Archbishop Stephen Brislin offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Wednesday 7 October 2020, 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. Today we celebrate the Feast of our Lady of the Rosary. The rosary has a deep and special meaning for me personally, as it does for many people. Some parishes are dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and so I wish all parishes who celebrate their patronal feast today all God’s blessings.

Let us start, as usual, with a verse from the Gospel of today, from St Luke (11:1-40):

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples”.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech you O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel may, by his Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of the Resurrection, through  the same Christ Our Lord, amen

Jesus was a person of prayer. We frequently hear in the Gospels how he would spend time alone praying, or going to the synagogue. Those around Jesus must have been influenced by the depth of Jesus’ prayer life and so the disciple we heard about in today’s Gospel asked Jesus to teach them to pray Jesus taught them the prayer which we continue to use to the present day, the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father”. 

“Teach us to pray”, said the disciple. A fundamental part of the ministry of the Church is to teach people to pray.  It is the responsibility of priests and deacons to teach people to pray but, in fact, it is the responsibility of all, most especially parents. Our ability to pray, and our desire to pray, arises first and foremost in the family, and it is prayer that binds a family together and enables them to meet with faith whatever life brings to them. 

Of all the many types of prayers available to us and the many ways of making ourselves present to God, the rosary shines out as one of the most beautiful and enriching of all prayers. It is a prayer that has been taught by the Church for centuries and it is known to date back to at least the 9^th century in various forms Tradition has it that the rosary was given to St Dominic in 1214 in an apparition know as “Our Lady of the Rosary”. Certainly, it is a prayer that was promoted by the Dominicans through the centuries. Today’s feast was declared by Pope Pius V in 1571 to celebrate the defeat of the Turkish fleet at Lepanto. Successive Popes, saints and theologians have promoted the use of the Rosary as being a powerful and efficacious prayer. St Francis de Sales, for example, said that The greatest method of praying is to pray the rosary and Pope St John Paul II described the rosary as his favourite prayer. So what is it about praying the rosary that makes it so special and so powerful? There are at least 5 points that come to mind.

Firstly, the rosary – just as with the celebration of Holy Mass – is based on Scripture. The mysteries are not human constructs, but they are given to us in the Bible, which is the foundation of our faith. The Church continues to teach and give teachings in the light of modern life and new experiences, but the roots of those teachings are in Scripture and the tradition of the Church. In praying the Rosary we remain faithful to Scripture and that tradition.

Secondly, it is a Christ-centred prayer, focussing on the life of Christ and the culmination of God’s great acts of salvation history for the redemption of the world. This prayer, more than any other, helps us to remember and concentrate on the life of Christ, his teaching and his self-giving. It re-affirms our faith in the Incarnation, the Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, as well as our faith in the great gift of the Holy Spirit. Some may say, what about the Marian mysteries – Mary Assumed in to heaven, and Mary crowned Queen of heaven? But these as well help us to meditate on the power of God to save – Mary, after all, like all human beings is saved by Jesus Christ and she represents all of us.

Thirdly, it is a prayer of contemplation. A Vatican document noted that the rosary is contemplative prayer which requires tranquility of rhythm or even mental lingering which encourages the faithful to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life. The point about contemplative prayer is that it is not just about “thinking” of the mysteries or calling them to mind. In contemplation we are assimilating the mysteries into our lives, so that prayer is no longer just words we use, but becomes a living prayer – prayer that changes and transforms us so that we are able to live what we pray.

Fourthly, it is a prayer that seeks the intercession of Our Lady. One theologian described praying the rosary as participating in the life of Mary whose focus was on Christ. Like Mary, through the rosary, we try more and more – as I mentioned above – to focus our lives on Jesus. But the rosary is also a recognition that Jesus himself gave Mary to be mother of the Church and, indeed, mother of us all. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, “Woman this is your son”. Then to the disciple, he said, “This is your mother”. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home – these are the words from St John’ Gospel (19:26-27) that we know so well and hear every Good Friday in the reading of the Passion. United with Mary in this great prayer, as we too focus on Christ, we seek her intercession for the world, for the Church, for those we love and for ourselves.

Fifthly, the rosary is a prayer of hope. No matter what difficulty we may be facing, no matter what emotions we may be subjected to, the rosary lifts us up to see beyond ourselves in recognition of God’s acts of salvation and his continued presence and activity in the world. It reminds us that God does not abandon his people, and that after the darkest of nights which we may experience physically, emotionally or spiritually, there comes the dawn and new light. In the words of the prophet Isaiah (25:8), he has destroyed death for ever. Lord God has wiped away the tears from every cheek; he has taken his people’s shame away everywhere on earth, for he has spoken. The rosary is an uplifting prayer that brings us peace even in the most tumultuous times. 

Yes, you say, but it is so monotonous and repetitive. Indeed, it is monotonous, but St Josemaria Escriva counters this objection, with what seems to me to be quite a caustic remark, saying, Say the Holy Rosary. Blessed be that monotony of Hail Mary’s which purifies the monotony of your sins! He also said that it is the very monotony of praying the rosary that destroys our vainglory and pride. 

Pray the rosary – it is a beautiful, peaceful, powerful and Christ-centred prayer.

Let us pray now for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with you                                                  R./ And with your spirit

Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, may God enrich you with his blessing, may he protect you form harm at all times and may he fill you with gifts of spiritual joys and heavenly rewards, through Christ Our Lord, amen.

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

Reflection for 5 Oct 2020. The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37.

“And now a lawyer stood up and, to test him, asked, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?’ He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have answered right, do this and life is yours.’ But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ In answer Jesus said, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of bandits; they stripped him, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came on him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him onto his own mount and took him to an inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper and said, “Look after him, and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.” Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the bandits’ hands?’ He replied, ‘The one who showed pity towards him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself.'” 

This is probably one of the most well known stories in the New Testament which teaches a powerful lesson on being non-partisan. It boggles the mind then to find so much partisanship in the world of today. There are insiders and outsiders. We see this clearly in the world of politics and also in the spheres of religion, commerce, neighbourhoods, country clubs, car ownership, health status, professional status and sport.

In the Gospel reading of today, Jesus puts an end to partisan affiliations that exclude others. Notice that the religious people – those who knew the catechism of their day, refused to show mercy but the Samaritan who in effect was an untouchable, imitated God by showing mercy and going beyond the call of duty. Jesus teaches that the neighbour is not only those who look like me, think like me, live in my neighbourhood, believe what I do, worship like me, eat like me, and support the political party and sporting clubs that I do. No – none of these is important. The neighbour is anyone in need. Without this kind of mindset, I run the risk of turning Jesus into an outsider who is not welcome in my circles.

Bishop Sylvester David OMI
VG: Archdiocese of Cape Town.

Image: The good Samaritan, after Delacroix by Vincent van Gogh, 1890

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 2 October 2020, 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 2 October 2020.

Today is the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. The word “angel” literally means messenger and demonstrates God’s radical commitment to communicating with us. And so I thought I’d take an aspect of the liturgy of the Word and explain it so as to help us in our response to God’s message. Prior to the proclamation of the Gospel text, the deacon or the priest says quietly: “Cleanse my heart and my lips, almighty God, that I may worthily proclaim your holy Gospel” (The Sacramentary). Because this is said quietly some do not know about it. This is an important aspect of the liturgy and harks back to God cleansing the unclean lips of Isaiah with a burning coal (Isaiah 6:5-7). The translation softens the action of God to some extent. The original refers to striking the mouth with a hot coal. This was no gentle caress. We see the same in the call of Jeremiah where the Lord struck the mouth of the young prophet and according to the original “personally delivered” divine speech into Jeremiah’s mouth (Jeremiah 1:9). To guarantee that God is with his prophet in the next verse Jeremiah is appointed to do six actions and throughout the rest of the book these actions are always the actions of God.

Now it is nice to know what the words said by the proclaimer of the Gospel mean, but what of the hearers of the Gospel. In a recent Friday reflection I quoted St Paul who said “if I do not preach the Gospel I should perish” (1 Corinthians 9:16). Our response ought to be: “if I do not listen to the Gospel I should perish”. Let me give an example from the Bible. We are aware of the action of Peter when Judas and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane. He injured Malchus the high priest’s servant by cutting off his right earlobe. And Jesus healed him (Luke 22:51). But why the right ear? The famed scripture scholar Raymond Brown gives the answer from biblical culture – the right ear was to listen to the spirit of the law while left signified the letter of the law. 

Now once again it is nice to know all this but how does it apply to us? Firstly am I a person of unclean lips? What can make a person’s lips unclean? Is it only indecent language that makes our lips unclean? A close reading of both the Old Testament and New Testament shows a robust use of language. The prophets certainly show no trace of Grammar School education. Paul was downright direct and though skilled in rhetoric and Greek philosophy, he never substituted honesty with nicety. And so we need to look further than impolite language to see what makes the lips unclean. What about lies and gossip? What about words deliberately chosen and used to mislead and manipulate people? And lastly, what about words spoken in an unkind, hurtful and condescending way?

Secondly, how do I listen – attentively, or with disinterest and indifference? Do I listen to the letter of the law or do I listen in a way which can bring about conversion? In the Hebrew culture in which the scriptures are steeped body pairs were a common feature – the hands and the feet went together, the eyes and the heart were paired, and the ears and the mouth went together. If someone’s ears were healed that persons mouth was also healed – enabling the person to hear the word of God and to speak it. And to speak it is to be God’s messenger.

Let us pray: Open our ears O Lord and cleanse our hearts and our lips, that we may worthily receive, proclaim and live out your holy Gospel. 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 30 September 2020, 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 weekly reflection. Today we celebrate the feast of St Jerome, the great Biblical scholar. St Jerome famously said that ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. We give thanks to God for his Word which teaches, guides and inspires us. May we always make a home in our hearts for God’s Word.

In the Gospel of today’s Mass (Luke 9:57-62) we hear of an encounter between Jesus and three different men. This is what happened in the encounter with the first man:

At that time: As Jesus and his disciples were going along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, you have called us to follow your Son Jesus Christ, and we have responded to your call. Help us, Lord, to understand that we are not called to an easy path and that following your Son always involves self-sacrifice and obedience. Through the intercession of St Jerome, conform us to your Son Jesus, that we may be filled with his grace and compassion and so learn to be merciful, forgiving and generous. We make this prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever, amen.

The first of the three men who encountered Jesus is a bit different from the other two, because he does not seem to wait for Jesus to call him to discipleship; he seems to volunteer and take the initiative by saying, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus called on the other two to follow him, as he did with others on different occasions. All three were cautioned that there was a cost, a price to pay, in following him. 

The first man must have recognized in Jesus something that others had not yet seen; perhaps he recognized that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. In his answer to the man, Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of man”, a term used in the Old Testament, for example in the book of Daniel (7:13) where it refers to “one who is to come” and has a messianic implication. So in a way, Jesus affirms what the man has recognized in him – that he is the Messiah – but also brings him down to earthly reality, the reality of Jesus’ humanity – he is “son of man”, he is flesh and blood like the rest of us. Following Jesus is lived in an earthly reality and does not remove us into a sort of “pie in the sky” heavenly realm. He is cautioning that discipleship involves more than one may expect at first. It involves self-denial, sacrifice and renunciation of “worldly things”. And so Jesus says to the first man, the son of man has nowhere to lay his head, to the second, leave the dead to bury the dead, and to the third, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Jesus is warning that we should not have false expectations of discipleship, it does not remove us from the hardships and 

realities of human life and, indeed, demands a personal cost, a price to be paid. It is the cost of renouncing a way of life that is not compatible with the Gospel and, in particular, not compatible with the Beatitudes. To follow Jesus will, of necessity, take us out of our comfort zones, those places where we feel safe, protected and insulated. Jesus, the Son man in whom the earthly and the heavenly meet, does not fulfil our preconceived ideas and expectations of who the Messiah is, and what it means to follow him. Jesus frequently had to challenge people about their preconceptions.

The Gospel must always be a challenge to us no matter who we are or whatever our status in life. It must challenge us about our preconceived ideas and our presumptions. It must challenge us about who we think God is and who we try to make him to be. There is often a temptation for humans, we who are made in the image of God, to try and make God into our own image – an image of how we would prefer God to be rather than to learn to know him as he is. The Gospel must challenge us on how we live our faith and how comfortable we so easily become in a routine of external adherence to Jesus’ teaching, rather than an inner acceptance of the Word and allowing that Word the opportunity to transform us. The Gospel must challenge us, too, on how we approach the Eucharist without taking it for granted. In short, it summons us to a deeper and more profound encounter with the mystery of God – God who we have and do experience in our lives, but who always remains beyond our grasp and understanding.

Job captures this most beautifully in the First Reading of today’s Mass when he questions God’s actions but, at the same time, recognizes that it is impossible for him to understand for it is God who does great things beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number. Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. To follow Jesus means that we that we free ourselves from our preconceptions, our comfort zones and our “security blankets”, and embark on this wonderful journey of light, accepting the mystery of God and appreciating how much greater his thoughts are from our thoughts, and his ways from our ways (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9).

Let us now pray for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with youAnd with your spirit

Keep your family, we pray, O Lord, in your constant care, so that, under your protection and guiding hand, they may be faithful in good times and in bad times, and that they may always show their dedication to your name by their way of of life and their willingness to follow your Son Jesus. We make this prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

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

I hope and pray, that as more people are able to attend Mass under level 1 of the lockdown we will do so with have a much greater appreciation of the gift of the Eucharist and the grace we receive from the Body and Blood of Christ. So many have hungered to receive Communion over these past months – may we always be grateful and reverent in approaching the Bread of Heaven.

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 25 September 2020, 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 25 September 2020. “Time”

We live in a clock-driven world and we ourselves are clock driven. Insofar as this makes us efficient it is fine but if it kills our spirit it is not. Think of the numbers of people who live simply to work. They yearn for quality time but cannot even afford to keep the sabbath. The pace of life has increased. Time means money and that’s the only value many people assign to time. 

The biblical world has three words for time. There is a word for clock time – or a measurement of time such as one hour; another word for a season – or for a specific event; and a third word referring to the end of time. The word that is used predominantly in Ecclesiastes 3 is the word which indicates seasonal time or time tied to an event. Notice that a whole range of events are covered. The logic is that if we are to be fully human, we need a whole range of experiences. Love, pain, joy, and sorrow are all parts of life.

Right now we have a season of the Covid-19 pandemic and understanding that is helpful in that we will be able to make the proper response to the situation. Imagine how difficult it will be if we did not take measures to stop the spread of the virus. This is not a season for doing whatever I want to do under the guise of personal freedom. Freedom is only freedom to do the right thing. My behaviour has to take the event of the pandemic into account. St Paul reminds us that the life and death of each of us has a bearing on others (Romans 14:7). 

Many in the world are angry at those who have ignored the threat and have endangered human life. In South Africa it is illegal not to wear a mask in public spaces and yet when walking in a mall or on the promenade several people carelessly disregard the safety of others. They have not read “the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3 – where the reference is to seasonal time), or if they have read it, acknowledging it would have interrupted their personal agendas. It is amazing how often scientific information with respect to global warming, the pandemic, etc. is ignored in favour of ideology, personal gain and the so-called personal freedom. The first reading for today assigns a time for every activity, but nowhere does it assign a time for negligence. Let each of us examine our contexts and see what the Spirit is saying to us as Church (cf. Revelations 2:29).

Let us pray: Father of us all, give us the grace to honour the various seasons of our life. Help us to correctly interpret the signs of the times so that our responses might be life giving. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[Blessing].

Attached please find directives from Archbishop Stephen Brislin for the further opening of Churches under Lockdown level 1.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Wednesday 23 September 2020, 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.

Peace and blessings to you. May this day be a day of closeness to God, as we celebrate the feast of St Padre Pio, St Pio of Pietrelcina. We recall one of his most famous sayings, pray, hope and don’t get upset. Anxiety serves no purpose. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.

Let is begin, as usual, with a verse or two from the Readings of today’s Mass. The First Reading is from the Book of Proverbs (30:5-9), and we hear these words from the prayer of Agur, probably referring to King Solomon:

Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die; Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, and deny you, and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.

Let us pray:

Merciful Father, may we always pray to you, as did St Padre Pio, that you will be close to us. Without your love and strength we easily become overwhelmed by the uncertainties, anxieties and disappointments of life. And so Lord, we pray with all our hearts, be close to us to lead, guide and enlighten us, that we may see our way, and come eventually to the fullness of life and light that is only found in you. We make our prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever, amen.

In this short, and to the point part of the prayer from the Book of Proverbs, the author pleads with God not to put him in a situation that might cause him to sin. If he has “riches” and more than he needs, he might think himself self-sufficient and not in need of God.  If he is in poverty and does not have enough, he might give in to crime and steal. So, he prays that he will be given just enough in case having too little or too much may cause him to sin.

 At every Mass, and frequently in our private prayers, we pray the words of the Lord’s Prayer,  lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. There is certainly doubt as to whether the Lord would ever lead us into temptation, but certainly we are praying that he does not allow us to fall into temptation. We know that the Lord never allows us to be tempted beyond our capacity to resist. St Paul writes in his First Letter to the Corinthians (10:13), No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. We have the strength to put up with temptation but, in our weakness, we do not always have the will to resist. And so it is right and important that we do pray that we will not fall into temptation, but the prayer itself must be accompanied by action to avoid temptation;  such avoidance is not running away from reality, but rather a wise and prudent decision. And so, we must always be aware of the need to avoid the occasion of sin. One form of an act of contrition commits us to that by ending with the words: I resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the occasions of sin.

What does it mean to avoid the occasions of sin? There are two types of occasions of sin – remote and proximate. Remote occasions of sin are those things we encounter, together with other people, that could potentially lead us to sin but while the possibility is there for sin, it is not that likely. We are not obliged to avoid remote occasions of sin and it is probably not possible to do so because we always exposed to such temptations. But the proximate occasions are different. These are the occasions that, if we think about it for a moment, we know that such situations could well lead us to sin against God and neighbour. Most often our experience has taught us what the proximate occasions of sin are for ourselves – and they differ from person to person. So, for example, one person can easily have a few drinks with his buddies and have a pleasant evening. For another, having that drink may lead him to all kinds of bad behaviour, such as violence against one he loves. It is incumbent on every Christian to avoid those occasions that he or she knows may weaken their defenses against sin and where there is an increased likelihood to sin.

To be able to avoid the occasions of sin can only be achieved through prayer, the Sacraments, examination of conscience and vigilance. Through prayer and the Sacraments we are strengthened by God’s grace and so we can follow the advice of St James (4:7):   Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. In all our prayers we commit ourselves to doing God’s will and so commit ourselves to resisting those occasions that can lure us away from God. Examination of conscience enables us to look honestly at ourselves, and to search deep within ourselves, to identify the occasions that play on our particular weaknesses and that are the forerunner to us giving in to sin. Through vigilance we put all this into practice and, before we give in to our weakness, we take ourselves out of the situation before things go any further.

Let us now pray for God’s blessing:

The Lord be with you                                                              And with your spirit

May God, who has given us the saints as an example of Christian life, through the intercession of St Padre Pio, strengthen us to be constant in prayer, and faithful in our service to you, Lord, and to our neighbour. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord, amen.

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

In line with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s request, Archbishop Stephen Brislin has requested all Catholics to download the COVID Alert South Africa app on their smartphones – from the Play Store if you have an Android phone, and Apple’s App Store if you have an iPhone – and to spread this as widely as possible.

Prophetic voices for climate action. Find out what young people of faith are doing for Water Justice, Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Fighting Plastic and Protecting the Amazon – with Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican Speakers. Moderated by Catholic Youth’s Dominique Yon. Register at this link https://lutheranworld-org.zoom.us/…/WN_vZCNg…

Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 18 September 2020, 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 18 September 2020

An aspect of the liturgy of the word is done silently by the ordained minister reading the Gospel. Those who are not familiar with the Church’s liturgical practice may not realise what is said albeit quietly: “Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away”. In a recent reflection (two weeks ago) I pointed out that Christ is present in the proclamation – and wherever Christ is, there is the forgiveness of sins. Still, can the mere words of the Gospel bring about the wiping away of sin without any action on my part? Well, listening is not passive. Listening attentively is in fact quite active and quite deliberate and that action of receiving the word with well prepared hearts brings blessings. Remember the teaching of Jesus when he spoke the parable of the sower in Mark 4. The seed that fell into good soil produced much fruit.

Perhaps some biblical background will be helpful. When God speaks the word for “speak” in the Hebrew bible it is always a strong verb. Hebrew verbs show the quality and strength of the action being described. God’s word is always deliberate and always intentional and one of these intentions is that we be converted. Read Ezekiel 18:23 for example. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that God’s word is a two edged sword, living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and Isaiah 55:10-11 tells us that the word will not return to God until its purpose is accomplished.

There is a strong thread in the Bible that shows the power of God’s word but I want to focus on the “wiping away” of sins. This notion comes from the Old Testament. A prime example is Isaiah 25:6-9, which is recommended for funeral liturgies. This reading tells us that God will wipe away our tears. Hebrew words are like a story and need to be unpacked. The word translated “wipe” means more than merely clearing a chalkboard with a duster. It means to remove the stain in such a way that there will be no more evidence that it was there in the first place. It also has another deeper meaning and here we need an analogy from family life to illustrate the point. Suppose a child is scolded and embarrassed and starts to cry. Perhaps s/he was not at fault, was scolded and now feels hurt. After a few minutes the tears subside and the child runs around again. A few minutes later the child lets out a deep sigh – the emotional pain is now gone. That’s how God deals with us when we are hurt. The context of this passage from Isaiah is important. It starts with “On this mountain…” On which mountain? A study of the passage shows that it was the mountain where they suffered severe pain and degradation. The point is that in the very theatre of their misery, God acted to take away their shame and their pain. Yes indeed, the theatre of our misery e.g. the pandemic, an unhappy home or family, an unhappy marriage, a poor work context, the neighbourhood, etc. can actually become the theatre of our redemption – for nothing is impossible to God (Luke 1:37).

Let us pray: Father through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away. Help us to receive  your word as gift each day. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Blessing].

Bishop Sylvester David OMI
VG: Archdiocese of Cape Town