Memorial of Saints (March 20)

St. Cuthbert wanted to live in solitude as a hermit, but he could not do so because he was appointed bishop of Hexam. Though he was very prayerful, he did not neglect the care of the needy and the abandoned. He was known to have the gift of healing and prophetic visions. With his gift of healing, he healed many who were struck during a plague (died ca. 687 A.D.).

St. Wulfram served at the court of Theodore III of Neustria, and then received an appointment as archbishop of Sens. Wulfram resigned after two and a half years, and became a missionary to the Frisians (who probably lived at that time in what is now present-day Netherlands, northern Germany and southern Denmark). After years of missionary work, he returned to the monastery of Fontenelle (died ca. 703 A.D.).

St. Herbert was a disciple and close friend of St. Cuthbert. Ordained a priest, Herbert lived on an island in Lake Derwentwater, England. This was the origin of the island's name - St. Herbert's Island (died ca. 687 A.D.).

St. Photina is the name Catholic tradition gives to the Samaritan woman Jesus encountered at a well (John 4) in his itinerant missionary life. After being converted by Jesus, Photina preached the gospel, was imprisoned for three years, and died a martyr at Carthage. Martyred together with her were the servants of Emperor Nero's daughter who were all converted to the Christian faith.

St. Martin of Braga built several monasteries. In Braga, he was made metropolitan of Galicia - in present-day Spain. St. Martin wrote several treatises, two of which are Formula vitae horestae and De correctione rusticorum. St. Martin died at Dumium - the main monastery where he did his work as bishop (died ca. 597 A.D.).

5th Sunday of Lent (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 5th Sunday of Lent Year B, March 29, 2009

First reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51
Second reading: Hebrews 5:7-9
Gospel reading: John 12:20-33

"...If it dies, it produces much fruit."

In the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the gospel presents Jesus speaking about His impending Passion. The passage in John's gospel specifies the Passion as an "hour" - with the Lord Himself mentioning that His hour is coming to pass. That "hour" involves everything in His passion, death and resurrection: beginning with His arrest, to His crucifixion, death on the Cross and resurrection. Aside from the "hour", Jesus also mentions the image of a grain of wheat falling to the earth, and then dies. The Lord uses this analogy to help His hearers understand His dying not as a loss, but one that produces much fruit. It is Christ's will that all who follow Him understand that losses or deaths in its many forms, small or big, if rooted in His life and work, will bear fruit for the greater good.

This Sunday's gospel makes all aware that though Jesus is divine, He was also human. And He expressed it well by saying, "My soul is troubled now, yet what should I say - Father, save Me from this hour?" Jesus knew He was sent by the Father to save the world. And God spoke in a voice from the heavens to make the people also aware of who Jesus is, and what would transpire in that hour that will come to pass. It is an "hour" for the glory of God - a mystery so deep, clothed in the appearance of the Crucifixion, and one which God's wisdom transcends all human reason or philosophy.

It is human to worry, fear or be anxious about the realities of losses and deaths. Some psychologists made a survey, and surprisingly, it was not death that man fears the most but speaking before a crowd of people he does not know. But even with this modern survey, the fear of death has been in the mind of ancient man for it is a reality not known to him. Man fears anything unknown. But Jesus' death helps man understand what it is in the context of faith in a Father who knows all. Since death is a spiritual reality unseen, an analogy is used to understand it in a context of natural faith: like a grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies, and produces much fruit. Faith in Jesus is keeping to His word in faith - that death leads to resurrection, to new life - in this world, and in the next.

4th Sunday of Lent (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 4th Sunday of Lent (B), March 18, 2012

Liturgical readings

2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Psalm 137
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 3:14-21

"That the world might be saved through Christ."

It is by sinfulness that humanity can be condemned and judged by God. But God in His faithfulness and mercy, does not want humanity to suffer this final fate. Instead, He sent His Son Jesus, His only begotten, to lead all humanity to the Truth, the Way, and the Life Jesus teaches. Jesus is the true Source of healing and salvation from sin and eternal death. Whoever believes in God in Jesus, and approaches Him with a contrite heart in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, will be saved. What is needed is to make daily steps to reform his life, to resolve not to repeat past offenses against God, and not to commit again the past sins that can lead him to die in iniquity and perdition. If man roots all his life and work in God, he will share in the eternal life that is meant for all.

The Lord entered human history not to rule as the world's kings do, but to serve, to bring light to all minds and hearts, and to show the path that leads to His Kingdom. In His kingdom, His throne is not of gold nor of silver, but a Cross that lifted Him up on Golgotha. This cross of the Saviour is part of the path and journey to His kingdom. It is a path strewn with sacrifices, humility, mortification and life-giving work. God sent His Son Jesus to call us to His Kingdom. And there is no need to leave one's present state of life and work. Anyone can find Jesus, and the path to His Kingdom wherever he already is. Continuous conversion and a daily turning of one's heart to God is the key to His Kingdom.

Following Christ's call to conversion and to journey to His Kingdom needs hearts purified from values in modern culture that oppose what Christ teaches. Jesus espouses the value of the Cross but sharing in the Cross of Christ does not mean performing extraordinary feats of mortification; it can simply mean carrying one another's burdens in life with the spirit of His charity. This is exactly why the Father sent His Son: that all may learn to listen to Him well, and believe. Listening is difficult, but can be made easy with discipline. The discipline can be learned. To learn to listen to God in His Word and Sacrament will always help anyone "put off the old man, be dressed anew (Ephesians 4:22-24), abandon sin, and then remove everything that presents an obstacle to the love of God" (from St. Francis de Sales). And this spiritual direction produces a hope for all humanity "that the world might be saved through Christ."