Author: ANTONINO

Scripture Readings 9th July 2017, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Zech 9:9-10; Ps 144; Rom 8:9,11-13; Mt 11:25-30

Probably written in the fifth century BC, after the return from the exile, the apocalyptic oracles of Zechariah look forward to the restoration of Israel, when all the nations will look towards Jerusalem. The Davidic king to be restored by God will bring release from captivity, but repentance must come first. Later Matthew misinterprets the idiomatic repetition of “riding on a donkey, on a colt” and has Jesus riding into Jerusalem on two animals at once (Mt 21).

Over the next few weeks we hear about the “life in the Spirit” from chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. Paul has bemoaned our inability to “do the good I want!” He sees that we serve sin through our “flesh”, our weak, earth-bound, human nature. But by coming in the likeness of sinful flesh, God’s Son has enabled us to walk “according to the Spirit”. The Spirit of God dwelling in us enables us to participate in divine life.

After Jesus’ proclaimed the gospel in Galilee, he went on to preach “in their cities” but met opposition to his teaching, and he upbraided them for their lack of repentance. Those reputed to be wise do not understand, but those with the simple trust of children do. Learn from him, for his “burden is light”.

Psalm Response: I will bless your name for ever, O God my King.

Scripture Readings 2nd July 2017, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16; Psalm 88(89): 2-3. 16-19; Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10: 37-42

Today we hear only the beginning of this story from the Second Book of the Kings about the prophet Elisha and the Shunammite woman. She recognises this frequent passer-by as a holy man and hospitably offers him a place to stay each time he passes. Elisha promises she will have a child. Some years later the child became ill and died, and the woman urgently travels the twenty miles to Carmel, confident that Elisha will heal her son, and Elisha brings her son back to life.

Paul’s meditation on redemption leads him to ask “Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound?” No, he says, God’s grace is not evoked by sin but is the expression of God’s love. This leads to today’s profound reading: “we were buried with Christ through baptism into death” so that we “might live in newness of life”. We must think of ourselves “as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus”. After our ritual death in baptism we must unite ourselves with Christ and we will eventually share in his bodily resurrection.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus concludes his teachings on the requirements and rewards of discipleship. Disciples must accept the trials that it entails, burying ourselves completely in Christ. But acts of charity and hospitality will be rewarded, just as the Shunammite woman found.

Psalm Response: I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16; Psalm 88(89): 2-3. 16-19; Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10: 37-42

FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – Reflecting On My Vocation

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

Father Bernadino as a young priest
MY 52nd ANNIVERSARY

I was 12 years old. The youngest of 11 brothers and sisters, from a poor family. I was having a little informal conversation with my mother and my sister, when my sister, Agostinha, surprised me with this question:  « Bernardino, wouldn’t you like to be a priest? ». It sounded like a very strange question but without any hesitation I said yes.

My mother and I started getting all the necessary information and in a short period of time I entered the Seminary. It was October 15, 1950 when I entered the Seminary in Funchal. It was June 12th, 1965, when I was ordained as a priest in Quelimane (Mozambique).

One day, in California, a newsman, after a few questions, asked me: « But… Father, when you were 12 years old what did you understand about priesthood? ». My answer was: « I am almost 70 years old and I still do not understand it. »

Priesthood has always been a fascinating mystery that God has been slowly revealing to me through the celebration of the Sacraments, my Pastoral ministry, my prayer life and especially in my contact with the poorest of the poor.

Alleviating the suffering of the world, being a sower of hope and compassion, struggling for social justice,  combating cruel bureaucracies and social inequalities, preparing lay leadership and Small Communities have always been some of my biggest priorities with a few successes and lots and lots of failures. The poor have always been my main masters. They are the ones who have taught me what priesthood is about. When I entered the Seminary I didn’t do it to study my vocation. When I entered the Seminary I did it to be a priest.

Now I am 79 years old. If I could go back in life I would choose to follow the same road. I never thought that it would be so difficult to be a priest, but I never thought that it would be such a fascinating and happy life. Everything I do, I do it with love and passion. When I look at a host that I just consecrated during Mass, sometimes I still feel tears in my eyes. And I still do not understand why and I don’t care to understand.

I am passionately in love with Jesus and his project of «bringing good news to the poor» (Lk. 4:18) to build, starting in this world, the Kingdom of His Father who is «Our Father who art in Heaven and on Earth». To summarize my Mission Statement as a priest, it would be: « I came to bring good news to the poor» (Lk. 4).

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com

Scripture Readings 25th June 2017, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Jer 20: 10-13; Ps 68(69): 8-10.14.17.33-35; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10: 26-33

About 600 BC Jeremiah counselled King Zedekiah to be conciliatory towards Babylon, ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. Other counsellors had Jeremiah scourged for prophesying that the Lord would punish the city because the people had not obeyed the words of the one God. Here Jeremiah expresses his internal doubts but concludes that the Lord is indeed on his side, and asks that he will see his persecutors punished. Against Jeremiah’s advice, Zedekiah revolted, Jerusalem was destroyed and the people led into exile.

In his letter to the Romans Paul continues reflecting on the redemptive mystery of Christ. Sin, the dreadful power that has gripped humanity from the beginning, causes both bodily and spiritual death. Like Adam, all people pursue their own desires in opposition to God’s will, and so continue to suffer death. But “the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many”, making life available to all.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus has described the trials the newly commissioned Apostles will face in their mission. They will be persecuted and even betrayed by members of their families. But they should “not worry about how they are to speak” in front of judges. They “will be given at that moment” what they are to say. Today’s reading insists they can have complete confidence in God and must not be afraid.

Psalm Response: In your great love, answer me, O God.

FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – Life After Delivery

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

In a mother’s womb were two babies, one asked the other: «Do you believe in life after delivery? ». The other replied «Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later. »

« Nonsense », said the first, « There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be? ». The second said «I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouth. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now».

The first replied – «That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded. ».

The second insisted – «Well I think there is something, and maybe it’s different from life here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore. ».

The first replied: « Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes nowhere. ». «Well, I don’t know, » said the second, «but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us. ».

The first replied «Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now? ». The second said: «She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist. ».

«Well I don’t see her, so it is only logical that she doesn’t exist», said the first, to which the second replied: «Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above. ».

Sometimes we are like the two babies in the story, and we ask: “Is there life after death?”… “Does God exist?”

I have heard that even though birds are surrounded by air, they don’t see the air. Fish are surrounded by water, but the last thing they see is the water. We are so immersed in God. We are completely soaked in God like a sponge with water.

We are completely surrounded by God like babies by their mother’s wombs, like birds by air and fish by water but we are so distracted by the «life» and the «needs» created by us that we make the mistake of saying and feeling that God doesn’t exist unless like the second baby says «Sometimes, when you are in silence and focus and listen we can hear HIS loving voice, calling down from above».

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

Scripture Readings 18th June 2017, Corpus Christi, Year A

Deut 8:2-3,14-16; Ps 147; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58

Deuteronomy, the “second” book of the law, collected and organised the whole Jewish law from the previous four books. It emphasises that Israel must remember how they had been tested in the wilderness so that they would not again neglect their God. God provided manna and land for their needs, but warned them not to think their success was due to their own efforts.

Paul recalls the wanderings of the Jews in the desert to warn the Corinthians not to have anything to do with idols. They must not compromise. Worship is more than words and actions, it implies the spiritual reality of becoming partners. We cannot share in Christ’s body and blood while also seeking demons such as money and power. Belonging to Christ must be total.

Chapter six of John’s gospel describes Jesus feeding the five thousand before saying that the manna came not from Moses but from the Father. And it is the Father who now offers “the true bread from heaven”, which “gives life to the world” – that is, Jesus himself. Jesus’ teaching is stark. Many could not accept it then, or now. But Jesus insists: we must show we are united with him body and soul by our physical communion with him – and so be united with all his followers. Faith must always be shown by action.

Psalm Response: O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

THE LEGEND OF OUR LADY OF PENHA DE FRANÇA

At the entrance door of the Chapel, if you look upwards, just above your head you will see a painting of a sleeping man, with an alligator waiting to attack him. This has to do with a legend, which tradition has it that a pilgrim, on the road to the shrine of Our Lady of Penha de França in Lisbon, stopped by the way and fell into a deep sleep of exhaustion. Whilst he slept, a fearsome reptile was about to devour him, when Our Lady, surrounded by an aura of light, appeared upon the hilltop and awakened the pilgrim, warning him of the danger.

The beast was slain, and the hide carried to the church in Lisbon. Without the head, it measured 14 hands, and was covered in thick greenish black scales. Stuffed with straw, it was on view in the church there until 1739, when it had to be removed owing to its dilapidated condition. At the foot of any statue of our Lady of Penha de França you will always see a sleeping man and an alligator to represent this legend.

FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – The Unfinished Project

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini wrote, among other operas, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca. It was during his battle with terminal cancer in 1922 that he began to write Turandot, which many now consider his best work. He worked on the score day and night, despite his friends’ advice to rest, and to save his energy.

When his sickness worsened, Puccini said to his disciples, “If I don’t finish Turandot, I want you to finish it.”

He died in 1924, leaving the work unfinished. His disciples gathered all that was written of Turandot, studied it in great detail, and then proceeded to write the remainder of the opera. The world premier was performed in La Scala Opera House in Milan in 1926, and Toscanini, Puccini’s favorite student, conducted it.

The opera went beautifully, until Toscanini came to the end of the part written by Puccini. He stopped the music, put down the baton, turned to the audience, and announced, “Thus far the master wrote, but he died.” There was a long pause; no one moved. Then Toscanini picked up the baton, looked at the audience and, with tears in his eyes, announced, “But his disciples finished his work…”

The opera closed to thunderous applause and to a permanent place in the annals of great works.
Jesus instructs us in His Ascension message to finish His work of saving mankind by proclaiming His Good News by words and deeds.

Jesus brought to the world an enormous project. The project of Jesus sent by his Father was to build the Kingdom of God.

The Father didn’t send His Son to the world to build the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is just an instrument to build the Kingdom of God. But He didn’t finish his job. Now, like Puccini’s disciples, it’s up to us to continue His job. To build the Kingdom of His Father.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

Scripture Readings 11th June 2017, Trinity, Year A

Ex 34:4-6,8-9; Dan 3:52-56; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18

Seeing the Israelites dancing round the golden calf, Moses was angry and had thrown down and broken the tablets on which the Lord had written his covenant. The agreement with God was literally broken!

Now the Lord, revealed as a God of compassion, tells Moses to prepare two more tablets. After “passing before” Moses, the Lord declares that He is “a God merciful, … forgiving iniquity”. Moses asks the Lord to forgive his people, and the Lord re-affirms his covenant and again writes the Commandments on stone tablets.

Today’s psalm comes from the hymn of thanks in the story of Daniel, set in the 6th century BC but probably written about 165 BC. Daniel’s three companions refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue and so were thrown into a furnace so hot their guards were killed. But God protected the three men, who walked about inside the furnace with their clothes intact but their rope bindings burned off.

After Paul’s stern instructions to his beloved Corinthians, his second letter ends with this fond farewell, including the Trinitarian grace used widely by Christians.

At the beginning of John’s Gospel, after the wedding at Cana and the cleansing of the Temple, Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be “born again”. Nicodemus cannot understand this, but Jesus insists that those who refuse to believe and trust in Jesus condemn themselves.

Psalm Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.

Ex 34:4-6,8-9; Dan 3:52-56; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18

Scripture Readings 4th June 2017, Pentecost, Year A

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23

Until recently Pentecost was less understood by Christians than the other two Jewish pilgrimage feasts of Passover and Tabernacles. Then the Dead Sea Scrolls showed that Pentecost was associated with God giving the Covenant on Sinai, and it was at Pentecost that new community members were enrolled. So the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost fits neatly with this Covenant feast.

Acts tells us that they “had all met”, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. God often made himself known with wind and fire. The list of peoples who hear and understand the Apostles extends from the east to west of the empire: effectively this is the programme for the mission now starting.

After rebuking the Corinthians for their factions and giving us the earliest description of the Eucharist, Paul shows how Christians together make up the one body of Christ on earth. It is the one Spirit who gives the gifts each individual needs for the particular task God has given him or her.

In the first ending of John’s Gospel, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen after his resurrection, and then to the disciples huddled together in a closed room “for fear of the Jews”. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them, giving them power to forgive sins.

Psalm Response: Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23