Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David offers his prayer and reflection for the people of the Archdiocese of Cape Town for today, Friday 8 October 2021, during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is also available on the Archdiocese of Cape Town’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Please also see below the text of his reflection, primarily for the deaf.
Let us start by praying for the fruitfulness of the upcoming Synod.
We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go
and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity
so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth
and what is right.
All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen.
Our preparation to meet our God. Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-2
Our first reading has a strong resemblance to the liturgy of the Word on Ash Wednesday. It comes from the prophet Joel which means “the Lord is God”. His father was Pethuel which means the “mouth or persuasion of God”. There is thus a strong insistence that God wants to convince us of something.
From the text it is clear that religious obligations have been neglected. In order to correct these matters a day of fast and repentance has to be proclaimed and no one is exempted from this. The whole nation, priests and people – in other words citizens of all ranks have to, in unison, turn towards the Lord. The scene presented in Joel 1:16 ff. is one of gloom with there being a shortage of what is essential for life. All told, the need for repentance is urgent.
Perhaps it is necessary to understand the concept of repentance. In the OT, the word used for repentance implies a turning away from sin and a turning towards God. In the NT it means a reorientation of one’s whole life. In the language of St Paul it is to become “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). It means embracing fully the call to follow Christ.
Fridays are normally reserved for attention to one’s inner being and many continue to practice some sort of abstinence on Fridays. In fact the Irish word for Friday literally means “The Fast”. Our morning prayer on Fridays contains the penitential psalm (Psalm 51) showing ones dependence on God’s mercy and asking for a humbled, contrite heart. The OT prophets show the true meaning of fasting. It is more than giving up some food – it is to show mercy to the needy. Is 58:1-16 is a well know passage which shows what a genuine fast is all about. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus shows that real fasting is not so much about putting on a show. It is about showing integrity (Matthew 6:18). In fact according to Jesus one cannot be in relationship with God without fasting, almsgiving and prayer (Matthew 6:1-18). So almsgiving, the essence of a divinely approved fast, is an essential dimension of our relationship with God. Without it our fasting is not genuine and our religion will lack integrity.
This reading from Joel is a meaningful reminder to us to examine the worthiness – or otherwise, of our religious practices.
Prayer: Lord send us the Holy Spirit to help us worship you in spirit and in truth. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bishop S. David OMI
VG/Auxiliary Bishop: Cape Town