The humble lamb

St Francis of Assisi (c.1181-1226), whose Transitus, his passing to eternal life, was commemorated yesterday evening on the 800th anniversary of his death, remains one of the Church's most beloved saints.  St Francis is among the most widely admired saints in Christian history.

In common with other saints of the second millennium, St Francis embraced a strong Eucharistic message.  A much-loved story from the Franciscan tradition tells of a little lamb that would kneel during the elevation at Mass:

During the celebration of the Mass, at the moment of elevation, he would bow down, knees bent, as if it were that this devout little animal wished to reproach men of little faith for their irreverence and encourage devout men for their reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament.

In his Admonitions, Francis writes:

The cornerstone

 

Sunday 4 October 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 5:1-7 Psalm 80 (79) Philippians 4:6-9 Matthew 21:33-43

See, also, Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19

Meditatio:

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes” (Matthew 21:42)

Commentary:

Yet another parable from Saint Matthew's Gospel is placed before us: a landowner plants a vineyard, entrusts it to tenants and later comes seeking its fruits. At first glance, we may imagine ourselves in various parts of the story. Perhaps we recognise moments when we have resisted God's voice, or perhaps we are drawn to the image of Christ, the rejected cornerstone upon whom our lives are built.

To understand the parable properly, however, we must remember its biblical and historical setting. 

Joy is the echo of the Eucharist within us

Blessed Columba Marmion (1858–1923) was an Irish Benedictine monk and Abbot of Maredsous in Belgium.  He was an important spiritual writer of the modern Church (some might say the ‘pre-modern’!).  He emphasised that Christ's life is communicated to believers above all through the liturgy and sacraments.

He was born on the northside of Dublin in Queen Street which is now known as North Brunswick Street. Before becoming the renowned Benedictine abbot of Maredsous, Blessed Columba Marmion served as a young curate in Dundrum Parish from 1881 to 1882. There, in the ordinary work of parish ministry and the celebration of the sacraments, the future spiritual master first exercised the priesthood that would later inspire Catholics throughout the world.

An entry in Wikipedia says about Blessed Marmion:

Always at my side

One of the earliest prayers I learned was this:

Angel of God, my guardian dear
To whom God’s love commits me here
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen

Today, the feast of the Guardian Angels, reminds us that on the journey of life we are not alone.  Many seek wisdom, friendship and protection.  With a mustard seed size of faith we can be sure that an angelic presence assigned to us at the first moment of our existence in the womb accompanies us.  Praying with and to one’s guardian angel is not a substitute for a living, deep and personal relationship with Jesus. Rather, it is a boost, a complementary help.

In the heart of the Church: St Thérèse and the Eucharist

St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), Doctor of the Church was a Carmelite nun known to older generations as ‘the Little Flower’.  She had a deep and distinctive relationship with the Eucharist that shaped both her spirituality and her life. She grew up in a loving and devout family but was not spared suffering in childhood. Her mother, St Zélie Martin, died when Thérèse was only four years old, a loss that left a lasting mark on her sensitive nature.

Following several of her sisters into the Carmelite monastery in her hometown of Lisieux, she entered Carmel at the age of fifteen. There she lived a remarkable life of hidden holiness, simplicity and spiritual insight before her death from tuberculosis in 1897 at the age of twenty-four. She never lived to see the twentieth century, yet in many ways she can be regarded as a remarkably modern saint, living at a time of growing scepticism, rapid material progress and increasing pressures on the Church. Her mission, as she eventually discovered, was simply ‘to be love in the heart of the Church’.

Two tables, one Body

 

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St Jerome (c. 347-420), best known for translating much of the Bible into Latin.  His famous saying still echoes:

Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

Jerome's love of Scripture was inseparable from his love of the Eucharist. His writings provide an important witness to what Christians believed about the Eucharist at the beginning of the fifth century.  In a letter to Heliodorus, Jerome speaks of priests as those who:

confect by their sacred word the Body of Christ.

In a text translated and transmitted by Jerome, we find a striking comparison between reverence for Scripture and reverence for the Eucharist.  The text was written by Origen and later translated and transmitted by Jerome. The source cited by John Paul II explicitly identifies it as an Origen homily preserved through Jerome.  The passage observes that Christians are distressed if even the smallest fragment of the consecrated bread should fall to the ground. Such care reflects their belief that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. St John Paul II said:

Origen, who comments on our Psalm in one of his homilies, translated and disseminated by St Jerome in the West, actually interweaves the Word of God with the Eucharist: "We read the Holy Scriptures. I believe that the Gospel is the Body of Christ. I believe that the holy Scriptures are his teaching. And when he says: he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood (Jn 6,53), although these words can also refer to the [Eucharistic] Mystery, yet the Body and Blood of Christ is truly a word of Scripture, the teaching of God. When we are about to receive the [Eucharistic] Mystery, if even a tiny crumb falls, we feel lost. When we are listening to God's Word, when our ears perceive the Word of God and the body and blood of Christ, what great danger would we not fall into were we to think about something else?"

It is a reminder that the two tables of the Mass, the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist, belong together.

In Against the Pelagians he refers to clergy participating in:

the offering of the sacrifices.

Such language reflects the Church's understanding that the Mass is not simply a communal meal but a participation in Christ's once-for-all sacrifice made present sacramentally in every age.

The Christ who speaks in the Scriptures is the same Christ who feeds his people in the Eucharist, drawing earth into communion with heaven itself.

When heaven touches earth

At every Mass we are in the presence of angels.  They join our worship in ways that are silent and hidden to us.  At each celebration of the Eucharist we are joined with  Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael whose feast day is today.  

Who are these three Archangels? 

St Michael (literally ‘who is like God’) is the defender of God's people against evil (Revelation 12:7-9).

St Gabriel (literally ‘strength of God’) announced or brought the message of the Word to Mary when the Word became flesh and lived among us (Luke 1:26-38).

St Raphael (literally ‘healing of God) who accompanies travellers, restores sight and brings healing and reconciliation (Tobit 12:11-15). He declares:

I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord (Tobit 12:15).