Sunday Meditation: The Presentation of the Lord

With the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord falling on a Sunday (it comes 40 days from Christmas Day and is unmovable), the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time becomes the Feast.  We do not push the Fourth Sunday to next Sunday.  The Fourth Sunday and the Feast are one.

There is so much to this feast day that no one homily can provide the full significance.  Most homilies will touch on the holy family unit of fulfilling the law.  Some homilies might focus on Christ being the “light to the gentiles” and the cultural development of blessing of the candles.  Others will touch on Simeon’s prophesy and the sword that will pierce Mary’s heart.  Few will bring up the prophetess Anna, and fewer will bring up the Holy Spirit that is all over the passage, even symbolized in the sacrificial doves.  The passage is just so rich for meditation.

 

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. 

 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

 

    “Now, Master, you may let your servant go 
        in peace, according to your word,
    for my eyes have seen your salvation,
        which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples:
    a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
        and glory for your people Israel.”

 

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
-and you yourself a sword will pierce-
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

 

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

~Lk 2:22-40

 

To explain the passage, let’s turn to Dr. Brant Pitre.

 

The clip is unfortunately cut off before Dr. Pitre addresses Anna’s role, but she is a prophetess and the significance of prophesy is further emphasized.  Here is the irony.  Christ is being redeemed from a sacrificial ritual at the Temple but we look ahead through the prophets of His actual sacrifice on Calvery.

Fr. Joseph Mary of the Capuchin Franciscans delivers a heart wrenching pastoral homily.

 

It doesn’t get better than that.

 

Sunday Meditation: “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.”

 

Since this passage is so rich Biblical, theological, and cultural significance, I am going to present video clip that captures the broad expression of the Feast.

 

 

Now when I get to that fourth mystery in the Joyous Mysteries, I can appreciate the fullness of the mystery.  I never really got all that before.  I hope you can now appreciate it too.

March for Life, 2025

Last week, January 24^th, I went, as per my annual tradition, to the March for Life down in Washington D.C.  Though it is my annual tradition, I was not able to go last year.  I don’t know if I ever posted on it.  What happened last year was that I was all paid to go and I was at the meeting spot, which was in front of Blessed Sacrament Church on Staten Island, waiting with the other pilgrims for the bus to arrive at 5:30 AM.  We waited and waited and by around an hour later we got word the bus had broken down and there was no replacement available.  With a communal sigh of disgust we had to accept the fact that we could not go in 2024.  Also once the march was cancelled and no one went.  The March was cancelled in 2021 because of Covid.  With 2016 being my first year, I have gone to eight Marches the last ten years. 

This year we again met in front of Blessed Sacrament Church but this year the bus showed up!  The process was the same as in 2023.  The bus dropped us off at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington DC, attended Mass, and then made our way (about four or five blocks) to the Washington Monument where nearby the pavilion for the speakers was set up. 

In 2023 I posted pictures of St. Patrick’s Church, and so I’ll let you go back to that.  I will post this plaque that stood outside the church showing it goes back to 1792. 

The pilgrims that attended this Mass at St. Patrick’s were those from busses from the Archdiocese of New York.  The celebrants—and it looks like there were quite a few—were all pastors and auxiliary bishops from New York.  The chief celebrant was Bishop Peter J. Byrne who was on our bus and is the auxiliary bishop for Staten Island.  Let me include these video shorts of the processing in and the processing out from Mass.

 

It was a lovely Mass with a touching homily from Bishop Byrne.

This year everyone entering the Mall had to go through metal detectors.  This took quite a while.  People had to empty their pockets and open their bags and quite a number of items could not go through.  Beside a tree before going into the metal detectors I noticed a few pocket knives that people left on the ground in the hopes I think of retrieving them afterward.  It was different, and the wait on line made me miss the first half of the speakers.  But as I found out later, the ones I missed were all from politicians.  Thank you Lord for being spared their hot air.  Here is a picture of the crowd at the Mall.

I was all the way in the back and I could hardly see the stage.  There were two big monitors for video display of the speakers.  There was a time when most of the speakers at the March were testimonies of those impacted by abortion.  Now it seems most of the speeches are from politicians.  I am forever moved by those who have experienced abortions only to regret it and from those saved from abortions.  Here from YouTube are three such speeches. 

From Dr. Catherine Wheeler, an obstetrician who came to reject doing abortions.

 

  

From Beverly Jacobson, a mother of a disabled child who was pushed to abort the child.

 

And from Josiah Presley, a survivor.

 

 

Now for some pictures.  I can’t post them all, but here’s a bunch.  Let’s start with the starting line of the March.

And then this one to get a feel for the crowd.

 

One of the highlights for me is looking at all the different signs.  They can be so creative.  Here are some.

 

 

That’s probably enough of pictures of pithy signs.  Some other phrasing on signs included:

 

Save the Baby Humans (with a picture of a turtle)

Child Sacrifice Dies With Us

Chemical Abortion Pills kill babies, harm women, & pollute our drinking water

Make Abortion Unthinkable

Love Them Both (with a picture of a pregnant woman)

Honor Motherhood Choose Life

Defund Planned Parenthood

 

One of the other highlights is looking for where the pilgrims come from.

The University of Mary is in Bismarck, North Dakota.  Holy smoke, that’s 1,534 miles of driving.  I wonder how long it took them.  Here’s another pretty far place.

And here’s the furthest of them all, Ireland!

Here’s someone interesting.  We saw him in the Mall crowd listening to the speeches.

How about this little kid who rode on his father’s shoulders the whole time.

That is so cute.

The marching route was different this year.  Instead of going around the Capital and turning to the Supreme Court Building, we turned in front of the Capital and then turned left toward the Supreme Court Building.  I think that’s because now with Roe having ended, abortion is out of the courts and into the hands of legislators.  A pretty picture of the Capital building.

Let’s end with the funniest of them all.  You probably need to be a football fan to get this.

Mahomes is the quarterback for the Super Bowl winning Kansas City Chiefs who seems to get extraordinary protection from the referees. LOL, he's going to be in the Super Bowl again next week.

Sunday Meditation: The Fulfillment of the Scriptures

On the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C we get moving into the Gospel of Luke.  The Gospel reading actually leaps in its start.  It starts with the opening lines of the first chapter of Luke and then leaps into the fourth chapter where Jesus declares He is the fullfiment of the Word.

 

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events

that have been fulfilled among us,

just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning

and ministers of the word have handed them down to us,

I too have decided,

after investigating everything accurately anew,

to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,

most excellent Theophilus,

so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings

you have received.

 

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,

and news of him spread throughout the whole region.

He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

 

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,

and went according to his custom

into the synagogue on the sabbath day.

He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,

and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them,

"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

~Lk 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Let’s get a complete background on the Gospel of Luke, it’s author, and today’s reading from the homilist that gives the best background and context, Fr. Geoffrey Plant.

Fr. Geoffrey gives us a lot of fascinating facts, but perhaps the most fascinating might be the distinguishing of how each Gospel initiates Jesus’s public ministry.  Let’s list them.

Matthew: The Sermon on the Mount

John: The Wedding Feast at Cana

Mark: The Casting Out of the Unclean Spirit at Capernaum

Luke: The Declaration of Fulfillment at the Synagogue at Nazareth

In back to back weeks, then, we have read two of the four initiations of Jesus’ public ministry.  Did you also hear the understanding of how one should interpret Biblical tests?  Through a twofold process of (1) exegesis and (2) hermeneutics.  Let’s also list Fr. Plant’s definition of both.

Exegesis: What did the text mean in the original context?

Hermeneutic: What does this the text saying to us now?

And now, Dr. Brant Pitre will provide the exegesis of the Gospel.

 

Are we not in a Jubilee year this year? 

Neither Fr. Geoffrey’s homily nor Dr. Pitre’s exegesis really served as a pastoral application of today’s Gospel, and I was going to skip it, but Fr. Cajetan Cuddy’s homily was so perfect as a pastoral application I have to include it.

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

Finally the hymn will be a brand new hymn, written very recent to celebrate the Jubilee year.  Here is the official hymn for the 2025 Jubilee, "Pilgrims of Hope".

 

 

Actually I see it’s already over a year old in composition.  Lyrics by Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri and music by Maestro Francesco Meneghello.  Recording performed by the Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC,  Peter Latona, Director.

Sunday Meditation: The Bridegroom at Cana

On the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C we get the Sign of the Wedding Feast at Cana.  I purposely titled this post “The Bridegroom at Cana” because it seems to me that the bridegroom of the actual wedding is transposed by the Eternal Bridegroom.  Here Jesus performs the miracle—called a “sign” by the John Evangelist—of transforming water into wine when at the wedding they are attending in the nearby village of Cana the wine has run out.  Notice how the headwaiter gives credit to the bridegroom for the good wine but in actuality it was the Bridegroom who provided the gift.

 

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,

and the mother of Jesus was there.

Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

When the wine ran short,

the mother of Jesus said to him,

“They have no wine.”

And Jesus said to her,

“Woman, how does your concern affect me?

My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servers,

“Do whatever he tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,

each holding twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus told them,

“Fill the jars with water.”

So they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them,

“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”

So they took it.

And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,

without knowing where it came from

— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,

the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,

“Everyone serves good wine first,

and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;

but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee

and so revealed his glory,

and his disciples began to believe in him.

~Jn 2:1-11

Fr. Terrance Chartier of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate provides a profound homily on the meaning of this miracle.  He gives us observations I never realized here and I will bet you haven’t either. 

I think the world of Fr. Terrance.  Have you ever connected the Wedding Feast at Cana with the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in the Book of Revelation?  I haven’t.  The observation of the imperfect number six of the jars leads one to connect the wine as the fulfillment of water as Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. 

Fr. Patrick Briscoe O.P. of Our Sunday Visitor gives a wonderful pastoral homily

 

 

With confidence, let us turn to our Blessed Mother for the hope we have in Christ, the Bridegroom.

 

Sunday Meditation: “The headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one.”

 

No hymn this week, but the video clip from the episode on the Wedding Feast at Cana from The Chosen.

 

 

Perhaps not the best exegesis of the Gospel passage, but well done nonetheless.

 

2022 Reads

So it’s been three years since I listed my annual reads.  I have felt very guilty on not posting them but I got out of the habit of tracking my reads.  After all, my guilt is exacerbated because this was the major reason for my blog.  I really want to keep a log of my reading whether for the blog or not.  I am going to try to track down to the best of my knowledge what I read for the years 2022 through 2024.  2022 will be the easiest because I still had most of that list.  But I have means of compiling the other lists.  I sometimes set aside the finished books in specific spots; I have my discussions on Goodreads; and I have what we discussed at the Adult Faith Formation class I lead at my parish.  If I don’t get the exact list, I will come close. 

These blog posts on my annual reads will not come with any analysis of what types of books I read or their genres.  Just a straight listing.

 

 

First Quarter:

Magnificat, January 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“The Traveler,” a short story by Wallace Stegner.

“The Curtain Blown by the Breeze,” a short story by Muriel Spark.

Magnificat, February 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“Chef’s House, a short story by Raymond Carver.

 “Petrified Man,” a short story by Eudora Welty.

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah, a non-fiction book by Brant Pitre.

Confessio, a short autobiographical testimonial by St. Patrick.

The City of God Books 11-16, by St. Augustine of Hippo, translated by William Babcock.

Magnificat, March 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

 

Second Quarter:

Magnificat, April 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art, a non-fiction book by Elizabeth Lev.

Magnificat, May 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

The Timeless Dominic: A Commentary on the O Lumen, a biographical devotional by Richard T.A. Murphy, O.P.

Walking with Mary: A Biblical Journey from Nazareth to the Cross, a devotional by Edward Sri.

Magnificat, June 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

 

 

Third Quarter:

Magnificat, July 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

The Early Church Was the Catholic Church : The Catholic Witness of the Fathers in Christianity's First Two Centuries, a Non-Fiction book by Joe Heschmeyer.

Magnificat, August 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

Apologia Pro Vita Sua, a confessional memoir by St. John Henry Newman.

Book of Genesis, a book from the Old Testament, RSV Translation.

Magnificat, September 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

 

 

Fourth Quarter:

Magnificat, October 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

Come Rack! Come Rope!, an historical novel by Robert Hugh Benson.

The Gospel of Luke, a book of the New Testament, RSV Translation.

Magnificat, November 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

The Quest for Shakespeare, a biography by Joseph Pearce.

Measure for Measure, a comic play by William Shakespeare.

“Ligeia,” a short story by Edgar Allen Poe.

The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity, a Non-Fiction Book by Taylor R. Marshall.

Desiderio Desideravi, an apostolic letter by Pope Francis.

Magnificat, December 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

 

Unfinished Reading:

The Intellectual Life: It’s Spirits, Conditions, Methods, a non-fiction work by A.G. Sertillanges, O.P.

Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: Ancient Advice for the Modern World, a non-fiction book by Philip G. Bochanski.

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, a Non-Fiction book by Tyler Kepner.

Whose Body? A Lord Wimsey Story, a detective story by Dorothy L. Sayers.

The Dialogue, A Book of Spirituality by St. Catherine of Siena, Translated and Edited by Suzanne Noffke.