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TRÓCAIRE
TRÓCAIRE’S CHRISTMAS APPEAL ASKS PEOPLE IN IRELAND TO HELP THE WORLD’S POOREST PEOPLE WHO ARE FACING INTO MONTHS OF HUNGER BECAUSE OF AN INABILITY TO EARN MONEY DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS.
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BY DAVID O'HARE
Chrisy Kimwendo from Chilipaine, Zomba, Malawi at the new village water pump provided by Trócaire. Photo: Alan Whelan/Trócaire COVID-19 h a s devastated the ability of the world’s poorest people to earn money and produce food. Lockdowns and restrictions, while necessary to protect public health, have pushed already desperately poor people over the edge and into extreme poverty.
With no income, no social welfare supports, no markets to sell their goods and no school feeding programmes they are facing into a second pandemic: hunger. It’s not just a health crisis – for the world’s poorest people, this is about having money and food to survive each day.
POVERTY FOLLOWING COVID
The number of people in the world facing hunger this Christmas has doubled due to COVID-19 and other crises like conflict and climate change. The World Food Programme has estimated that 270 million people are “marching toward the brink of starvation”. This is double the amount who faced hunger this time last year. WFP executive director David Beasley said that “a wave of hunger and famine still threatens to sweep across the globe. Quite frankly, 2021 will be a makeor-break year.”
COVID has impacted the number of people facing hunger in various ways. People have lost their jobs and do not have access to any social welfare safety net. There has been a huge drop in remittances – money sent to family members from overseas. Schools are closed or only partially open in many countries. This means that school feeding programmes – the only source of nutritious meals for many children – are not available. Local markets were closed for a prolonged period of time meaning farmers could not sell their goods and, therefore, could not earn money. Border closures have led to a shortage of key materials including seeds. The price of these materials has increased as a result. In Zimbabwe, for example, 56 of the country’s 60 districts are now facing crisis levels of hunger. There are 4.3 million people in Zimbabwe facing hunger.
At present, the countries where Trócaire works have recorded nearly one million positive cases of COVID-19. While case numbers and fatality rates have been lower in Africa than elsewhere in the world, testing and reporting capacities are a lot less. The long-term impacts will be felt more in poorer countries due to worsening poverty and hunger.
Trócaire is responding to the COVID-19 crisis in every country where the agency works. This response includes providing clean water and handwashing facilities; distributing public health messaging (leaflets and other community messaging); providing quarantine care kits for people in isolation (food, water and phone credit); and giving direct medical support to people infected with the virus in Somalia.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS WITH A MEANING
The agency’s Christmas gifts range also reflects the fight against the virus. Included in the range this year is the ‘gift of soap’ which will provide enough soap for six months to a family in South Sudan to help keep them safe and healthy; the ‘gift of water’ which will allow people to wash their hands to reduce the spread of the virus; and the ‘gift of a quarantine care kit’ which will provide vital supplies for 16 days for a family forced to isolate.
Trócaire’s CEO, Caoimhe de Barra, said: “Your support is needed urgently to help families survive. They need our help today more than ever. We are all facing the COVID-19 crisis together. This Christmas, you can support the most vulnerable people in the world to overcome this crisis. Your support will help us to bring relief to over two million of the world’s poorest people.”
To make a donation to the Christmas Appeal or to buy a Trócaire gift, visit www.trocaire.org or call 1850 408 408 ROI (0800 912 1200 NI).
Trócaire is teaching better hygiene practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Somalia. Photo: Trócaire
CLEMENT’S FINAL DAYS
CLEMENT’S EFFORTS TO FIND A HOME FOR HIS CONGREGATION MET WITH REPEATED FAILURE. SHORTLY BEFORE HE DIED, HE WAS ASKED TO SUBMIT THE RULES OF HIS CONGREGATION FOR APPROVAL. THE EMPEROR GRANTED HIS CONGREGATION A HISTORICAL OLD CHURCH IN VIENNA WHERE CLEMENT IS BURIED.
BY BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR
In November 1818, Clement had another brush with the law. Fr Sabelli, who has sharing the chaplain’s quarters with Clement and Fr Martin Stark, asked for permission from the authorities to go to Italy on business for this religious congregation. Sabelli was a difficult character. It mattered little to him that the price of getting his travel permit was to put Clement once again in a position of conflict with the authorities. Clement was obviously the local superior of a religious community maintaining contact with its Italian superiors, something strictly forbidden in Austrian law.
The little house was raided, but there was no sign of Fr Sabelli who had received his permission to travel and fled. After intense questioning, Clement was given a stark choice: either to break off all contact with foreign superiors or else to leave Austria and take up residence in a foreign monastery of the Redemptorists. It was an unpalatable choice for an elderly man whose health was now manifestly in decline. There was no way Clement could break off contact with the superiors of the congregation. This would be tantamount to denying that he belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer that he had spent so much of his life building up. There was one small act of mercy: out of consideration for his age, he would be allowed to remain in Vienna for the winter, then when the weather improved, he could decide to join another community of the congregation.
A KINDLY KING
News that the popular preacher and spiritual guide, Fr Hoffbauer, was soon to leave Vienna was received as bad news by many people. Among them was Emperor Francis who had heard good reports about Clement. According to the version the Emperor heard, Clement himself decided to leave Vienna. He granted royal approval to the letter permitting Clement to leave but assumed that was what Clement wanted. Clement received the imperial decree on St Stephen’s day, his birthday, an unwelcome birthday present. Clement wrote to his friend Archbishop Hohenwart, the Prince Archbishop of Vienna, explaining that, while he would obey the royal command, the statement that it was his decision to leave was untrue. He was being forced to leave Vienna, as he did not have permission to stay any longer. The archbishop wrote immediately to the emperor and set the facts straight. The decree was rescinded and Clement was permitted to stay on in Vienna.
After being dogged by many years of uncertainty, things were finally beginning to move in Clement’s favour. During a visit of the Emperor Francis to Rome, the pope congratulated him on the fine priest he had in his diocese, Fr Clement Hoffbauer, whose fame had reached Rome itself. The emperor had included a visit to Naples, where his cousins were the royal family, and while there he learned more about the Redemptorists and their founder. When the emperor returned to Vienna, he was enough informed to demand a review of the documents relating to the Redemptorists. He granted Clement an audience and requested that he submit an outline of the Rule for approval. By the end of October 1819, the Rule was ready, and no time was lost submitting it.
Shortly after that, Baron Pinkler, who had access to much of the business of the state, burst into Clement’s room and said “Order the Te Deum be sung: we have won!” There was still some distance to go, but it was clear that royal approval was finally on the way.
LAST DAYS
By the winter of 1819, it was clear that Clement’s health was rapidly weakening. He had been robust, as his frequent long walking journeys had proved. He celebrated his 69th birthday on St Stephen’s Day, but his health was causing concern to his friends and especially the young Redemptorist with whom he shared the small chaplain’s apartment. Although Fr Martin was considerably younger than Clement, his bouts of sickness made the older man wonder, halfjokingly, “Martin, I am not sure sometimes which of us is the sicker!” Clement continued to drag himself every morning for a few hours of confessions in the Capuchin church.
On March 5, the third Sunday of Lent, he preached for the last time in the little convent chapel, but it was clear that time was running out. On the morning of March 15, he woke early. His friends gathered at his bedside. When the midday Angelus rang, he invited them to join him in the prayer. It was his last prayer; before it was finished, he slumped back on his bed. His founder, Alphonsus Liguori also died reciting the midday Angelus.
Clement's body was laid out in his religious habit. A friend, Chaplain Rinn, drew a sketch of the saint that became the most popular portrait of him. His friends, young and old, flocked to the convent.
FUNERAL
The body was arranged to be brought to the cathedral on the afternoon of March 16. Crowds thronged the way. As the evening grew darker, the funeral procession became a torchlight procession. No one quite knew where the candles came from. St Stephen’s Cathedral had a special ceremonial entrance. No one was quite sure who opened it. An eyewitness told how “Thousands gathered together from the city and its distant suburbs without invitation. The poor were very numerous and mourned the death of their confessor and friend with loud mourning.” The cathedral was thronged. Clement’s friend Dorothea Schlegel, writing to her friend Sophie Schlosser, said that “All the altars were covered with burning candles. A crowd of school children sang such beautiful songs that I believed I heard the angels singing.” Clement’s young student friends served the Mass.
The following day, the body was brought to the cemetery of Maria Enzersdorf outside the city where Clement had expressed a desire to be buried alongside some of his friends, including Fr Diessbach, the link with St Alphonsus who had been buried there in 1798.
Clement was victorious in death. The royal decree approving the Redemptorists was approved shortly after his death. The new congregation was assigned the old and muchrespected church of Maria Am Gestade. It was there that Clement was finally laid to rest.
End of series.
Fr Brendan McConvery CSsR is editor of Reality. He has published The Redemptorists in Ireland (1851 – 2011), St Gerard Majella: Rediscovering a Saint and historical guides to Redemptorist foundations in Clonard, Limerick and Clapham, London.
Clement's final resting place at the Church of Maria Am Gestade
Maria Am Gestade, Vienna – the church granted to the Redemptorists after Clement’s death
REALITY CHECK
PETER McVERRY SJ
The Christmas Revolution
MEETING THEIR NEW PASTOR PROVIDED AN UNEXPECTED SHOCK FOR A CONGREGATION. IF ONLY THEY HAD KNOWN WHO HE WAS IN ADVANCE!
The congregation came to church to welcome their new pastor. On the way in, there was a homeless man sitting at the church door. Few said hello, no one gave him any coins. He went into the church, up to the front, but was asked by the ushers to please sit at the back. When the announcements were over, the head usher said: “We would like to introduce our new pastor.” The congregation looked around, clapping with joy and anticipation. The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking up the aisle. The clapping stopped. He walked up to the altar and took the microphone from the elders. Then he read from the gospel. "The King will say to those on his right, 'I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink...' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?' The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
He then told the congregation what he had experienced that morning. Many heads were bowed in shame. He then said, “The world has enough people, but not enough disciples.”
CELEBRATING A REVOLUTION On Christmas day, we celebrate a revolution, a religious
revolution. To understand how revolutionary this day is, we need to remember that Jesus, his mother Mary, the apostles and all Jesus’ friends were practising Jews. For practising Jews, it was a dogma of faith that God was to be found – and only to be found – in an area of the Temple in Jerusalem, called the Holy of Holies. Human beings were forbidden to enter the Holy of Holies under pain of death, because the all-holy God should not be in the presence of sinners.
On Christmas day, God identified with us human beings. Jesus declared that God is no longer to be found in the Holy of Holies, God is to be found in human beings. Every person is the presence of God to others.
To the religious authorities of his day, this was heresy. But it got worse. Jesus did not say that God was to be found only in righteous, God-fearing, religious persons. No, God was also to be found in the sinner, the tax collector, the sick and the poor. This was too much for the religious authorities: how could God possibly be identified with sinners, those who were breaking the law? No, they would have to put a stop to this heretical teaching, Jesus would have to be got rid of.
A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REVOLUTION
For us Christians, then, God is to be found – and only to be found – in each other. Every person, male and female, black and white, gay and straight, friend and foe, is the presence of God to us. Not just our family and friends but also the poor, the homeless, the drug user, the prisoner. This is the revolution of Christmas.
This revolution is then, also, a social revolution. We can no longer say to anyone, no matter who they are, or what they have done, “Away with you, you are not our concern.” We can no longer say that some people do not deserve our respect. Christmas requires us to acknowledge the divinity within every person.
And it is, also, a political revolution, because it now determines our political choices and policies. Housing the homeless, helping the drug user into treatment, rehabilitating the prisoner, welcoming the refugee and ending poverty become overriding political priorities.
God always comes to us in disguise. The all-powerful God came to us disguised as a vulnerable child, born to an unmarried mother on the side of the road – but only a few shepherds recognised him. The all-loving God was to be found hanging on a cross – but only a thief, on a cross beside him, recognised him. We encounter God in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick but we often do not recognise God there. If we do not find God in them, we will not find God in our churches.
For more information or to support the Peter McVerry Trust: www.pmvtrust.ie info@pmvtrust.ie +353 (0)1 823 0776
God's Word This Season
PREPARE A WAY FOR THE DECEMBER LORD
06 Today’s gospel consists of a short 'title' to the Gospel of Mark, the opening words of SECOND SUNDAY a scroll which would have
OF ADVENT summarised its contents– “the Good News about Jesus Christ”.
It is another reminder that this year, Mark will be the staple of our Sunday Gospel reading. It then quotes the Prophet Isaiah who says that God is about to send his messenger to prepare the way. The first words about sending a messenger, however, are not from Isaiah: they are taken from another prophet Malachi (3:1). That prophet’s name is,
JOHN CAME AS A WITNESS
OF ADVENT is not clear, for instance, whether John baptised Jesus. What is important for John the evangelist is that his namesake, John the Baptist, appears as a witness for Jesus. Much of the language in today’s gospel is straight from the law court – words and phrases like testify, give witness, question, confess, did not deny. In quite literally 'my messenger' (malaki might also be translated as ‘my angel’). Both Isaiah and Malachi are reminding their audience that something momentous is about to take place. The tone of the reading now becomes more conversational: it speaks about an earthly messenger. This earthly messenger is, however, something of a 'wild man' with no respect for fine clothing or elegant food – John the Baptist. Another 'wild man' is Elijah, the first of Israel’s great prophets. Like Elijah, John wears an unconventional cloak and calls for repentance, symbolised by immersion in the waters of the river Jordan. His message is not about himself but about a yet more mysterious figure who will follow him and who will baptise with the Holy Spirit. a sense the whole Gospel of John is a courtroom drama that reaches its climax in the trial before Pilate who is forced to declare Jesus innocent: “I find no case against him” (John 18:38). In this scene on the banks of the Jordan, that long courtcase begins with the interrogation of the first and leading witness, the prophet John himself. His interrogators are priests and levites from Jerusalem, members of the same political elite that controls the Temple who will conspire against Jesus. At this point in the story, Jesus has not yet appeared. What they want to know is who is John, and by what right does he come disturbing the peace. They try various
Advent is a call to renewal, to repentance. One way of putting today’s gospel into practice during the week ahead might be to make in an unhurried fashion our Christmas confession – taking time to look back on the year that has passed, noting our failures but also the times of grace when God drew us closer to himself.
Today’s Readings
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 84; 2 Pet 3:8-14:
DECEMBER 13 The presentation of John the Baptist in the Fourth Gospel is rather different from what we find in the THIRD SUNDAY other three Gospels. It
Mk 1:1-8 possibilities – is he the Messiah? No: Elijah the prophet who was supposed to prepare the way for the Messiah? No. They need an answer – they are only servants of the Temple hierarchy. John’s answer is even more mysterious: he is the voice crying in the wilderness that Isaiah foretold many centuries before to the exiles in Babylon, sent to prepare a way for the Lord who is on his way.
Today’s Readings
Is 61:1-2,10-11; Ps Lk 1; I Thess 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8,19-28
God's Word This Season
THE HEIR OF DAVID’S THRONE
DECEMBER The Annunciation scene is 20 one of the commonest Gospel scenes depicted in Western art. The painter often depicts FOURTH SUNDAY the angel as interrupting the
OF ADVENT normal flow of Mary’s life. Sometimes a piece of weaving or embroidery is still in her hands, needle or spindle poised for use. Sometimes an open book has been laid to one side. It is probably beyond our imagining to picture this scene as it really happened. Like all the
Bible stories of announcements of birth, it follows
THE WORD BECAME FLESH DECEMBER AND DWELT AMONG US
25 Depending on the time of day, there are three different sets of Mass texts
CHRISTMAS DAY for Christmas Day. They all tell the same story of the birth of Jesus. For many people, the Midnight Mass of Christmas has a special charm, and people who may not often attend Mass throughout the year make a special effort to come for the midnight Mass or for one later on Christmas Day.
The gospel of the Midnight Mass tells the story of the birth of Jesus among the animals in a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Despite school Nativity plays, it says nothing about hard-hearted inn-keepers. Ancient inns were not like modern hotels with private rooms. Travellers shared a public sleeping space, unrolling their sleeping mats wherever they could find a space. When the inn was full, as it was on this night, space was at a premium. It was hardly an ideal place for a woman to give birth to
A GRACE-FILLED MEETING
contributed its own title to a mother after childbirth (hence 'Feast of the Purification'). The second, known as
‘the redemption of the first-born’ was a rite in which a firstborn male child was redeemed by his father by a strict pattern. An angel appears, addresses a person, man or woman, by name. The person is frightened but is told not to fear. The angel delivers the message – a child will soon be born, and it will be given a special name. The prospective father or mother of the child asks how this will be, as they are either too old, or in the case of Mary, still unmarried. The angel provides a sign that this news will come to pass. Here, the sign is the pregnancy of Mary’s kinswoman, Elizabeth. There are clear echoes in Luke’s account of a promise made to David. He had become king of Israel, had conquered Jerusalem, and now planned to build a temple for the Lord. In a baby, so one can imagine Joseph and Mary seeking privacy and quiet in the part of the inn were the animals were. The birth of their child is announced to shepherds on the hill-side by the heavenly choir. “Today [one of St Luke’s favourite words] is born for you a saviour and you will find him wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
The Dawn Mass is sometimes known as the Mass of the Shepherds. Looking after animals was regarded as a rather disreputable trade, yet shepherds are the first to hear the good news, but they are also the first Christian ‘preachers’ who tell the good news of the birth to anyone who will listen to them. Luke has a particular place for Mary in his story of Jesus. Here, she "treasured these things and pondered them in her heart". She is her son’s model disciple. After Jesus’ Resurrection, she will be found with his disciples in the upper room waiting in prayer for the coming of the Spirit (Acts 1:14).
The third Mass, celebrated in the full light of day, contains the majestic prologue of the Gospel of John which announces that the eternal Word of God either offering an animal in sacrifice or the payment of a ritual sum of money to the Temple (hence the alternative name ‘the Presentation’).
The story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus coming to the Temple is a symbolic meeting of two generations of devout Jews. Joseph and Mary are young parents. Simeon and Anna represent the older generation who had spent many years observing the Law, hoping and praying that they would live to see the ‘consolation of Israel’ – the joy that would accompany the arrival of the Messiah. While they the night, his prophet and advisor, Nathan, receives a vision (today’s first reading). David will not build a house for the Lord, but the Lord will build a house for David. David’s line had been interrupted for more than 500 years. Now a village girl from Nazareth will ensure that the broken links of that chain are joined again in the son she will bear in nine months’ time.
Today’s Readings
2 Sam 7:1-5, 8-12,14,16; Ps 88; Rom
DECEMBER St Luke seems to have confused 27 two distinct Jewish traditions here. Each of them has
FEAST OF THE Christian feast. The first was a
HOLY FAMILY period of ritual purification of a
16:25-27: Lk 1:26-38 became flesh and entered fully into our human story. The birth of Jesus is a deep mystery, overshadowed by the cross, but that fragility is best expressed today in the fragility of a newborn. An English poet asks:
And is it true, and is it true, this most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained glass window’s hue, a baby in an ox’s stall?
He brings us at last to the heart of the mystery, the link between the Incarnation and the Eucharist:
God was man in Palestine and lives today in bread and wine. (John Betjeman)
Today’s Readings
Midnight: Is 9:1-7; Ps 95; Tim 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14. Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ps 96; Tim 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20. Day: Is 52: 7-10; Ps 97; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18.
welcome the child and his parents and greet him as the coming light of revelation, they also add a more sombre note: “this child is destined for the rising and the falling of many in Israel.” He will be rejected and the pain of that rejection will strike pain like a sword into the heart of his mother.
Today’s Readings
Gen 15:1-6,17:3-5, 21:1-7; Ps 104; Heb 11:8, 11-12, 17-19: Lk 2:22-40
HE PITCHED HIS TENT
JANUARY 03 The Gospel according to St John does not contain a story of the birth of Jesus. Instead, it opens with a SECOND SUNDAY majestically flowing poem
OF CHRISTMAS on how “the Word was made flesh” and dwelt among us. These verses may originally have been a hymn to be sung in Christian worship. Its opening looks back to the beginning of another book in the Bible, the very first one, Genesis, that describes creation: in the beginning God created the universe by his word. verses long, the account of of diversity of detail. In the growing sophistication of early Christian theology, the baptism posed some problems for attentive readers. If Jesus were sinless, why did he submit to “the baptism of John for the forgiveness of sins”? After Mark, they deal with it in various ways: Matthew inserts a short dialogue in which the Baptist poses precisely that question; Luke plays down the baptism – the moment of revelation by the Spirit ‘in bodily form’ comes apart from the baptism itself, while Jesus was at prayer; John preserves the tradition about the Spirit resting on Jesus, but says nothing about the baptism itself.
Mark deals with the baptism almost matterof-factly: it is not overly dramatised, but it is described as an event in which Jesus alone recognises his call through the Spirit as Beloved Son. There are a number of Old Testament allusions in this simple statement. It recalls the instructions to Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac whom he loves: Jesus, the Father’s only Son will also be offered in obedience. There may also be an allusion to the Servant of the Lord in the First Servant Song of the first reading – “Here is
The word John uses for the Word’s dwelling among us means something like ‘he pitched his tent’. It emphasises the fragile nature of the incarnation. A tent is a temporary dwelling place. It is fragile and vulnerable. In pitching his tent among us, Jesus takes on all our weakness and limitations. In Jesus, God knows what it means to be hungry or thirsty, to suffer loneliness or a broken heart. A tent was God’s first dwelling place with his people. On Mount Sinai, he instructed Moses to set up the Tent of Meeting. It was the forerunner of the great Temple of Jerusalem. A tent has advantages over a temple. A temple is a permanent structure: a tent is a moveable one. my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1). As the people moved onwards on their trek to the Promised Land, the tent accompanied them, ready to be pitched wherever they made their camp. John captures with his phrase ‘pitched his tent’ the way in which God follows his people and is close to them.
What we have received from Jesus is grace in return for grace. He contrasts the gift of grace with the gift of the Law. It was the great boast of Israel that it had received the Law directly from God through Moses.
Today’s Readings
Sir 24:1-4, 12-16; Ps 147; Eph 1:3-6, 15-18
JANUARY 10 THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus is probably the oldest. Although it is only a few THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD the Lord’s baptism probably manifests the greatest amount
Jn 1:1-18
Today’s Readings
Is 42: 1-4. 6-7; Ps 28; Acts 10: 34-38; Mk 1:7-11
God's Word This Season
FREE TO CHOOSE
JANUARY John’s account of the 17 gathering of the first disciples is different from what we find in the SECOND SUNDAY IN other gospels where Jesus
ORDINARY TIME takes the lead and calls them to follow him. John emphasises that they exercise free choice in going after Jesus. The first two disciples follow Jesus of their own free will and leave
FOLLOWING JESUS: A CHANGE
24 Today’s gospel takes another look at the call to discipleship. The arrest own mission. Mark sums up Jesus’ preaching in one short verse – “the time carry out his plan, Jesus needs people who will work alongside him. The first four he calls are fishermen. They are called while they are still practising their trade. They are also two pairs of brother who are called after their father’s name. It is quite likely that Simon and Andrew were poorer people than the Zebedee boys, James and John. The “sons of Jonah” do not appear to have owned their own boat. They fished by casting their net into the lake from the shore and then drawing it in. The Sea of Galilee was one of the major sources of wealth in Palestine. Fish were caught for consumption while they were fresh. It is also known that there was a thriving industry for preserving fish by smoking them so that they could be sent to more distant places for sale and export. The Zebedee family has a fishing boat, as well as hired men who work alongside the family. Following a homeless prophet would entail a major change in lifestyle for his boys, yet they follow Jesus without hesitation. John the Baptist after he points Jesus out to them as “the Lamb of God”. A lamb was regarded as a sacred animal in Israel. A lamb was offered every morning and every evening in the Jerusalem Temple as sacrifice. At Passover, every family sacrificed a lamb and ate its flesh. Jesus will die just as the Passover lamb is being sacrificed in the Temple. His crucified body will bear some of the characteristics of the lamb – his bones will not be broken but he will shed his blood, just as the lamb’s blood marked the homes of the Israelites to protect them. One disciple is not named: the other is Andrew, who then recruits his brother Simon whose name Jesus
Today’s Readings
1 Sam 3: 1-10; Ps 39; 1 Cor 6:13-15, 15, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42
JANUARY OF LIFESTYLE
THIRD SUNDAY IN of John the Baptist is the
ORDINARY TIME prompt for Jesus to begin his 46 has come, repent and believe the Gospel.” To immediately changes to Peter.
Today’s Readings
Jon 3:1-5,10; Ps 24; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20
SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 8 ACROSS: Across: 1. Scarab, 5. Fasted, 10. Hosanna, 11. Tabards, 12. Rook, 13. Athos, 15. Rice, 17. Yam, 19. Ankara, 21. Ararat, 22. Ascribe, 23. Church, 25. Census, 28. Ham, 30. Ruby, 31. Benin, 32. Pray, 35. Emanate, 36. Templar, 37. Oddity, 38. Newest. DOWN: 2. Cassock, 3. Rand, 4. Beauty, 5. Fathom, 6. Subs, 7. Earlier, 8. Sharia, 9. Assent, 14. Hadrian, 16. Grace, 18. Creed, 20. Ash, 21. ABC, 23. Curfew, 24. Upbraid, 26. Scrolls, 27. Sayers, 28. Heresy, 29. Milton, 33. Magi, 34. Smew.
Winner of Crossword No. 8 John Collins, Ennis Road, Limerick.
HE GIVES ORDERS TO UNCLEAN SPIRITS AND THEY OBEY
JANUARY 31 HIM Capernaum was the hometown of Jesus’ first four disciples. Through them, it became Jesus’ base and adopted home. It was a busy place. It was on the FOURTH SUNDAY edge of the Sea of Galilee and a busy fishing harbour, IN ORDINARY TIME one of many built on the shores of the lake. It was not far from one of the great ancient roads of the Middle East that connected Egypt and Mesopotamia. In Jesus’ day, it continued to be the highway along which travelers and merchandise passed. Jesus’ ministry combines preaching the Word, healing and exorcism. At that time, many forms of illness, particularly what we might call disturbances of personality or mental illness, were believed to be caused by unclean, or evil, spirits. Exorcism is often presented in the Gospel as a contest between Jesus and the demoniac powers that threaten human wellbeing. Jesus meets the challenge of the evil one calmly, but without flinching. His ability to calm the possessed person is proof of his authority, and the story causes his fame to be known around the lakeside towns and villages.
Today’s Readings
ACROSS
1. All in one piece. (6) 5. Pass, like time. (6) 10 A thin, stiff, transparent dress fabric made of silk. (7) 11. Rectangles that are not squares. (7) 12. A large metal neck ring worn by many ancient cultures. (4) 13. His original name was Yeshua. (5) 15. Opera set in Egypt, written by Giuseppe Verdi. (4) 17. One of the states of matter. (3) 19. A personal who is fanatical in pursuit of their ideals. (6) 21. Large, powerfully built birds of prey. (6) 22. The only play by Shakespeare that includes the word 'rhinoceros'. (7) 23. A German POW camp in WWII. (6) 25. A safe place for over 70s during Covid-19. (6) 28. A pen or enclosure for swine. (3) 30. Offensively impolite or bad-mannered. (4) 31. '... osbtat', notice that a book is acceptable on doctrinal and moral grounds. (5) 32. He sold his birthright for pottage. (Genesis) (4) 35. Landlocked country in East Africa. (7) 36. Believe something to be true because it is very likely. (7) 37. Jesus received 39 of these prior to the Crucifixion. (6) 38. Condemned by God to suffer eternal punishment in hell. (6)
DOWN
2. This country's film industry is known as Nollywood. (7) 3. She is traditionally considered to be the mother of the Virgin Mary. (4) 4. Nomadic people of the Sahara. (6) 5. Biblical book describing the Israelite's deliverance from slavery. (6) 6. Suffers ill health. (4) 7. Ancient timepiece which is useless in the dark. (7) 8. This Conquistador conquered the Aztecs and claimed Mexico for Spain. (6) 9. Initial tentative efforts at literary compositions. (6) 14. A day of religious observance and abstinence from work. (7) 16. A native of the Eternal City. (5) 18. "A brute in human form," according to Dean Swift in 'Gulliver's Travels'. (5) 20. Chase to touch a label. (3) 21. And other similar things in short. (3) 23. A person employed before printing was invented to make copies of manuscripts. (6) 24. Landlocked microstate bordered by France and Spain. (7) 26. Indistinct, shrouded, not readily understood. (7) 27. A feeling of illness in the stomach. (6) 28. The Dog Star. (6) 29. Gave a short, sharp cry. (6) 33. Ancient Egyptian cross but with an oval loop in place of an upper bar. (4) 34. A tiller or wheel for steering a ship or boat. (4)
Entry Form for Crossword No.10, December 2020
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