Looking to the rock from which we were hewn

Sunday 23 August 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 22:19-23 Psalm 138(137) Romans 11:33-36 Matthew16:13-20

(See also Mark 8:27-33 and Luke 9:18-22)

Meditatio:

 ‘Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. (Isaiah 51:1)

Commentary:

Every so often we may stop and wonder; stare and think; appreciate and move on.  The gospels contain one such ‘stop and wonder’ moment when Jesus asks what seems like a very simple question. It ran something like this:

I have been with you some time. We have had great times together and we have had hard times together. I never promised you that it would be easy.  You heard my call and you followed me.  Others did likewise.  News about us spread throughout the country. Some said I was a great prophet – even the greatest, others said I was a trouble maker and a fraud while others, still, said I was from the Evil One.  But, you – what do you think?  Who do you say I am? Why are you still following me? Who am I to you?

For today on this God-given Sunday, we are asked the same question.  ‘Who is Jesus Christ for you?’ ‘What does Jesus Christ mean for you today?’ ‘Does it matter?’ ‘What difference does Jesus make to my life today?’

Hitting rock bottom and meeting the risen Christ in the Eucharist

The venerable, Matt Talbot (1856-1925) came to be known as a holy man after his death in 1925.  (My late mother told me that she remembered, as a child, when her father read out a piece from the daily newspaper that a man had been found dead in a laneway in Dublin with chains on his body).

Matt transitioned from severe alcoholism at a very young age to living a holy life entirely devoted to prayer, daily Mass, long hours before the Blessed Sacrament, frequent confession and work. He admitted that from the time of his early teens to his late twenties, each day revolved around thoughts of how to obtain alcohol.

One account of his turning point at the rock bottom of his life at the age of 28 is as follows (The Eucharistic Devotion of Venerable Matt Talbot):

As Matt lay there, he had hit rock bottom. As he turned to God, he begged for the grace to overcome his addiction. As the faithful began to arrive for the early morning Mass, they were disgusted to see a drunk lying on the church doorsteps. What they did not realize was the miracle of grace taking place.

Bless also my enemies: the witness of Blessed Leisner

Inscription reads: 'Bless also, O Most High, my enemies'

Karl Leisner (1915-1945) was a German priest who died shortly after being held as a prisoner in Dachau concentration camp outside Munich. Dachau was the proto-type concentration camp conceived by the Nazis at the very beginning of their tyrannical reign in 1933.  During his formative years as a young man he was active in the Schoenstatt movement.

I recall visiting Dachau and seeing the cells and barracks where priests were imprisoned. The camp contained a special section, the so-called 'Priests' Block', in which many Catholic clergy were confined.

Leisner was possibly only known to the Nazis as a catholic activist arrested for articulating anti-Nazi views.

Leisner was showed extraordinary leadership and courage in the period leading up to his arrest in 1939.  He encouraged young people to remain faithful to Christ and not to submit to Nazi ideology.

A telling vision at Knock

There have been many reports of apparitions of Mary, the Mother of God, across the world in recent decades and centuries. Some have been recognised and approved by the authorities of the Roman Catholic church while some have not.  A few turned out to be hoaxes.  Most attract the presence and prayers of large numbers of people.  No approved apparition is imposed on the beliefs of Catholics. One is free to accept, reject, doubt or remain indifferent to all such apparitions.  What is required is faith in the truths revealed by God and taught by the Church through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.

All that said, many holy places associated with claimed apparitions of Our Lady are important sites and, in my view, can be accorded some degree of credibility and importance in one’s spiritual life based on the evidence of the fruits flowing from such a place. ‘You will know them by their fruits.’ says Jesus in Matthew 7:16.

Extraordinary ministers and witnesses

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY THEN AND NOW: Saint Tarcisius the Acolyte

In my late childhood I was an altar server, as were a great many boys of my age at that time. "Serving Mass" was considered a great honour and required careful attention to the duties, gestures, rules and etiquette of the role. There was to be no whispering, fidgeting or staring out at the congregation. At that time, shortly after the introduction of the vernacular into the liturgy, the paten was still used as communicants received Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling. One of the altar server's responsibilities was to hold a small metal paten beneath the chin of each communicant.

A decade later, after returning to the practice of my faith, I was commissioned as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, a role often referred to more informally as a Eucharistic Minister. The preparation involved attending a series of talks, obtaining the necessary liturgical booklets for bringing Holy Communion to the sick at home and, as far as I can remember, participating in a simple commissioning rite during Mass.

Where Mary Has Gone, the Eucharist Leads Us

 

Source: Dormition of the Virgin Mary

Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – it remains one of the great feasts of the Christian year – both in the Latin and Eastern Orthodox churches. While formally defined as dogma by the Roman Catholic Church only in 1950, belief in Mary's assumption into heavenly glory has deep roots in Christian tradition. Eastern Christians celebrate the same mystery as the Dormition, the ‘falling asleep’ of the Mother of God.

The Scriptures assigned to this Solemnity are marked by joy and triumph. The Book of Revelation presents the heavenly woman clothed with the sun. Psalm 45 depicts the Queen standing at the king's right hand. St Paul proclaims Christ's victory over death, and in Luke's Gospel Mary sings the Magnificat, praising God's saving power and mercy.

The others

Image: The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter

Naskh is the caligraphic style for writing in the Arabic alphabet that the biblical text is written in for this manuscript.  The artist, Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, was most likely a Coptic monk in the late 17th century in Egypt. 1684 from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

Sunday 16 August 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 56:1-7 Psalm 67(66)

Romans 13:13-32 Matthew 15:21-28 (See also Mark 7:24-30)

Meditatio:

‘I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.’ (Isaiah 56:8)

Commentary:

The second part of this Sunday’s Gospel presents us with a challenging encounter. We find Jesus in the region of Tyre and Sidon, territory that would have been considered foreign by many of his fellow Jews. In Matthew’s Gospel, this episode follows immediately after a dispute between Jesus and certain Pharisees and scribes concerning the observance of the Law, particularly ritual practices of purification.

Into this setting comes a Canaanite woman, a foreigner, who approaches Jesus and begins crying out for help. She is not one of the chosen people of Israel, yet she recognises in Jesus a source of hope and salvation. Her plea raises an important question: why should a devout Jew respond to the request of a foreign woman? At first, Jesus appears not to answer her. Then, when he does speak, his words seem surprisingly harsh: 'It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs'.