Dear Friends,
With the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, we conclude the season of Christmas, also known as Christmastide. On Monday, 11 January, we embark on the Ordinary Time when, instead of focusing on any one particular aspect of the mystery of Christ, we celebrate the mystery of Christ in its fullness. The Lenten Season begins with Ash Wednesday on the 17th of February, with Ordinary Time resuming after the Easter Season on Monday, 24 May, the day following Pentecost.
Today, we rejoice with gratitude to Jesus Christ who humbled himself to be baptized, sinless though he was. Through his baptism in the waters of the Jordon, he instituted the Christian Baptism and paved the way for us to be adopted as children of God, a distinct and unique privilege, “co-heirs” to the blessings promised to Israel. In the Sacrament of Baptism, Jesus leads us on a new “exodus,” opening the promised land of Heaven to us with the words which were distinctly reserved for the people of Israel: “You are my beloved son/daughter.”
I take this occasion to express our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the grieving clergy, staff, and community of Ascension at the passing of their beloved Pastor, Rev. Eamon Tobin. Fr. Tobin had long been a great supporter of St. John’s and was a beloved brother priest, mentor, and friend. He embraced me whole-heartedly when I became part of the Southern Deanery. During the pandemic, he was particularly helpful when we called on each other for a consult or advisement. Two short months ago, he shepherded the Ascension Community through the loss of their school principal, Anita Brady, who passed away on November 30, 2020. The passing away of Fr. Tobin is another huge and irreplaceable loss, and we wish to assure our brothers and sisters at Ascension of our prayerful support. May the soul of Fr. Eamon Tobin rest in the peace of Christ!
Be Blessed!
With love, Fr. John
Ecclesia de Eucharistia
For this week, we shall reflect on paragraphs 57 - 58 of the encyclical, “Ecclesia De Eucharistia” (The Church draws her life from the Eucharist) by St. John Paul II on the vital role the Eucharist plays in the life of the Church. With these paragraphs we come to the end of the 6th chapter titled: AT THE SCHOOL OF MARY, “WOMAN OF THE EUCHARIST.” Here Pope John Paul II is making some beautiful assertions that Mary is present at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist as she and her son are inseparable.
- . “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). In the “memorial” of Calvary all that Christ accomplished by his passion and his death is present. Consequently, all that Christ did with regard to his Mother for our sake is also present. To her he gave the beloved disciple and, in him, each of us: “Behold, your Son!”. To each of us he also says: “Behold your mother!” (cf. Jn 19: 26-27).
Experiencing the memorial of Christ's death in the Eucharist also means continually receiving this gift. It means accepting – like John – the one who is given to us anew as our Mother. It also means taking on a commitment to be conformed to Christ, putting ourselves at the school of his Mother and allowing her to accompany us. Mary is present, with the Church and as the Mother of the Church, at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist. If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist. This is one reason why, since ancient times, the commemoration of Mary has always been part of the Eucharistic celebrations of the Churches of East and West.
- In the Eucharist the Church is completely united to Christ and his sacrifice, and makes her own the spirit of Mary. This truth can be understood more deeply by re-reading the Magnificat in a Eucharistic key. The Eucharist, like the Canticle of Mary, is first and foremost praise and thanksgiving. When Mary exclaims: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior”, she already bears Jesus in her womb. She praises God “through” Jesus, but she also praises him “in” Jesus and “with” Jesus. This is itself the true “Eucharistic attitude”.
At the same time Mary recalls the wonders worked by God in salvation history in fulfilment of the promise once made to the fathers (cf. Lk 1:55), and proclaims the wonder that surpasses them all, the redemptive incarnation. Lastly, the Magnificat reflects the eschatological tension of the Eucharist. Every time the Son of God comes again to us in the “poverty” of the sacramental signs of bread and wine, the seeds of that new history wherein the mighty are “put down from their thrones” and “those of low degree are exalted” (cf. Lk 1:52), take root in the world. Mary sings of the “new heavens” and the “new earth” which find in the Eucharist their anticipation and in some sense their program and plan. The Magnificat expresses Mary's spirituality, and there is nothing greater than this spirituality for helping us to experience the mystery of the Eucharist. The Eucharist has been given to us so that our life, like that of Mary, may become completely a Magnificat!