things for Bartimaeus. All his life to this point has been sown in tears and weeping. Now, he reaps a new life.

Bartimaeus, is also a sign for us. How often Christ passes us by in the people and circumstances of our lives, perhaps in the distressing guise of a troubled family member or a burdensome co-worker (Matthew 25:31-46) and yet we don’t see the Lord.

Jesus calls to us through the Catholic Church, just as Jesus sent His apostles to call Bartimaeus. Yet how often in private and public do we listen instead to the voices of the crowd, looking for a secular messiah and not hearing the words of His Church, words of healing and of respect for life.

The blindness of Bartimaeus, the exile of the Jews from their homeland, our own frailty and illnesses, whatever trouble we might be in, may, in fact, be impossible for us — but not for God. And the wonderful thing is that God accomplishes what we cannot as his gift, out of his grace. Scripture boldly calls to us “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”

Bartimaeus did not earn his healing. Scripture doesn’t say he followed Jesus, worked on his life, built up merit, and then was healed. He followed Jesus after he was healed. The good news is that God loves first and moves first. He called Israel, he called Bartimaeus, he calls you and me. That is why the Collect or opening prayer of this Mass, prays that God will move first in making love, hope, and charity possible for us—so that those gifts which come from God can merit what God promises.

Often healing comes, not instantly, but at the moment it is meant to. It was so for the Jews who heard their promise from Jeremiah in today’s first reading—and they received that promise, they were brought home after a terrible exile, they did sing with joy—but not right away. They had to trust and wait for God’s good time for his purpose.

Sometimes, prayers that seem unanswered are, in the end, answered in entirely unexpected ways. Some people pass through a difficult time, seemingly with no answer to prayer, only to say that, later, they received extraordinary graces that they could not have imagined on the other side of their problem, so that, now, they even bless that difficult time

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup would pass—that he would be delivered from the pain of what was to come. He wasn’t spared—the cup of suffering did not pass him but God the Father made that awful suffering into a the glory of our salvation. 

Jesus entered his glory through suffering, and made a path for so that now we bless the day of Christ’s suffering as Good Friday.

Jesus asks us what He asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Rejoicing, let us say, in the Spirit,  what can we do in response to what God has done for us?

Jeremiah 31:7-9     Psalm 126:1-6    Hebrews 5:1-6   Mark 10:46-52