First Friday of Advent: Curing the blind men

Readings: Isaiah 29:17-24; Psalm 27; Matthew 9:27-31

It is curious that the blind men in today’s gospel passage address Jesus as the ‘Son of David’. They clearly have faith in Jesus as the messiah and believe he is able to cure them of their blindness. Yet, when they are miraculously cured and Jesus sternly charges them to tell no one, they instead spread the news of their healing. The blindness was perhaps not only a physical blindness that was cured, but they could now see who Jesus really is, and that he is spreading the word of God. This was obviously too much for the men to keep secret.

We could compare today’s reading to a scene developed by Plato, in book VII of The Republic. In Plato’s allegory of the Cave, prisoners are chained up in an underground cave, unable to move or see anything other than a wall in front of them. These prisoners are literally kept in the dark, and the only ‘things’ they can see throughout their entire lives are shadows of objects that are cast upon the wall. They can see nothing else, and only engage with or imagine about shadows that are created by the prison guards, who are unseen but keep up the illusion. When one of the prisoners happens to be set free, there is a painful process of getting used to the light of the world outside of this cave, since the prisoner has never really used his eyes before. In the context of today’s reading and our own lives, perhaps some of us are still on that journey from the cave of darkness and ‘fake’ shadows, into the real world of the light of Christ. That is, finding out what is contained in the theology and philosophy of the Church. And some of us will already have the knowledge of the light of the ‘real’ world, whether that is having faith as strong as the blind men had, or knowledge on how much of a wasted life it is to be chained up and looking at shadows cast onto a wall. But who is to go back into the cave to warn the prisoners they are blinded by this fake reality? And which of us Christians will ‘free’ those who are blinded? 

YEAR OF FAITH, 11th October 2012 – 24th November, 2013.

On 11th October Pope Benedict XVI will solemnly open a Year of Faith with the celebration of Mass in St Peter’s, Rome. The Church has a long tradition of Holy Years, marking various dates, anniversaries and ongoing themes in the life of the Church and of the individual members who constitute the Church. This one has a particular focus on faith – as did the Year of Faith called by Paul VI in 1967, to commemorate the 19th centenary of the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. We are called to renew our faith: to deepen our knowledge of it, our commitment to it and our proclamation of it to others. 

We are to do this as individuals but also, crucially, ecclesially, as members of the Church, at parish, diocesan and universal levels, and as members of religious orders, institutes, and other ecclesial communities and movements. Our faith, though personal and embedded in the particulars of our vocations, relationships and cultures, is a participation in the faith of the Church as a whole, across time and space. We receive our faith, a gift of grace from God to each of us, through the Church. We are taught the faith, and receive its sanctifying effects, through the apostles and their successors the bishops, and the priests and deacons who share in their ministry. Our communion and fellowship with the other members of the Church nourishes and strengthens our faith.

For these ecclesial reasons this Year of Faith coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The Holy Year is thus an opportunity to deepen our appreciation of the teaching of this the 21st Ecumenical or General Council of the Church. 11th October 2012 is also the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church, a major fruit of the council and a great source to both deepen and teach our faith. It is the day on which the XII Ordinary Synod Of Bishops opens. This set of synods began after Vatican II, and as a response to it. Each has resulted in a universal letter (Apostolic Exhortation) from the Pope. This year the theme is the New Evangelisation. The call to every Christian to witness to his or her faith, that is to evangelise, was, along with the call to holiness, one of the two universal calls that Vatican II made to all Christians. In short, this year is rooted in the event of Vatican II. But Vatican II is rooted in the faith of the Church, and in continuity with the way that the faith has been taught and lived for 2000 years.

Both Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI see the event, documents and implementation of Vatican II as key to the life of the current Church. In his document announcing this Year of Faith, Porta Fidei (2011, n.5) Benedict cited his blessed predecessor: “With the passing of the years, the Council documents have lost nothing of their value or brilliance… I feel more than ever in duty bound to point to the Council as the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century: there we find a sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning.” (from Novo Millenio Ineunte, 2001, n.57.)’ Benedict then immediately continues: ‘I would also like to emphasize strongly what I had occasion to say concerning the Council a few months after my election as Successor of Peter: “if we interpret and implement it guided by a right hermeneutic, it can be and can become increasingly powerful for the ever necessary renewal of the Church” (Address to the Roman Curia, 2005).’ As the Pope has put it and as the Congregation for Doctrine and Faith put it in its Note for the Year of Faith, this means a ‘hermeneutic of reform in continuity’, not a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture’. The words ‘continuity’ and ‘reform’ both matter. The Church stays the same in its essentials, but reforms and renews herself, aware of the pull of sin and of the world; she changes as she meets new situations and challenges, but so as to continue to do what she has always been called to do, that is, to worship God in truth and love, and bring the life of God to humanity, and grow in holiness. The Council thus calls the Church to a process of organic growth, drawing on, and loyal to, the faith, worship, magisterial teaching and sound theology of the Church over time, but moving forward under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to continue that life and mission in changed situations and cultures, aware that she often needs to change, to adapt, to find fresh expressions and to renew herself to do so.

Major Councils of the Church have always sought to serve both continuity and reform in the life and mission of the Church. They affirm the apostolic faith of the Church, expressing and sometimes defining what it consists of in the changed circumstances of their day and in intellectual challenges to it, sometimes using new terminology to do so. But they also call for reform and renewal and a more effective undertaking of the witness and mission of the Church in the circumstances of their day. General Councils do this since they are gatherings of the bishops, successors of the apostles, meeting together, in communion with the Pope, which decide things together, with the approval of the Pope. As such they carry the highest authority of the Church.

It is the intention of Godzdogz over this Year of Faith to look back at the 21 Ecumenical, or General, Councils of the Church. We will look (briefly) at them in their historic contexts, the challenges they faced, what they taught, what reforms they called for and why, and to some extent what then happened. In short we will look at the processes of ecclesial continuity and reforming change on the large stage of 2000 years of Church history. The series is called ‘Councils of Faith’.

The series will hopefully give us a fuller appreciation of our faith, of its ecclesial dimension, of God’s action in our midst, but also of the implications of God choosing to work through fallible human beings. God is at work in graced and gifted but fragile people, weak and mired by sin, and caught up in, and sometimes dangerously entangled in, politics and all manner of complexities of life in this world. It will hopefully help us put debates about Vatican II into a more informed and realistic perspective and to make a more informed, and so more effective, contribution, in communion with the pope and our bishops, to the renewal of the church. In short, we will hopefully come to a fuller realization that God’s gift of revelation and salvation to us means that we do indeed hold immense treasure, but in earthenware vessels. May this allow the focus and glory to be about God, manifest in the face of Christ. (See 2 Cor 4). ‘Councils of Faith’ will hopefully help us grow in faith, aware of our ecclesial history, instilling in us both hope and also humility, informing us and also forming us, and making us better able to form others in faith.

Our Lady of Walsingham

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. Walsingham is known as 'England's Nazareth', a place of pilgrimage for almost a thousand years, ever since the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Richeldis de Faverches in the eleventh century. So, Our Lady of Walsingham carries a special significance to the Christians of our land. The National Shrine reminds us of the ancient faith we hold, which has shaped our culture and graced our people over the centuries. Walsingham remains a beautiful witness to the Annunciation at Nazareth, when God 'pitched his tent among us', taking our human flesh to himself in Jesus Christ.

Every year in May, the English Dominicans organise a pilgrimage to Walsingham. If you missed this year's pilgrimage, watch this space for the next!

Walsingham is also a place where English Christians seek unity. It is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox alike. Though the Anglican Church holds this feast on 15 October, as we celebrate this day let us continue to pray for Christian unity. Last year, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining many of their distinctive traditions.

During his visit to the UK in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said the Ordinariate 'should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all'.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

Third Week of Advent – Friday – Living the faith that we preach

Readings: Isaiah 56:1-3a.6-8; Psalm 67 (66):2-3.5.7-8; John 5:33-36

Today’s Gospel enlightens us on two major points: all our efforts in preaching God’s message should lead to Christ and the best way of conveying that message is by example.

It is a common thing today - as it was in the past - that some people are highly gifted in preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Through different gifts and talents, they become famous preachers and illustrious public speakers. John the Baptist was a good preacher. Jesus himself talks of him as “a burning and shining light [and people] were willing for a reason to rejoice in his light.” (Jn 5:35).

Today's gospel reminds us that it is always good to look beyond the shining stars and recognize the work of God in them. Otherwise we focus on those stars and we are blinded by their light. It is like looking at the finger that is trying to show us great mysteries.

The second point is that as much as we might be brilliant, unrivalled preachers, if that is not translated in our lives, it is empty. John the Baptist himself knew that. He wanted people's conversion to be translated into actions. God's words are sweet. And we might even pretend to make them sweeter to people’s ears when we use more sophisticated and highly intellectual terms. But they need to be accompanied by deeds that prove that we live what we preach. How could we convince people of things we do not live out? Jesus said: "The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me." (Jn 5:36). We know that most of the disciples who followed Christ did not grasp fully his message but were amazed by his deeds: his compassion towards the excluded and those who were rejected by his religion, his compassion towards the hungry and the sinners. Most of the time his message appeared clearly to contradict his religion's laws. But his deeds were obviously divine to his followers that they could not see them otherwise.

Concluding I would say that today's gospel also invites us to recognise the work of God in those other people we seldom consider as messengers of God: those who do not share our way of thinking, those who do not share our religious beliefs and those who do sometimes even oppose our faith. God's ways being mysterious, God can use anyone, any time, anywhere to make the Good news reach our hearts. We only need to open our eyes and our hearts.

May this Advent help us to focus more on our Lord and Saviour and less on ourselves and our successes. May it help us to recognise God's hand in other people's words and deeds.

By Br Gustave Ineza OP

Third Week of Advent - Thursday - Accept the Fullness of God's Plan

Readings: Isaiah 54: 1-10; Psalm 30; Luke 7: 24-30

John the Baptist holds a distinct honor in the Gospels in that he inaugurates Jesus’ public ministry. He foresees Jesus’ coming long before anyone else recognizes him. John’s prophetic witness is unmatched. His convictions are more genuine and faith more steadfast than anyone else in the Gospel aside from Christ himself. “Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Lk 7:28).

Jesus’ statement about John does not reveal a low opinion of the Messiah’s forerunner. Quite the opposite is true. Jesus’ declaration raises God’s expectations of how we understand and accept our own Christian vocations.

Those who approached John in faith knew his baptism made them whole again. His baptism removed their sins. Their hope was to restore their relationship with God. They wanted to be as God created them and originally intended them to be: His holy and faithful people. Jesus takes their expectations and elevates them to a divine level.

Herein lies the great scandal of the Pharisees’ rejection of John’s baptism. Not only have they rejected God’s pardon (if they even recognize a need for pardon). They also fail to receive the ultimate gift of Christ: deification. These faithful people, however great their sins, come seeking reconciliation. They find God’s saving power in John’s baptism. And beyond that monumental conversion, God also makes them like Him.
He restores them and elevates them to a share in His life.

As we move closer to the Christmas Season, let us spend this remaining time contemplating what it means for Christ to take on our flesh. In doing so, he takes away our sins. Yet, Jesus’ act of removing sin from our human nature is only a footnote compared to what he adds to it: God’s very self.

Second Week of Advent - Monday: "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."

Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-10; Psalm 85; Luke 5: 17-26

Would you be comfortable waging your salvation on the strength of your faith? Is your faith strong enough to save you? The Gospel presents these questions often. At some point in our lives, we will each have to answer. Hopefully, each of us is ready to respond with an emphatic “Yes!”

However, would we be as zealous, as sure of the strength of our faith, if someone else’s salvation rested on our faith?

The men who lower the paralytic through the roof in the Gospel of Luke recognize the importance of acting on their faith. The crowd is too dense. They cannot get the paralytic to Jesus. If they wait too long, these men may never have a chance to save their friend. Yet, they do not let this obstacle stand in their way. When Jesus sees this man lowered through the roof, he does not cite the paralytic’s faith as he heals him. Rather, Jesus sees the faith of these men who let nothing stand between God and someone in need of God’s healing.

It can be easy for us to put ourselves on the line in a grave situation. Often times, we consider self-sacrifice a way of growing in our faith. If we fail at first, then we acknowledge our failure, repent, and continue in the life of faith. But when we realize that our faith and actions impact the wellbeing of others, we open ourselves up to the reality of our Christian vocations.

Our faith in God is not a gift solely for our benefit. We do not follow Christ isolated from other people on our own private paths. The grace of God must be diffusive, coming from God, through us, to the world. For this reason, the Church exhorts us toward the Sacraments and public witness, not only that we may grow in faith, but that we may also bring the gift of faith to others.

As we continue our Advent meditations, let us contemplate how our faith impacts the lives of others. I do not doubt the awe one experiences when hearing Jesus say, “Your faith has saved you.” But, as a member of the Body of Christ, I think such an experience reaches its zenith when Jesus also says, “Your faith has saved others.”