St Jean de Brébeuf & Companions (19^th October): Romans 5.12,15,17-21; Ps 39; Luke 12.35-38

Eight French Jesuit missionaries who devoted their lives to preaching the Gospel among the indigenous peoples of North America in the early 17^th Century are commemorated on this day; they were captured by several of the native American tribes (including the Mohawks, the Iroquois and the Algonquins) and tortured to death in a variety of unspeakable ways. They demonstrated both extraordinary zeal and perseverance and also practical wisdom. They were, for example, the first Europeans to become fluent in tribal languages. ‘It is to souls like yours’ St Jean admonished the Jesuit priests who had come to join him in his work ‘that God has appointed the conquest of many other souls…. Fear no difficulties; there will be none for you, since it is your whole consolation to see yourself crucified with the Son of God.’

Wednesday in Week 29 Per Annum (20th October): Romans 6.12-18; Ps 123; Luke 12.39-48 Singularly among St Paul’s writings, the Epistle to the Romans was written to a community he had not yet visited [15.22-24], though the enormous list of greetings he sent to Roman Christians [16.3-16] serves as a reminder that Paul had been nonetheless instrumental in the formation of this Christian community, as scores of men and women who had heard Paul preach in other parts of the Empire came to Rome and brought his teachings with them. Romans is a kind of calling card, a self-written letter of introduction, for Paul. [1.11-15] It is the most systematic of Paul’s writings since it doesn’t concern itself with answering particular questions or with dealing with problems that have arisen in a particular place. Rather, here Paul sets forth the fundamental tenet of his preaching, that in Christ God had acted decisively to reconcile the whole world, both the chosen Jews and the unclean Gentiles, to himself. Romans stands first in the New Testament collection of Paul’s writings because it is the longest letter (the letters of Paul, that is, are arranged in the Bible in decreasing order of length). But it is appropriately placed at the head of this collection because in it we find the clearest exposition of Paul’s theology: the relentless call of God to those he created [1.20] to leave darkness, slavery and death and enter into light, freedom and life worthy of the name; together with God’s concomitant commitment to enlighten, free and enliven a world rendered impotent by its own submission to the dominion of evil. Thursday in Week 29 Per Annum (21st October): Romans 6.19-23; Psalm 1; Luke 12.49-53 A key word in Paul’s vocabulary is sanctification: being made holy. Sanctification, as the -tion suffix suggests, is a process, not a singular event. It is less like a light-switch being activated and suddenly flooding a room with light than it is like the experience of watching the sun rise, the world gradually and all-but-imperceptibly becoming brighter and brighter. Sanctification is in a sense a description of the course of human life. Day by day, in a manner unique to each individual, we are being made holy. ‘You shall be holy’ [Leviticus 19.2] the Torah proclaims, as much a promise as a command. By the circumstances of our lives, the challenges and conflicts that confront us, the gift of God within us enlivening us and empowering us, we are in the process of being made what God intends us to be. Sin severs the connexion betwixt us and God, but God’s own immutable intention works constantly to restore us to himself. This process, for most of us, continues beyond the end of our earthly life. Purgatory is the continuation of God’s work to prepare us for life with him. The saints are those in whom, we have become convinced, the process of sanctification has been brought to its perfection. The saints enjoy the fulness of life in the presence of God. There they are our advocates and ‘cheerleaders’, urging us along as we are being made ready to join them.

Thursday in Week 29 Per Annum (21^st October): Romans 6.19-23; Psalm 1; Luke 12.49-53

A key word in Paul’s vocabulary is sanctification: being made holy. Sanctification, as the -tion suffix suggests, is a process, not a singular event. It is less like a light-switch being activated and suddenly flooding a room with light than it is like the experience of watching the sun rise, the world gradually and all-but-imperceptibly becoming brighter and brighter.

Sanctification is in a sense a description of the course of human life. Day by day, in a manner unique to each individual, we are being made holy. ‘You shall be holy’ [Leviticus 19.2] the Torah proclaims, as much a promise as a command. By the circumstances of our lives, the challenges and conflicts that confront us, the gift of God within us enlivening us and empowering us, we are in the process of being made what God intends us to be. Sin severs the connexion betwixt us and God, but God’s own immutable intention works constantly to restore us to himself.

This process, for most of us, continues beyond the end of our earthly life. Purgatory is the continuation of God’s work to prepare us for life with him. The saints are those in whom, we have become convinced, the process of sanctification has been brought to its perfection. The saints enjoy the fulness of life in the presence of God. There they are our advocates and ‘cheerleaders’, urging us along as we are being made ready to join them.

St John Paul II (22^nd October): Romans 7.18-25; Psalm 118; Luke 12.54-59

Born in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920, Karol Wojtyla, after a distinguished academic and ecclesiastical career, became in 1978 Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope since the 16^th Century Pope Hadrian VI. His death in April 2005 ended the second-longest papacy in modern times (his time in office was only exceeded by that of Pope Pius IX, 1846-78). (At his election Pope John Paul II was 58 years old, the youngest man to be elected Pope apart from Pope Pius IX, who was 54 years old at his election.) The process of his canonisation began within a month of his death, the customary five-year waiting period having been waived. He was canonised after a Colombian man testified that he had been healed of Parkinson’s disease by the intercession of John Paul. His feast day commemorates the anniversary of the inauguration of his papal ministry.

Pope John Paul II’s pontificate was characterised by teaching and travel. He was instrumental in bringing down Communism in Central and Eastern Europe. His series of addresses known as the Theology of the Body served to explain and instil the Church’s teachings on human sexuality. He oversaw the reform of the Code of Canon Law and published the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He fostered improved relations with other Christian Churches and with the leaders of the world’s religions. As we give thanks for his pontificate, we ask his intercession for the Church and for the world.

St John Capistrano (23^rd October): Romans 8.1-11; Psalm 23; Luke 13.1-9

Born in Capistrano, Italy, in 1386, John was a successful lawyer and became Governor of Perugia in 1412. In 1416, he and his wife mutually consented to separation so that he could become a Franciscan. He travelled extensively through Italy, Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Russia preaching penance and establishing numerous communities of Franciscan renewal. When Mohammed III was threatening Vienna and had captured Constantinople, St John was commissioned by Pope Callixtus III in 1453 to preach a Crusade against the invading Turks. At the age of 70, marching at the head of 70,000 Christians, he gained victory in the battle of Belgrade in July of 1456. Three months later he died of the plague in Ilok, Hungary (today part of Croatia). He is the patron saint of jurists.