St. Mark, Evangelist

John Mark, later known simply as Mark, was Jewish by birth. He was the son of the woman named Mary in whose home was the Cenacle or "upper room" which served as the meeting place for the first Christians in Jerusalem. He was still a youth at the time of the Saviour's death. In his description of the young man who was present when Jesus was seized and who fled from the leaving behind his "linen cloth," he was probably speaking of himself.

During the years that followed, as Mark grew into adulthood, he witnessed the growth of the infant Church in his mother's Upper Room and came to know very well the traditions and practices of the Church, which we see included in his Gospel. 

In the Acts of the Apostles we find Mark accompanying his uncle (or perhaps cousin) Barnabas and Paul on their return journey to Antioch and on their first missionary journey. But Mark wasn’t ready for the hardships of this type of work and therefore left them at Perga in Pamphylia to return home.

As the two apostles were preparing for their second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark with him. Paul, however, objected, and so Barnabas and Mark went on a missionary journey to Cyprus. Time healed the strained relations between Paul and Mark, and during St. Paul’s first Roman captivity, Mark gave Paul valuable service, which St. Paul wrote about. When he was in chains the second time, Paul requested Mark's presence (2 Tim. 4:11).

A close friendship existed between St. Mark and St. Peter; he was Peter's companion, disciple, and interpreter. According to common patristic opinion, Mark was present at Peter's preaching in Rome and wrote his Gospel under the influence of St. Peter. This explains why incidents which involve Peter are described with great detail. Little is known of St. Mark's later life, but there is an account of his martyrdom, when he was tied to a rope and dragged over sharp stones until he was dead. At the time of his martyrdom he was the bishop of Alexandria in Egypt. His relics were transferred from Alexandria to Venice, where a worthy tomb was erected in St. Mark's Cathedral.

 O Almighty God, who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly doctrine of thy Evangelist Saint Mark: give us grace; that, being not like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of thy holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "San Marco"

by Giovanni Antonio de' Sacchis "Il Pordenone" (c. 1484-1539)

Remembering an anniversary...

Forty-eight years ago on April 24th, when I was a young man of twenty-six, I was ordained as an Anglican priest in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Providence, Rhode Island. I had been serving as a Deacon in St. Stephen’s Southmead, in Bristol, England, and made the journey back to America for the occasion.

It was a grand affair. St. Stephen’s in Providence was known as “Smokey Steve’s,” and not without reason. Located in the midst of the Brown University campus, it was (in those days) one of those wonderful Anglo-catholic ghettoes, where those who went to “hear Mass” imagined that the whole world lived by the rubrics of the Anglican Missal and sang from The English Hymnal, a world where the Thirty-nine Articles had more to do with the number of buttons on Father’s cassock than with the detestable enormities of Rome.

April 24th was a perfect spring day that year. Cliché as it sounds, it really did feel like the first day of the rest of my life. Little did I know what a fatal fall was waiting for the Episcopal Church – or maybe I just didn’t want to see it. But I do thank God for that day, all those years ago. It opened the door for my vocation to the Catholic priesthood, a gift that still astonishes me.

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

St. Fidelis was born Mark Rey and took the name of "Fidelis" when he joined the Capuchin Order at the age of 35 in 1612. He was born at Sigmaringen, a town in modern-day Germany. He studied law and philosophy at Freiburg. St. Fidelis subsequently taught philosophy at the University of Freiburg, ultimately earning a doctorate in law. During his time as a student he did not drink wine, and wore a hair-shirt. He was known for his modesty, meekness, and chastity. 

In 1604, he and three friends travelled through Europe, and during his travels he attended Mass very frequently; in every town where he came, he visited the hospitals and churches, passed several hours on his knees in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and gave to the poor sometimes the very clothes off his back.

After he returned home, he took up the practice of law, and was known for his great fairness, and his dislike of ruining anyone’s reputation. He didn’t hesitate to offer his legal help to those who couldn’t afford the cost of a lawyer, and his charity earned him the name of "counsellor and advocate for the poor". He became disenchanted with some of the bad practices associated with many lawyers, and he decided to join the Capuchin friars.

When he entered the Franciscan Order of the Capuchins, he was given the religious name of "Fidelis," meaning Faithful. He finished his novitiate and his studies for the priesthood, offering his first Mass on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (October 4), in 1612. As soon as St Fidelis finished his course of theology, he was immediately employed in preaching and in hearing confessions. He was named to be Superior of one of the Capuchin Convents, and many people in the area were renewed in their faith, and several Protestant Calvinists were converted. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith commissioned Fidelis specifically for work among the Protestants.

The Protestants were very angry at this attempt to convert them. They made threats against Fidelis' life, and he began to prepare himself for martyrdom. It was on April 24, 1622, that St Fidelis made his confession, said Mass, and then went out to preach. During the sermon, leaders of the Protestants called for his death. One of them discharged his musket at him in the Church, but missed him, and the Catholics begged him to leave the place, but he was ready to lay down his life. As he went out and was on the road, a group of about twenty Calvinists started to harass him, calling him a false prophet. One of them beat him down to the ground by a stroke on the head with his sword. Fidelis rose again on his knees, and stretching forth his arms in the form of a cross, and prayed to God for their pardon. Another sword struck him in the head, and he fell to the ground and lay in a pool of his own blood. His attackers continued to stab him, and they hacked off his left leg, saying it was punishment for him coming to preach to them. He was buried by the Catholics the next day, and many who had participated in St Fidelis' martyrdom, were converted, and received into the Catholic Church.

O God, who didst enkindle blessed Fidelis with seraphic ardour of spirit in the propagation of the true Faith, and didst vouchsafe to adorn him with the palm of martyrdom, and with glorious miracles: we beseech thee; that, by his merits and intercession, thou wouldest so confirm us through thy grace in faith and charity; that in thy service we may be worthy to be found faithful, even unto death; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. George, Martyr

St. George was born in Cappadocia in what is now Turkey, sometime in the third century. His father died when George was still young and he went with his mother to Palestine, which is where she had come from. Her family there was quite wealthy, and she had a large estate, which fell to George. He was strong and robust, and having embraced the profession of a soldier, was made a tribune in the army of the Emperor Diocletian. He showed himself to be an excellent soldier, very brave, and he received many honours and advancements in his military career.

When Diocletian began persecuting the Christian religion, St. George gave up his commission and posts, and complained to the emperor himself of his severities and bloody edicts. He was immediately cast into prison, and put on trial, questioned and tortured with great cruelty; but nothing could shake his constancy. The next day he was led through the city and beheaded.

So what of the account of St. George slaying the dragon? According to the story, a terrible dragon, which lived in a marshy swamp, had ravaged all the country round a city of Libya, called Selena. It would come near the city looking for something to eat, and when it breathed, it would spread sickness throughout all the people. The people decided to give the monster two sheep every day to satisfy its hunger, but, when they ran out of sheep, they would give the dragon a human victim, whom they would choose by lot. On one occasion the lot fell to the king's little daughter. The king offered all his wealth to purchase a substitute, but the people had said that no substitutes would be allowed, and so the maiden, dressed as a bride, was led to the swamp.

At that very time, St. George happened to ride by, and he asked the young girl what she did, but she warned him to leave her, because his own life was in danger. St. George stayed, however, and when the dragon appeared, St. George, making the sign of the cross, bravely attacked it and stabbed it with his lance, wounding it. Then asking the maiden for her belt, he bound it round the neck of the monster, and the princess was able to lead it without any struggle, back to the town. St. George told the people not to be afraid, but only be baptized, after which he cut off the dragon's head and the townsfolk were all converted. The king would have given George half his kingdom, but the saint replied that he must ride on, bidding the king meanwhile take good care of God's churches, honour the clergy, and have pity on the poor.

This account keeps before us the importance of the witness of St. George, who fought against the Emperor and against all those things that were trying to destroy the Church. The lesson is that good eventually will conquer evil, and all we need to do is put our fear aside, and live in the grace of our baptism.

O God of hosts, who didst so kindle the flame of love in the heart of thy servant George that he bore witness to the risen Lord by his life and by his death: grant us the same power of faith and love; that we, who rejoice in his triumphs, may come to share with him the fulness of the Resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: An icon of St. George 

which is above the altar in my 

Personal Chapel of the Martyr St. George.

Jesus Christ: At One With His Sheep

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” [St. John 10:14, 15]

In those words He outlines the two characteristics – the two marks – that distinguish the Good Shepherd: an intimate personal knowledge of us, and a sacrificial love for us. And these two characteristics, or marks, embrace two of the major doctrines of our faith: first, the Incarnation – the fact that our Lord took human flesh upon Himself and lived a human life which means that He truly knows us; and the Atonement – the fact that He willingly went to the cross as a sacrifice for our sin, so that each of us could be restored to a unity with God.

From a purely human point of view, we are unable to really sympathize with someone unless we have a knowledge of the other person. The better we know someone, the more understanding we can have. For instance, we are all able to sympathize to some degree with someone who has lost a child, but if we ourselves have experienced the death of a child, our sympathy becomes empathy – we know exactly what they are going through. When we have shared the same difficulties, or we have had the same temptations, or if we have had any sort of similar experience as another person, there is an empathetic knowledge that helps form a bond between us.

This is a tiny glimpse of the knowledge that Christ speaks about in His relationship with us. He shares our human nature, including all our sorrows, our temptations, our difficulties – He says that He “knows us.” And because He shares our human nature, He says that we can know Him.

But He goes even further: He says that He knows us, and we know Him, just as the Father knows Him and He knows the Father. This reveals a profound truth: our Lord Jesus Christ shares our nature, and He also shares the nature of the Father. In other words, He is God and Man in one Person. Here is the foundational doctrine of our faith: that the Eternal Son, who is One with the Father, has taken upon Himself our nature, so that He is Man also, feeling with human feelings, sharing in our human sorrows, knowing by actual experience all aspects of human life. He is our Good Shepherd because He is the Incarnate Son. The two are completely interwoven.

And there is the other distinguishing characteristic, or mark, of the Good Shepherd: that He “lays down his life for the sheep.” Just as His knowledge of us rests upon the truth of the Incarnation, so the sacrifice of Himself upon the Cross reveals another essential Catholic truth: Christ’s Atonement. Although we cannot fully understand the exact way – the precise mechanics – by which the Atonement achieves our redemption because it is, after all, a mystery which is beyond human grasp – it is enough to know that by His death, He has rescued us from the power of Satan, and restored us to a proper relationship with our Father in heaven.

These theological doctrines of the Incarnation and the Atonement are not just matters of speculation, to be considered by professional theologians; but they describe the close and personal relationship we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have a Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us. Even though we cannot now see Him with our human eyes, He knows us and we know Him. Sight, although it can be a great help towards knowledge, is not necessary to it. Millions who have never seen Christ in the flesh have learned to know Him more deeply than some of those who were able to witness His life and miracles first-hand. As the Scriptures remind us, there is a knowledge by faith as well as by sight – and it is by faith that we know Him. We know that He has laid down His life for us; that, while we were yet sinners, He died for us. And however deficient we may be in our love for Him, nonetheless He is filled with love for us, and in that love He gives us everything we need. It really is as simple as that: if you want to know Him, then believe in Him; the more you live in faith, the more knowledge of Him you will have.

Our faith is true, and so we know that the Good Shepherd gives us everything we need, both for body and soul; grace sufficient for every need; strength in temptation, guidance in perplexity, comfort in sorrow, companionship in our loneliness, solace in our suffering. And even in death itself, we need fear no evil, for He is there to be our Life, to bring us through the dark valley, and to make us dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.

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Pictured: "Christ the Good Shepherd"

by Charles Bosseron Chambers (1883-1964)

The Best Things In The Worst Times

There is an old chapel in Leicestershire, England, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Inside the front doors there is a plaque which says, “In the year 1653, when all things sacred were throughout the whole nation either demolished or profaned, Sir Robert Shirley builded this church; whose singular praise it was to have done the best things in the worst times, and to have hope in the most calamitous of ages...”

There are acts of faith, animated by the living Spirit of God, which mean that in hopeless times we do hopeful things, much as the shepherd boy David did, as he prepared to face Goliath. Hopeless by human standards? Certainly! But David, the future king of Israel, was imbued by the strength of God’s Holy Spirit, and as the wicked giant stood poised to slaughter young David, God turned sure defeat into a rousing victory -- one that was startlingly quick and complete. And certainly God’s Spirit can work that way sometimes within our lives... almost as though we were spun around in our tracks, or pulled back just as we were ready to fall off a great precipice.

But, of course, God’s Spirit doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes He seems to work at an excruciatingly slow pace. Remember Job, a man also filled with God’s Holy Spirit, who was reduced to sitting on a heap of rubbish scraping his running sores with broken pieces of pottery. And yet even a person in such circumstances was able to say, “I know that my redeemer liveth... and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and not as a stranger!” There is no doubt at all that that kind of conviction has within it the seeds of ultimate victory. Those are words that could only have been planted in Job by God Himself. That kind of victory means that even though today’s defeat might be bitter to the taste, nevertheless we can live in the knowledge that this hour’s defeat may well contribute to tomorrow’s final victory.

To that end, may we always do the best things, even in the worst times.

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Pictured: "David and Goliath"

From Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins

French (Paris), c. 1300-1325

Easter III: Christ's Peace

The disciples were behind locked doors on the night of that first Easter day. Rumours of resurrection were all around them, but at this point they were filled with fear rather than joy. They were afraid of the Jewish leaders – after all, if they had done this horrible thing to Jesus, what might they do to His disciples? So they had shut themselves away, unable to take in all that was happening. 

It was into that prison of fear that Jesus came. He did not knock on the locked doors, nor did He wait for someone to invite Him in; rather, He simply appeared in their midst. And what were His first words to them? "Peace to you.” This was not an idle wish, but real words of peace.

The disciples were afraid. “Is this some kind of apparition?” they wondered, or perhaps a ghost? So He shows them His wounds - the nail marks in His hands, the wound of the spear in His side. And there, before their eyes, was the fulfilment of what the prophet Isaiah had said so many generations before: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Jesus Christ, the Victim of violence, now stands before them as the Prince of Peace, and saying to them “Peace to you.” 

This was a peace which the world cannot give. The Hebrew word for peace is “shalom,” which means more than simply the absence of war and fighting.  It means that everything is in its place, everything is in harmony, everything is whole. What Jesus accomplished on the Cross is now spoken to the disciples, and to all of us, “Peace to you.”

Wherever Jesus is, peace is there. Sin is atoned for. Death is conquered. Life is brimming over. And there is peace. Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One, is our peace. From Jesus Christ Himself, from His wounded Body, come His sacraments of peace and life and salvation. They are there for us in the font and on the altar, all as real as was Jesus in the upper room on that first Easter evening.

The Gospel tells us that the disciples were so joyful, they could scarcely believe it. And who wouldn't be overcome with joy? The Easter news is true. The Lord is risen! How great their joy must have been! To see His wounds, to hear His words, to be filled with His peace.

"Peace to you," the Lord Jesus said to them. He was giving peace for themselves, to quiet their fear, to turn their sorrow into gladness, and He was giving them peace for others – peace to move their feet out of their little locked room and into the world. He tells them that they should “preach in His name to all nations” because they are “witnesses” to all that He has done.

And we know from other Gospel accounts that He breathed His breath on them, and He told them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” Of course, without the Holy Spirit the disciples couldn’t do what Jesus was sending them to do. "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained," He tells them.

So they are sent out with authority. With His breath and with His words, Jesus authorizes them to do what God alone can do – to forgive sin. There would always be those, even in our own day, who demand to know, “How can mere men presume to forgive sin?” But it isn’t men who forgive sin; rather, it is the One who sends them, the One who breathes on them, who gives them His Spirit and authority. So when Peter or James or John or Bartholomew or Andrew or any of the other apostles forgave, it was Jesus forgiving. Jesus sends them with His own authority, the authority with which the Father had sent Him. Jesus binds His mouth to their mouths, His word to their words, His breath to their breath, His Spirit to their spirit. Their forgiveness was His forgiveness.

And we know that Jesus not only sent out his original apostles, but that He also makes present His words, His peace, and His forgiveness through the priesthood He has entrusted to His Church through apostolic succession. This means that every bishop, and every priest ordained by a bishop, speaks with the very breath and authority of the Risen Christ when it comes to dealing with sin. Every ordination is an echo of that first Easter Sunday in the locked room when the risen Lord Jesus Christ breathed on that fearful band of disciples and sent them as His apostles to be His witnesses, to forgive and to retain sin. Bishops and Priests don’t represent their own persons when they administer Christ's Word and sacraments, but they speak and act in the stead, and by the command, of the Crucified and Risen Christ who sends them through His Church and who ministers through them.

What a comfort this is for those who are looking for forgiveness and peace. This is Christ’s promise – that He doesn't leave us uncertain about forgiveness. He doesn't leave us searching for peace. Rather, God locates forgiveness and peace where it can be found and received - in Peter and the other apostles, and in those who succeed them. Jesus Christ puts men under holy orders, and included as part of those orders is to minister forgiveness in His Name, to conquer sin through the lordship of Christ’s death and resurrection, to proclaim Christ’s word in season and out of season.

Jesus Christ really is risen from the dead. He is alive; He is not dead. He is present; He is not absent. And in the power of His resurrection, He is present with us in the fullness of His divinity and His humanity. Locked doors could not keep Him out. Nothing can. He is present among us as surely and as fully as He was with the disciples in the locked room on that first Easter. He is with us to free us from our fears, to speak His peace into our hearts, to forgive our sins, to turn our sorrow into gladness, and to bless us.

 
We have been reborn in His baptism; we have received His forgiveness; we are nourished with His Body and His Blood. His words, His sacrifice, His ministry – these are the gifts of Easter from Christ to His Church. This is the peace which Christ promised – the peace of God which passes all understanding.

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Pictured: "Appearance Behind Locked Doors" 

by Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1260 - c.1319)

Pope St. Martin I, Martyr

Although little is known of the early life of the seventh century pope and martyr St. Martin I, we do know that he was member of the Roman clergy, and was elected pope in 649. He immediately found himself in the center of a religious and political controversy, which provides us with facts about him during his pontificate.

In the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire there was a heresy, or false teaching, known as Monothelitism, which said that Christ, while on earth, had no human will, but only a divine one. (The Church teaches that Jesus has two wills: a full and perfect divine one, and a full and perfect human one, and these two wills are in perfect accord with each other.) Why is this teaching important? If Christ had no human will, then He wouldn’t be truly human – He would simply be God dressed up in human flesh. We see the two wills of Christ in Scripture when, for example, Jesus was praying in Gethsemane, and He prayed to His father, “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”

Several of the Eastern emperors had favored the Monothelite teaching, and they were supported by the patriarch of the imperial city of Constantinople.

Pope Martin convened a Council at the Lateran, and the bishops gathered there affirmed the true teaching about the two wills of Christ.

Pope Martin lay on a couch in front of the altar, too sick to fight, when the soldiers burst into the Lateran basilica. He had come to the church when he heard the soldiers had landed. The thought of kidnapping a sick pope from the house of God didn't stop the soldiers from grabbing him and hustling him down to their ship.

When Pope Martin arrived in Constantinople after a long voyage he was immediately put into prison. There he spent three months in a filthy, freezing cell while he suffered from dysentery. He was not allowed to wash, and was given the most disgusting food. After he was condemned for treason without being allowed to speak in his defense he was imprisoned for another three months.

From there he was exiled to the Crimea where he suffered horribly. But hardest to take was the fact that the pope found himself friendless. His letters tell how his own clergy had deserted him and his friends had forgotten him.

He died two years later in exile in the year 656, a martyr who stood up for the right of the Church to establish doctrine even in the face of imperial power. Truth is sometimes “politically incorrect,” but, as St. Martin knew, followers of Christ must defend the Faith nonetheless, even at the risk of controversy, personal suffering, and death.

Everlasting Shepherd, favourably look upon thy flock: and keep it with perpetual protection through the prayers of blessed Martin thy Martyr and Supreme Pontiff, whom thou didst appoint to be shepherd of the whole Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr

St. Stanislaus was born in 1030 and was educated at Gnesen and at Paris. After his ordination to the priesthood he was made a canon of the cathedral at Cracow as well as archdeacon and preacher. Upon the death of the bishop of Cracow, he was nominated bishop of the diocese by Pope Alexander II.

The king at the time, Boleslaus II, trying to strengthen his own power, began invading his neighbors, making himself very unpopular with the nobles of the country, who opposed his policies. St. Stanislaus of Cracow sided with the nobles, led by the king's brother, Ladislaus, and this brought him into conflict with the king.

Stanislaus had opposed the king before for his ruthless and cruel ways (the king was a bully) and one time St. Stanislaus confronted the king face-to-face for his immoral behavior when Boleslaus had abducted the wife of a Polish nobleman and carried her off to his castle. No one seemed willing to face the king from a fear of his rage, but Stanislaus boldly went to the king and threatened him with excommunication if he did not change his ways. Furious, the king promised revenge on the bishop. Later, Stanislaus sided with the nobles in their opposition to the king's political policies, and the king accused him of being a traitor and condemned him to death.

At first the king commanded his soldiers to kill the bishop when he was celebrating Mass at St. Michael's Chapel in Cracow, but the soldiers refused, fearing to bring down upon themselves the wrath of God. Undeterred, the king himself entered the church, drew his sword, and killed the bishop, ordering his soldiers to dismember the body.

Pope Gregory VII placed the country under interdict and Boleslaus fell from power, fleeing to Hungary, where he entered the monastery of Osiak to do penance for his crime. Stanislaus, canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1253, is one of the patron saints of Poland.

O God, for whose honour the glorious Bishop Stanislaus was slain by the swords of wicked men: grant, we beseech thee; that all who call upon him for succour, may obtain the saving effect of their petition; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "The Murder of St. Stanislaus"

by Władysław Barwicki (1865–1933)

The Solemnity of the Annunciation

At the Annunciation, God sent His messenger, the archangel Gabriel, to announce to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would bear the Incarnate Son of God, and it would be Jesus who would take human flesh from her, to bring salvation into the world. When Mary heard these words, she was filled with awe and wonder, and she asked for clarification: “How can this be…?” When Gabriel told her that it would be by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded by saying, “Let it be unto me according to thy word.”

That is an important phrase, “Let it be…” It takes us back to creation itself, when by the word of God, all things came into being.

In the beginning, God said “Let there be light,” and there was. God brought into being everything there was – by His word there came into being all of creation, including man himself. In fact, creation itself is the larger context for the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As God spoke His creative word in the beginning, so in our remembrance of the beginning of the Incarnation we call to mind Mary’s words, “Let it be…. Let it be unto me according to thy word.” The Virgin Mary’s words, “Let it be,” echo God’s words, “Let there be.” It is, in a way, the continuation of creation and the beginning of our salvation. 

God says, “Let there be…” and His word brings forth creation.  Mary says, “Let it be,” and her words bring forth the Incarnate God into the world.

We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts: that, as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an Angel; so by his Cross and Passion we may be brought unto the glory of his Resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: "The Annunciation" by Arthur Hacker, 1892 

Easter II: Unbelief and Mercy

From the Gospel we heard at the first Mass of Easter, all the way through the Gospels during the Octave, we receive more and more details of the appearances of the Risen Lord Jesus. In fact, in the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter there are two appearances recounted to us, and they were just a week apart. 

St. John tells us that at the first appearance, which took place in the evening of the day on which Christ rose from the dead, St. Thomas wasn’t there. Later, when he heard that his fellow apostles had seen the Risen Lord, he made his now-famous statement, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” It was that statement which has led to the term in our language which is so familiar – that of being a “doubting Thomas.” And, of course, some eight days later, Thomas is given exactly the opportunity he said he wanted. He got the chance to examine for himself, but all he could do was to sink to his knees and exclaim, “My Lord and my God!”

This raises something for us to look at more closely here. Consider how Christ treated Thomas’ unbelief, compared to how He dealt with unbelief generally during His earthly ministry. It takes only a quick look in the Gospels to see that our Lord’s treatment of the unbelief of the Jewish people and their leaders was very different from His reaction to the initial unbelief of Thomas. We see that the stern words of rebuke which He spoke to unbelievers during His earthly life were very different from the gentle language He used with Thomas. 

Let’s look at a few of those occasions in our Lord’s ministry when He spoke out about the unbelief which the Jews had for Him and His teaching. In the synagogue at Capernaum, for instance, they were offended when Christ called Himself the Bread which came down from heaven, which must be eaten to have eternal life. In fact, this presented such difficulties for so many, that even quite a few of His followers left Him. And what did He say as they left? “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him...” And on another occasion, as He taught in the Temple, the Pharisees accused Him of testifying on His own behalf, which they said was the reason why they didn’t believe Him. But instead of modifying His teaching, He was pretty tough on them when He said, “Why do you not understand what I am staying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word. You belong to your father the devil... You do not listen because you do not belong to God.” Or again, as He walked in the Temple on another occasion, the Jews asked Him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” But His reply was a sharp one: “You do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.”

Instances such as those contrast with how Jesus treated His Apostle Thomas, when Thomas expressed his own disbelief, and that he was going to need some proof. Was Jesus stern? Did He berate him? No, Jesus simply said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless but believing.” This was the gentle reply with which St. Thomas’s inconstant and weak faith was met.

From what we observe, it follows that there must be something essentially different between the unbelief of St. Thomas, and the unbelief of the world. Our Lord Himself is unchangeable, so it follows that when He gave different treatment to cases apparently the same, the cases themselves must actually be different. What was it, then, which made the unbelief of St. Thomas pardonable, while the unbelieving Jews were treated more harshly? It’s because we’re seeing two different types of unbelievers. 

First of all, those unbelievers who questioned Christ during His earthly ministry had doubts and questions which didn’t come out of any love for Christ, or from any sense of their own sinfulness and need for God’s mercy. The root of their unbelief lay in their desire to find Christ in the wrong. They didn’t like His teaching; they didn’t want to have Him for their Master; they couldn’t bear to give up their selfishness and their worldliness to become His followers – and that meant that there was nothing in them to which Christ could appeal. The only chance of their salvation lay in their repentance, which they had no intention of doing.

Isn’t it true that so much of the unbelief which we see in the world today springs from selfishness and and the attitude that “I’m going to go my own way”? The sad fact is, most people don’t like to give up the things that keep them away from life with God. They don’t want to deny themselves any comfort or any amusement they happen to desire. They can never have their questions answered, or their doubts settled, because both the doubts and the questions rise out of hearts which are at enmity with God. They refuse to subject themselves to the Will of God. If such people are to come to the knowledge of God and His mercy, it won’t be by arguing with them – no, it will be by praying for them, so that they themselves will decide come to know their spiritual poverty, and bring themselves before God in humility and love.

St. Thomas, on the other hand, represents another kind of unbeliever – and he makes us think of those times and situations in which even true disciples of Christ fall into temporary doubt or unbelief – times which many of us have had.

Notice some important things: first of all, Thomas’s unbelief arose during his separation from the other disciples. Where he was and what he was doing during that first appearance of the Risen Christ, we don’t know. But the unbelief that settled on him for that ensuing week was like a dark cloud on his soul, and it was due to his absence from his brothers in the Upper Room. Had he been there, he would have had the joy and assurance the others had received when they saw the Lord.

That’s an important lesson for all of us. We cannot separate ourselves from the Church, from our brothers and sisters in Christ, simply to do our own thing, and expect to be able to keep a healthy faith. Thomas’s separation meant that his mind was left to prey upon itself, and that’s what happens to anyone who tries to “go it alone."  We need the fellowship of the Church, and the sacraments of the Church, and the constant teaching of the Church. When God placed an obligation upon us to attend Mass every week, He did it for our good, and not because He simply wanted to keep us from what we might consider to be “more fun.”

So here’s the difference between the unbelief of the world, and the unbelief of Thomas: the world wants its own glory, and it measures everything by its own standards, and it wants nothing to move it away from its own selfishness. Thomas, on the other hand, loved Christ. He may not have fully understood, but his will and his affections were set on God.

And understanding this difference is especially important if we’re going to understand what Divine Mercy is about. God’s mercy doesn’t mean that we can simply do whatever we want and believe whatever we want, and God will somehow “wink” at it. That’s part of the gross misunderstanding we see in the world around us today.

For a person to receive God’s mercy means that he has to be like St. Thomas – that is, to follow Christ wherever He may lead, in the way of obedience. To receive God’s mercy means that we come to Him with love and repentance, and that we sink before Him with the words “My Lord and my God” on our lips. We cannot expect God’s mercy if we expect Him simply to take us the way we are. No, God’s mercy comes when we take God the way He is. To receive the mercy of God means that we come to Him with love in our hearts, as Thomas did – and with the intention to be obedient to what God asks of us, and with the desire to live faithfully within the Church which Christ Himself established. God’s mercy cannot be received by a clenched fist of defiance, but only by a heart open to the love of the risen Saviour who died for our sins and who now lives for our salvation, and whom we greet with the words, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Almighty Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness; that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: "The Doubting of Thomas" by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1881)

Saturday in the Octave of Easter

 

Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

-St. Mark 16:9-15

This portion of St. Mark’s Gospel outlines the duties of the Church which Christ founded, the tasks committed to her by Jesus himself.

It states very clearly that the Church has the duty to spread the truth of the gospel. As members of the Church we are Christ’s heralds, we are His ambassadors.

It outlines an understanding of the sacramental ministry of the Church: to baptize, to make people whole by means of the power that Jesus has bestowed upon the Church.

And we are reminded that the Church is never alone in her work. The Church is the Body of Christ, and Christ works with her and in her and through her. So St. Mark’s Gospel finishes with the message that the life of the Christian is lived in the presence and in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God who was crucified and who rose again, triumphant over sin, the world, and the devil.

We thank thee, heavenly Father, for that thou hast delivered us from the dominion of sin and death and hast brought us unto the kingdom of thy Son: and we pray thee that, as by his death he hath recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to joys eternal; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: “Appearance to the Apostles while at Table"

by Duccio di Buoninsegno (c. 1255-1260 - c. 1318-1319)

Friday in the Octave of Easter

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberas; and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

- St. John 21:1-14

O God, who hast united the diversity of nations in the confession of thy Name: grant that they who are born again in the font of Baptism, may be of one mind in faith and in godliness of life; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes"

by David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690)

A New Creation

In the crucified and risen body of Jesus Christ the new creation promised by God has come. St. Paul calls Jesus the “first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Like the first rose that blooms, or the first apple that ripens, it is the sign of more to come.

The resurrection of Christ means that death has been dealt the decisive blow. Christ has taken the sting out of death by dying for us, and now He asks us to live for Him. His resurrection means that He has given us a mission and He summarized it when He said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to Me.”

Christ did not remain in the tomb, nor can we remain in the tombs we make out of our selfishness, or inaction, or lack of love for others. As St. Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” The resurrection is a call for us to go out in the Name and power of Christ, so that by our example, by our works of charity, and by our speaking the truth, the whole world may know the overwhelming power and the transforming truth of Christ’s resurrection.

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Pictured: "Resurrection of Christ" by Marco Basaiti (1470-1530)

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

-Luke 24:35-48

Christ shows them his wounds - the nail marks in His hands, the wound of the spear in His side. And there, before their eyes, was the fulfilment of what the prophet Isaiah had said so many generations before: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." 

Jesus Christ – the Victim of violence, now stands before them as the Prince of Peace, and saying to them "Peace to you." This was a peace which the world cannot give. The Hebrew word for peace is "shalom," which means more than the simple absence of war and fighting; it means that everything is in its place, everything is in harmony, everything is whole. What Jesus accomplished on the Cross is now spoken to the disciples, and to all of us, "Peace to you."

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal Mystery hast established the new covenant of reconciliation: grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "Jesus Appears to the Disciples"
by William Brassey Hole (1846-1917)