Archbishop Stephen Brislin offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Wednesday 3 March 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.

We are living in tough times. Many have been infected by the Corona Virus and many are struggling to come to terms with the death of a loved one, financially or for some other consequence of the virus. Lent inspires us not to cease pleading to God to look mercifully on the world and to bring the present suffering to an end. Let us now listen to an excerpt from the Gospel of today’s Mass, from St Matthew 20:17-28. 

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day”.

Let us pray:

God of might and compassion, you sent your Word into the world, a watchman to announce to us the dawn of salvation. Do not leave us in the depths of our mistakes and sins, but listen to your Church pleading with you. Respond to her trust, and pour out in her the fullness of your redeeming grace. We make this prayer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever, amen.

One of the most remarkable things about today’s Gospel reading is that the disciples of Jesus did not seem to hear what Jesus was saying to them. He spoke these startling and frightening words, not only about his death, but also giving details of horrific suffering that he would have to endure at the hands of men. After he had said this, the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons and asked that one would sit on his right hand, the other on his left, in his kingdom. This does not only come across as being totally insensitive in the light of Jesus’ description of his coming death, but also selfish in wanting privilege over and above the other apostles who, as we hear in the Gospel, were rather indignant at this request.

Had the mother and her sons heard Jesus? Had they listened, did they understand? We do know that often we hear without really listening and sometimes, we listen without understanding. This is true also of the Word of God when we do not take time to read the Scriptures carefully and to prayerfully reflect on what we have read. It is imperative to understand that without Scripture there is no faith. This is how St Paul puts it: “ …for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then are they to call on him if they have not come to believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard of him? And how will they hear of him unless there is a preacher for them?” (Romans 10:13-14). Scripture is God’s living word, it is God speaking to us in the here and now. It is not reading from a history book. That is why we refer to the Scripture readings as being proclaimed at Mass. We are invited to listen attentively, not only to hear the words that are proclaimed but to listen and understand what God is saying to us in our particular life-situation. How sad that it can happen that we become distracted and the message passes over our heads, rather than enter into our hearts and minds. We go home without any memory or pondering on God’s Word that was given to us at Mass.

At the celebration of Mass on a Sunday there is a First Reading, usually from the Old Testament, the Psalm, the Second Reading and the Gospel Reading. During the week, unless there is a special feast, there is no second Reading. On a Sunday, the First Reading and Gospel Reading are usually linked by a common theme. We should remember that the Old Testament is interpreted in the light of the teaching, life, passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus – the events of Jesus’ life help us to understand that the Old Testament is the preparation for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Liturgy of the Word at Mass is pivotal to the Celebration of the Eucharist as well as to our lives of faith. The Eucharist itself arises from the Word. The Word of God nourishes our faith and spiritual life, it gives us understanding of the meaning of our existence, as well as acceptance of life’s events for we see the hand of God in them.

Proclaimers of the Word at Mass should be well prepared. In the days and time before Mass they should have read and re-read many times the Reading that has been entrusted to them. They should open their hearts to understanding the message of the texts, and they should proclaim the Word in an audible and dignified way, avoiding the temptation to over-dramatize while they are proclaiming. They should read at a pace that is conducive to enabling the congregation to hear and to understand.

It is not only the proclaimers who should prepare themselves for the Liturgy of the Word. All of us, during the week, or before Mass, should make time to read the Readings. Many have the Sunday or Weekday missal. Even if you don’t, the Mass Readings for different days are easily accessible (internet or parish bulletins). Sadly, not only do some fail to prepare themselves for the Liturgy of the Word but also leave their Bibles to gather dust on the book shelf. Scripture is God speaking to us and we need the light of his word to guide and to lead us, to help us understand, and to live a life of true discipleship integrating the teachings of Jesus into our daily lives and practices. It is wonderful when the family can gather from time to time, to read a passage from the Bible together and to share on how they understand and interpret the reading and the practical implications it has for life. Living with the word of God means that the Liturgy of the Word at Mass will become alive for us and will nourish us spiritually, heal us and will give us peace.

I will continue to reflect on the Liturgy of the Word next week.

Let us now pray for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with you R/ And with your Spirit

Bow down for the blessing:

Look with favour on your people, O Lord, that what their Lenten observance outwardly declares it may inwardly bring about. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord, amen.

May Almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (+), amen.

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 26 February 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.

I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and live. Ezekiel 18:21-28

“Thus says the Lord: ‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?’ …”

This text is about accountability – an element which is crucial to decent living, truthfulness and on-going conversion. It is the mechanism which helps us to put an end to double standards and the blame game that creep into so many aspects of life. Lack of accountability is not new – it is as old as creation. God asks Adam the questions: “Where are you?” and “who told you that you are naked?” (Genesis 3:9-11). These are classical expressions in the Hebrew bible which start the process of God’s justice where the aim is not to punish the guilty but to get the perpetrator to repent. This is the theme Ezekiel takes up in our first reading of today’s Mass. In the Genesis account God gives Adam a chance to reflect on what he had done and to make amends but Adam failed the accountability test. He blamed Eve and she in turn blamed the serpent. 

In the time of the exile there was a well worn phrase: “The parents ate sour grapes and the children’s teeth are on edge” (Ezekiel 18:2; Jeremiah 31:29-30). In the next verse (Ezekiel 18:3) the prophet, using formal prophetic language which shows divine insistence, is emphatic that this saying about “sour grapes” is no longer to be used in Israel. Why is the Bible so insistent on this? The exile undermined truthfulness and personal responsibility, but the prophet shows that a new relationship with God is open to all the faithful – a relationship based on trust and truth telling. Our passage is a development of this call of the prophet to put an end to poor excuses, to accept responsibility and to trust in God’s merciful love. This is nothing else but a call to greater intimacy with God, and to trust God like a child trusting that its parent will never do anything to cause harm to him or her but will seek what is best for the child. When Jeremiah bans the use of the “sour grapes” proverb, he immediately follows it up with the solemn announcement of the new covenant which will usher in knowledge of God based on personal intimacy (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Why is it so important to accept responsibility? It is important because without it there can be no change and no growth. Why do I need to change if I am never wrong? In South Africa today we have an unusual attitude to morality. For so many, as revealed by evidence at the on-going commission of enquiry, an action is only wrong if one gets found out. And even there, who is wrong? For some, the person who makes the discovery or who blows the whistle is wrong. It is never my fault – someone else has to take the blame. South Africa is not unique in this – denial, shifting the blame, and misinformation seem so embedded in some places that new and destructive precedents are being set. So called leaders and media networks eat sour grapes and successive generations and even the ecology will have their teeth on edge. God’s call for truthfulness has fallen on deaf ears. 

Lent is an ideal time to rediscover the truth and to celebrate our proper relationship with God. We are not meant to hide from God as did Adam and Eve, but we have been created to enjoy intimacy with our God. In a recent reflection, Archbishop Brislin very meaningfully reminded us to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). Let us do so during this season of conversion. Notice that Ezekiel and Jeremiah were addressing people still in exile. We do not have to wait for the end of the pandemic to seek God, but even in the difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves we can make an effort to grow in truthfulness, accountability and greater intimacy with God. Union with God is, after all, the aim of all authentic spirituality.

Let us pray: Lord your word calls us to a radical honesty of our need for redemption. Send your Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may make good and wholesome choices based on truthfulness and in so doing deepen our intimacy with you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen [Blessing].

Archbishop Stephen Brislin offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Wednesday 24 February 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.

We are still in the early stages of Lent and I hope that you have adopted some sacrificial commitments and that you will be able to keep to them throughout Lent. Should you slip up, don’t give up but simply start again. Welcome to this reflection and, as usual, let us listen to an excerpt from today’s Gospel (Luke 11:29-32): 

The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Let us pray:

Convert us, O God our Saviour, and instruct our minds by heavenly teaching, that we may benefit from the works of lent. We make this prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever, amen. 

Repentance is a major theme of both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament the prophets frequently called the people of Israel to repent of their wickedness and evil deeds and return once more to the Lord. For example, as we hear in the First Reading of today’s Mass, Jonah was sent to the people of Nineveh, who were not Jews, to proclaim to them that they would be destroyed because of their sinfulness. Surprisingly, the people of Nineveh took the message very seriously and their king ordered all the citizens to fast and wear sackcloth as signs of their repentance and commitment to change for the better. For that reason, God did not destroy them. This is a pattern throughout the Scriptures – time and time again we hear that God is merciful in response to true repentance and does not wish punishment or death on anyone (e.g. Ezekiel 33:11). 

In the New Testament John the Baptist preached repentance in preparation for Jesus’ coming ministry, and gave a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4). Jesus himself appealed to people to “repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). Repentance is not only a fundamental teaching of the Scriptures but it is also fundamental to our relationship with God. In building and deepening our unity with God it is imperative to acknowledge our imperfection and sinfulness. In this way we also become more and more aware of our need for forgiveness and our need for God’s grace. We become more aware that we are the created and by ourselves we cannot achieve eternal life, and thus we turn to the Saviour. Those who do not have a sense of their sinfulness will find it difficult to accept that they need Jesus Christ, that they need a Saviour. Repentance demands true sorrow and it demands humility. It is not easy to admit to our mistakes and the times of infidelity to God’s law. It is also not easy to break with our favourite sins.

Thus it is important in all our prayer to express sorrow for our failings and our commitment to do better in the future. So it is in the celebration of Mass as well. After the greeting, which I spoke about last week, we are invited to express sorrow for our sins. There are different formulations for this but they are all truths about a loving, forgiving God and an appeal to his mercy. Once again, we should remember that these truths arise from the Scriptures themselves: “Lord Jesus, you were sent to heal the contrite of heart”, “you came to call sinners”, “you are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us”, are all profound truths about Jesus from the Bible.

The Confiteor, the longer formulation, also conveys the communal aspect of our need for forgiveness – we not only confess to Almighty God, but also to you, “my brothers and sisters”. We acknowledge imperfection not only to God but to the family of God as well. And we specify the type of sins we commit, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do. Thoughts, words, actions and inactions all contain the possibility for sinfulness. It is important to realise that there are sins of commission (the wrong things I have done) and those of omission (the good I could have done but failed to do). So often we see sin only as wrong-doing, whereas we very often do not make use of many opportunities that come our way when we could actually do some good, perhaps because of our insensitivity, laziness or just because we could not be bothered. In praying the confiteor we are taking responsibility for our sin – we did not sin because of the devil, or because of other people, I have sinned “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” – repeated three times to ensure that I understand that I am responsible.

The Confiteor also expresses our need of prayer, not only from “you, my brothers and sisters” but also Mary ever virgin, the angels and saints. The Church is united, here on earth and the Church in glory and we pray for each other that God will be merciful to each and every one. After our plea for mercy, the priest proclaims the prayer, on behalf of all, asking God for his forgiveness, he says: “May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life”. We then sing or say the “Lord have mercy”, the kyrie eleison (which, remember, is Greek and not Latin).

If it is a feast day, we will then sing (or say) the Gloria, a hymn of praise addressed to Jesus Christ. It glorifies Christ and our belief in who he is – “you alone are the holy one”, “you alone are the Lord”, “you alone are the most high”. Occasionally it happens that in a parish the words of the Gloria are changed because there may be a more “snazzy” tune. However, we should never change the words of the Gloria – if we cannot sing it as it is, we should then recite it. It is true of the whole Mass – we are not entitled to change it as we like, because it is the Liturgy of the Church and unites us in common worship with all our brothers and sisters throughout the world. The Gloria is a beautiful, profound and rich hymn of praise to Jesus Christ.

After the Gloria the celebrant will pray what is called the “collect”, which is always addressed to God the Father. It ends with the formulation of our Trinitarian belief,” we ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever”. The prayer is made to the Father but through Christ who is the mediator between God and Man (1 Timothy 2:5), our link to God and the revelation of the very being of God. It is made in unity with the Holy Spirit because God is a communion of three persons and, in our faith, we too are brought into that unity. The collect ends the introductory rites of the Mass and we then enter into the first of the two great pillars of the celebration, the Liturgy of the Word, which I will speak of next week.

Let us now pray for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with you R/ And with your spirit

May your faithful be strengthened, O God, by your blessing: in grief, may you be their consolation; in tribulation, their power to endure; and in peril, their protection. Through Christ our Lord, amen. And may Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 19 February 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.

Reflection for 19 February 2021. Friday after Ash Wednesday – Isaiah 58:1-9. 

There is absolutely no substitute for the actual reading of the text. Read the text in its entirety – i.e. Isaiah 58:1-16. It is still early in Lent and as we set out on our pilgrimage, the Church gives us this text to remind us what true fasting is all about. It is a sharp reminder that our religion does not occur in a vacuum but in the context of real human relationships. I will deal with two verses: “Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own kin? Then your light will blaze out like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Saving justice will go ahead of you and Yahweh’s glory come behind you” (Isaiah 58:7-8). 

What the text indicates is that our fast is only acceptable to God if we act with compassion for the marginalized and relate with them as brothers and sisters. Perhaps the following quote from Fr Gustavo Gutiérrez OP will be helpful: “You say you love the poor – okay tell me their names”. This implies that helping the poor is no mere “remote control” giving – we have to relate with those in need and recognize their dignity. Ultimately we have to realize that our contributions to the poor are not only helpful to them – we in fact, are the primary beneficiaries because without the practice of almsgiving our discipleship is not authentic (cf. Matthew 6:1-18 which lists almsgiving, fasting and prayer as key elements of Christian discipleship. Christian faith is more than just a nice feeling – it is meant to change lives!). In today’s first reading the prophet shows us how almsgiving and fasting go hand in hand.

I had the privilege of living in community with Bishop Barry Wood OMI. The parish we worked in, in the Durban South area, had a wonderful outreach to the poor and ran a successful soup kitchen. The various churches ran soup kitchens on different days of the week. Sometimes when people came in search of food (the then) Fr Barry would make them sandwiches himself. He was rather clumsy in the kitchen and was not a skilled sandwich maker, turning out very uneven sandwiches – but I am sure his efforts brought relief to many. He could very easily have said that the soup kitchen is closed or that on that day another church ran the feeding scheme. He was aware that some could not make it during the two to three hours in which the soup kitchens operated. He knew that hunger has no time table. His actions show clearly what genuine giving is all about – and it was not remote controlled. In response to the question posed by Fr Gutiérrez, Bishop Barry would have been able to recite an entire litany of names.

I wish you a joyful Lenten journey as we discover the kind of fasting which pleases our God. 

Let us pray: Heavenly Father – over and over again you invite us to imitate your own goodness to your children who are on the margins. Help us to authenticate our Christian faith by a life of service. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. [Blessing].

Bishop Sylvester David OMI 
VG: Archdiocese of Cape Town

Archbishop Stephen Brislin offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Wednesday 17 February 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.

Today we begin the season of Lent, a time of grace as we focus on the tender mercy and forgiveness of God. The more we experience God’s compassionate mercy, the more we become aware of our own incompleteness, our need to humble ourselves and how much we thirst for God in our lives. Welcome to this reflection. I have taken an excerpt from the second Reading of today’s Mass, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2:

Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation”. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Let us pray using the Collect of the Mass:

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint. We make this prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever, amen. 

Lent is a time of grace, a time of new growth and renewal of our resolve to follow Jesus Christ faithfully by integrating his teachings into our lives and daily activities. We can compare it to a time of pruning when fruit trees or other plants have the dead wood cut away in order to stimulate growth and fruitfulness. We are invited by the Church to look carefully at our lives and to become aware of the clutter and “dead wood” that is part of us but does not belong to God. We undertake more intense prayer, abstinence and fasting, as well as sacrificial good works as a remedy against the clutter and as a commitment to learn and adopt new habits making us into an acceptable offering to God and making us worthy of the name “Christian”. To accomplish this we need God’s grace. Grace, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church is favour, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life (CCC1996) and is a participation in the life of God (CCC1997). “It is the gift of the Holy Spirit who justifies us and sanctifies us”. How beautiful it is in Mass when we are welcomed with the words, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, or, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A very worthwhile effort during the Lent, as we strive to improve and deepen our prayer life and spirituality, is to reflect on Holy Mass, what it means and how essential it is for us as Catholics since it is the source and summit of Christian life. For that reason, and because it is the Year of the Eucharist,  I would like to talk about the Mass over the next few weeks so that we can renew and re-find the beauty of Holy Mass as a true communion between ourselves and God.

As you are aware, every Mass consists of two fundamental parts – the Liturgy of the Word when we hear the Scriptures proclaimed and application of the Word given in the homily, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist where we fulfil the command of Jesus, “do this in memory of me”. The “this” refers to his actions at the Last Supper as recorded in the Gospels, and encompasses his passion, death and resurrection. Before we enter into the Liturgy of the Word there are the introductory rites, and after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist there are the concluding rites.

Mass really begins as people begin to assemble – we all are familiar with the words of Jesus, where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them (Matt 18:20). So Jesus is present as the faithful begin to gather who, as they wait, pray silently and in their hearts, preparing themselves inwardly for the spiritual event that is about to take place. When the appointed time arrives, the entrance procession of the priest and ministers is usually accompanied by a hymn praising and thanking God. All prayer should begin with praise of God as we acknowledge his bountiful gifts which he bestows on people, most especially the gifts of creation (life) and salvation. The hymn of praise enables us to focus on the reason for us being in Church – to acknowledge God as God and our relationship with him as the created. After the priest venerates the altar which, in itself a symbol of Christ who is priest sacrifice and altar, and speaks aloud and makes the sign of the Cross, a custom that begins most of our prayers as Catholics, and which again help us to focus on God. We are gathered in the name of the Triune God, not merely in our own name. The celebration is being conducted in God’s name and everything that is said and every action performed should lead us more deeply into God’s presence. The people then make their first response “amen” – it is so – thereby expressing their own consent and understanding of what has been said. It should be understood that the Mass is a dialogue. While both priest and people are all focussed on God, they have different parts and are in dialogue with each other in words of prayer and faith. The Mass is prayer from beginning to end.

Then come the wonderful words I was talking of earlier, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, or another similar greeting such as, the Lord be with you. These are words taken from Scripture – again, we should remember that the whole Mass is Scripturally based. If we are truly to appreciate the Mass we must recognize its Scriptural foundation. The greeting is beautiful and expresses unity between priest and congregation who respond “and with your spirit”. The words convey a desire for well-being, goodness and God’s blessings on all assembled, who are united in their faith in the one Triune God, despite being diverse and different people in so many ways. I will continue talking of the Mass next week.

Let us now pray for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with you                                                                          R/ And with your spirit

Father, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, your love, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with your people at all times, through Christ our Lord, amen.  And may Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin calls for religious respect and tolerance in the light of the act of contempt on the Bait Ul Awal Masjid in Athlone, Cape Town.

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 12 February 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.

Reflection for 12th February 2021. Gospel passage: Mark 7:31-37. [Please read the text].

This passage has three parts: at the top, the arrival of Jesus (Mark 7:31-32); at the bottom the consequences of this arrival (Mark 7:36-37); and right in the middle, like the filling in a sandwich, we note the words and actions of Jesus (Mark 7:33-35). Here is the pattern:

1. Arrival of Jesus (verses 31-32)

2. WORDS & ACTIONS OF JESUS (verses 33-35)

3. Consequences of the arrival of Jesus (verses 36-37)

The word used in the original text to describe the deaf mute is the same word that describes the primeval chaos before God’s finger touched the earth at creation and brought order out of this chaos. The treatment of the deaf mute similarly involves the finger of Jesus – the Son imitates the Father when it comes to dealing with chaos. Later on St Paul will remind us that God is not a God of disorder and chaos but a God of order and peace (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:33). This is why our liturgy is ordered in the way in which it is – intending to imitate God’s work at creation. Notice that St Paul encourages the order referred to in the context of worship and liturgy.

After this treatment, the man was healed and he spoke clearly. For ‘clearly’ the original text uses the word from which we get the word ‘orthodox’ – meaning that after the intervention of Jesus, the man spoke in the way in which he was intended to by the Creator. The creative work of the Father continues in the Son. Just in case there is a temptation to think that this is stretching the point too far, let me add that the word used in the last verse (Mark 7:37) to indicate that Jesus did all things ‘well’ is the same word that Scripture uses to say that what God did at creation was good. It occurs like a litany in the creation account (Genesis 1:21, 25 and 31). 

Knowing all this is good, but what is important is for us to assess our own speech. To what extent do we speak in the way in which the Creator intends us to speak? In this regard the words of St Paul are helpful: ‘Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29)’. Lies, insults, gossip and foul speech fall into the category of ‘evil talk’ referred to by St Paul. In this context he reminds us not to grieve God’s Holy Spirit (cf. Ephesians 4:30). 

Prayer: Lord send us your Holy Spirit to assist us to eliminate chaos and to help us to be clear about want you want of us especially about the type of speech you desire from your children. May our words always bring honour to your name. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. [Blessing]

Bishop Sylvester David OMI
VG: Archdiocese of Cape Town

The Bishops of Southern Africa invite all the faithful to join them in asking the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes by praying the Rosary against the corona virus pandemic. Live on Radio Veritas on 11 February 2021 at 8pm. Led by the Auxiliary Bishop of Johannesburg, Bishop Duncan Tsoke. Please read or download the attached file below for details.