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Bishop Sylvester David will give be giving a talk on the last phase of the RCIA, Mystagogia, during a Zoom meeting on Monday April 28 at 7 pm (log on is available 15 minutes before). The Zoom link ID is 873 9557 6567. No password is required.
RCIA groups can have a discussion within their groups if they wish to do so after the input.
Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 23 April 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.
Bishop S. David OMI. Friday 23 April 2021. Text for reflection 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
As we prepare for the Eucharistic Congress in September 2021, I share on how to celebrate the Lord’s presence with us in practical ways.
We live in a world that is saturated with words. Words can do two things. They can build or they can destroy. Words which convey hatred, untruth, jealousy, obscenity, division and gossip are words which destroy. In many places around the world, ideologies are built on lies. People act on lies. Jesus is clear in the Gospel of John that the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44).
St Paul tells us “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort” (Ephesians 4:29-31). When we use destructive language the Spirit of God can never feel at home in us. All this is a clear invitation to us to change our speech patterns to reflect the character of the baptised. We must train ourselves to avoid lies, gossip and obscenities. It is quite easy to stand at a pulpit and say e.g. do not gossip. But we need to help people to stop gossiping. How do we do that? Well – who gossips? A person who has a negative self esteem will always feel inferior and in order to make him or herself feel good, will have a need to make others look bad. The only way to get over that habit is to learn that each of us is loved by God.
After the resurrection Jesus appears several times. Even when the Apostles had doubts and were huddled in fear Jesus appeared to them and his appearance dispelled their fear as he gave them that familiar greeting: “Peace be with you”. But did he ever appear to Herod, the Chief Priests or the Pharisees? Never. He never appears to the proud. Similarly when we use the wrong type of language our hearts become like the empty tomb of which the angel said: “He is not here”. What then is the right type of language? Notice in Luke’s gospel Jesus appears to people who were talking about their encounter with him in his word and in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:36). In this time when we anticipate the Eucharistic Congress it is important to see that the Mass offers us the same template. We listen to his word, and then just as he did, we (i) take the bread, (ii) say the blessing, (iii) break the bread, and (iv) share it. These are the four Eucharistic actions of the Church and these are steeped in Scripture. We are given the same gifts that were given to the Apostles. And it is only when we can give words to our encounter with him that he will become present to us. The instances of the taking, blessing, breaking and sharing of the bread occur well before the paschal celebrations (e.g. Mark 6:41; Mark 8:6), during the Passover ritual (Luke 22:19), and also afterwards (e.g. Luke 24:30-31).
It is very interesting that after the first miracle of the loaves (Mark 6:34:44), they failed to recognise him and thought he was a ghost (Mark 6:49). Why this failure? Mark answers it for us: They had not understood the breaking of the bread (Mark 6:52). Whereas in this case they thought he was a ghost, after the resurrection, he was thought to be a stranger. Prior to the breaking of the bread we are told that “their eyes were prevented from recognising him” (Luke 24:16). Their eyes were only opened when he broke the bread (Luke 24:30-31) and then their hearts were burning within them (Luke 24:32).
Luke 24:48 declares that “You are witnesses to this.” That is why the dismissal at the end of Mass is in fact a sending: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. / Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life”. We are witnesses to the work of Christ in our lives. And when we act on that reality and learn to love, accept, and forgive, our homes become transformed and we can rightly profess that he was buried in the tomb but now risen in our families. In this regard let us recall what we heard at the Easter vigil: “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:10). What was in Galilee? Galilee was where they lived and worked – in other words in the experience of our everyday lives we have the capacity to encounter the risen Lord.
Let us pray: Lord we thank you for the many ways in which Jesus shows himself to us. Open our eyes to see him. Help us to so understand the breaking of the bread that our witness to his presence may bring blessings to others. 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 21 April 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.
Welcome to this reflection. We are now in the third week of Easter and, as Bishop Sylvester pointed out in his reflection last Friday, the Gospel Readings of Mass are taken from chapter 6 of St John’s Gospel, and we are presented with the beautiful teaching on the Bread of Life. I have chosen the first two sentences of today’s Gospel (John 6:35-40) as our brief Scripture reading:
At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.”
Let us pray:
God our Father, may what we receive in the Eucharist be accomplished in our lives, that we may bring the light of your love to those we meet and that the joy of the Resurrection may find a home in the hearts of many. 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.
Last week I spoke of the Lord’s Prayer in the Mass and how appropriate it is to pray the Our Father as we prepare to receive the “Bread of Life”. The prayer said by the priest, immediately after the Lord’s prayer, is called the “embolism” and it picks up on the last petition of the Our Father, deliver us from evil. The priest then prays: deliver us Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days…. It is a fitting expansion of the request that the Lord deliver us from evil, that we may have peace and be free from sin and safe from distress as we await the coming of Jesus in hope. It ends with the doxology that, in some traditions is attached to the Lord’s Prayer, for the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.
This is followed by the prayer for peace: Lord, Jesus Christ, who said to your apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you; look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will. The beginning of this prayer is taken from John 14:27, but we also know that the Risen Christ in his appearances to his disciples would greet them with the words “peace be with you”. We also know that in his “priestly prayer”, Jesus prayed for unity among his followers, that they “may be one” (John 17:11). Peace is a deep concept and should not be treated in a superficial way. It is not just the absence of conflict, but is the presence of harmony, prosperity and respect. Peace encompasses forgiveness, reconciliation and unity; it overcomes negative emotions and passions that can afflict us as human beings, in order to restore balance and sound relationships. The Eucharist itself both requires peace and unity as worthy dispositions of those who receive Eucharist, and also brings about and enhances peace and unity – they are a fruit of the Eucharist. We cannot worthily receive the Eucharist if we are not in loving communion with our brothers and sisters. Peace and unity are intrinsic to the very meaning of Eucharist itself. Reception of Communion demands that we do everything we can to ensure that in our own environment that we strive to bring about peace and unity to a practical realisation.
After the assent, the “amen”, given by the people to this prayer for peace and unity, the priest will greet the community with the words, the peace of the Lord be with you always, to which the people respond, and with your spirit. Before Communion it is a timely reminder of the need for peace, harmony and unity to be present among ourselves. There is no room for an “us and them” scenario in the Church. There may be different roles in Church and different expressions of our baptismal vocation, but there is only “us” – we all belong to Christ, and we belong to each other, we are the Body of Christ which is a unity of different parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). We are in communion with each other.
The deacon (or if there is no deacon, the priest) will invite the community to make a symbolic gesture of peace, Let us offer each other a sign of peace. It is usually our custom in South Africa – in non-covid times – to greet those around us with a handshake. In these times most of us give a small bow to others. This is a symbolic act that makes personal the prayer for peace and unity. It is highly inappropriate to ignore someone who is sitting close to you and refuse them this sign of peace because they are of a different race, or perhaps poor, or because you may not get on with them. As I have mentioned, the peace that we strive for must overcome the negative emotions and passions we sometimes experience. We have to make a conscious attempt not to be ruled by such negativity. Since it is only a symbolic gesture, it is also inappropriate to move out of your place to offer others the sign of peace. It is not a time to “congratulate” others, for example those who have just made their First Communion, just been Confirmed, or just ordained, and so on. That defeats the purpose of the sign of peace and shows misunderstanding of its meaning in the liturgy. Similarly, the celebrating priest should not abandon the consecrated bread and wine on the altar by leaving the sanctuary to greet the community with the sign of peace.
Having thus reaffirmed harmony among ourselves and all creation, as well as our commitment, we enter into the third essential aspect of Eucharist, the breaking of the Bread which is called the Fraction Rite. I’ll talk about that and what it means 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:
Heavenly Father, as your people continue to meet the struggles and uncertainty of our time, we ask you to protect them from all evil and harm. Be close to them that they may learn to trust you more and to place their every hope in you. 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 16 April 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 Friday 16 April 2021. Second Friday of Easter
This post is based on the one I offered on the second Friday of Easter last year. I composed another for today but felt that this one contains a few basic insights which we all need to embrace, remember and retain. And so with a few updates, additions and revisions, I present the reflection:
Today we start our annual Easter pilgrimage through the sixth chapter of John. Over the next few days up to Saturday of next week, the Church gives us an opportunity to meditate on John’s teaching on the Eucharist during our daily Mass. If I may be bold enough to offer some advice: I recommend at least two readings of the whole of John 6 over the next two weeks. Read the whole chapter at one go once a week. If the text is read with ‘fresh eyes’ it will cause a stir, and the depth of the Church’s practice of the Eucharist will strike home. In fact only then will the piecemeal meditations for each day fall into place. Please treat this as important and as preparation for the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest from 5-12 September this year.
A few years ago during a fraternal conversation, my now deceased confrere Bishop Barry Wood OMI spoke meaningfully about pastoral care. He said something to the effect that when people are desperate they do not need to hear theories, discourses and canonical prescripts. They simply need to be accompanied. Those who have the privilege of being in parish situations, those who have to answer the doorbell to someone desperate for food, and those who minister to refugees and dis-enfranchised people will know what the Bishop meant. The Gospel text of today’s Mass shows us just how Jesus acted when there was need … and it is exactly as Bishop Barry had said. Prior to giving the bread of life sermon Jesus feeds them. While Phillip shows himself to be the economist working out very quickly just how much it will cost to feed the crowd and comes up with the theory of impossibility, Jesus gives them to eat from what was available. Barley loaves is mentioned twice in the passage. This is significant because barley was the food of the poor. Wheat was too expensive. So from what a poor boy offered, Jesus feeds the multitude.
The original text of our gospel passage notes that the crowd followed Jesus because of the signs he had done not with the sick but ‘with the weak’ (John 6:3). The implication was that these people too were ‘weak’. In any event Jesus perceived that they had need for food. They were hungry and the first pastoral action of Jesus was to give them food. Jesus is introduced not so much as a teacher or a preacher – that will come later. At this point he is someone who simply cares for people and feeds the hungry. What a wonderful lesson in pastoral theology from the supreme pastor himself.
In the passage given for today we note that there was nothing to eat, but there was a small boy with two barley loaves. As already mentioned barley was the food of the poor. During this time in the life of our local Church, through parish efforts and through Caritas Cape Town, efforts are being made to feed those who face the current pandemic with serious hunger pangs. It is a mistake to think that those who are poor have nothing to give. Let the poor boy in today’s text be an example to us all whatever our station in life. When the poor make available what they have in the presence of Jesus, there is more than enough. The sharing taking place in some parts of the Archdiocese, through self sustaining gardening projects, bears testimony to this.
Let us think about this for a while – a poor boy feeds the crowd with everything he had. Does this not reflect the attitude of the poor man who gave himself as “the bread of life” (cf. John 6:35)? Does the call of Pope Francis for us to become a poor Church for the poor now make more sense? This call is nothing else but a call to become more Christ-like.
To conclude I wish to draw attention to the role of Andrew in this passage. He introduces the boy with fishes and loaves to Jesus. Whenever we find Andrew in the the Gospel of John he is introducing someone to Jesus. He introduces his brother Simon to Jesus (John 1:41), together with Philip he introduces some Greeks to Jesus (John 12:22) – (isn’t it interesting that Philip first takes the Greeks to Andrew?) And in today’s passage he introduces the boy with food to Jesus (John 6:8). Andrew is literally the public relations officer of the apostolic group. It is interesting to make this observation but what is important is this: Who have we introduced to Jesus? I wish you a meaningful reading of John 6.
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 14 April 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.
On Sunday we celebrated the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday. Once again, we are reminded of the love God has for us and his desire that we should have life and have it to the full. Welcome to this reflection. The excerpt is from the Gospel of today’s Mass, John 3:16-21.
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Father, every year we recall the restoration of human nature to its original dignity through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we, too, receive the hope of rising again that we may show in love the mysteries we celebrate. 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.
The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Life. In the Eucharist we fulfill Jesus’ command “Do this in memory of me”, and in receiving Communion we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Eucharist is a Sacrament of liberation, for Jesus’ death has liberated us from sin and from eternal death. We recall his words, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (John 6:53). For this reason, at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, God is given glory and praise as the priest says “Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, O God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever”. The people respond with what, as I have said before, can be considered the most important response of the Mass; “Amen” – it is so, it is true, it is certain. This is an acclamation of faith, an acclamation of belief that the bread and wine have been transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. It is an acceptance that all that has been said and done is true, and it is an assent to the doxology, the final prayer of praise that brings the Eucharistic prayer to an end. The “amen” should come from deep within the hearts of all who are present and it should be a conscious renewal of belief in Eucharist. This ratification of the Prayer of Thanksgiving was essential, as St Paul says in 1 Corinthians when he writes, What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? Ideally, the “Amen” should be sung, for singing is another way of lifting our hearts to God. At the very least, it should be pronounced clearly and audibly by all.
Once the Eucharistic Prayer has been brought to completion, the priest invites the community to pray the Lord’s Prayer, the “Our Father”. The “Our Father” was not always part of the Mass and was probably inserted in the 4th Century. Saints, such as Ambrose and Augustine, saw the Lord’s Prayer as an ideal way to prepare for receiving Holy Communion. It is a prayer deeply special to Christians as we were taught to pray it by Christ himself. It gives praise to the supremacy of the transcendence and dignity of God “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”. It affirms our belief in God’s Kingdom and its values, as well as our commitment and desire to be obedient to God, “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. We pray for our daily bread, both the material bread and food we need for our bodies, but also the “bread of heaven”, his Body and Blood, by which we are nourished spiritually. We pray again for forgiveness, as we did during the introductory parts of Mass, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. We pray, lead us not into temptation, that the Lord will protect us from temptations, since we are weak and often fail; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). It can be questioned whether God would ever lead us into temptation. In the Gospel (e.g. Matthew 4:1) we hear that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Essentially, we pray to God not to allow us to be tempted, and not to allow us to be tempted beyond our strength to resist (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). And we acknowledge our need for salvation and protection from God as we pray, “Deliver us from evil”. We are in need of God’s power to protect us from the evil one.
The Lord’s Prayer, when prayed carefully and reflectively, is an ideal preparation for Holy Communion. It affirms God’s salvation and his Kingdom which is already among us. In Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord’s Prayer has an added doxology, for the kingdom, the power and the glory is yours, now and for ever”, but this doxology is absent in St Luke’s Gospel. The early Church Fathers also did not use this doxology, and so traditionally Catholics don’t use it when praying the Lord’s Prayer. In the Mass, the doxology has been inserted as words of praise to God, but are not placed at the end of the Lord’s prayer, but rather at the end of the following the prayer (“the embolism”) when the priest prays “deliver us, O Lord, from every evil…”
Because we become so accustomed to the liturgical ritual, we tend to “rattle” off a number of the beautiful prayers that make up the Mass. Part of deepening our appreciation of Eucharist, and part of preparing ourselves better to receive Communion, we should ensure that when we pray the “Our Father” that the words come from our hearts. It is important to prepare properly and conscientiously to receive Holy Communion. After all, Communion means uniting ourselves with the very life of God, so that we have a share in his life. It is part of our path to holiness, and we receive Holy Communion with confidence, knowing that God desires that we should not perish, but we should have eternal life – as we heard in the excerpt from the Gospel of today’s Mass.
Let us now pray for God’s blessing:
The Lord be with you R/ And with your Spirit
Bow down for the blessing:
Show your presence to your people, Lord, and bestow on the them the grace of Resurrection, that they may always rejoice in the hope they have received and be protected from the darkness of despair. 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 9 April 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 Friday 9 April 2021. John 21:1-14
This text opens up an opportunity for us to look at the mystery of the Church. What is the Church? From the New Testament we know that the Church is the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ. The Church is not so much an ornament as it is a Temple made up of living stones i.e. you, me and a host of others of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, cultures and with varying degrees of holiness, commitment, and even brokenness.
Whenever we examine a mystery that is deep and complex it becomes helpful to use imagery and that is exactly what the Apostolic Fathers did when they sought to understand the mystery of the Church. I want to mention three images and amplify one of these. The Fathers presented the Church using the image of Sun and Moon saying that just as the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, the Church too ought to reflect the light of Christ. The second image used by the Fathers is that of Mother. Using maternal categories they explained that the Church generates new life through the womb of the baptismal font, nourishes this life on the breasts of the Old Testament and the New Testament, feeds us with the finest wheat, pours oil on our wounds when we are ill, forgives us with tenderness, and in general, takes care of us from the womb to the tomb.
The third image and one which I want to amplify is that of boat. It is hardly an accident that the main gathering space in the Church building is called the nave – from the Latin ‘navis’ meaning ship. In earlier times boats were made of wood and the Apostolic Fathers felt that just as we are saved from sin by the wood of the Cross, we are saved from the storms of this world by the wood of the boat. This image of boat for the Church was no apostolic thumb suck. They had a love for the Scriptures and would have known that the word for the ark by which Noah was saved (Genesis 6:14) is the same word that Scripture uses for the basket by which Moses was saved (Exodus 2:5). This word became a symbol by which God saves through water. Notice in the New Testament how Jesus would urge the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side (Matthew 14:22 and parallel texts). Notice that Jesus got into the boat, sat down (whenever a Jewish Rabbi sat down it meant that what he was to say was important) and taught the crowds from there (Luke 5:3). Notice also that it was Peter’s boat.
In today’s passage Peter wants to go fishing (John 21:3). The verb indicates that this was not merely a Sunday afternoon fishing trip – he wanted to go fishing on an ongoing basis. He was a fisherman before Jesus got a hold of him and after the crucifixion he wanted to go back to his old way of life. There were seven apostles in Peter’s boat that day (John 21:2). (Seven is the number of perfection for the Jews). They caught nothing and Jesus appears (John 21:3-4). He is never far from his Church when it is in need. He asks a question which the English translates as: “Caught anything friends?” (John 21:5). In the original he asks: “Anything to eat?” From the form of the verb it is clear that he wants to know: “how will you sustain yourselves on an ongoing basis?” or “How will you be nourished each day?”. And then he took them back to how he touched them the first time – “drop your net on the other side” (John 21:6) and the results were astounding. Whereas Peter starts off by wanting to go back to business as usual, after encountering the risen Lord he learns that it can never be business as usual. He jumps into the water. This was risky, as the last time he did this he nearly drowned (Matthew 14:29-30). They caught a number of big fish.
This text must be read alongside Luke 5:1-11 and the similarities and differences must be noted. In the text prior to the resurrection i.e. the Lucan text, there are two boats and two nets. In today’s passage there is one boat and one net. In the Lucan text they netted many of the same kind of fish but in today’s passage there are many of several kinds of fish – remember “every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 7:9). Whereas in the Lucan text the nets began to tear (Luke 5:6), in today’s passage describing as it does what happens after the resurrection, the net did not tear (John 21:11). That is simply an indication that in spite of numerous weaknesses that Church will not fail. Just as his physical body was torn and bleeding on the Cross and not one of his bones was broken (John 19:33-36) – so too with his mystical body the Church; torn apart at times through defections and scandals – not one of her bones will be broken. The Church will not fail simply because it is the Church of Christ.
Let us pray: Father, thank you for the gift of the new life of the risen Christ which he makes available to us. Thank you for Easter joy. Thank you for nourishing us through your Church and help us to be worthy members of so great a mystery. 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 7 April 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.
Welcome to this reflection. I wish you all a blessed and life-filled Easter. We rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and his victory over sin and death. He has opened for us the gates of heaven and, while we are still in the world, our hearts and lives belong to him. Our true home is unity with Jesus Christ in his Kingdom. We are the Easter people, the people of Resurrection, and therefore the joyful acclamation “alleluia, alleluia” is always on our lips. I have chosen an excerpt from today’s Gospel, Luke 24:13-35.
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. As they drew near to the village to which they were going, He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him saying, “Stay with us, for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, “did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Father, year by year we rejoice in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Graciously grant that by celebrating the Easter mysteries, we may grow in understanding and faith, and that our hearts will burn within us through the presence of the Living Word, that we may serve you and our neighbour humbly and joyfully. 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.
The two disciples, walking on the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus, met the Resurrected Christ without recognizing him. They began to speak to him about the events that had taken place in Jerusalem concerning “Jesus of Nazareth”, that he had been crucified and buried, but that the women had not found the body when they went to the tomb. Jesus in turn began interpreting the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and this is what made their hearts burn. Yet they still did not recognize him – that would only come later when they were at table with him and he broke the bread, and then he disappeared. At once they were energized to return to Jerusalem immediately to tell the apostles that Jesus had appeared to them and they recognized him in the “breaking of the bread”. In this account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus we recognize that there is already an example of the celebration of the Eucharist – they listened to the Word and then they broke bread. The “breaking of the bread” caused them to recognize Jesus, although they had not recognized him on the road. The Eucharist gives us a totally different and new experience of God – it is beyond and more transcendent that any other encounter with the Almighty. We, who have the Eucharist, know that we cannot put into words the experience it entails, nor how it changes our lives – but it does. The two disciples, when they recognized Jesus in the “breaking of the bread”, lost their despondency and gained new energy – they returned immediately to Jerusalem to share the news with others. So too, the Eucharist is our source of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and witnessing to him through good works.
The Eucharistic Prayer, which I spoke about last week, is the consecratory prayer, the prayer of miracle, that brings about transubstantiation. The unleavened bread that is offered to God, and the wine, become the Body and Blood of Christ, and we pray the Eucharistic Prayer to fulfil Jesus’ command “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19) – receiving Communion is the highlight of our encounter with Christ, but the Eucharistic Prayer is central to our fulfilment of that command and also our need to be present and witness the miracle of the changing of bread and wine. We should not allow our understanding of Mass to be superficial and reduced to receiving Communion only.
The language used in the Eucharistic Prayer (and other parts of Mass) is quite different from everyday language. This is precisely because the Mass is not to be considered as a merely “everyday event” – it is meant to be a foretaste of a different reality. It is meant to take us into the realm of God. This is the reason, too, that vestments are used by priests and deacons, why there is incense and bells, genuflecting and bowing, as well as other ritualistic symbols, gestures and actions. The singing is also different (generally) and is a formalised praise of God. It is meant to present “the other” to us, to help us see that there is a reality beyond the material reality of the world. It is a spiritual and supernatural experience. If we want to understand this more we should think also of the “heavenly liturgy” described by St John in the Book of Revelation[1]. In short, it is a sacred event and its sacredness should always be safeguarded.
Many of us wonder today why people leave the Church. Surely, if we sincerely and wholeheartedly believe that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus, how could we ever leave that? St Peter himself, after many people had leftJesus when he had given that hard teaching to the Jews saying “if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” and Jesus asked his apostles whether they wanted to leave him as well, replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life”. Whatever reasons people may have for leaving the Church they must also fundamentally include a loss of belief in the Eucharist. That is why it is so important for us to continually deepen our appreciation of this Sacrament, and the miracle it involves. When we lose our belief in Eucharist, some will then equate communion of other Churches as being the same, and others lose their appreciation of the sacrament of the ministerial priesthood (Orders), and the importance of succession through the laying of hands that links us, through the centuries, to the Apostles. We need to pray constantly that we will hold fast to his belief because, the moment we lose it, we lose the essence of being Catholic. We prayed in the collect of Monday’s Mass: “grant that your servants may hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith”. May we always hold fast to it.
Let us now pray for God’s blessing:
The Lord be with you R/ And with your Spirit
Bow down for the blessing:
May the loving God strengthen you in your faith, may he nourish you through the Body and Blood of his Son Jesus, and may he grant you eternal life . Through Christ Our Lord, amen.
May Almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (+), amen.
[1] Read, for example, http://blog.adw.org/2010/09/the-biblical-and-heavenly-roots-of-the-sacred-liturgy/
Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 2 April 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 Good Friday — 2 April 2021.
Last year we marked Good Friday under the hard conditions of lockdown level five. This year there are still some restrictions but at least some are able to attend Good Friday liturgies. So there is something to be grateful for. At the time of writing this reflection, there is still some uncertainty with respect to the possibility of further restrictions.
With the uncertainty surrounding us, the decline in the economy, the fear, and the discomfort of not even being able share social spaces with our friends and loved ones, we can easily see a cross planted in our midst right now. In addition many people have relationship issues and from time to time one hears such comments as: ‘that spouse is my cross’ or ‘my neighbour, colleague, employer, etc. is my cross’. Undoubtedly many circumstances are painful and many suffer needlessly through the careless and negligent attitudes of those with whom they live, work and share the neighbourhood – but to limit the cross only to these situations is not to benefit more fully from the mystery of Calvary.
How and where do we encounter this mystery? What do the scriptures say? St Paul informs us that through his bodily suffering he shared in the cross of Christ. The implication is that when we suffer or take care of the sick and infirm, we actually touch the cross. Why do we not see it like that? One reason is that we have domesticated and glamorised the cross and only look for it in antiseptic places. Gilt edged crosses are only found in jewellery stores. The real cross was not perfumed but was covered with dust, blood, sweat and tears. When we have to contend with sickness and impending death in the family we actually lift the cross out of the rocks of calvary and plant it firmly in our homes and it is through the Cross that we have salvation.
Another place to find the cross is on our altars every day. St Paul, in his teaching on the Eucharist tells us that whenever we carry out the Eucharistic injunction, we celebrate the Lord’s death until he comes again. Look at your missals and pay attention to the first two acclamations of the mystery of faith whenever we celebrate Mass. Once again we lift the Cross from the rocks of Calvary and plant it firmly wherever Mass is celebrated. This is why during the shutdown we continue to celebrate Mass on a daily basis – and that is why those who cannot attend Mass need to develop in their hearts a longing for the celebration so that we will never take so great a gift for granted anymore. The prayer for spiritual communion is therefore not something to remind us of what we do not have – it is there to remind us of our longing for God – and therein lies our union with him.
Last year just prior to the Easter weekend, our President appealed to us to maintain the shutdown beyond the stipulated three weeks. In his address he either directly or indirectly, through carefully crafted rhetoric, called for sacrifice. In essence what he asked for was for us to sacrifice ease of lifestyle and personal comforts for the good of others. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, we need to “live simply so that others could simply live”. This language of sacrifice is what Good Friday is all about. May our remembrance of that “old rugged cross” help us to reorder our value systems. Our liturgical practices and prayer life are meant to transform us – otherwise they become exercises in futility. The invitation is for us to embrace a new humanity which places more value on neighbourliness than on acquisition of commodities and one that can give the ecology a chance to recover. When the shutdown is over if it’s back to business as usual then we will have learned nothing.
We cannot end this reflection without thanking all those who assist the needy and those who work on the frontlines where the battle against the virus is most intense. Through your sacrifices others are empowered to live. May you be blessed for your efforts.
I wish you a deep union with Jesus who died as a lonely outcast on a hill. In this time of lockdown and the threat of death around us, you might be tempted to ask: ‘Where is God in all this?’ The answer of course is that God is still in the same place that he was when his Son was hanging on the Cross. That is why in the life of Jesus, death was not the last word. God raised him on the third day. While I cannot wish you a happy Easter, I can and I do wish you a meaningful Easter – one that will empower you to take up the challenges of this time.
Let us pray: Lord we ask for blessings on your people who honour the death of your Son, some in their parish churches, and many in their homes. In this time of shutdown with the threat of illness and infection, and with all the uncertainty and fear that this situation brings, give your people hope and empower them to reflect meaningfully on the redemption which the death and resurrection of your Son has won for us. We ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
We adore you O Christ and we praise you – because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Bishop Sylvester David OMI
VG: Archdiocese of Cape Town
Our bishops invite you to join them via livestream as they commemorate the saving Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, celebrated in the sacred liturgies of Holy Week.
All services will be livestreamed to the Archdiocese of Cape Town Facebook page and the videos will be posted later to this website and to our YouTube channel.
Below is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebrated by Archbishop Stephen Brislin at St Mary’s Cathedral, Cape Town on Thursday 1 April 2021 at 19.30