#clement GOES THROUGH IT FR

[express-archives]

clement would fr get 0 screentime until, like, s3 💔

[ofpsalms]

 @covenstrays​ asked 18 and 28 :3

A peek at what’s inside... (accepting)

18.     “secret” hiding spot. 

The Eternal City has eyes. The stones are witnesses to a hundred generations. Though those who first built them have long since returned to the dust, they remain near untouched by time. Most tourists are unaware that Rome is built on top of itself.  Fourteen minutes from Vatican City and situated between the two Basilicas of San Clemente and Saints Giovani and Paulo, there exists an ancient Roman corridor. It branches off from other, frequently visited stone tunnels, and blocked off from the public. The path poorly lit, and stretches long enough that you may begin to hear the sound of your blood pounding if your ears but if one is brave enough to traverse it, they’ll be greeted with a compelling reward.  

This lonely stone corridor leads to a former Roman mansion, most likely originally owned by a statesman of the Republic in all the preserved magnificence it boasts. The intricate black and white marble tiles draw the eye to the colorful, cracked and detailed frescoes that cover the walls. In the center, a depiction of the Capitoline wolf nursing the young Romulus and Remus. She has been told that the first hunters used to use this grand place as a secret meeting house in the 3rd century, but abandoned it as Christianity was adopted by Rome’s rulers.

It is here she goes, not to pray, but to simply reflect. To remember. To simultaneously try to escape and to be imprisoned by the many crosses she carries. 

She remembers the first time she was first brought down here, not by her grandfather, nor the overtly cautious Jesuits who taught her- no, it had been by her biological father, during one of the few and last times she saw him, when he’d still had his ambitions of becoming a cardinal and enough degrees of separation from her that few wandering eyes of outsiders had really paid enough attention to notice how alike they looked. She remembers how her soft brown eyes flickered away from the she-wolf and to him with confusion and worry. 

Why did you bring me here?

To remind you of what you are now. And that you’re all alone. Just as you’ve always been.

It is a sacred shrine. A painful reminder of her nation’s past and her own. Whenever she enters the painted wolf looks down upon her in accusation. Remember what you are. 

She keeps few things here, due to her dislike of hiding things. For had not her existence been a secret for years? But if you loosen a certain stone, you’ll find a leather bound book behind it. One containing notes of the gossip she’s heard about high ranking church officials she can use to her advantage, further plans and strategies to finesse her way through the ranks. 

She knows what she is. And she’s patient. She needs quiet to think.

----

28.     five most recent sent text messages

{ text: Fr. Rudolfo Martinez } I understand your concern. However if there is an increasing threat of the undead the smartest thing we can do is start to rally the lycanthropes in our ranks. They’ve been in the church for thousands of years for that very reason.

{ text: Nahia } Cardinal Agresta handed me a new assignment this morning. Paris. Something else inside the catacombs. Be ready to fly out tomorrow morning. [ TWO ATTACHMENTS ] 

{ text: Papá }  Would you like me to bring you back anything from Assisi when I visit? The truffle spread I had there is amazing on bruschetta. I think you’ll love it 🍄 ✨

{ text: Card. Vincente Agresta } Sorry for message instead of call. Urgently need to speak with you before today’s meeting with the Camerlengo

{ text: Jenny }  I hope that that was not you & Castillian causing those lights over Roswell, New Mexico last night. The Americans are in such a state that I saw some large gathering there on the news this morning. 

[ Note: The first text is written in Spanish and forth in Romanesco Italian }  

[romancatholicreflections]

23rd July >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 15:1-8 for the Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden (Europe) and Matthew 12:38-42 for Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time. Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden (Europe) Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canadsa) John 15:1-8 I am the vine, you are the branches Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more. You are pruned already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you. Make your home in me, as I make mine in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire, and they are burnt. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it. It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.’ Gospel (USA) John 15:1-8 Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit. Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” Reflections (2) (i) Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden Bridget was born in the year 1303. She was the daughter of a wealthy governor in Sweden. She wanted to enter a convent, but when she was thirteen she was married off to a wealthy man. They lived happily together for twenty-eight years and had eight children, four sons and four daughters. She went on to serve as the principal lady in waiting to the queen of Sweden. She had a reputation as a woman of great prayer. After her husband’s death, Bridget became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and devoted herself wholly to a life of prayer and caring for the poor and the sick. Around this time, she sensed Christ calling her to found a new religious order. She founded a monastery for sixty nuns and twenty-five monks who lived in separate enclosures but shared the same church. She journeyed to Rome in 1349, with her daughter Katerina, to obtain papal approval for her order. She never returned to Sweden. She spent much of the remainder of her life on pilgrimage in Italy. She also made a pilgrimage with her daughter and son to the Holy Land. Along with Catherine of Siena, she worked hard to get Pope Clement VI to return from Avignon to Rome. She impressed with her simplicity of life and her devotion to pilgrims, to the poor and the sick. She experienced visions of various kinds; some of them were of the passion of Christ. She died in her house in Piazza Farnese in Rome in 1373. She was canonized in 1391, less than twenty years after her death. In 1999, Pope John Paul II made her a co-patroness of Europe, alongside Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa Benedicta. In the gospel reading for her feast, Jesus declares to his disciples, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches’. It is very difficult to distinguish between the vine and its branches. Where does the vine end and the branches begin? Surely the branches are themselves the vine. There is certainly a very close relationship between the vine and its branches. The image Jesus uses of the vine and the branches expresses the very intimate relationship that he desires between himself and ourselves, his disciples. It was this intimate relationship with Jesus that characterized the life of Brigid. The Lord is intimately involved with all the members of his church. He is in communion with us. That is a given. What Jesus calls for in the gospel reading is that we be in communion with him, that we make our home in him. The image of the vine and the branches Jesus uses also expresses our dependence on him. We need to be in a deeply personal communion with Jesus so as to live off the divine sap that reaches us from him. We need to live close contact with Jesus, if we, the church, are to be fruitful in the way he wants us to be. It is only in and through our communion with Jesus that we can bear his fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. The primary fruit of the Spirit is love, a love that brings life to others, just as Jesus’s love has brought life to us all. And/Or (ii) Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden Bridget was born in the year 1303. She was the daughter of a wealthy governor in Sweden. She married a well to do man and they had eight children. She went on to serve as the principal lady in waiting to the queen of Sweden. She had a reputation as a woman of great prayer. After her husband died she became a member of the third order of Aint Francis She then founded a religious order and journeyed to Rome in 1349 to obtain papal approval for the order, known as the Brigettines. She never returned to Sweden from Rome. She spent the rest of her life in Italy or on various pilgrimages, including one to the Holy Land. She impressed with her simplicity of life and her devotion to pilgrims, to the poor and the sick. She experienced visions of various kinds; some of them were of the passion of Christ. She died in Rome in 1373. She was canonized not for her visions but for her virtue. The gospel reading for her feast is Jesus’ wonderful image of the vine and branches. By means of this image Jesus shows how much he wants to be in communion with us and wants us to be in communion with him. It is that communion with him, through prayer, through the Eucharist, which enables our lives to bear fruit in plenty, the rich fruit of the Holy Spirit. The gospel reading strongly suggests that if we are to be channels of God’s goodness we need to keep in communion with God’s Son. ———————————– Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time. Gospel (Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada) Matthew 12:38-42 There is something greater than Solomon here Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. ‘Master,’ they said ‘we should like to see a sign from you.’ He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.’ Gospel (USA) Matthew 12:38-42 At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it. Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.” Reflections (4) (i) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time The Jewish Scriptures are full of wonderful stories about memorable people. In the gospel reading today, Jesus mentions two of those people, the wise king Solomon and the reluctant prophet Jonah. He goes on to speak of himself as greater than Jonah and Solomon. Jesus not only speaks God’s word, he is the Word of God; Jesus is not only a wise king, he is the Wisdom of God. Yet, in spite of his rich identity, many of Jesus’ contemporaries did not appreciate him. In the gospel reading, scribes and Pharisees come to him looking for a sign; they want some spectacular sign before they will take him seriously. What Jesus goes on to say to them he says to all of us, ‘There is something greater than Jonah here… something greater than Solomon here’, here in this place, wherever we happen to be. Someone more wonderful than all the prophets and wise men of Israel put together is standing among us, is present to us, present within us. Jesus is not only greater than Jonah and Solomon; he is greater than anything that might seem to come between us and him. As Saint Paul says, ‘Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’. If someone greater is standing among us, our calling is to become attentive to his presence, to appreciate that no matter where we are, we are standing on holy ground. And/Or (ii) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time In the gospel reading Jesus criticizes the scribes and Pharisees because they look for a sign from him over and above all that he has been doing. They want him to do something more spectacular before they will believe in him. There has always been the longing in religiously minded people for the extraordinary sign that leaves no room for doubt. However, that is not how the Lord seems to work. He comes to us in and through the ordinary more than the extraordinary. In response to the request of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus tells them that he is present among them as someone greater than the prophet Jonah, greater than the wise king Solomon, if only they had eyes to see and ears to hear. In looking for a sign from Jesus they show that they don’t appreciate what they already have. In looking for the unusual we can miss what is before us. The Lord is among us today as someone greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon, greater than all the prophets and wise men of Israel. He is among us as one who is full of grace and truth in the words of the Prologue to John’s gospel. The Lord has not sold us short; we already have all we need to know and love him and to grow in our relationship with him. What is required is that we keep growing in our appreciation of what the Lord has already given to us. And/Or (iii) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time We can often miss the significance of certain moments in life. They pass us by without our really coming to savour them. It is only looking back on them that we realize just how important those experiences were. We are not always fully present to what is happening in our lives. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus complains that the people of his generation are failing to appreciate the significance of his presence among them. They are not fully present to the person he really is or to the significance of what he is really doing. Solomon was a wise king of Israel and Jonah was a prophet of Israel. Jesus declares that the people of the time of Solomon and Jonah responded to their presence because they recognized their significance. Yet, as Jesus declares, even though he is much greater than either Solomon or Jonah, his contemporaries are not taking him seriously. He is being asked to perform signs to prove his credentials. The same Lord who is greater than Solomon and Jonah, greater than all the wise people and prophets of Israel, is present among us today. As John’s gospel says, ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. The Lord is present to us in the flesh of life. This gives a great significance to all of our living, especially to our encounters with others. This morning’s gospel reading invites us to recognize the someone ‘greater’ who stands among us, very often unknown to us, and who comes to us in every moment of our lives, giving each moment eternal significance. And/Or (iv) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time In the gospel reading Jesus makes reference to the prophet Jonah and to King Solomon. He highlights different elements of the story of both of these figures from the Jewish Scriptures. It was clear that for Jesus the story of Jonah and the story of Solomon spoke to the present. The religious leaders who look to Jesus to give them a sign need to listen to the stories of their Scriptures carefully and learn from them. For Jesus all of the Scriptures were ultimately about the here and now. They did not just belong to the past. God continued to speak through his past word to the present. Jesus seems to have read the Jewish Scriptures as a word about himself and about how people were relating to him and to God and how they were being called to relate to him and to God. If the pagan people of Nineveh responded to the preaching of the Jewish prophet Jonah, if a pagan queen travelled to see the Jewish king Solomon, surely Jesus’ own contemporaries could respond positively to his mission because he was so much greater than all the prophets and kings of Israel. We too can read the Scriptures, both the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, the Old and the New Testament, as a word from God to us today. In some sense, all of the Scriptures speak to us about Jesus and about our relationship with him and his relationship with us. Whenever we open any part of the Scriptures Jesus is saying to us, ‘there is something greater than Jonah here… there is something greater than Solomon here’. It is Jesus, God-with-us, who is present in all of God’s word to us. Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland. Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or frmartinhogan@gmail.com Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie Please join us via our webcam. Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC. Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf. Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[thisdaynews]

Fulani Herdsmen Attacks: HURIWA tells South-East Governors what to Do

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/fulani-herdsmen-attacks-huriwa-tells-south-east-governors-what-to-do/

Fulani Herdsmen Attacks: HURIWA tells South-East Governors what to Do

…..DEPLORES GOVT’S INEPTITUDE ON ZAMFARA MASSACRES

A prominent Non-governmental organisation- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the armed Fulani attacks in Enugu and Anambra States and has asked the South East governors and state parliarments to take measures to pass laws in their States bringing into being armed vigilante groups and to grant licences to citizens to bear arms for self protection.

“The constitution confers the power on state Assemblies to pass laws for the good governance, security and wellbeing of their citizens. These unprovoked killings will continue so long as government fails to empower all citizens to take up legal weapons to put an end to the treacherous activities of armed hoodlums paid to commit genocide to advance the Ethno-religious interest of some persons who are treated by the central government as sacred cows”.

HURIWA condemned Federal government’s deliberate failure to declare armed Fulani killer gangsters as a terror organisation even when the killers are always backed by a platform known as Miyetti Allah Cattle Owners Association.

The Rights group has warned that the conspiratorial silence of President Muhammadu Buhari manifested through his inability to surgically deal with Fulani armed gangsters masquerading as herdsmen could spark a bigger conflagration if not quickly checked.

“We condemn the Nigerian governmemt for doing nothing to stop the spread of attacks by well armed Fulani killer gangsters but has always rapidly deployed armed security forces to protect the armed Fulani herdsmen from reprisals whenever these undesirable armed elements undertake their sordid and despicable crime against humanity. Where were the armed security forces in Anambra amd Enugu states before the armed Fulani herdsmen struck and why are the soldiers being deployed to protect the suspected killers? The government must be made to come clean on these serial killings by armed Fulani herdsmen all over the Country if Nigeria must be stopped from nosediving into a state of civil war. These killings must stop or must be stopped by all means”.

HURIWA recalled that armed men suspected to be herdsmen, at the weekend, invaded Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State, leaving six people dead, some of them beheaded, on their trail.

HURIWA quoted an eyewitness, Mr Orjiako Nnaluo (Ideh Anam), who spoke to journalists, as saying that the herdsmen stormed farm settlements known as Agweopia Camp, Iyiogbu Camp and Iyinkolo, respectively around 5:40am and started killing people, burning houses and raping many women.

HURIWA recalled that Mr Nnaluo said before people of the area could know what was going on, the herdsmen had killed six people, leaving about 30 others with various degrees of injuries just as he disclosed that the injured, he said, are currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

HURIWA regrettably recalled that few weeks back some gunmen suspected to be herdsmen in Enugu State, killed one Dr Nnamdi Ogueche, a senior lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Anambra State.

“This came less than 24 hours after the decomposing body of a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Clement Ugwu, was found in a bush. The community leader and a University don Dr. Ogueche was allegedly shot dead while returning from a peace meeting between his kinsmen and Fulani herdsmen in the state capital on Wednesday along the Iwolo Road in the Ezeagu Local Government Area of the state. It was gathered that the peace meeting was summoned by the Special Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on Security Matters, Brig. Gen. Fred Eze (retd.). The meeting was said to have been held between community members and the herdsmen in Uzo-Uwani”; HURIWA recalled.

HURIWA recalled that from all available intelligence, the assasinated community leader Dr. Ogueche was said to have attended the meeting as the Administrative Secretary of the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Council. Sources said the killing might have been aimed at provoking another round of crisis between the herdsmen and the people of Uzo-Uwani.”

” Information available to us from multiple sources stated that the late Ogueche was appointed at the meeting as a member of a team to assess the extent of damage of yam barns in Adaba, his community, and Umulokpa, alleged to have been destroyed by herders in the area.”

HURIWA recalled that Rev. Fr. Ugwu was kidnapped from the St. Mark Catholic Church, Obinofia Ndiuno in the Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. “The Enugu state governor and his Anambra state counterpart must galvanise the South East governments to take immediate steps to ensure that these attacks are stopped forthwith or risked the possibility of a civil strife”.

HURIWA also carpeted President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to arrest the sponsors of the banditry in Zamfara state which has killed over 6000 people. The Rights group wondered how the government hoped to stop the killings by merely banning mining activities as if the people been killed by bandits and their cattle stolen are solid minerals and no longer human beings. “Mr. President!; please note that Zamfara people are citizens and not solid minerals. Banning mining activities makes no sense. What will make sense is to clinically arrest the killers and their sponsors and deal decisively with them in accordance with the laws or they should be taken to the International Criminal court or you resign if you can’t stip these seemingly unending killings all ocer Nigeria since you assumed office.”

“HURIWA said that only an intelligence- led security operations can bring to an end those sorts of killings. But it’s clear that this government supports killers because how can we explain that this government has continued to recruit boko haram terrorists into the Nigerian Army under the dubious guises that they have been deradicalised. Any government that goes into this sort of toxic communion and sinister accord with terrorists will never be able to stop mass killings. Nigerians in their millions must start massive street demonstrations to mount pressure on government to either act decisively against mass murderers or to resign or be thrown out of power by all means”.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

23rd July >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on  John 15:1-8 for the Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden (Europe) and  Matthew 12:38-42 for  Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden (Europe)

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canadsa)

John 15:1-8

I am the vine, you are the branches

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I am the true vine,

and my Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in me that bears no fruit

he cuts away,

and every branch that does bear fruit

he prunes to make it bear even more.

You are pruned already,

by means of the word that I have spoken to you.

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.

As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,

but must remain part of the vine,

neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine,

you are the branches.

Whoever remains in me, with me in him,

bears fruit in plenty;

for cut off from me you can do nothing.

Anyone who does not remain in me

is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers;

these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,

and they are burnt.

If you remain in me

and my words remain in you,

you may ask what you will

and you shall get it.

It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit,

and then you will be my disciples.’

Gospel (USA)

John 15:1-8

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

Reflections (2)

(i) Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden                              

Bridget was born in the year 1303. She was the daughter of a wealthy governor in Sweden. She wanted to enter a convent, but when she was thirteen she was married off to a wealthy man. They lived happily together for twenty-eight years and had eight children, four sons and four daughters.  She went on to serve as the principal lady in waiting to the queen of Sweden. She had a reputation as a woman of great prayer. After her husband’s death, Bridget became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and devoted herself wholly to a life of prayer and caring for the poor and the sick. Around this time, she sensed Christ calling her to found a new religious order. She founded a monastery for sixty nuns and twenty-five monks who lived in separate enclosures but shared the same church. She journeyed to Rome in 1349, with her daughter Katerina, to obtain papal approval for her order. She never returned to Sweden. She spent much of the remainder of her life on pilgrimage in Italy. She also made a pilgrimage with her daughter and son to the Holy Land. Along with Catherine of Siena, she worked hard to get Pope Clement VI to return from Avignon to Rome. She impressed with her simplicity of life and her devotion to pilgrims, to the poor and the sick. She experienced visions of various kinds; some of them were of the passion of Christ. She died in her house in Piazza Farnese in Rome in 1373. She was canonized in 1391, less than twenty years after her death. In 1999, Pope John Paul II made her a co-patroness of Europe, alongside Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa Benedicta. In the gospel reading for her feast, Jesus declares to his disciples, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches’. It is very difficult to distinguish between the vine and its branches. Where does the vine end and the branches begin? Surely the branches are themselves the vine. There is certainly a very close relationship between the vine and its branches. The image Jesus uses of the vine and the branches expresses the very intimate relationship that he desires between himself and ourselves, his disciples. It was this intimate relationship with Jesus that characterized the life of Brigid. The Lord is intimately involved with all the members of his church. He is in communion with us. That is a given. What Jesus calls for in the gospel reading is that we be in communion with him, that we make our home in him. The image of the vine and the branches Jesus uses also expresses our dependence on him. We need to be in a deeply personal communion with Jesus so as to live off the divine sap that reaches us from him. We need to live close contact with Jesus, if we, the church, are to be fruitful in the way he wants us to be. It is only in and through our communion with Jesus that we can bear his fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. The primary fruit of the Spirit is love, a love that brings life to others, just as Jesus’s love has brought life to us all.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden

Bridget was born in the year 1303. She was the daughter of a wealthy governor in Sweden. She married a well to do man and they had eight children. She went on to serve as the principal lady in waiting to the queen of Sweden. She had a reputation as a woman of great prayer. After her husband died she became a member of the third order of Aint Francis She then founded a religious order and journeyed to Rome in 1349 to obtain papal approval for the order, known as the Brigettines. She never returned to Sweden from Rome. She spent the rest of her life in Italy or on various pilgrimages, including one to the Holy Land. She impressed with her simplicity of life and her devotion to pilgrims, to the poor and the sick. She experienced visions of various kinds; some of them were of the passion of Christ. She died in Rome in 1373. She was canonized not for her visions but for her virtue. The gospel reading for her feast is Jesus’ wonderful image of the vine and branches. By means of this image Jesus shows how much he wants to be in communion with us and wants us to be in communion with him. It is that communion with him, through prayer, through the Eucharist, which enables our lives to bear fruit in plenty, the rich fruit of the Holy Spirit. The gospel reading strongly suggests that if we are to be channels of God’s goodness we need to keep in communion with God’s Son.

-----------------------------------

Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Gospel (Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Matthew 12:38-42

There is something greater than Solomon here

Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. ‘Master,’ they said ‘we should like to see a sign from you.’ He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 12:38-42

At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it.

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”

Reflections (4)

(i) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The Jewish Scriptures are full of wonderful stories about memorable people. In the gospel reading today, Jesus mentions two of those people, the wise king Solomon and the reluctant prophet Jonah. He goes on to speak of himself as greater than Jonah and Solomon. Jesus not only speaks God’s word, he is the Word of God; Jesus is not only a wise king, he is the Wisdom of God. Yet, in spite of his rich identity, many of Jesus’ contemporaries did not appreciate him. In the gospel reading, scribes and Pharisees come to him looking for a sign; they want some spectacular sign before they will take him seriously. What Jesus goes on to say to them he says to all of us, ‘There is something greater than Jonah here… something greater than Solomon here’, here in this place, wherever we happen to be. Someone more wonderful than all the prophets and wise men of Israel put together is standing among us, is present to us, present within us. Jesus is not only greater than Jonah and Solomon; he is greater than anything that might seem to come between us and him. As Saint Paul says, ‘Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’. If someone greater is standing among us, our calling is to become attentive to his presence, to appreciate that no matter where we are, we are standing on holy ground.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus criticizes the scribes and Pharisees because they look for a sign from him over and above all that he has been doing. They want him to do something more spectacular before they will believe in him. There has always been the longing in religiously minded people for the extraordinary sign that leaves no room for doubt. However, that is not how the Lord seems to work. He comes to us in and through the ordinary more than the extraordinary. In response to the request of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus tells them that he is present among them as someone greater than the prophet Jonah, greater than the wise king Solomon, if only they had eyes to see and ears to hear. In looking for a sign from Jesus they show that they don’t appreciate what they already have. In looking for the unusual we can miss what is before us. The Lord is among us today as someone greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon, greater than all the prophets and wise men of Israel. He is among us as one who is full of grace and truth in the words of the Prologue to John’s gospel. The Lord has not sold us short; we already have all we need to know and love him and to grow in our relationship with him. What is required is that we keep growing in our appreciation of what the Lord has already given to us.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

We can often miss the significance of certain moments in life. They pass us by without our really coming to savour them. It is only looking back on them that we realize just how important those experiences were. We are not always fully present to what is happening in our lives. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus complains that the people of his generation are failing to appreciate the significance of his presence among them. They are not fully present to the person he really is or to the significance of what he is really doing. Solomon was a wise king of Israel and Jonah was a prophet of Israel. Jesus declares that the people of the time of Solomon and Jonah responded to their presence because they recognized their significance. Yet, as Jesus declares, even though he is much greater than either Solomon or Jonah, his contemporaries are not taking him seriously. He is being asked to perform signs to prove his credentials. The same Lord who is greater than Solomon and Jonah, greater than all the wise people and prophets of Israel, is present among us today. As John’s gospel says, ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. The Lord is present to us in the flesh of life. This gives a great significance to all of our living, especially to our encounters with others. This morning’s gospel reading invites us to recognize the someone ‘greater’ who stands among us, very often unknown to us, and who comes to us in every moment of our lives, giving each moment eternal significance.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus makes reference to the prophet Jonah and to King Solomon. He highlights different elements of the story of both of these figures from the Jewish Scriptures. It was clear that for Jesus the story of Jonah and the story of Solomon spoke to the present. The religious leaders who look to Jesus to give them a sign need to listen to the stories of their Scriptures carefully and learn from them. For Jesus all of the Scriptures were ultimately about the here and now. They did not just belong to the past. God continued to speak through his past word to the present. Jesus seems to have read the Jewish Scriptures as a word about himself and about how people were relating to him and to God and how they were being called to relate to him and to God. If the pagan people of Nineveh responded to the preaching of the Jewish prophet Jonah, if a pagan queen travelled to see the Jewish king Solomon, surely Jesus’ own contemporaries could respond positively to his mission because he was so much greater than all the prophets and kings of Israel. We too can read the Scriptures, both the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, the Old and the New Testament, as a word from God to us today. In some sense, all of the Scriptures speak to us about Jesus and about our relationship with him and his relationship with us. Whenever we open any part of the Scriptures Jesus is saying to us, ‘there is something greater than Jonah here... there is something greater than Solomon here’. It is Jesus, God-with-us, who is present in all of God’s word to us.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  frmartinhogan@gmail.com

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