#St. Columcille

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (June 9)

On June 9, the Catholic Church commemorates the sixth-century Irish monk and missionary, Saint Columba of Iona, also known as St. Columcille.

One of Ireland's three patron saints (together with Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid), he is also sometimes called the “Apostle of the Picts” for his evangelization of Scotland.

He should not be confused with St. Columbanus (or Columban), a different Irish monk and missionary who lived slightly later and ended up in Italy.

Columba was born during 521, descended from royalty through his father.

He was taught and mentored by the priest who baptized him. He later attended a monastic school founded by Saint Finnian of Moville.

His own life as a monk began at the school where he was also ordained a deacon.

The deacon went on to spend time in a different monastery and school run by another Finnian, Saint Finnian of Clonard.

Columba became a priest during this period, and along with eleven others from this same institution, he would be known as one of the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland.”

Columba also studied with Saint Mobhi of Glasnevin, before a disease epidemic forced him to return to his ancestral homeland of Ulster during 544.

He spent the next 15 years traveling, preaching, and founding monasteries.

In 563, it is not clear why Columba left Ireland. By some accounts, he was simply going to preach the word of God.

Others claim that he had become involved in a battle between warring tribes, before repenting and taking on foreign missionary work as a penance.

On the island of Iona, located on Scotland’s northwest coast, Columba and his group of companions built simple monastic quarters and a church for themselves.

The priest-monk’s first missionary work was in the region of Dalriada, whose Celtic Christian inhabitants were lacking solid religious instruction.

His next effort was to convert the Picts of northern Scotland, a task that would take up most of the rest of his life.

He began by gaining entrance to the castle of King Brude, where the locked gates are said to have miraculously opened when the sign of the Cross was made.

The king welcomed the missionaries, believed the Gospel, and was baptized.

Columba’s evangelization of northern Scotland continued over the next three decades.

He and his companions met with some resistance from the native pagan Druids, but on the whole, they found remarkable success in spreading the Catholic faith and building up a network of churches and monasteries.

The island monastery at Iona remained his home base. It drew pilgrims looking to benefit from the priest-monk’s wisdom and his prayers.

He remained in touch with the Irish Church, making many trips back until he became too weak to travel.

Even in old age, Columba maintained an intense routine of prayer, fasting, and study.

After giving a final blessing to his monastery on 8 June 597, he died sometime in the early hours of the following day.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 12 May:

563 – St Columcille establishes a community on Iona. 1641 – Thomas Wentworth, English viceroy of Ireland and Earl of Stafford is beheaded. From 1632–39 he was Lord Deputy of Ireland, where he established a strong authoritarian rule. Recalled to England, he became a leading advisor to the king, attempting to strengthen the royal position against Parliament. When Parliament condemned him to death,…

[tindomielthings]

katrin.vates

St. Columcille's Chapel

[xtruss]

9 Surprising Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

Who Was the Real St. Patrick? Was That Legend About the Snakes True? And Why Did So Many St. Patrick's Day Traditions Start in America?

— By History .Com Editors | March 7, 2024

Photograph By Anna Usova/Getty Images

While St. Patrick’s Day is now associated with wearing green, parades (when they're not canceled) and beer, the holiday is grounded in history that dates back more than 1,500 years. The earliest known celebrations were held in the 17th century on March 17, marking the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick in the 5th century. Learn more about the holiday’s history and how it evolved into the event it is today.

1. The Real St. Patrick Was Born in Britain

Much of what is known about St. Patrick's life has been interwoven with folklore and legend. Historians generally believe that St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Britain (not Ireland) near the end of the 4th century. At age 16 he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold as a slave to a Celtic priest in the area now known as Northern Ireland. After toiling for six years as a shepherd, he escaped back to Britain. He eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary.

2. St. Patrick Was Never Canonized

Despite his status as a patron saint, St. Patrick was never actually canonized by the Church during his lifetime. This was primarily because such a process did not exist when he died in A.D. 461. It wasn’t until 993 that St. Ulrich of Augsburg became the first saint to be formally canonized, and it was not until the 12th century that the Church established an official canonization process overseen by the Pope. While St. Patrick has not been formally canonized, many consider him to hold saintly status.

3. There Were No Snakes Around for St. Patrick to Banish from Ireland

Among the legends associated with St. Patrick is that he stood atop an Irish hillside and banished snakes from Ireland—prompting all serpents to slither away into the sea. In fact, research suggests snakes never occupied the Emerald Isle in the first place. There are no signs of snakes in the country’s fossil record. And water has surrounded Ireland since the last glacial period. Before that, the region was covered in ice and would have been too cold for the reptiles.

4. Leprechauns Are Likely Based on Celtic Fairies

The red-haired, green-clothed Leprechaun is commonly associated with St. Patrick’s Day. The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is “lobaircin,” meaning “small-bodied fellow.” Belief in leprechauns likely stems from Celtic belief in fairies— tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies.

5. The Shamrock Was Considered a Sacred Plant

The shamrock, a three-leaf clover, has been associated with Ireland for centuries. It was called the “seamroy” by the Celts and was considered a sacred plant that symbolized the arrival of spring. According to legend, St. Patrick used the plant as a visual guide when explaining the Holy Trinity. By the 17th century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism.

6. Ireland’s Only Female Patron Saint, Brigid, Has Her Own Holiday

One of Ireland’s three patron saints, alongside St. Patrick and St. Columcille, St. Brigid (or Bridget) is the patron saint of Irish nuns, newborns, midwives, dairy maids and cattle. Believed to have been born in Ireland sometime around A.D. 450, Brigid was the daughter of a pagan king and an enslaved woman. She grew up to serve the church by building a church in Kildare, which was the site of a former shrine to the Celtic goddess, eponymous to her.

Said to have died in A.D. 524, Brigid's memory was kept alive by the church, which canonized her as St. Brigid. In 2023, Ireland designated February 1 a permanent public holiday in Brigid’s honor.

7. The First St. Patrick’s Day Parade Was Held in America

While people in Ireland had celebrated St. Patrick since the 1600s, the tradition of a St. Patrick’s Day parade began in America and actually predates the founding of the United States.

Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601, in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The parade and a St. Patrick’s Day celebration a year earlier were organized by the Spanish Colony's Irish vicar Ricardo Artur. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in Boston in 1737 and in New York City on March 17. Enthusiasm for the St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York City, Boston and other early American cities only grew from there. In 2020 and 2021, parades throughout the country, including in New York City and Boston, were canceled or postponed for the first time in decades due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. They returned in 2022.

8. The Irish Were Once Scorned in America

While Irish Americans are now proud to showcase their heritage, the Irish were not always celebrated by fellow Americans. Beginning in 1845, a devastating potato blight caused widespread hunger throughout Ireland. While approximately 1 million perished, another 2 million abandoned their land in the largest-single population movement of the 19th century. Most of the exiles—nearly a quarter of the Irish nation—came to the shores of the United States. Once they arrived, the Irish refugees were looked down upon as disease-ridden, unskilled and a drain on welfare budgets.

9. Corned Beef and Cabbage Was an American Innovation

The meal that became a St. Patrick’s Day staple across the country—corned beef and cabbage—was an American innovation. While ham and cabbage were eaten in Ireland, corned beef offered a cheaper substitute for impoverished immigrants. Irish Americans living in the slums of lower Manhattan in the late 19th century and early 20th purchased leftover corned beef from ships returning from the tea trade in China. The Irish would boil the beef three times��the last time with cabbage—to remove some of the brine.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

9th June>> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on:

Matthew 8:18-27 /  Matthew 19:27-29 for the Feast of St Columcille or Columba: ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down’

Or on

Mark 12:35-37 for Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time.

----------------------------------------------

Feast of St Columcille or Columba

Gospel Except USA)

Matthew 8:18-27

Give everything you own to the poor, and follow me.

When Jesus saw the great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

   Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father first.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’

   Jesus got into the boat followed by his disciples. Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat. But he was asleep. So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

Or

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 19:27-29

They will be repaid a hundred times over and inherit eternal life.

Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘What about us?’ he said. ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.’

Reflections (6)

(i) Feast of St Columcille or Columba

Columcille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage, belonging to a branch of the O’Neill dynasty. He studied under Saint Mobhi, in the monastery of Glasnevin. He went on to establish monasteries himself in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 563 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada for the purpose of establishing a monastery. The monastery became a place of learning with the copying and illumination of manuscripts. Columcille remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Columcille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. After his death, monks from Iona went to evangelize Northumbria, where they established monasteries at Lindisfarne and Whitby. Columcille and his companions made the word of God fully known wherever they went. During their ministry, they went through many a stormy time, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading. Yet, just as Jesus was with the disciples in the storm at sea and brought them through it, he was with Columcille and his companions through all their difficult moments, and they came to discover, like those disciples, that the Lord was stronger than the storm. Our own following of the Lord, as a community and as individuals, won’t always be easy; the storms and trials of life will often put our faith to the test. Just as Jesus was asleep in the boat, it can seem to us at such times that the Lord is asleep on our watch. Yet, the Lord is always attentive to us. One of the psalms expresses that conviction very well, ‘He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep’. The Lord is ever watchful and faithful. It is we who can become faithless or, in the rebuke of Jesus to the disciples in the boat, people of ‘little faith’, somewhere between no faith and full faith. We fail to keep the Lord in view. It is because we are all prone to ‘little faith’ that, in the words of Paul in today’s first reading, we need to ‘persevere in prayer’. Perhaps we could keep making our own the prayer of one of the minor characters of the gospel story, the father of a seriously ill boy who prayed to Jesus, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of St Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him for a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. Columba remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. In the words of the first reading from the letter to the Colossians, he made the word of God fully known wherever he went. That reading describes God’s word as the mystery hidden throughout the ages but now revealed. The content of this mystery, according to that reading, is ‘Christ among you, the hope of glory’. This is the heart of the good news. Christ is among us and his presence among us gives us hope, hope of sharing in the glory that he now enjoys. As we journey towards that glory, our calling in this life is, in the words of that same reading, to become ‘mature in Christ’. We are to grow up into Christ who lives among us, and to the extent we do that we become fully mature, as Colum Cille was. Our becoming mature in Christ, our growing up into Christ, is a lifetime’s work, and this work is not just our work; more fundamentally it is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Today we ask the Spirit to conform us more and more to the image of Christ.

 And/Or

(iii) Saint Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565, at the age of forty four, he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him for a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. He remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. He died on June 9, 597, at the age of seventy six. In the gospel reading Jesus commissions his disciples to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Colum Cille’s life has certainly borne a lasting fruit. That is because, in the words of the gospel reading, he remained in the Lord’s love. His relationship with the Lord was at the heart of his missionary work, his life of witness. We too will be witnesses to the Lord in our own way if we remain in his love, if we strive to grow in our relationship with him, growing to love him as he loves us. It is that remaining in the Lord’s love which enables our lives to bear the rich fruit of the Spirit.

 And/Or

(iv) Saint Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off the South West of Scotland, which was given to him for a the purpose of establishing a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. Colum Cille remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He lived in Iona for over thirty years and died on June 9, 597. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. They made the word of God fully known wherever they went. Colum Cille regarded himself as a man of peace, and his spirit lives on in the Iona community which is based on the island. The Iona Community is a Christian ecumenical community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions in the Church. They are committed to working together for peace and social justice, the rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship. In the Eucharist we God’s celebrate reconciling love revealed fully in the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are then sent from the Eucharist to be instruments of that reconciling love in our own sphere of influence.

 And/Or

(v) Feast of St Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him for a the purpose of establishing a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. Columba remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. They made the word of God fully known wherever they went. In the course of their ministry they went through many a stormy sea, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading. Yet, just as Jesus was with the disciples in the storm and brought them through it, he was with Colum Cille and his companions through all their difficult moments, and they discovered, like those disciples, that the Lord was stronger than the storm. In spite of many setbacks and in the face of great odds, the Lord worked powerfully through them. Our own following of the Lord won’t always be easy; the storms and trials of life will often put our faith to the test. Yet, the Lord will be with us in those dark moments, as he was with Colum Cille and his companions in their struggles, as he was with the disciples in the boat. If we keep faith in him, he will work powerfully through us and bring us safely to shore.

 And/Or

(vi) Feast of St Columcille or Columba

Columcille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage, belonging to a branch of the O’Neill dynasty. He studied under Saint Mobhi, in the monastery of Glasnevin. He went on to establish monasteries himself in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 563 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada for the purpose of establishing a monastery. The monastery became a place of learning with the copying and illumination of manuscripts. Columcille remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Columcille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. After his death, monks from Iona went to evangelize Northumbria, where they established monasteries at Lindisfarne and Whitby. Columcille and his companions made the word of God fully known wherever they went. During their ministry, they went through many a stormy time, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading. Yet, just as Jesus was with the disciples in the storm at sea and brought them through it, he was with Columcille and his companions through all their difficult moments, and they came to discover, like those disciples, that the Lord was stronger than the storm. Our own following of the Lord won’t always be easy; the storms and trials of life will often put our faith to the test. Just as Jesus was asleep in the boat, it can seem to us at such times that the Lord is asleep on our watch. Yet, the Lord is always attentive to us. One of the psalms expresses that conviction very well, ‘He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep’. The Lord is ever watchful and faithful. It is we who can become faithless or, in the rebuke of Jesus to the disciples in the boat, people of ‘little faith’. It is because we are all prone to ‘little faith’ that we need to keep making our own that prayer of the father of a seriously ill boy which we find in one of the gospel stories, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’.

----------------------------------------------------

Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Mark 12:35-37

'David himself calls him Lord'.

At that time while teaching in the Temple, Jesus said, ‘How can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy Spirit, said:

The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand and I will put your enemies under your feet.

David himself calls him Lord, in what way then can he be his son?’ And the great majority of the people heard this with delight.

Gospel (USA)

Mark 12:35-37

How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:

The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand    until I place your enemies under your feet.’

David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” The great crowd heard this with delight.

Reflections (4)

(i) Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

There is a great deal of the praise of God in today’s first reading. When Tobias healed the blindness of his father Tobit, his father, fell on his son’s neck and exclaimed, ‘Blessed be God! Blessed be his great name! Blessed be all his holy angels! Blessed be his great name for evermore!’ When Tobias went into his father’s house, he joyfully blessed God, telling his father everything about the journey he had just completed. Then Tobit set off to the gates of Nineveh to meet his daughter-in-law for the first time, ‘giving joyful praise to God as he went’. When he met, Sarah, his daughter in law, he blessed her with the words, ‘Blessed by your God for sending you to us, my daughter’. Tobit and Tobias recognized the presence of God in all that was happening around them and they gave praise and thanks to God for it. We are all probably much more familiar with the prayer of petition. When we are in difficulty to ask God to help us. We pray to God out of the depths. That is as it should be. Sometimes, we forget to praise and thank God for the blessings that come our way in life. We don’t think of God as easily in good times as in bad times. According to the gospel reading, the majority of the people heard Jesus with delight. The presence of Jesus, his deeds and his words, brought them joy, and led them to praise God. Jesus is God’s gift to us all. We can all hear him with delight. God’s gift of his Son to us gives us very good reason to praise and thank God. We say formal prayers of praise and thanks to God in the Mass. Yet, Tobit and Tobias, and the people in the gospel reading, encourage us to be spontaneous in our prayer of praise and thanks to God. It is a prayer that can arise in our hearts at any time of the day, in any place, in response to the Lord’s many, daily, blessings. In the words of today’s psalm, ‘I will praise the Lord all my days’.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 

This morning’s gospel reading is very short, and most people would find it a little bit obtuse. There is an argument going on between Jesus and the Jewish scribes about the identity of the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Jesus is confronting the teaching of the scribes according to which the Messiah will be the son of David. Jesus quotes from one of the psalms to show that the Messiah was to be not simply David’s son but David’s Lord. Although a descendant of David, Jesus, as Messiah, is declaring himself to be David’s Lord. In other words, there is more to Israel’s Messiah than the scribes appreciate. As the long awaited Jewish Messiah, Jesus is Lord, Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of David, Lord of all. One of the great confessions of the early church was, ‘Jesus is Lord’. That was a very striking confession in a Jewish context, because up until the time of Jesus, the title ‘Lord’ was given only to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of Israel. This morning’s responsorial psalm, a Jewish prayer, declares ‘My soul, give praise to the Lord’, to God. Jesus is Lord of Israel’s greatest king, David; he is our Lord, Lord of each one of us, Lord of the church. Our calling is to live our lives under his Lordship, or, to put it in another way, to live as his servants, placing ourselves at the service of his purpose for our world.

 And/Or

(iii) Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

This morning’s gospel reading is short but it may sound a little confusing on first hearing it. Many Jews expected the coming Messiah to be a son of David, a descendant of David. Jesus suggests that the title, ‘Son of David’, is not adequate for God’s Messiah, for himself, Jesus. In the manner of a discussion among Rabbis, Jesus argues his case on the basis of a verse of Scripture, a verse from the Psalms. It was generally understood in the time of Jesus that King David was the author of the psalms. In one psalm, the person praying, understood to be David, refers to the coming anointed one, the coming Messiah, as ‘my Lord’. Jesus argues that if David refers to the coming Messiah as ‘my Lord’, then the Messiah cannot simply be David’s Son. He is clearly David’s Lord. Jesus is really saying that there is much more to him than people imagine. Yes, he is a son of David, a Jew from the line of David. Yet, Jesus’ full identity is not exhausted by the title Son of David. We are being reminded that there is always more to Jesus than we imagine. Our ways of thinking and speaking about Jesus will always fall short of his full identity. He is always more mysterious, more wonderful than we can possible conceive. Saint Paul speaks of ‘the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge’. It is because Jesus in the love of God in human form that he is beyond any title we could give him. Our thoughts and words never do justice to him, and that is ultimately very consoling.

 And/Or

(iv) Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading, Saint Paul says that ‘all scripture is inspired by God, and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be holy’. For Paul, of course, ‘all scripture’ was what we call the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures. In Paul’s time, there was no such thing as a New Testament, a collection of writings inspired by Jesus. If what Paul says of the Jewish Scriptures is true, we as Christians acknowledge that it is even more true of the Christian Scriptures, the four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul and of other writers, the Book of Revelation. All of it can profitably be used for teaching, for guiding our lives and teaching us to be holy. We have a wonderful resource in all these Scriptures, what the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, and it is Jesus who shows us how to interpret the Jewish Scriptures. We read the Jewish Scriptures in the light of the Christian Scriptures. In the gospel reading, we find Jesus interpreting one segment of the Jewish Scriptures, one of the Psalms. He shows that, understood properly, that particular psalm shows that Jesus is more than the Son of David; he is Lord. He has the same name that God has in the Jewish Scriptures, the name ‘Lord’. The gospels tell us that when the risen Lord appeared to his disciples, he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. The Lord is the light in which we read all the Scriptures. The more we come to know the Lord, the more we will understand God’s word to us in what Paul in today’s first reading calls ‘all scripture’. That is why when we sit down to read or pray the Scriptures it is good to firstly invite the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord, to enlighten the eyes of our minds and hearts.

 Fr. Martin Hogan.

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS OF THE DAY FOR June 09 

STS. PRIMUS AND FELICIAN, MARTYRS, June 9

ST. EPHREM, DEACON AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH-This Syriac deacon sang the mysteries of the Lord so beautifully that he earned the title, “the harp of the Holy Spirit.” A Doctor of the Church who is celebrated as the greatest hymnographer of the Christian East, Ephrem’s feast day is June 9.  

B. ANNA MARIA TAIGI, MOTHER

St. Columba, 521-597 A.D. Born probably in Donegal Ireland of royal descent he studied at Moville under St. Finnian then in Leinster at the monastery of Clonard under another St. Finnian. He was ordained before he was twenty-five and spent the next fifteen years preaching and setting up foundations at Derry, Durrow, and Kells. Possibly because of a family feud which resulted in the death of 3000 and for which he considered himself partly responsible he left Ireland at 42 and landed on the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland. There he built the monastery which was to become world famous. With SS Canice and Comgall he spread the gospel to the Picts; he also developed a monastic rule which many followed until the introduction of St. Benedicts. He died on Iona and is also known as Colm, Colum and Columcille.  

St. Baithin, 598 A.D. Abbot and cousin of St. Columba, also listed as Comm or Cominus in some lists. Baithin was abbot of Tiree Abbey in Ireland, succeeding St. Columba as abbot of lona in Scotland in 597. He wrote about his saintly cousin and is said to have died on the anniversary of St. Columba's death.  

St. Cummian, 8th century. Benedictine bishop of Ireland also called Cumian or Cummin. He traveled to Bobbio, in Italy, and remained there as a monk.  

[fr-martin-gospel-reflections]

9th June, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down’, Reflection on today’s gospel reading (Mt 8:18-27)

9th June, Feast of St Columcille or Columba

Columcille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage, belonging to a branch of the O’Neill dynasty. He studied under Saint Mobhi, in the monastery of Glasnevin. He went on to establish monasteries himself in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 563 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada for the purpose of establishing a monastery. The monastery became a place of learning with the copying and illumination of manuscripts. Columcille remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Columcille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. After his death, monks from Iona went to evangelize Northumbria, where they established monasteries at Lindisfarne and Whitby. Columcille and his companions made the word of God fully known wherever they went. During their ministry, they went through many a stormy time, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading. Yet, just as Jesus was with the disciples in the storm at sea and brought them through it, he was with Columcille and his companions through all their difficult moments, and they came to discover, like those disciples, that the Lord was stronger than the storm. Our own following of the Lord, as a community and as individuals, won’t always be easy; the storms and trials of life will often put our faith to the test. Just as Jesus was asleep in the boat, it can seem to us at such times that the Lord is asleep on our watch. Yet, the Lord is always attentive to us. One of the psalms expresses that conviction very well, ‘He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep’. The Lord is ever watchful and faithful. It is we who can become faithless or, in the rebuke of Jesus to the disciples in the boat, people of ‘little faith’, somewhere between no faith and full faith. We fail to keep the Lord in view. It is because we are all prone to ‘little faith’ that, in the words of Paul in today’s first reading, we need to ‘persevere in prayer’. Perhaps we could keep making our own the prayer of one of the minor characters of the gospel story, the father of a seriously ill boy who prayed to Jesus, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’.

Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

There is a great deal of the praise of God in today’s first reading. When Tobias healed the blindness of his father Tobit, his father, fell on his son’s neck and exclaimed, ‘Blessed be God! Blessed be his great name! Blessed be all his holy angels! Blessed be his great name for evermore!’ When Tobias went into his father’s house, he joyfully blessed God, telling his father everything about the journey he had just completed. Then Tobit set off to the gates of Nineveh to meet his daughter-in-law for the first time, ‘giving joyful praise to God as he went’. When he met, Sarah, his daughter in law, he blessed her with the words, ‘Blessed by your God for sending you to us, my daughter’. Tobit and Tobias recognized the presence of God in all that was happening around them and they gave praise and thanks to God for it. We are all probably much more familiar with the prayer of petition. When we are in difficulty to ask God to help us. We pray to God out of the depths. That is as it should be. Sometimes, we forget to praise and thank God for the blessings that come our way in life. We don’t think of God as easily in good times as in bad times. According to the gospel reading, the majority of the people heard Jesus with delight. The presence of Jesus, his deeds and his words, brought them joy, and led them to praise God. Jesus is God’s gift to us all. We can all hear him with delight. God’s gift of his Son to us gives us very good reason to praise and thank God. We say formal prayers of praise and thanks to God in the Mass. Yet, Tobit and Tobias, and the people in the gospel reading, encourage us to be spontaneous in our prayer of praise and thanks to God. It is a prayer that can arise in our hearts at any time of the day, in any place, in response to the Lord’s many, daily, blessings. In the words of today’s psalm, ‘I will praise the Lord all my days’.

[auldscotsyear]

Happy birthday!

#OnThisDay in 521, St Buite died at Dunnichen. He had failed to convert the Picts despite raising their king from the dead, but prophesied that a child born the day he died would finish the job. That child was St Columcille.

[artschoolglasses]

Saint Brigid, Saint Patrick, and Saint Columcille, 1924-25

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

[margridarnauds]

Initial thoughts on Wrath of the Droods:  - The initial point about petty kings being everywhere is 100% spot on, you had a ton of kings running around Ireland at any given point in the Middle Ages, up to around 200. Bárid being king of Dublin, as such, isn’t ALL that impressive. (The term “king” could refer to being king of an individual population group, or túath, being king of a province, such as Munster or Ulster, or being high king of Ireland

- That being said, the existence of a true Irish high kingship, as they show it here, is much more debated. There was, definitely, a high kingship of Tara, but the conflation of Tara with Ireland was also a skillful bit of propaganda by the Uí Néill (who are also responsible for the image of St. Patrick as the premier saint of Ireland, over, say, St. Brigit or Columcille.) Still, Flann claimed the high kingship historically, even though there was evidence of dissent, and was himself a propaganda MASTER (we know his name now, ergo he was good) so I’ll allow it. 

Something to note is that all Irish words having to do with bows and arrows are loan words, with a large number of them being from the Norse (the one exception being saiget, coming from Latin sagitta, arrow, as discussed in Mallory’s In Search Of The Irish Dream Time); the Irish had little need for bows in their usual style of warfare; they found swords and spears to be more their style (drama queens that they were). As such, the Vikings were responsible for the re-introduction of the bow into Ireland, and we actually DO have at least one Viking bow recovered from roughly the period that the game’s set in, which is discussed in this article. Given that the bow was pretty much exclusively used by the Norse Gaels, as opposed to the Gaels (who held off on adopting archery until the 13th century, though once they did, they kept it until around the 17th century) , I’ll give them......some points for accuracy. I’d note that the blacksmith appears to be 100% Gaelic Irish, at least from her accent, but I’ll award them some accuracy points. (I would not that the Ballinderry bow, though, is incredibly powerful, incredibly strong, not a light bow like we get in-game, though apparently some light bows did exist.) For an interesting breakdown, also see this article that, I think, kind of sums up the level of evidence we have succinctly.

[trans-support-ireland]

💫Endocrinologists💫

The most commonly used endocrinologist in Ireland is St. Columcille Hospital is Loughlinstown. They are a public hospital and provide a full support teams instead of just an endocrinologist. This included psychiatrists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and provide help with the legal side; changing your name and gender. Their wait list is currently about 3 years and you will have 2 consultations before you meet the endocrinologists. They are a public hospital so appointments come at no cost and you do not need health insurance for your appointments.

Dr. Thomas Ahern in Drogheda has both a public and private practice. His public wait list is about 10 months and his private list is about 4 months. His private practice runs exclusively on Tuesday mornings so it can be quite difficult to get to your appointment unless you have a car or can stay in Drogheda the night before your appointment. His public practice has more flexible hours

Dr. Marcia Bell in Galway University Hospital has a private clinic with a wait list of 6-9 months. As with Dr. Ahern, she specialises in trans patient care and is very familiar with the standard procedure.

Dr. Maeve Durkan in the Bons Secours Hospital in Cork also has a private clinic and currently has no wait list, she will aid you with your transition until Loughlinstowns’ Gender Clinic gives you an appointment but generally she will not act as a long term endocrinologist as she specializes in diabetic endocrinology.

Private appointments generally cost €180-250 for the initial appointment and roughly €120 after that, Usually you will have about 2 appointments a year. Other medical expenses will be covered in a separate post but this treatment has no effect on your medical card standing.

It may be worth contacting a local endocrinologist or GP to see if they are willing to aid your transition but many have not yet broken into this practice.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (June 9)

On June 9, the Catholic Church commemorates the sixth-century Irish monk and missionary Saint Columba of Iona, also known as St. Columcille.

One of Ireland's three patron saints, together with Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid, he is also sometimes called the “Apostle of the Picts” for his evangelization of Scotland.

He should not be confused with St. Columbanus (or Columban), a different Irish monk and missionary who lived slightly later and ended up in Italy.

Columba was born during 521, descended from royalty through his father. He was taught and mentored by the priest who baptized him and later attended a monastic school founded by Saint Finnian of Moville.

His own life as a monk began at the school, where he was also ordained a deacon.

The deacon went on to spend time in a different monastery and school run by another Finnian, Saint Finnian of Clonard.

Columba became a priest during this period, and along with eleven others from this same institution, he would become known as one of the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland.”

Columba also studied with Saint Mobhi of Glasnevin, before a disease epidemic forced him to return to his ancestral homeland of Ulster during 544.

He spent the next 15 years traveling, preaching, and founding monasteries.

It is not clear why, in 563, Columba left Ireland. By some accounts, he was simply going to preach the word of God.

Others claim that he had become involved in a battle between warring tribes, before repenting and taking on foreign missionary work as a penance.

On the island of Iona, located on Scotland’s northwest coast, Columba and his group of companions built simple monastic quarters and a church for themselves.

The priest-monk’s first missionary work was in the region of Dalriada, whose Celtic Christian inhabitants were lacking solid religious instruction.

His next effort was to convert the Picts of northern Scotland, a task that would take up most of the rest of his life.

He began by gaining entrance to the castle of King Brude, where the locked gates are said to have miraculously opened when the sign of the Cross was made.

The king welcomed the missionaries, believed the Gospel, and was baptized.

Columba’s evangelization of northern Scotland continued over the next three decades.

He and his companions met with some resistance from the native pagan Druids, but on the whole, they found remarkable success in spreading the Catholic faith and building up a network of churches and monasteries.

The island monastery at Iona remained his home base. It drew pilgrims looking to benefit from the priest-monk’s wisdom and his prayers.

He remained in touch with the Irish Church, making many trips back until he became too weak to travel.

Even in old age, Columba maintained an intense routine of prayer, fasting, and study.

After giving a final blessing to his monastery on 8 June 597, he died sometime in the early hours of the following day.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 12 May:

#OTD in Irish History | 12 May:

563 – St Columcille establishes a community on Iona. 1641 – Thomas Wentworth, English viceroy of Ireland and Earl of Stafford is beheaded. From 1632–39 he was Lord Deputy of Ireland, where he established a strong authoritarian rule. Recalled to England, he became a leading advisor to the king, attempting to strengthen the royal position against Parliament. When Parliament condemned him to death,…

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

hi, do you know any resource blogs for trans ppl living/moving to the republic of ireland? it's a goal of mine to live there, and i know they have self declaration of gender laws, but im not sure what kind of healthcare system they have.

Lee says:

We had an Irish mod named Jay in several years ago, and he had written this at one point:

“In Ireland, where i am, you have to be 16 to start T. All people under 18 go to Crumlin Children’s Hospital, but only people over 16 can take testosterone and only people under 16 have access to puberty blockers access. Anyone over 18 is sent to Loughlinstown Colmcille’s Hospital.

In order to get to that point, you need to get a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.  So you have to get a letter of referral from your GP to go to a mental health service, and there you get diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Then they write a letter and refer you to Crumlin/Tavistock if you’re under 16 and Loughlinstown if you’re over 18. 17-year-olds are a hole in our system. 

Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin - under 18s endocrinology via Tavistock and Portman

St. Columcille’s hospital Loughlinstown - over 18s endocrinology

Galway University Hospital - over 18s endocrinology

Those locations of where you are referred to are different outside of Dublin, FYI

In Ireland, I do have to pay for my testosterone - but if my T cost more than €144 a month, it would be capped at €144. I will never have to pay more than €144 for medication as an Irish citizen in Ireland. My T is only ~€15 per month but I pay my doc €20 to do my shot for me.

It’s accessible and reasonably priced (my T is only 15 quid a month, and loughlinstown itself is free) but it can take a pretty long time to deal with, especially if you’re under 18.

The Trans Equality Network of Ireland have a big page of medical professionals on their site here, and there are some support groups here.”

(Note that what Jay wrote above is ~4 years old, so I don't know if that’s still the way things work!)

'It pens people in': The challenges of accessing transgender healthcare in Ireland (Suicidal ideation m)

'Devastating': Trans people on wrong waiting list for years after referrals were 'misplaced'

@ukftm has info on Northern Ireland, but not the Republic of Ireland, and @trans-ireland​ is no longer active, so I’m not personally following any Tumblr resource blogs about healthcare for trans ppl living/moving to the Republic of Ireland but I’m sure that some must exist.

Followers, any suggestions/info for anon?

[2raggedclaws]

A blue eye

A blue eye will look back to Ireland left behind, never again to see men of Ireland, nor women.

Fil súil n-glais

Fil súil n-glais fégbas Éirinn dar a h-ais; noco n-aceba íarmo-thá firu Érenn nách a mná.

(Gerard Cunningham, translation. Anonymous, early Irish poem. Refers to St. Columcille who voluntarily left Ireland to found additional monasteries, knowing that any return was unlikely.)

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

9th June >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on 

Matthew 8:18-27 for the Feast of St Columcille or Columba

and on 

Matthew 5:20-26 for Thursday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Feast of St Columcille or Columba

Gospel (Ireland)

Matthew 8:18-27

Give everything you own to the poor, and follow me.

When Jesus saw the great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

   Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father first.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’

   Jesus got into the boat followed by his disciples. Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat. But he was asleep. So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

or

Gospel (Ireland)

Matthew 19:27-29

They will be repaid a hundred times over and inherit eternal life.

Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘What about us?’ he said. ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.’

Reflections (5)

(i) Feast of St Columcille or Columba

Columcille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage, belonging to a branch of the O’Neill dynasty. He studied under Saint Mobhi, in the monastery of Glasnevin. He went on to establish monasteries himself in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 563 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada for the purpose of establishing a monastery. The monastery became a place of learning with the copying and illumination of manuscripts. Columcille remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Columcille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. After his death, monks from Iona went to evangelize Northumbria, where they established monasteries at Lindisfarne and Whitby. Columcille and his companions made the word of God fully known wherever they went. During their ministry, they went through many a stormy time, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading. Yet, just as Jesus was with the disciples in the storm at sea and brought them through it, he was with Columcille and his companions through all their difficult moments, and they came to discover, like those disciples, that the Lord was stronger than the storm. Our own following of the Lord, as a community and as individuals, won’t always be easy; the storms and trials of life will often put our faith to the test. Just as Jesus was asleep in the boat, it can seem to us at such times that the Lord is asleep on our watch. Yet, the Lord is always attentive to us. One of the psalms expresses that conviction very well, ‘He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep’. The Lord is ever watchful and faithful. It is we who can become faithless or, in the rebuke of Jesus to the disciples in the boat, people of ‘little faith’, somewhere between no faith and full faith. We fail to keep the Lord in view. It is because we are all prone to ‘little faith’ that, in the words of Paul in today’s first reading, we need to ‘persevere in prayer’. Perhaps we could keep making our own the prayer of one of the minor characters of the gospel story, the father of a seriously ill boy who prayed to Jesus, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of St Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him for a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. Columba remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. In the words of the first reading from the letter to the Colossians, he made the word of God fully known wherever he went. That reading describes God’s word as the mystery hidden throughout the ages but now revealed. The content of this mystery, according to that reading, is ‘Christ among you, the hope of glory’. This is the heart of the good news. Christ is among us and his presence among us gives us hope, hope of sharing in the glory that he now enjoys. As we journey towards that glory, our calling in this life is, in the words of that same reading, to become ‘mature in Christ’. We are to grow up into Christ who lives among us, and to the extent we do that we become fully mature, as Colum Cille was. Our becoming mature in Christ, our growing up into Christ, is a lifetime’s work, and this work is not just our work; more fundamentally it is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Today we ask the Spirit to conform us more and more to the image of Christ.

 And/Or

(iii) Saint Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565, at the age of forty four, he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him for a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. He remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. He died on June 9, 597, at the age of seventy six. In the gospel reading Jesus commissions his disciples to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Colum Cille’s life has certainly borne a lasting fruit. That is because, in the words of the gospel reading, he remained in the Lord’s love. His relationship with the Lord was at the heart of his missionary work, his life of witness. We too will be witnesses to the Lord in our own way if we remain in his love, if we strive to grow in our relationship with him, growing to love him as he loves us. It is that remaining in the Lord’s love which enables our lives to bear the rich fruit of the Spirit.

 And/Or

(vi) Saint Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off the South West of Scotland, which was given to him for a the purpose of establishing a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. Colum Cille remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He lived in Iona for over thirty years and died on June 9, 597. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. They made the word of God fully known wherever they went. Colum Cille regarded himself as a man of peace, and his spirit lives on in the Iona community which is based on the island. The Iona Community is a Christian ecumenical community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions in the Church. They are committed to working together for peace and social justice, the rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship. In the Eucharist we God’s celebrate reconciling love revealed fully in the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are then sent from the Eucharist to be instruments of that reconciling love in our own sphere of influence.

 And/Or

(v) Feast of St Colum Cille or Columba

Colum Cille was born in Gartan, Co. Donegal in 521 and was of royal lineage. He founded monasteries in Derry, Durrow, and possibly Kells. In 565 he left Ireland with twelve companions and founded a monastery on the island of Iona off SW Scotland, which was given to him for a the purpose of establishing a monastery by the ruler of the Irish Dalriada. Columba remained the rest of his life in Scotland, mainly Iona, returning to Ireland only for occasional visits. He died on June 9, 597. Colum Cille and his companions preached the gospel in the Western part of Scotland. They made the word of God fully known wherever they went. In the course of their ministry they went through many a stormy sea, like the disciples in today’s gospel reading. Yet, just as Jesus was with the disciples in the storm and brought them through it, he was with Colum Cille and his companions through all their difficult moments, and they discovered, like those disciples, that the Lord was stronger than the storm. In spite of many setbacks and in the face of great odds, the Lord worked powerfully through them. Our own following of the Lord won’t always be easy; the storms and trials of life will often put our faith to the test. Yet, the Lord will be with us in those dark moments, as he was with Colum Cille and his companions in their struggles, as he was with the disciples in the boat. If we keep faith in him, he will work powerfully through us and bring us safely to shore.

------------------------------------------------

Thursday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 5:20-26

Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

   ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 5:20-26

Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. +

Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

   “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Reflections (2)

(i) Thursday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus declares that if any of his Jewish contemporaries were bringing their offering to the altar in the Jewish temple and they remember that someone has something against them they should first be reconciled with their brother or sister and only then present their offering. The Lord will always send us out to work to be reconciled with those who have something against us. We may not succeed in our efforts, but the Lord calls on us to be prepared always to make the first move. ‘Go and be reconciled’ Jesus declares. We are not just to wait for others to take the initiative; we have to make the move, even if in doing so we fail. The Lord took the initiative to reconcile us to himself, through his life, death and resurrection; he calls on us to be as ready as he was to take the same initiative when a relationship needs reconciling.

 And/Or

(ii) Thursday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus calls for a virtue that goes deeper than the virtue of the scribes and the Pharisees. He is looking for a virtue that is at the level of the heart or inner core of the person and not simply at the level of action. The Ten Commandments relate to actions which are to be done or, for the most part, not to be done. Jesus quotes one of the commandments at the beginning of our gospel reading, ‘You shall not kill’. What Jesus goes on to prohibit is not just the action of killing but the kinds of attitudes and emotions that can led people to kill one another. He warns against anger towards others and the perception of others that leads us to refer to them as fools. We might be tempted to think of the commandment, ‘Do not kill’, as not really relevant to us because the likelihood of any of us killing somebody is very remote. However, when Jesus speaks about the deeper level of emotion, attitude and perception, we cannot distance ourselves so easily. We have all experienced anger and can recognize its destructive power even in ourselves. We have all perceived some people in ways that lead us to speak of them or to them in a manner that is disrespectful. Even though we may differ from others at the level of action, when it comes to that deeper level that Jesus talks about in the gospel reading we all have much more in common. That virtue at the deeper level that drives our actions is one we are all constantly striving to attain. It can only be attained with the help of the Holy Spirit, whose power at work within us can begin to shape all we do and how and why we do it.

Fr. Martin Hogan.