Wednesday Reflection
Mid-week Reflection
9th February 2022
I’m told that the Archbishop-Elect of Glasgow met with priests of the archdiocese this week. I don’t know anything about the get-together but just imagine how he would have felt if all the priests started attacking him and telling him that he was not the man for the job! Well, of course, you can’t imagine such a thing and yet….that is what happened to Jesus in today’s Gospel passage.
The Pharisees, who seemed always to be against Jesus, tell Him why He is not a good Jew. They think that they themselves have a relationship with God. Jesus, they think, has not. But it was Jesus who proved that He was truly faithful to the relationship by dying on the Cross. Perhaps that huge act of penance shows us that our acts, even our tiny acts of prayer and penance, have a purpose and an outcome. St Josemaria, in The Way wrote, “Jesus suffers to carry out the will of the Father. And you, who also want to carry out the most holy Will of God, following the steps of the Master, can you complain if you meet suffering on your way? Cardinal Pell, during his absurd and unjust incarceration, in his Prison Journal wrote, “I believe the prayer and support I have received from hundreds of people in Australia and oversees help explain my spiritual and psychological equilibrium.”
Those exhortations make me believe that we should never underestimate the importance and value of each Hail Mary. Without our awareness, it may just be the cause of someone’s spirits rising. So, returning once more to the Archbishop -Elect. If you offered him £100 or a Hail Mary and an act of mortification; which do you think he would choose?
Monsignor Monaghan
