Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 17 September 2021, during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is also available on the Archdiocese of Cape Town’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Please also see below the text of his reflection, primarily for the deaf.

Let us start by praying for the fruitfulness of the upcoming Synod.

We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
as we gather together in Your name. 

With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts; 

Teach us the way we must go
and how we are to pursue it. 

We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.

Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions. 

Let us find in You our unity
so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth
and what is right. 

All this we ask of You,
who are at work in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen. 

The emptiness of seeking earthly gain. 2 Timothy 6:2-12 

Our current pandemic, with all the uncertainties it has ushered in, ought to have taught us a few lessons about what is important and what is normal. The lifestyles we took for granted are no longer possible under the restrictive conditions we have to cope with. People often ask: “when are things going to get back to normal?” They have a longing for the way things used to be. Perhaps a more important question is to examine how we have lived and to ask to what extent has that been normal. 

For example, people in the cities are used to having Mass in their Parishes on a daily basis and find it difficult to cope with present situation. People living in rural areas on the other hand have Mass once a month and many others have the Eucharist far less frequently than that. And yet they celebrate the Sabbath faithfully every week. They nourish their faith by sharing on the liturgy of the Word and by praying. Normally these communities have a Catechist and the people themselves take care of preparations for Baptisms, Confirmations, First Holy Communion, etc. Most belong to sodalities and these organisations take care of such things as home-based care for the aged, feeding the poor, and bandaging the wounded. Their entire life is Christianity in action simply because it is characterised by sharing and caring. 

In terms of the Christian message which is more normal – our isolated lifestyle or their communitarian lifestyle? Covid-19 has pressed the reset button and has forced us to be the Body of Christ in the home. We have become less independent and a lot more inter-dependent. We have come to realise that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers and also that they are our keepers. In 2013 prior to becoming Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio SJ referred to the serious sin of self referentiality and called it a “theological narcissism”. Self referentiality is a technical term referring to an extreme form of independence which screams out that we need nobody and that no one can teach us anything. Well, Covid-19 has rearranged that. The very fact that we expect others to wear masks and to be vaccinated so that we too may be safe, illustrates that we are dependent on the goodwill of others.

The sharing of resources so that the poor were fed when the pandemic first hit our shores was a meaningful exercise in Christian living. Many in the Archdiocese of Cape Town responded in true Christian fashion. I pray that that kind of “being normal” never ends. Nowadays we have other agencies such as Caritas Cape Town, SVP, and other parish based organisations attending to that work of mercy and it must never end. This is where our first reading of today’s Mass is so informative. It teaches us what we ought to have known by instinct but choose to forget – that we came into this world with nothing and that we will leave with nothing (2 Timothy 6:7). In the previous verse St Paul laments the fact that many see religion as a means of making a profit (2 Timothy 6:6). I was watching the News on the morning after the President announced the change in Lockdown Levels and the interviewer asked one of the leaders of a so called “mega church” how the new lockdown levels affected the “church industry”. A slip of the tongue perhaps, but it does betray how people see these kinds of religious operations. Over and above this, St Paul – and this is clearly spelt out in the original text, encourages the servants of the Word to serve even more authentically so as to benefit the community of believers and not themselves.

The passage ends with a special appeal to those who hold office in the Church to be true to the promises (or vows) which were made in public. This is a passage which calls for greater accountability. Accountability according to this passage is not an optional extra – it is an essential dimension of the life of those called to serve – whether as lay leaders, ordained clergy, leaders of government, leaders on sports fields, leaders at schools, in workplaces or any other forum. For the Christian there is only one template and that is “Christ-like” service. In this regard the teaching in Mark 10:45 is most appropriate.

Let us pray: Father, give us the grace of humility so that we may serve as Christ did. We ask this through him who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Wednesday 15 September 2021, during this time of the coronavirus pandemic. It is also available on the Archdiocese of Cape Town’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Please also see below the text of his reflection, primarily for the deaf.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and today we remember the suffering of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she stood at the foot of the Cross. Today’s feast is rightly called “Our Lady of Sorrows”. Welcome to this reflection, and we will begin by praying for peace in Southern Africa.

O God of justice and love, bless us, the people of Southern Africa,
and help us to live in your peace.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury; let me sow pardon;
Where there is discord, let me sow harmony.

Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
Seek to be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
To receive sympathy, as to give it;
For it is in giving that we shall receive,
In pardoning that we shall be pardoned,
In forgetting ourselves that we shall find
Unending peace with others. 

We ask this through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

I have chosen a couple of verses from the alternative Gospel of today’s Mass (John 19:25b-27):

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

Jesus was a humble man. His humility was manifest in the way in which he spoke to others, in his compassionate actions and his openness to sinners in their weakness. This good man died a humiliating death. Raw and brutal power not only sought to kill him, but to ensure that it was degrading death and that he be stripped of all human dignity. Yet he suffered that humiliation willingly and patiently for he knew it was necessary for the salvation of the world.

There is a difference between humility and humiliation, although the two are related. Humility is a virtue that a person chooses to live by. It is expressed through an honest self-appraisal of oneself, neither exaggerating or devaluing one’s gifts nor one’s faults. It is always appreciative of the worth of others and would never “bruise the broken reed or seek to extinguish the wavering candle¹”. As a virtue, it is something that grows within us through conscious effort and perseverance. Humiliation, on the other hand, is something imposed on a person over which he or she has little or no control. It is intended to strip the person of his or her dignity, to shame them and to cause them pain. Of course, on occasion we can be our own worst enemy and humiliate ourselves, but that is something for another occasion.

Mary, who shared in the pain of witnessing her Son’s torture and cruel death on the Cross, shared also in his humiliation. In a human sense, she was powerless to do anything to help and was undoubtedly acutely aware of the gloating eyes and enjoyment of some of those gathered to look upon the suffering one. She stood her ground, she endured the painfulness of the situation and bore it patiently, without losing hope or faith. I think it is fair to say that even as she, Our Lady of Sorrows, witnessed the blood and destruction of her Beloved, she was able to see beyond it, in some way, to the light and glory of the Resurrection.

We have all experienced humiliation at some time in our life. It can be very hard to get over such times, and they can haunt us for many years. Mary shows us another way of dealing with the pain and indignity of humiliation. Patiently, humbly and in fidelity, she was able to unite her suffering with the suffering of Jesus on the Cross, without anger, self-pity or despair. She absorbed the suffering and transformed it into hope. Many saints deliberately sought humiliation for two reasons – to unite themselves more fully with Christ’s passion and death, and in order to help them grow in humility.

We are not able to avoid humiliation at some point of our lives. You have only to pause and look around in a busy supermarket, for example, to see how people “look through” the elderly as if they did not exist, how annoyed people can become with them because they are a bit slow, how they are treated as if they have lost their faculties. Old age brings with it a certain humiliation. Again, when sickness strikes, we may lose control over our body which, in itself, is humiliating. Again, we have only to think of the mentally or physically challenged and how they are at times treated as “non-persons” or a drain on society, to realise how common humiliation is and how many people live with humiliation.

Recognizing humiliations as being part of life is important for two reasons. Firstly, we have to ask ourselves whether we have the resilience and the inner resources to deal with it in a way that does not destroy us. Do we have the depth of spirituality to be able to unite our pain of humiliation with the Passion and Cross of Jesus in a way that seeks to allow our suffering to “complete what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ²”? Can we endure it with patience and hope, absorbing it and allowing it to help us grow in humility and in the depth of our relationship with God. Secondly, and very importantly, do we have the courage and compassion to stand with those who are suffering humiliation for whatever reason? It may be the humiliation of poverty or discrimination, the humiliation of dependence in sickness or old age, or the humiliation of those who are scorned because they are different in some way. In short, are we able to be like Mary who stood at the foot of the Cross supporting her Son and in solidarity with him in his suffering? Ultimately, we should not see humiliation only as an inevitable aspect of human reality, but also part and parcel of our spiritual life as an aid in growing closer to Christ.

Let us now praise for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with you R/ And with your Spirit

Bow down for the blessing:

God our Father, you willed that Mary, Virgin and Mother, should stand close to the Cross and share in the suffering of her Son, Jesus. In honouring her today, may we too complete in ourselves, for the Church’s sake, what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ³. Through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord, amen. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

1 cf. Isaiah 42:3

2 cf. Colossians 1:24

3 Based on the Collect and Prayer after Communion of today’s Mass

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 10 September 2021, during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is also available on the Archdiocese of Cape Town’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Please also see below the text of his reflection, primarily for the deaf.

10 September 2021. Our union with God.

Recently we have been praying for peace in Southern Africa. We must continue to do that but at this time I wish to pray for the fruitfulness of the upcoming Synod.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.

Father, pour out your Spirit upon our your Church
And grant us a new vision of your glory,
A new experience of your power,
A new faithfulness to your Word,
And a new consecration to your service
So that your love may grow among us,
And your kingdom come.

Through Christ our Lord. 
Amen.

Our union with God

Our hymn for morning prayer a few days ago concluded with this stanza:

“Blest Trinity we praise you
In whom our quest will cease;
Keep us with you for ever
In happiness and peace.”

These words stayed with me for a few days and I kept repeating them. “Blest Trinity we praise you in whom our quest will cease;…” These words speak of union with God. Our quest will cease when we are enveloped by the Divinity. Imagine that – being enfolded by the arms of God himself. St Augustine noted that are hearts are restless until they rest in God. St Eugene de Mazenod, the Founder of the Oblates expressed a similar notion. The saints had a deep awareness that God is the destiny of every faith journey.

The Trinity whom the hymn addresses embodies the deepest meaning of union – and this union is never self-centred. There is a continuous openness to the others. The Holy Spirit will always recall the words of Jesus for us (Jn 14:26), Jesus continually invites us to have intimacy with the Father (Jn 17:3; 17:21 and Mt 11:27), and the Father will breathe the Spirit on us (Job 32:8; Ezek 37:5-6)). This is what the divine union is all about – each person of the Trinity pointing to the others. This is the model for all our unions and for all true intimacy – and this is the reality “in whom our quest will cease”. This is when completion is at its most satisfying.

If we examine the liturgy and other forms of prayer in the Church we will note that all our prayers are intended to achieve union with the divine. Jesus’ teaching on prayer moves in this direction. Prayer is more than saying many words in public. It is more about listening intimately to the Father in private (Mt 6:5-6). Jesus himself practiced this type of prayer often (Lk 9:18; Mk 1:35; Mk 14:32-42). In this last reference to his prayer at Gethsemane, he also encourages his disciples to pray. So we see prayer, both liturgical prayer and private prayer, featuring prominently in the life of Jesus. The Gospel of John recounts the several trips Jesus made to the Temple for the liturgical celebrations (Jn 2:14; 5:14; 8:2; 10:23; 18:20). Lk 4:16 tells us that his presence in the synagogue on the Sabbath was his custom. Jesus practiced both liturgical prayer and private prayer. If we are to follow him, then we must pray as he did. He did, after all, want followers and not admirers.

But back to the notion of union with God. What is so astounding and incomprehensible is that God desires union with us even though we are broken and incomplete. It is this union with God that will actually bring wholeness and completeness. All we can do is make ourselves available. I wish you joy as you deepen your union with the Divine. Do not be afraid of this notion of becoming one with the Divine. This does not mean that we reduce the status of the Divine – it actually enhances our status as believers. Remember the words said when the priest or deacon adds water to the wine at Mass “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity”. We are made for union with God. And so to conclude: “Blest Trinity we praise you, in whom our quest will cease;…”

Let us pray: Father you constantly invite us into deeper union with you. Help us to make ourselves available so that where you are, we may also be. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bishop Sylvester David OMI 
VG/Auxiliary Bishop: Cape Town