Jerome (Hieronymus) (c342-420) was born in Strido (now in Croatia, then part of the Roman province of Dalmatia) and studied in Rome. As a student he lived the life of sexual escapades and experimentation common at the time, but, convulsed with guilt, he began visiting the tombs of the Christian martyrs, and, entering their crypts, he felt he had experienced the terrors of hell. He was baptised in Rome, and having decided to devote himself to a life of ascetic penitence he retired to Syria to live as a hermit, where he also learnt Hebrew under the tutelage of a converted rabbi. He was ordained in 378 or 379 at Antioch. He returned to Rome and worked on a revision of the Latin translation of the New Testament.

In 385 he left Rome for Antioch, and by 388 he had established himself in a cave in Bethlehem, where he spent the next thirty-odd years translating the Old Testament out of Hebrew into Latin and writing many commentaries on scripture, the second most voluminous writer (after Augustine of Hippo) in Latin Christianity.

Three archangels are named in Scripture; a fourth, Uriel, is named in the apocryphal book
II Esdras. Prior to 1969 each of the three had his own feast day. The suffix -el in each of their names means God; Michael means ‘Who is like God’, Gabriel ‘Strength of God’, and Raphael ‘Healing of God.’ Gabriel is the announcer of the births of John Baptist [Luke 1.11-20] and of Jesus [Luke 1.26-38]; he is also mentioned in the book of Daniel [9.16]. Michael is named in Daniel [10.13; 12.1], in Jude {verse 9], and in the Apocalypse, where he is the captain of the heavenly army who will defeat Satan and vindicate God’s people. Raphael is a major character in the Old Testament book of Tobit and is thought to have been the “disturber” of the waters of the pool of Bethzatha whose action made them efficacious for healing. [John 5.2-9]

This feast (which originated at the dedication of a Roman basilica in honour of St Michael) reminds us of the angelic world and of their constant ministrations to our world. With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God; they are the “mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word.” [Psalm 102(103).20] Their song of praise at the Incarnation of the Son of God [Luke 2.13-14] was the terrestrial manifestation of their continual song of praise [Isaiah 6.2-3] in which we are invited to join as that Incarnation is repeated and the Son of God comes down from heaven to be present on earthly altars.

Wenceslas (c911-35), the “good King” of the familiar Christmas carol (which has nothing apart from its wintry setting to do with Christmas), was born in the castle of Stochov near Prague and became Duke of Bohemia in 921; he remained in office until his assassination in 935. His younger brother, known as Boleslaus the Cruel, was implicated in his murder. He was posthumously declared to have been King by Otto I, the Holy Roman Empire, and he is considered the patron saint of the Czech people.

The carol speaks of Wenceslas’ strong faith and his concern for the poor, and throughout the Middle Ages he was taken as the primary exemplar of a righteous King, his strength revealed not simply in his princely valour but through his consummate piety.

On this feast day in 1958 Karol Wojtyła (later Pope St John Paul II) was consecrated Bishop of Ombi, Poland. On this feast day in 1973 Pope John Paul I died after thirty-three days as pope.

St Vincent (1581-1660) was born the third child of a peasant family in the village of Pouy in southwest France. At the age of 15 his father sent him to a seminary, raising the fees by selling his oxen. In 1597 Vincent entered the Faculty of Theology of the University of Toulouse. He managed to pay for his studies by tutoring. He was ordained on 23 September 1600 at the age of 19, against the decrees of the Council of Trent which stipulated a minimum age of 24. He was appointed parish priest of Tilh, but a lawsuit was filed to prevent the appointment because of his young age. Rather than fight the matter in court, he resigned and continued his studies, receiving the Bachelor of Theology degree from Toulouse in 1604; later he received a Licentiate in Canon Law from the University of Paris.

Vincent’s motivation in entering the priesthood had been to better his financial condition, but on hearing the confession of a dying peasant he underwent a dramatic change of heart and devoted himself to ministry to the poor. He founded the Sisters of Charity and he was appointed Chaplain among imprisoned galley slaves in Paris. This led him to found the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians, known in France as the Lazaristes), a congregation of priests dedicated to ministry to the poor in smaller towns and villages. He became known as a conductor of retreats, inspiring the clergy to deeper devotion and to higher standards of moral life. He pioneered training of the clergy and established many seminaries. He died in Paris on 27^th September 1660.

These two brothers, reputedly twins, born in Arabia in the 3^rd Century, were eminent for their skills in medicine and surgery. They never accepted money for their services, for which reason they are known as Anargyroi (‘without silver’), and they cured blindness, paralysis, and reportedly drove out a breast serpent. They were arrested by Lysias, governor of Cilicia (modern-day Çukurova, Turkey), around the year 283, during the Diocletian persecution of the Church, because of their faith and their fame as faith healers. According to legend they remained true to their faith despite the gruesome tortures inflicted on them, including being hung on crosses, stoned, and shot by arrows. Finally they were martyred by beheading. They are invoked in the Roman canon, and are the patron saints of pharmacists.

Today in Clifton, two are being ordained as permanent Deacons, Eric and Richard. Let us pray for them today (this prayer is from the Rite of Ordination and is said by the Bishop):

Ecclesiastes today reminds us that we all shall grow old, and that this brings its problems with health, agility and looks all fading from us! Enjoy them while you are still young - but remember that they are all vanity - meaningless as a puff of wind. We have, again, to trust in God, and let God do his work.

In about a years time, more are expecting to be ordained as Deacons, including your present author. For us this seems to be Gods' calling. I can think of no better way for me to be doing God's work. I certainly know that I used to feel that I had skills and abilities to do much: I now know those vanities  were nothing compared with the work God has done in my life and will do through this gift of ministry that opens up.

If God is calling you - listen. Respond, while you have the gifts of physical strength to do so. The formation program is a continual path of discernment - several I know have started and not finished, others started and took time out, and have returned. Enquiring now is not a commitment that can not be backed out of. Feel free to discuss with myself - John Andrews.

Today is also the feast day of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Ecclesiastes today, provides a reasonably well known poem 'there is a time for everything' - it is often used at funerals to remind us that God's plan includes our death and our resurrection.

Poetically, if 'G; is good and 'B' is bad then the structure is:

• v2: GBBG
• v3: BGGB
• v4:GBBG
• v5: BGGB
• v6: GBGB
• v7: BGBG
• v8: GBBG

which is pleasingly balanced. Remember Ecclesiastes' way - He asks questions to make us think of the answers for ourselves. Why has God made a world in which Good and Bad both occur? Why not just make all Good? Well - we need to remember that God gave us a choice, so that we could choose Him, and the Bad things happen when we fail to choose God. Also, God is in control - we do need to allow God to be in charge.

We need to remember this too, when studying Christ's life (Luke 9: 22)  ‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’ All the Bad - is turned over to Good by that last phrase - we will be raised up.

Today and over the next two, we have three extracts from the short work, known as 'Ecclesiastes'. The author calls it his 'Qoheleth' which Hebrew word means 'assembly', so it is perhaps meant to be spoken to an assembly (and in Mass, it is being so!). Scriptural experts date it as about 3rd Century BC although it is commonly stated to have been written by King Solomon himself. But attribution is common in the old testament - most of the Psalms are attributed to King David, but in fact are from a folk tradition, and our book os Psalms contains only a fraction of the Psalms that were used in ancient times to preserve wisdom and provide messages of courage in difficult times.

In the 3rdC, the prevailing Hellenistic philosophy was one of questioning - one asks questions and explores truth by considering various answers to them, to discern which fit with the evidence. Todays question is about the values we place on things. Vanity, all is vanity!. Think in terms of an inconsequential puff of wind, barely enough to stir a leaf or the dust on  the ground - that is how consequential our efforts are. We need to remember that we are saved by God's work, not by our own efforts.

Watching the news last weekend, one of us observed 'here we go again' as mass graves were uncovered in the forests around Izyum. As Ecclesiastes says, 'what has been done will be done again;. A depressing way to look at things perhaps - but this is the result of human endeavours.

The author is using a style that exaggerates in order to make the point clear: we must let God do the work, we must choose His way, and then repeating the mistakes of the past will not happen again. It is a book for those willing to challenge their own faith with difficult questions - but this is done to strengthen that faith.

Psalm 89 is a good one to read with Ecclesiastes -