Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary time July 28, 2013 Ordinary and Extraordinary Form of the Liturgy
Last we spoke of the importance of prayer; especially contemplative prayer-sitting, like Mary, at the feet of Jesus, looking lovingly at His face and listening attentively to every word He speaks. Both the readings from the Extraordinary and Ordinary Form of the liturgy today continue with the importance of prayer. In the Ordinary from readings we see Abraham praying and interceding to God about the fate of Sodom. And in the Gospel, we read Jesus teaching the apostles how to pray…for we know not how to pray as we ought; and so He gives them the Our Father. In the Extraordinary Form St. Paul tells us that we need the Spirit in order to pray well and to please God in our prayer; and the Gospel from St. Luke tells us about the Pharisees in his prideful prayer and the sinful Publican in his humble prayer.
All these readings remind us that we must approach God as our Father, better yet as our daddy. We are to speak to Him humbly, as a child speaks to its daddy whom the child loves with his whole heart; we are to speak to Him with the simplicity of a child that trusts that the Father always hears him and will answer him in a way and time that is best for the child; and finally, speak to Him with the purity of a child that respects the father so much that the child would never do anything to intentionally to upset the father but only strive to please the father. …”
Purity and childlikeness helps us to make sure that we never say the “Our Father,” or any other prayer to God, without the realization that it is God the Almighty that we are speaking to. Intimacy and reverence must always go together in addressing our prayer to God. And so our prayer must be reverent and said from the heart to a All Holy Father who Loves us so much.
Because God love us so much, Jesus instructs us that our prayer to the Father should also be a trusting prayer, one that realizes that the Father already knows what we need even before we ask, and so will only give us the good things we need; however, not necessarily the things we want. Along with the Father giving us only the good things that we need, He will also give it in a way, and at a time which is best for us. He answers all prayers, but according to His Holy Will, not to our own.
This brings up another point Jesus that teaches about prayer; and that is, for God to listen to our prayer we must, must first be reconciled both with Him and with our neighbor. In other words, for our prayer to be effective, for it to bear fruit in our life, we must be in a right relationship with God by regularly receiving forgiveness for our sins in the Sacrament of Confession; always remembering however, we will only be forgiven to the extent we forgive others. In order to receive forgiveness, we must forgive others who have sinned against us.
We must also never approach God with the heart of the Pharisee but always with the humble heart of the publican…for, “O God a humble heart of Lord you will not despise”…so God be merciful to me a miserable sinner….and have mercy on all mankind for we are all sinners in equal need of God’s mercy. Any good in us is not of ourselves; nor is it given to us because of what we done…it is from the Mercy and goodness of God. For our prayer to be heard we must be humble, “for every one that exalted himself will be humbled and he that humble himself shall be exalted.”
We must humble ourselves. The problem is however, that we can’t humble ourselves for we are naturally prideful; we need God’s grace. And where do we get that…from prayer yes, but also from the Sacraments, in particular frequent confession but most importantly from the Most blessed of all Sacraments the Most Holy Eucharist…not just receiving the Holy Eucharist but coming before the Holy Eucharist as a child, on our knees, adoring the God-Man present there.
And so, it is interesting that in St. Luke chapter 18(which is the Gospel for the Extraordinary Form) if you read the next verses which immediately follow this weeks Gospel verses…you will hear that little children where brought to Jesus, even infants that He might touch them. But when the disciples saw this, they rebuked those who brought the children. But Jesus calling them together said: “Suffer children to come to me and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of God.”
These verses certainly imply that we must be as little children to come before Jesus, for else where Jesus tells us that unless we become as little children we will not enter the Kingdom of God. And how best do come before Jesus? We do so by coming before Him in His true physical presence in the Holy Eucharist. But again, we must do so humbly, trustfully and pure.
Additionally these verses point two other important points. First, that we must help other “children come before Him by praying for all sinners, all of God’s children before His Eucharistic presences asking for the grace of God’s love and mercy to touch them as it has touched us; we must ask this for both those we love and for those who have trespassed against us. We must pray for the whole world.
And second we must bring the little ones, our children even our infants before His Eucharist presence. And to do so not only at Holy Mass, but also during times of Adoration outside of Mass. This is why I continue to push children’s adoration. We must suffer to bring the children before the Eucharist King…and not prevent them in any way….the world can be saved by little children being taught to adore their God truly present in His resurrected and glorified body in the little white Host. We need a Eucharist Crusade of Children. This also implies being open to life so that more children can come into the world in order to adore their God in the Holy Eucharist in order that they can adore him by the way they live their lives.
This brings up an additional point. We can’t live lives of righteousness without the grace that comes from the Eucharist. If we are going to be counted among the ten righteous needed to spare our modern age from God’s promised chastisements then we must spend more time humbly, trustfully and with purity in adoration of the Holy Eucharist begging God’s pardon and mercy on us and on our sinful world. This grace and mercy can transform us into other Christ so that everything we do, everything no matter how small becomes a prayer, a sacrifice, and act of penance, in order to merit grace for the conversion and salvation of souls.
Next week, August 4th, we celebrate the feast day of St. John Vinney, the patron saint of parish priest; St. John Vianney discovered the secret of moving and opening the Father’s heart to our humble prayer. That secret was humble, faithful, persistent and reverential prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. St Vianney spent hours on his knees before Jesus in the Eucharist, praying for the conversion of His parishioners and for the whole world.
Thankfully there are many people throughout the world today, both religious and lay faithfully alike, who like St John Vianney, make weekly, even daily Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament. "Thank God, there are those who pray each and every day with the faith of Abraham from the heart. It could be their persevering prayer before for the tabernacle that as so far saved our sinful world from God's divine justice. They are the modern day Abraham's dialoging with God, imploring his mercy and forgiveness for the sins of the modern cities of our world.
But are there enough praying before the Eucharist? Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed--there just weren't enough people--ten--reaching out to God. (If we compare the population of Sodom and Gomorrah with the United States, in ratio, we would need 300,000 righteous people). And so, will you also be one of them that will on your knees before the Blessed Sacrament, reach out to the Father through the Son on behalf of others, so that our world may be converted and so souls be saved? Speak to the Father today from your heart. Beg his mercy for our fallen Cities and country while the Father is still preserving in his mercy, beg His mercy for yourself and others. Persistence prayer to Our Father God will begin to end the persistent sin and un-forgiveness in our world and in our own life.
Let us at this Mass and every Mass, as we offer ourselves along with Jesus in loving sacrifice to the Father, ask our Blessed Mother to help us make this offering fully and completely, better yet let us make this offering through her Immaculate Heart so that she herself can place it in the Sacred Heart of her Son…Surely He will accept it from her hands!
Let us ask her to obtain for us the grace to live this offering so that every thing we do in our daily lives can become a sacrifice, an act of penance, for love of God and for love of neighbor. This is what the angel of Fatima meant when he cried out Penance! Penance! Penance! O most holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit I adore you profoundly. I offer to Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, truly present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the sins, sacrileges and indifference for which He is truly offended. And through the intercession of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg of thee the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help us sit silently at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words in loving rapture.
July 21st, 2013 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
In today’s Holy Gospel we are giving an incredible invitation by the Holy Spirit, who is speaking to each of us through the Evangelist St. Luke. Today you and I are invited to come and sit literally at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words. It’s an invitation to come into His Mysterious but True Presence, in order to experience for our selves His infinite Love and Mercy; allowing the power of this Love and Mercy into our daily lives and into our relationships with one another, sharing the Love of God alive in us with the whole world.
Today, we see Jesus at the home of Lazarus, where his two sisters are doing apparently very different actions. It would seem a very familiar scene in any household especially at the holidays- one person is stuck doing all of the work, while others sit and visit and do nothing to help. In our account, Martha for her part does what is customary; she is so absorbed in making sure everything is perfect- actively attending to so many details- is there enough bread? Have we prepared enough meat? (On and on).
Mary, on the other hand, it would seem, sits passively in silence doing nothing at the master’s feet. Mary is not helping Martha with all the chores. Now, out of justice, we might think that Jesus should say to her- “Mary please help your sister-Martha, she is anxious and worried about so many things;” but he does not. Jesus instead turns to her sister and says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about so many things and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.”
After we recover from our natural shock from Jesus apparent failure to act in justice, we have to consider what all of this means. For the Fathers of the Church this passage has been seen as showing the two essential aspects of Christian life-prayer and service; Mary representing prayer; and Martha-service to others. Now often, these two aspects are seen in opposition to one another; however, nothing can be further from the case; they are intricately bound.
Every Christian, even the most recluse hermit, even the pope, must live these two aspects of the Christian life- prayer and service; both are needed to authentically follow the Master. Now most of us understand the need for service. But the prayer dimension, and in particular the silent contemplative prayer type, is often put in second place or even omitted in our world today. For many, prayer, especially silent contemplative prayer is seen as being merely passive-doing nothing, accomplishing nothing. But the fact is, we can only live lives of faithful service to our brothers and sisters when we first come to Jesus in prayer, listen and seek a loving Union with the Creator. Contemplative prayer then is primary; it is the best part. We must first come before we go, we must first be filled with God’s love before we can share that love with others.
Why is that prayer, and again especially contemplative prayer, which could be defined as sitting silently at the feet of Jesus in order to listen to His words, why is prayer so undervalued in our world today and dare I say in our Church today? Why has it become secondary to so call active service, or even omitted. I believe one of the main reasons prayer is undervalued or left out of the Christian life is time. We all have such packed calendars. Modern technology may make the organization of our packed calendars easier, but all we have accomplished is to just put more things into our day. We become absorbed by the clock. We have a clock on our wrist, on our cell phone, Blackberry, or IPhone. Clocks are everywhere to remind us that time is short, so we must get busy, busy, busy. As we sit in the traffic jams, we are scheduling and checking email, multitasking, frustrated because we are late to a meeting-(the person in the other vehicle can be seen not as a human being but merely as an obstacle getting in our way). We have to finish everything in order to pick up the children from school and get them to soccer practice and then on to their music lesson. Somewhere in there, we’ll try to grab some fast food and chow it down as we drive. We have been trained to think that we only have a good day when we accomplish a great deal. I think this is a pretty accurate description of our hectic life these days.
We have the temptation as well, to bring this busyness into our spiritual life. We are rushed for time, so when we look at where time will be spent in the presence of our God in intimate prayer, we say to ourselves, “I Only have a couple of minutes to pray today- I’ll try to get some more time later, but today, I need to accomplish something.” The ‘more time later’ however, never seems to come, and eventually we become too busy for even a couple of minutes, prayer can be omitted altogether. And if we do find time for prayer, our minds can be filled with so many anxious concerns that our prayer life too, becomes just a matter of getting things done instead of a matter of intimate love with the divine Lover-Jesus—we can end up saying many things but never really sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words; we do all the talking.
And so what are we to do? The fact is we can never really be too busy for prayer, never too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus and look at His face, never to busy to sit silently as well in order to hear his voice. So first, our minds have to undergo a conversion about time. Love never counts time when together, only when apart, for those in love can’t wait to be together again and when they are together they never want time to end.
Time spend with Jesus is not wasted time. Time with our Lord is the most loving and indeed most effective and active way of living the Christian life; it is far from sitting before Jesus doing nothing—being with our beloved is never doing nothing. It is a matter of being, not doing; to sit in the presence of the one we love and attempting to united ourselves with them in love; yes, speaking to them but at times saying nothing just staring into their eyes. This, THIS is the most active activity—contemplative activity.
Second, we must make changes in our calendar. Personal prayer should be a scheduled event in our day, we should add it to our smart phone’s calendars. Our day should start firstly with prayer on our knees, even before we get dress and then we should end our day with a prayer. In between, we need to schedule time for prayer, perhaps a rosary walk, stopping into the church a few minutes, even attending daily Mass. We need to be still too whenever we can and know that He is God and listen to Him.
We also need to practice the awareness that God is with us all day long even as we work, play and relax; we should pause before each new activity of the day and place ourselves in the presence of God, that is realize that God is presence with us as we fulfill faithfully our daily tasks offering them to Him in love through the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our ordinary daily tasks then become a prayer in of themselves, they then bear great spiritual fruit in our lives and in our world—they become a way to the Lord for us and for others, instead of getting in the way.
Next, speaking of the Holy Mass, we need to make Holy Mass the most important event of our lives, revolving our lives around it, not the Mass around our lives. In other words we need to put the Mass always first. To help us we should consider putting in extra time for Mass on Sunday- arrive early in order to properly prepare for Mass and spend a few minutes afterwards in Thanksgiving to God for being giving the awesome privilege and blessing to even have been able to be present at Mass, not to even mention receiving God Himself into our body and soul.
At Holy Mass we also must be careful not to be too much of a Martha, having to “do” something. The highest form of activity at Mass again is not doing something or even saying something, but in being… sitting at the feet of Jesus and silently allowing ourselves to bask in the rays of His love for us. We accept the offering of His love and then we try with the Virgin Mary’s help to offer our love in return. Holy Mass should be about the action between two hearts who are growing in love with one another-who seek union with one another; our heart and Jesus’ heart; cor ad cor loquitur--heart speaks silently to heart. We should look into His eyes by staring at the Eucharist and know that He too is looking into our eyes with unfathomable love.
By our loving unrushed presence at Mass we are like Martha and Mary welcoming into our home-Jesus, who is truly on the altar and in the Tabernacle. (To help us realize the infinite value of the Mass and the Eucharist, we could also come before the tabernacle outside of Holy Mass to sit at the feet of Jesus, to experience His loving Gaze and be filled with His Love and Mercy and in the silence hear His voice in our hearts. In doing this, we are choosing the better part.
The more you and I make time for Jesus by intimate prayer in our daily lives, the more we make time for Jesus by coming into His true physical presence in the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass and whenever we can, at least one hour a week outside of Holy Mass, the more we are able to experience his tangible presence in our lives and in our everyday relationships, the more we experience his Divine love acting in our world. By being in His presence we experience the power of His Divine Love and receive the bliss that it promises and then the more we become transformed and empowered to in service share more fully that bliss with those in the world around us. Contemplative prayer must always be primary in our life. Jesus will reward the generosity of our time spend with Him in love, just has he rewarded Martha and Mary’s time with Him, by later raising their brother Lazarus from the dead. Jesus can never be outdone in generosity.
As we finish this time of prayer, let us ask the Blessed Virgin to grant us the diligence of Martha as well as the awareness of the true presence of God of Mary. Let us daily as individuals and families pray her Holy Rosary. The Rosary is a Eucharistic Prayer. In it we ask the Blessed Mother to help us in our busy and hectic lives make time to pray and to sit silently at the feet of Her Son in contemplative prayer. The Rosary is a prayer to lead us to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus in order to allow the Power of Its Love to be active in our daily lives and in our World; This is the greatest service we can perform. Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us. Amen.
In today’s Holy Gospel we are giving an incredible invitation by the Holy Spirit, who is speaking to each of us through the Evangelist St. Luke. Today you and I are invited to come and sit literally at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words. It’s an invitation to come into His Mysterious but True Presence, in order to experience for our selves His infinite Love and Mercy; allowing the power of this Love and Mercy into our daily lives and into our relationships with one another, sharing the Love of God alive in us with the whole world.
Today, we see Jesus at the home of Lazarus, where his two sisters are doing apparently very different actions. It would seem a very familiar scene in any household especially at the holidays- one person is stuck doing all of the work, while others sit and visit and do nothing to help. In our account, Martha for her part does what is customary; she is so absorbed in making sure everything is perfect- actively attending to so many details- is there enough bread? Have we prepared enough meat? (On and on).
Mary, on the other hand, it would seem, sits passively in silence doing nothing at the master’s feet. Mary is not helping Martha with all the chores. Now, out of justice, we might think that Jesus should say to her- “Mary please help your sister-Martha, she is anxious and worried about so many things;” but he does not. Jesus instead turns to her sister and says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about so many things and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.”
After we recover from our natural shock from Jesus apparent failure to act in justice, we have to consider what all of this means. For the Fathers of the Church this passage has been seen as showing the two essential aspects of Christian life-prayer and service; Mary representing prayer; and Martha-service to others. Now often, these two aspects are seen in opposition to one another; however, nothing can be further from the case; they are intricately bound.
Every Christian, even the most recluse hermit, even the pope, must live these two aspects of the Christian life- prayer and service; both are needed to authentically follow the Master. Now most of us understand the need for service. But the prayer dimension, and in particular the silent contemplative prayer type, is often put in second place or even omitted in our world today. For many, prayer, especially silent contemplative prayer is seen as being merely passive-doing nothing, accomplishing nothing. But the fact is, we can only live lives of faithful service to our brothers and sisters when we first come to Jesus in prayer, listen and seek a loving Union with the Creator. Contemplative prayer then is primary; it is the best part. We must first come before we go, we must first be filled with God’s love before we can share that love with others.
Why is that prayer, and again especially contemplative prayer, which could be defined as sitting silently at the feet of Jesus in order to listen to His words, why is prayer so undervalued in our world today and dare I say in our Church today? Why has it become secondary to so call active service, or even omitted. I believe one of the main reasons prayer is undervalued or left out of the Christian life is time. We all have such packed calendars. Modern technology may make the organization of our packed calendars easier, but all we have accomplished is to just put more things into our day. We become absorbed by the clock. We have a clock on our wrist, on our cell phone, Blackberry, or IPhone. Clocks are everywhere to remind us that time is short, so we must get busy, busy, busy. As we sit in the traffic jams, we are scheduling and checking email, multitasking, frustrated because we are late to a meeting-(the person in the other vehicle can be seen not as a human being but merely as an obstacle getting in our way). We have to finish everything in order to pick up the children from school and get them to soccer practice and then on to their music lesson. Somewhere in there, we’ll try to grab some fast food and chow it down as we drive. We have been trained to think that we only have a good day when we accomplish a great deal. I think this is a pretty accurate description of our hectic life these days.
We have the temptation as well, to bring this busyness into our spiritual life. We are rushed for time, so when we look at where time will be spent in the presence of our God in intimate prayer, we say to ourselves, “I Only have a couple of minutes to pray today- I’ll try to get some more time later, but today, I need to accomplish something.” The ‘more time later’ however, never seems to come, and eventually we become too busy for even a couple of minutes, prayer can be omitted altogether. And if we do find time for prayer, our minds can be filled with so many anxious concerns that our prayer life too, becomes just a matter of getting things done instead of a matter of intimate love with the divine Lover-Jesus—we can end up saying many things but never really sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words; we do all the talking.
And so what are we to do? The fact is we can never really be too busy for prayer, never too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus and look at His face, never to busy to sit silently as well in order to hear his voice. So first, our minds have to undergo a conversion about time. Love never counts time when together, only when apart, for those in love can’t wait to be together again and when they are together they never want time to end.
Time spend with Jesus is not wasted time. Time with our Lord is the most loving and indeed most effective and active way of living the Christian life; it is far from sitting before Jesus doing nothing—being with our beloved is never doing nothing. It is a matter of being, not doing; to sit in the presence of the one we love and attempting to united ourselves with them in love; yes, speaking to them but at times saying nothing just staring into their eyes. This, THIS is the most active activity—contemplative activity.
Second, we must make changes in our calendar. Personal prayer should be a scheduled event in our day, we should add it to our smart phone’s calendars. Our day should start firstly with prayer on our knees, even before we get dress and then we should end our day with a prayer. In between, we need to schedule time for prayer, perhaps a rosary walk, stopping into the church a few minutes, even attending daily Mass. We need to be still too whenever we can and know that He is God and listen to Him.
We also need to practice the awareness that God is with us all day long even as we work, play and relax; we should pause before each new activity of the day and place ourselves in the presence of God, that is realize that God is presence with us as we fulfill faithfully our daily tasks offering them to Him in love through the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our ordinary daily tasks then become a prayer in of themselves, they then bear great spiritual fruit in our lives and in our world—they become a way to the Lord for us and for others, instead of getting in the way.
Next, speaking of the Holy Mass, we need to make Holy Mass the most important event of our lives, revolving our lives around it, not the Mass around our lives. In other words we need to put the Mass always first. To help us we should consider putting in extra time for Mass on Sunday- arrive early in order to properly prepare for Mass and spend a few minutes afterwards in Thanksgiving to God for being giving the awesome privilege and blessing to even have been able to be present at Mass, not to even mention receiving God Himself into our body and soul.
At Holy Mass we also must be careful not to be too much of a Martha, having to “do” something. The highest form of activity at Mass again is not doing something or even saying something, but in being… sitting at the feet of Jesus and silently allowing ourselves to bask in the rays of His love for us. We accept the offering of His love and then we try with the Virgin Mary’s help to offer our love in return. Holy Mass should be about the action between two hearts who are growing in love with one another-who seek union with one another; our heart and Jesus’ heart; cor ad cor loquitur--heart speaks silently to heart. We should look into His eyes by staring at the Eucharist and know that He too is looking into our eyes with unfathomable love.
By our loving unrushed presence at Mass we are like Martha and Mary welcoming into our home-Jesus, who is truly on the altar and in the Tabernacle. (To help us realize the infinite value of the Mass and the Eucharist, we could also come before the tabernacle outside of Holy Mass to sit at the feet of Jesus, to experience His loving Gaze and be filled with His Love and Mercy and in the silence hear His voice in our hearts. In doing this, we are choosing the better part.
The more you and I make time for Jesus by intimate prayer in our daily lives, the more we make time for Jesus by coming into His true physical presence in the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass and whenever we can, at least one hour a week outside of Holy Mass, the more we are able to experience his tangible presence in our lives and in our everyday relationships, the more we experience his Divine love acting in our world. By being in His presence we experience the power of His Divine Love and receive the bliss that it promises and then the more we become transformed and empowered to in service share more fully that bliss with those in the world around us. Contemplative prayer must always be primary in our life. Jesus will reward the generosity of our time spend with Him in love, just has he rewarded Martha and Mary’s time with Him, by later raising their brother Lazarus from the dead. Jesus can never be outdone in generosity.
As we finish this time of prayer, let us ask the Blessed Virgin to grant us the diligence of Martha as well as the awareness of the true presence of God of Mary. Let us daily as individuals and families pray her Holy Rosary. The Rosary is a Eucharistic Prayer. In it we ask the Blessed Mother to help us in our busy and hectic lives make time to pray and to sit silently at the feet of Her Son in contemplative prayer. The Rosary is a prayer to lead us to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus in order to allow the Power of Its Love to be active in our daily lives and in our World; This is the greatest service we can perform. Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us. Amen.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Preparing for the Journey of Lent 2013
By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
PHILADELPHIA, February 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) - More than 70 years ago the great French Catholic writer Georges Bernanos published a little essay called “Sermon of an Agnostic on the Feast of St. Théresè.” Bernanos deeply loved the Church, but he could also be brutally candid when it came to himself and his fellow believers. Above all, he had a piercing sense of irony about the comfortable, the self-satisfied and the lukewarm who postured themselves as Catholic – whether they were laypeople or clergy.
In his essay he imagined “what any decent agnostic of average intelligence might say, if by some impossible chance the [pastor] were to let him stand awhile in the pulpit [on] the day consecrated to St. Théresè of Lisieux.”
“Dear brothers,” says the agnostic from the pulpit, “many unbelievers are not as hardened as you imagine. … [But when] we seek [Christ] now, in this world, it is you we find, and only you. … It is you Christians who participate in divinity, as your liturgy proclaims; it is you ‘divine men’ who ever since [Christ’s] ascension have been his representatives on earth. … You are the salt of the earth. [So if] the world loses its flavor, who is it I should blame? … The New Testament is eternally young. It is you who are so old. … Because you do not live your faith, your faith has ceased to be a living thing.”
Bernanos had little use for the learned, the proud or the superficially religious. He believed instead in the little flowers – the Thérèses of Lisieux – that sustain the Church and convert the world by the purity, simplicity, innocence and zeal of their faith. That kind of innocent faith is a gift. It’s a gift each of us can ask for, and each of us will receive, if we just have the courage to choose it and then act on it. The only people who ever really change the world are saints. Each of us can be one of them. But we need to want sainthood, and then we need to follow the path that comes with it.
Bernanos once wrote that the optimism of the modern world, including its “politics of hope,” is like whistling past a graveyard. It’s a cheap substitute for real hope and “a sly form of selfishness, a method of isolating [ourselves] from the unhappiness of others” by thinking happy or seemingly progressive thoughts. Real hope “must be won. [We] can only attain hope through truth, at the cost of great effort and long patience. … Hope is a virtue, virtus, strength; an heroic determination of the soul. [And] the highest form of hope is despair overcome.”
We can only attain hope through truth. And what that means is this: From the moment Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” the most important public statement anyone can make is “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 13. It marks the beginning of Lent. For Catholics, this is a time to be honest; to take an unblinking look at the truth of our lives. Every year God offers us this great season of humility as a chance to remember who we are as believers, reflect soberly on our actions and refocus ourselves on the source of our hope, the only real hope of a bloody and despairing world: Jesus Christ. We do this through prayer, silence, the sacrament of penance, seeking out and reconciling with those whom we’ve hurt, forgiving those who’ve hurt us, generosity to the poor, and fasting, not just from food, but from all those many things that distract us from the God who made and loves us.
If we call ourselves Christians, then let’s live like we mean it – beginning today, with this Lenten season; so that people who look upon us will see the presence of Jesus Christ instead
By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
PHILADELPHIA, February 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) - More than 70 years ago the great French Catholic writer Georges Bernanos published a little essay called “Sermon of an Agnostic on the Feast of St. Théresè.” Bernanos deeply loved the Church, but he could also be brutally candid when it came to himself and his fellow believers. Above all, he had a piercing sense of irony about the comfortable, the self-satisfied and the lukewarm who postured themselves as Catholic – whether they were laypeople or clergy.
In his essay he imagined “what any decent agnostic of average intelligence might say, if by some impossible chance the [pastor] were to let him stand awhile in the pulpit [on] the day consecrated to St. Théresè of Lisieux.”
“Dear brothers,” says the agnostic from the pulpit, “many unbelievers are not as hardened as you imagine. … [But when] we seek [Christ] now, in this world, it is you we find, and only you. … It is you Christians who participate in divinity, as your liturgy proclaims; it is you ‘divine men’ who ever since [Christ’s] ascension have been his representatives on earth. … You are the salt of the earth. [So if] the world loses its flavor, who is it I should blame? … The New Testament is eternally young. It is you who are so old. … Because you do not live your faith, your faith has ceased to be a living thing.”
Bernanos had little use for the learned, the proud or the superficially religious. He believed instead in the little flowers – the Thérèses of Lisieux – that sustain the Church and convert the world by the purity, simplicity, innocence and zeal of their faith. That kind of innocent faith is a gift. It’s a gift each of us can ask for, and each of us will receive, if we just have the courage to choose it and then act on it. The only people who ever really change the world are saints. Each of us can be one of them. But we need to want sainthood, and then we need to follow the path that comes with it.
Bernanos once wrote that the optimism of the modern world, including its “politics of hope,” is like whistling past a graveyard. It’s a cheap substitute for real hope and “a sly form of selfishness, a method of isolating [ourselves] from the unhappiness of others” by thinking happy or seemingly progressive thoughts. Real hope “must be won. [We] can only attain hope through truth, at the cost of great effort and long patience. … Hope is a virtue, virtus, strength; an heroic determination of the soul. [And] the highest form of hope is despair overcome.”
We can only attain hope through truth. And what that means is this: From the moment Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” the most important public statement anyone can make is “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 13. It marks the beginning of Lent. For Catholics, this is a time to be honest; to take an unblinking look at the truth of our lives. Every year God offers us this great season of humility as a chance to remember who we are as believers, reflect soberly on our actions and refocus ourselves on the source of our hope, the only real hope of a bloody and despairing world: Jesus Christ. We do this through prayer, silence, the sacrament of penance, seeking out and reconciling with those whom we’ve hurt, forgiving those who’ve hurt us, generosity to the poor, and fasting, not just from food, but from all those many things that distract us from the God who made and loves us.
If we call ourselves Christians, then let’s live like we mean it – beginning today, with this Lenten season; so that people who look upon us will see the presence of Jesus Christ instead
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
The New Evangelizetioin which includes the end to abortion must begin with an increase of justice within the Church Herself.
As you know we celebrated a very sad anniversary last week, the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision of the Supreme Court legalizing the modern day slaughter of the innocents.
Estimates are that that decision has resulted in more than 50 million children who have not been allowed to live since 1973.
In his column last week our Bishop, Bishop Malloy presented A few calculations to give us some interesting comparisons with regards to how many children have been murdered since Roe vs. Wade. To put it in perspective, the population of the state of Illinois is said to be about 12.8 million people.
Can we imagine that abortion has taken from us the lives of the population of the state of Illinois, nearly four times over?
The population of California is currently about 37.6 million people. So Illinois and California would both be completely depopulated.
The state of New York has 19 million people. The number of abortions since Roe v. Wade is about two and one half times the population of the whole state of New York.
The population of Spain is 46 million people. The population of England is about 53 million people.
You get my drift. Because of abortion, it is as though whole countries and states simply do not exist.
Bishop Malloy went on to say, “There is another consequence that we need to keep in mind as we ponder our modern slaughter of the innocents. It is the often unspoken pain and regret of the women who have had abortions.”
Last Week, I also read a very interesting pastoral letter by the Bishop of Denver, Samuel Aquila marking the sad anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. In his letter, Bishop Aquila admits that he didn’t practice the faith in his first three years in college. During that time, he worked as hospital orderly assisting in the emergency room at a student health center and a hospital. It was here that he encountered the gruesome reality of abortion.
“At that time, he said, some states had approved abortion laws that I wasn’t even aware of. Because of those laws, when I was in college I witnessed the results of two abortions,” he writes.
“The first was in a surgical unit. I walked into an outer room and in the sink, unattended, was the body of small-unborn child who had been aborted. I remember being stunned. I remember thinking that I had to baptize that child.”
The second abortion experience was even more shocking.
“A young woman came into the emergency room screaming. She explained that she had had an abortion already. When the doctor sent her home, he told her she would pass the remains naturally. She was bleeding as the doctor, her boyfriend, the nurse and I placed her on a table. I held a basin as the doctor retrieved a tiny arm, a tiny leg and then the rest of the broken body of a tiny unborn child. I was shocked. I was saddened for the mother and child, for the doctor and the nurse. None of us would have participated in such a thing were it not an emergency. I witnessed a tiny human being destroyed by violence.”
He said, not surprisingly, that the memory haunts him to this day.
“I will never forget that I stood witness to acts of unspeakable brutality. In the abortions I witnessed, powerful people made decisions that ended the lives of small, powerless, children. Through lies and manipulation, children were seen as objects. Women and families were convinced that ending a life would be painless, and forgettable. Experts made seemingly convincing arguments that the unborn were not people at all, that they could not feel pain, and were better off dead.”
The experience left the bishop a changed man. “I witnessed the death of two small people who never had the chance to take a breath. I can never forget that. And I have never been the same. My faith was weak at the time. But I knew by reason, and by what I saw, that a human life was destroyed. My conscience awakened to the truth of the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception. I became pro-life and eventually returned to my faith.”
What has happened in the last 40 years of sanctioned killing of the unborn is that we, as a people, have become coarsened. “We’ve learned to see people as problems and objects,” the bishop writes. “In the four decades since Roe vs. Wade, our nation has found new ways to weaken the family, to marginalize the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill—we’ve found new ways to exploit and abuse. Today we must recognize that 40 years of sanctioned killing has given the culture of death a firm footing and foundation in our nation.”
Catholics must become holier to loosen the grip of the culture of death.
“Protecting life is our obvious duty as Catholics, and ending legal protection for abortion is imperative. 40 years have passed and still we have not found a successful strategy to end the legally protected killing of the unborn. But we have also failed to win public opinion. Polling today suggests that 63% of Americans support legal protection for abortion. The bishop said this is where change must begin.
Here with all do respect to bishop Aquila I disagree with him in this sense. Where change must begin is within the Church herself; change must begin with both laity and clergy alike; change must begin in our parishes and yes, in our dioceses.
I heard that it was over 53% of the Catholics in this last election that supported one of the most radical left wing pro death politicians ever. And far too many even priests and bishops either support pro-choice or are conspicuously quiet with regards to the defense of the dignity of the human person.
Bishop Aquila writes. “If we want to build a culture of life, we need to begin with charity. Social charity, or solidarity, is the hallmark of a culture of life and a civilization of love. . . . This charity must begin in the family,” But I would humbly add this charity must also begin in the parish family and in the diocesan and Church structures at large. Our Church is so divided. There is so little trust, sadly especially among priests and even trust between priests and bishops and between bishops and bishops. Remember our Lady of Akita Japan, echoing the message of LaSalette and Fatima, said the time would come when Cardinal would oppose Cardinal, bishop oppose bishop; and this includes priest against priest. This must stop; we must repent; we must respect the human dignity one another, but we must do so with regards to the truth, the truth that comes from God. This the basis of the New Evangelization.
The reversal of our culture of death both within the Society and within the Church is then, intricately, intricately tied into the New Evangelization that our Holy Fathers Blessed Pope John Paul and Benedict are so ardently calling for. But again the New Evangelization begins within the Church.
This is also why what I about to say at first doesn’t seem to be part of the pro-life moment; But it is, because it is tied to the new Evangelization. Let me use recent address by Cardinal Archbishop Burke to the bishops of Kenya to make my point. The Cardinal indicated in His address that the New Evangelization (and so the dignity of man defended properly) will never be realized until we work more diligently for justice with-in the Church herself.
The cardinal pointed out that in so many chanceries of the world, while canon law is being quoted, often it is not being followed especially with regards to the rights of priests, but also with the rights of the laity as well. He said the following of Canon law is not only a matter of justice it is a matter of pastoral concern for the faithful and is matter of promoting unity within the Church herself, including unity in our parishes. It is also a matter of respecting the rights and the dignity of the catholic faithful; again, priest and laity alike.
“Like our families, which are the first place where those who are marginalized, and whose dignity is forgotten, can be supported,to build a culture of life we must commit to strengthening our own families, and to supporting the families of our community.” Said Bishop Aquila. But again, this must begin within the Church; within our dioceses, our chanceries and with in our parishes.
We must accept the full truth of the Gospel but this truth must be lived out in Charity. Charity must support works of mercy, apostolates of social justice and support. Charity also includes solidarity and loyalty with one another. In the Christian community, in parish and in diocese we Christians have to bond together, to care more for each other, to support each other more and to quit turning on one another.
Back to bishop Aquila. He said and rightly so, “A true culture of life is infectious. The joy which comes from living in gratitude for the gift of life—and treating all life as gift—effects change. When Christians begin to live with real regard for human dignity, our nation will awaken to the tragedy of abortion, and she will begin to change.”
Finally, he encourages all to remember and rely upon the power of prayer.
“Our prayer and sacrifice for an end to abortion, united with Christ on the cross, through Mary, will transform hearts and renew minds. In prayer we entrust our nation to Jesus Christ truly present in the Holy Eucharist the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. In doing so, we can be assured of his victory.”
I want to end with a wonderful quote from Blessed John Paul II which sums up today’s message. “If you want peace work for justice; if you want justice defend life; if you want life accept the truth the truth which comes from God!”
Estimates are that that decision has resulted in more than 50 million children who have not been allowed to live since 1973.
In his column last week our Bishop, Bishop Malloy presented A few calculations to give us some interesting comparisons with regards to how many children have been murdered since Roe vs. Wade. To put it in perspective, the population of the state of Illinois is said to be about 12.8 million people.
Can we imagine that abortion has taken from us the lives of the population of the state of Illinois, nearly four times over?
The population of California is currently about 37.6 million people. So Illinois and California would both be completely depopulated.
The state of New York has 19 million people. The number of abortions since Roe v. Wade is about two and one half times the population of the whole state of New York.
The population of Spain is 46 million people. The population of England is about 53 million people.
You get my drift. Because of abortion, it is as though whole countries and states simply do not exist.
Bishop Malloy went on to say, “There is another consequence that we need to keep in mind as we ponder our modern slaughter of the innocents. It is the often unspoken pain and regret of the women who have had abortions.”
Last Week, I also read a very interesting pastoral letter by the Bishop of Denver, Samuel Aquila marking the sad anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. In his letter, Bishop Aquila admits that he didn’t practice the faith in his first three years in college. During that time, he worked as hospital orderly assisting in the emergency room at a student health center and a hospital. It was here that he encountered the gruesome reality of abortion.
“At that time, he said, some states had approved abortion laws that I wasn’t even aware of. Because of those laws, when I was in college I witnessed the results of two abortions,” he writes.
“The first was in a surgical unit. I walked into an outer room and in the sink, unattended, was the body of small-unborn child who had been aborted. I remember being stunned. I remember thinking that I had to baptize that child.”
The second abortion experience was even more shocking.
“A young woman came into the emergency room screaming. She explained that she had had an abortion already. When the doctor sent her home, he told her she would pass the remains naturally. She was bleeding as the doctor, her boyfriend, the nurse and I placed her on a table. I held a basin as the doctor retrieved a tiny arm, a tiny leg and then the rest of the broken body of a tiny unborn child. I was shocked. I was saddened for the mother and child, for the doctor and the nurse. None of us would have participated in such a thing were it not an emergency. I witnessed a tiny human being destroyed by violence.”
He said, not surprisingly, that the memory haunts him to this day.
“I will never forget that I stood witness to acts of unspeakable brutality. In the abortions I witnessed, powerful people made decisions that ended the lives of small, powerless, children. Through lies and manipulation, children were seen as objects. Women and families were convinced that ending a life would be painless, and forgettable. Experts made seemingly convincing arguments that the unborn were not people at all, that they could not feel pain, and were better off dead.”
The experience left the bishop a changed man. “I witnessed the death of two small people who never had the chance to take a breath. I can never forget that. And I have never been the same. My faith was weak at the time. But I knew by reason, and by what I saw, that a human life was destroyed. My conscience awakened to the truth of the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception. I became pro-life and eventually returned to my faith.”
What has happened in the last 40 years of sanctioned killing of the unborn is that we, as a people, have become coarsened. “We’ve learned to see people as problems and objects,” the bishop writes. “In the four decades since Roe vs. Wade, our nation has found new ways to weaken the family, to marginalize the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill—we’ve found new ways to exploit and abuse. Today we must recognize that 40 years of sanctioned killing has given the culture of death a firm footing and foundation in our nation.”
Catholics must become holier to loosen the grip of the culture of death.
“Protecting life is our obvious duty as Catholics, and ending legal protection for abortion is imperative. 40 years have passed and still we have not found a successful strategy to end the legally protected killing of the unborn. But we have also failed to win public opinion. Polling today suggests that 63% of Americans support legal protection for abortion. The bishop said this is where change must begin.
Here with all do respect to bishop Aquila I disagree with him in this sense. Where change must begin is within the Church herself; change must begin with both laity and clergy alike; change must begin in our parishes and yes, in our dioceses.
I heard that it was over 53% of the Catholics in this last election that supported one of the most radical left wing pro death politicians ever. And far too many even priests and bishops either support pro-choice or are conspicuously quiet with regards to the defense of the dignity of the human person.
Bishop Aquila writes. “If we want to build a culture of life, we need to begin with charity. Social charity, or solidarity, is the hallmark of a culture of life and a civilization of love. . . . This charity must begin in the family,” But I would humbly add this charity must also begin in the parish family and in the diocesan and Church structures at large. Our Church is so divided. There is so little trust, sadly especially among priests and even trust between priests and bishops and between bishops and bishops. Remember our Lady of Akita Japan, echoing the message of LaSalette and Fatima, said the time would come when Cardinal would oppose Cardinal, bishop oppose bishop; and this includes priest against priest. This must stop; we must repent; we must respect the human dignity one another, but we must do so with regards to the truth, the truth that comes from God. This the basis of the New Evangelization.
The reversal of our culture of death both within the Society and within the Church is then, intricately, intricately tied into the New Evangelization that our Holy Fathers Blessed Pope John Paul and Benedict are so ardently calling for. But again the New Evangelization begins within the Church.
This is also why what I about to say at first doesn’t seem to be part of the pro-life moment; But it is, because it is tied to the new Evangelization. Let me use recent address by Cardinal Archbishop Burke to the bishops of Kenya to make my point. The Cardinal indicated in His address that the New Evangelization (and so the dignity of man defended properly) will never be realized until we work more diligently for justice with-in the Church herself.
The cardinal pointed out that in so many chanceries of the world, while canon law is being quoted, often it is not being followed especially with regards to the rights of priests, but also with the rights of the laity as well. He said the following of Canon law is not only a matter of justice it is a matter of pastoral concern for the faithful and is matter of promoting unity within the Church herself, including unity in our parishes. It is also a matter of respecting the rights and the dignity of the catholic faithful; again, priest and laity alike.
“Like our families, which are the first place where those who are marginalized, and whose dignity is forgotten, can be supported,to build a culture of life we must commit to strengthening our own families, and to supporting the families of our community.” Said Bishop Aquila. But again, this must begin within the Church; within our dioceses, our chanceries and with in our parishes.
We must accept the full truth of the Gospel but this truth must be lived out in Charity. Charity must support works of mercy, apostolates of social justice and support. Charity also includes solidarity and loyalty with one another. In the Christian community, in parish and in diocese we Christians have to bond together, to care more for each other, to support each other more and to quit turning on one another.
Back to bishop Aquila. He said and rightly so, “A true culture of life is infectious. The joy which comes from living in gratitude for the gift of life—and treating all life as gift—effects change. When Christians begin to live with real regard for human dignity, our nation will awaken to the tragedy of abortion, and she will begin to change.”
Finally, he encourages all to remember and rely upon the power of prayer.
“Our prayer and sacrifice for an end to abortion, united with Christ on the cross, through Mary, will transform hearts and renew minds. In prayer we entrust our nation to Jesus Christ truly present in the Holy Eucharist the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. In doing so, we can be assured of his victory.”
I want to end with a wonderful quote from Blessed John Paul II which sums up today’s message. “If you want peace work for justice; if you want justice defend life; if you want life accept the truth the truth which comes from God!”
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Holy Mary, St. Joseph, pray for us, pray for our families. Child Jesus help us to love you more so that we can love each other more.
Sunday January 13th, Feast of the Holy Family Extraordinary Form.
In today’s Gospel we can wonder how it would be possible for Mary and Joseph to lose Jesus. The answer actually leads us to a deeper understanding of what a healthy family structure in society should look like. And since family is the very foundation of society, and is the domestic Church, its important grow in our understanding of what a healthy family structure should look like.
In the time of Jesus, Mary and Joseph the family in the nation of Israel was understood in a very different way than we understand family today. Family in the
time of the Holy Family was understood in a much broader way. Family was understood in a tribal way. Family was much more than just mom, dad and the kids; family was understood as the whole tribe.
One’s family was made up of aunts, uncles and cousins. In fact in the time of Jesus the Hebrew language didn’t even have a word for cousins; One cousins were considered one’s brother and sisters; hence, the “brothers and sisters” of the Lord. The notion of family also went beyond those who were alive at the time. Family included one’s anscestors and one’s progeny. Members of the family always acted in a way not to bring shame on the ancestors; and actions were measured on how they would affect the members of the family to be born.
Jesus was then able to be lost because Mary and Joseph just assumed he was with the other members of the family; his brothers and sisters, that is the cousins and the rest of the tribe. This tribal notion of family is actually the healthest family structure there is; and societies with this type of stucture are healthy societies. When society starts to fail it is because the tribal family begins to fail. Good Socialogists tell us that the beginning of this failure is for the family to move from a tribal family to a nuclear family structure; that is, to an idea of family merely as mom, dad and the kids; yes cousins and aunts and uncles are there but not they are seperated into their own nuclear family.
History has proven time and time again that once the family becomes a nuclear family it’s only short matter of time before the family collaspes even further. And the last step before the complete breakdown of society is the atomistic family. In this last death gasp of society family becomes merely something for the children to break free of. Mom and dad, especially the dad, are seen as idiots. Children must then break free of such a oppresive structure. Eventually the state tries to take over, even by force, the authority of mom and dad and so the raising and rearing of the children in order to be proper citizens-comrades, party members.
How do we reverse this breakdown of the family structure and so the breakdown of our society that we are witnessing in our own day. Surely now families are more and more moving from the nuclear family to the atomistic family structure (we see this on television-comercials; homor Simpon-dad is portrayed as an idiot and mom not much better. Its clear that in our socity the tribal notion of family died long ago. The Holy Family, of Jesus, Mary and Joseph gives us the lessons and so the answers we need to strengthen our families.
The first lesson and the first in order of importance is that both Our Lady and St. Joseph were open to God's grace and direction in their lives to make everything work out. The Holy Family was a family of prayer, they put the first commandment first--to Love God first and foremost in everything they did. As is always the case with any family “the family the prays together stays together.”
In our age, only families that pray together will survive. Prayer helps the family have a proper order; that is, God and His Will first and foremost in the family’s daily life. By this proper ordering, the husband and wife will have and maintain the mutual respect toward one another and pass this on to their children. The Holy family will help us to pray, to allow our families to enter into a deep union with them and with the child Jesus.
And if this deep union with Jesus is too take place the family must more fully partack of the sacraments of the Church, especially the Holy Eucharist and confession. However, it is confession that I would like to speak on today. As with prayer, couples can only be open to God’s grace and direction in their lives if they are in a state of grace. They realized their failings in loving God and in loving each other and their children and this leads them to seek Gods forgiveness in the Sacrament of forgiveness- confession. Receiving God’s mercy, his forgiveness, his healing, and his grace and help, allows them to forgive each other and themselves for their sins and failures in the family life. A priest must encourage every couple to receive the sacrament of penance, or reconciliation, before their wedding and many, many times after.
How many couples today, because they do not bother with this sacrament of forgiveness, are in mortal sin, beginning on their wedding day; they receive a sacrilegious communion at their wedding Mass; and they go right on for years in mortal sin -- right to the divorce court. They have put up a barrier to God's grace in their individual lives and in their marriage. It is a legal marriage, it is a sacrament, but they don't let Christ work with them. Is it any wonder so many, even "Catholic," marriages are destined to failure, because the door to that marriage is closed to Jesus Christ. Individuals as well as married couples and their children will only be able to practice forgiving one another to the extent they participate in receiving the forgiveness of God in the Sacrament of Confession. Our families are not sinless like the Holy Family, therefore our family life needs the gift of forgiving one another to survive.
The second lesson husbands and wives can learn from Our Lady and St. Joseph, is that of sacrifice for one another and to God in obedience. Neither one of them was forced to go along with God's plan for our redemption; they were obedient to God’s will and law as seen in their going to Jerusalem to fulfill the prescripts of the law. Once they were married, their lives changed drastically. But they were willing to make the sacrifices for one another, and defer to one another when necessary, to make their life together work successfully-they loved and obeyed God and one another.
Too often today, couples don't seem to realize that when they marry, they are called to sacrifice their individual lives, for the good of their relationship and for the good of the family. That's sacrifice for that person were supposed to love more than anyone else. If a person is not willing to make that sacrifice, and many other sacrifices over the years for that other person, a marriage and a family is going to have a lot of difficulties.
And this common life they are undertaking includes children. The couple must sacrifice their individual lives for the sake of children. They must first sacrifice their own desires and wants and be open to all the children that God wishes to bless them with. Marriage was given to us by God, to share in his own life giving love, his own fruitfulness; it is done in obedience with love. Jesus was the center of Mary and Joseph’s lives. Couples that adopt a contraceptive mentality can only damaged themselves individually and collectively by their unwillingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of children. The contraceptive mentality leads to divorce and family problems and breakups and the contraceptive mentality if it is not reversed, it will go down in history as the cause of the collaspe of Western Civilization.
Finally, St. Joseph and Our Lady must have been each other's best friend. He refused to turn her over to be stoned for adultery. They shared the greatest secret the world has ever known, just between themselves for many years. They were able to wander around Palestine and Egypt alone with their Child for a long time. They were happy to "make do" with what they had, and together be able to adapt to any circumstance. They actually liked one another.
Too often, in marriages based upon romance, when the initial passion fades, the couple realizes that they neither know each other very well, nor like each other very much. Marry your best friend. When a husband and wife are best friends, they are content with one another, and are able to excuse one another's shortcomings and faults. If that marital friendship ever breaks apart, there is still the possibility that it can be repaired, because the foundation upon which that friendship was based is still there. Lots of times best friends fight, sometimes they get so angry with one another that they quit being friends for a time. But if there was once a foundation of friendship, there is always hope for reconciliation. And if a married couple realizes they are not best friends, and never were, with God's grace, and some work on their part, they can learn to become best friends.
And speaking of friendship brings up another point with regards to children. Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary. The Son of God became humble and obedient to the very creatures he created, because they were His parents. While husband and wives need to base their relationship on friendship, their relationship with their children must be different. Parents cannot be their children’s friends--their equals, they must be their parents. Children can never repay their parents back for the gift of life and all the sacrifices the parents make for the children, and because of this the children owe their parents respect and admiration. They must learn from Jesus who did not put himself equal with His parents, he was obedient.
But as with the relationship between the husband and wife is nourished by all the things I have already said, so the relationship between the parents and the children must be based on love and mutual respect and be nourished by prayer together and seeking out God’s forgiveness.
While we have much more to learn from the Holy Family these are just a few points although very important ones at that. Openness to God grace through prayer, especially prayer together as a family and confession, Love for each other that demands sacrifice, friendship of the couple with each other, but not with their children in the same sense, these are the lessons we learn today from that very human couple we know as Our Lady and St. Joseph. May their example keep our families strong.
Holy Mary, St. Joseph, pray for us, pray for our families. Child Jesus help us to love you more so that we can love each other more.
(This homily is greatly indebted to Msgr. Petty, R.I.P.)
In today’s Gospel we can wonder how it would be possible for Mary and Joseph to lose Jesus. The answer actually leads us to a deeper understanding of what a healthy family structure in society should look like. And since family is the very foundation of society, and is the domestic Church, its important grow in our understanding of what a healthy family structure should look like.
In the time of Jesus, Mary and Joseph the family in the nation of Israel was understood in a very different way than we understand family today. Family in the
time of the Holy Family was understood in a much broader way. Family was understood in a tribal way. Family was much more than just mom, dad and the kids; family was understood as the whole tribe.
One’s family was made up of aunts, uncles and cousins. In fact in the time of Jesus the Hebrew language didn’t even have a word for cousins; One cousins were considered one’s brother and sisters; hence, the “brothers and sisters” of the Lord. The notion of family also went beyond those who were alive at the time. Family included one’s anscestors and one’s progeny. Members of the family always acted in a way not to bring shame on the ancestors; and actions were measured on how they would affect the members of the family to be born.
Jesus was then able to be lost because Mary and Joseph just assumed he was with the other members of the family; his brothers and sisters, that is the cousins and the rest of the tribe. This tribal notion of family is actually the healthest family structure there is; and societies with this type of stucture are healthy societies. When society starts to fail it is because the tribal family begins to fail. Good Socialogists tell us that the beginning of this failure is for the family to move from a tribal family to a nuclear family structure; that is, to an idea of family merely as mom, dad and the kids; yes cousins and aunts and uncles are there but not they are seperated into their own nuclear family.
History has proven time and time again that once the family becomes a nuclear family it’s only short matter of time before the family collaspes even further. And the last step before the complete breakdown of society is the atomistic family. In this last death gasp of society family becomes merely something for the children to break free of. Mom and dad, especially the dad, are seen as idiots. Children must then break free of such a oppresive structure. Eventually the state tries to take over, even by force, the authority of mom and dad and so the raising and rearing of the children in order to be proper citizens-comrades, party members.
How do we reverse this breakdown of the family structure and so the breakdown of our society that we are witnessing in our own day. Surely now families are more and more moving from the nuclear family to the atomistic family structure (we see this on television-comercials; homor Simpon-dad is portrayed as an idiot and mom not much better. Its clear that in our socity the tribal notion of family died long ago. The Holy Family, of Jesus, Mary and Joseph gives us the lessons and so the answers we need to strengthen our families.
The first lesson and the first in order of importance is that both Our Lady and St. Joseph were open to God's grace and direction in their lives to make everything work out. The Holy Family was a family of prayer, they put the first commandment first--to Love God first and foremost in everything they did. As is always the case with any family “the family the prays together stays together.”
In our age, only families that pray together will survive. Prayer helps the family have a proper order; that is, God and His Will first and foremost in the family’s daily life. By this proper ordering, the husband and wife will have and maintain the mutual respect toward one another and pass this on to their children. The Holy family will help us to pray, to allow our families to enter into a deep union with them and with the child Jesus.
And if this deep union with Jesus is too take place the family must more fully partack of the sacraments of the Church, especially the Holy Eucharist and confession. However, it is confession that I would like to speak on today. As with prayer, couples can only be open to God’s grace and direction in their lives if they are in a state of grace. They realized their failings in loving God and in loving each other and their children and this leads them to seek Gods forgiveness in the Sacrament of forgiveness- confession. Receiving God’s mercy, his forgiveness, his healing, and his grace and help, allows them to forgive each other and themselves for their sins and failures in the family life. A priest must encourage every couple to receive the sacrament of penance, or reconciliation, before their wedding and many, many times after.
How many couples today, because they do not bother with this sacrament of forgiveness, are in mortal sin, beginning on their wedding day; they receive a sacrilegious communion at their wedding Mass; and they go right on for years in mortal sin -- right to the divorce court. They have put up a barrier to God's grace in their individual lives and in their marriage. It is a legal marriage, it is a sacrament, but they don't let Christ work with them. Is it any wonder so many, even "Catholic," marriages are destined to failure, because the door to that marriage is closed to Jesus Christ. Individuals as well as married couples and their children will only be able to practice forgiving one another to the extent they participate in receiving the forgiveness of God in the Sacrament of Confession. Our families are not sinless like the Holy Family, therefore our family life needs the gift of forgiving one another to survive.
The second lesson husbands and wives can learn from Our Lady and St. Joseph, is that of sacrifice for one another and to God in obedience. Neither one of them was forced to go along with God's plan for our redemption; they were obedient to God’s will and law as seen in their going to Jerusalem to fulfill the prescripts of the law. Once they were married, their lives changed drastically. But they were willing to make the sacrifices for one another, and defer to one another when necessary, to make their life together work successfully-they loved and obeyed God and one another.
Too often today, couples don't seem to realize that when they marry, they are called to sacrifice their individual lives, for the good of their relationship and for the good of the family. That's sacrifice for that person were supposed to love more than anyone else. If a person is not willing to make that sacrifice, and many other sacrifices over the years for that other person, a marriage and a family is going to have a lot of difficulties.
And this common life they are undertaking includes children. The couple must sacrifice their individual lives for the sake of children. They must first sacrifice their own desires and wants and be open to all the children that God wishes to bless them with. Marriage was given to us by God, to share in his own life giving love, his own fruitfulness; it is done in obedience with love. Jesus was the center of Mary and Joseph’s lives. Couples that adopt a contraceptive mentality can only damaged themselves individually and collectively by their unwillingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of children. The contraceptive mentality leads to divorce and family problems and breakups and the contraceptive mentality if it is not reversed, it will go down in history as the cause of the collaspe of Western Civilization.
Finally, St. Joseph and Our Lady must have been each other's best friend. He refused to turn her over to be stoned for adultery. They shared the greatest secret the world has ever known, just between themselves for many years. They were able to wander around Palestine and Egypt alone with their Child for a long time. They were happy to "make do" with what they had, and together be able to adapt to any circumstance. They actually liked one another.
Too often, in marriages based upon romance, when the initial passion fades, the couple realizes that they neither know each other very well, nor like each other very much. Marry your best friend. When a husband and wife are best friends, they are content with one another, and are able to excuse one another's shortcomings and faults. If that marital friendship ever breaks apart, there is still the possibility that it can be repaired, because the foundation upon which that friendship was based is still there. Lots of times best friends fight, sometimes they get so angry with one another that they quit being friends for a time. But if there was once a foundation of friendship, there is always hope for reconciliation. And if a married couple realizes they are not best friends, and never were, with God's grace, and some work on their part, they can learn to become best friends.
And speaking of friendship brings up another point with regards to children. Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary. The Son of God became humble and obedient to the very creatures he created, because they were His parents. While husband and wives need to base their relationship on friendship, their relationship with their children must be different. Parents cannot be their children’s friends--their equals, they must be their parents. Children can never repay their parents back for the gift of life and all the sacrifices the parents make for the children, and because of this the children owe their parents respect and admiration. They must learn from Jesus who did not put himself equal with His parents, he was obedient.
But as with the relationship between the husband and wife is nourished by all the things I have already said, so the relationship between the parents and the children must be based on love and mutual respect and be nourished by prayer together and seeking out God’s forgiveness.
While we have much more to learn from the Holy Family these are just a few points although very important ones at that. Openness to God grace through prayer, especially prayer together as a family and confession, Love for each other that demands sacrifice, friendship of the couple with each other, but not with their children in the same sense, these are the lessons we learn today from that very human couple we know as Our Lady and St. Joseph. May their example keep our families strong.
Holy Mary, St. Joseph, pray for us, pray for our families. Child Jesus help us to love you more so that we can love each other more.
(This homily is greatly indebted to Msgr. Petty, R.I.P.)
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Holy Mary, stella Maris, stella orientis—Holy Mary, star of the sea, star of the east pray for us, lead us, and others through us, safely to Jesus. Amen.
Feast of the Epiphany. Sunday January 6th, 2013
Today we continue our Celebration of Christmas—The feast of Hope with the Feast of the Epiphany-the manifestation of God. In this feast, the Nativity of the Lord once again illuminates the darkness that often surrounds our world and our hearts with his light, bringing hope and joy. Where does this light come from? From the stable in Bethlehem, where the shepherds found "Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger" (Lk 2:16). Before this Holy Family, another and deeper question arises: how can the small and weak child have brought such radical novelty to the world to change the course of history? Is there not something mysterious in its origin that goes beyond that stable? (Pope Benedict Angelus Address Jan 1st, 2012)
In this Christmas season, we rejoice in the light, which surrounds Christ’s birth, bringing a hope which transforms our life in this world. Each year our celebration leads us to reflect anew on Jesus’ identity as the only-begotten Son of God, who became man for our salvation. Jesus is truly Emmanuel: "God among us", born of the Virgin Mary. When we profess the mystery of the incarnation in the Creed, we bow our heads in awe and adoration.
(At Christmas,) we acknowledge (anew) that the incarnation is the work of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, brought about through Mary’s free cooperation. The incarnation is the beginning of the new creation. Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is the new Adam who offers humanity rebirth in the waters of Baptism, by which we become sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. (We pray ever more intensely that) during this holy season, we may welcome the Saviour into our hearts, allow God’s power to strengthen and transform our weakness, and bear joyful witness to the dawning of the new creation. (Pope Benedict Angelus Address Jan 1st, 2012)
Today on the feast of Epiphany we ask, who were the wiseman that came to the light and professed in faith that the Christ Child was not only the King of all kings, but God Himself? Were they Astonomers, philosophers, magicians…maybe they were all of these? But whatever else they were, the three wise man were “people of inner unrest, people of hope, people on the lookout for the true star of salvation. They were not just astronomers or philosophers they were wise in the truest sense of the word, they recognized their inner restlessness for something greater than this world and with courage set out to find It, or better yet, Him.”
In a way the Wise men represent all men; and they represent the inner dynamic, the inner desire-restlessness, which can never be fully quenched, of all men toward that which surpasses man; it is a inner search from the heart of man for the true God, not just to know about Him or even to know Him personally but to possess Him and be possessed by Him in love. The wise men represent all of those who would, in every age, come after them and who would be seekers of the truth. This is why the wise men and all “wise” men after them follow the star.
But what was the star of Bethlehem? Was it an astronomical event or was it a supernatural event? There have been many arguments on how the star shown its light to the wise man. What ever the star was physically, the point is, is that “it is not the star that determines the child’s destiny in the manger, it is the child that directs the star.
In other words, Jesus is himself the Star that shines upon the world and determines it’s fate. And so, it also is not the star (or stars) that determine our own destiny, it is the Child that directs our destiny. Human nature now assumed by God—as revealed in God’s only begotten Son—the Christ child in the manger—is greater than all the powers of this material world, greater than the entire universe.
This truth about the Christ Child while a source of hope for us; is also, many times a source of hopeful unrest for us. The wisemen went to Herod to inquire after the newborn “king of the Jews.” We are told Herod was troubled by their questions, and all of Jerusalem was troubled with them.
The birth of the messiah would evitable bring more questioning and eventually bring trial and tribulation to the people of Jerusalem and to the whole world. Who is this Christ Child that was born into our world and causes a disturbance to the supposed peace of this world? The truth is that He is God, the God “who disturbs our comfortable day-to-day existence. Our faith in Him and in His only Begotten Son, is the star of hope-yes; but it can be also a star of disturbance to our daily life, but only to lead us to greater love of Jesus and union with God. This is why Jesus’ kingship goes hand and hand with His Passion (cf. Benedict “The Infancy Narratives, Jesus of Nazareth).
And so the Star even today directs us to the One who gives us hope but does so by disturbing the comfortableness of our daily mediocrity and selfish love; it directs us to the paradox of the cross, the cross which calls us to a daily self-denial and a daily dying to self in order to live for the sake of the other, for love of the other. The other being first, God Himself in Christ Jesus, but then through Him to love our neighbor as Christ loves us.
The Star shines brightly even in our day pointing to our hope—that is, to Jesus and the power of His divinity which helps us to overcome our lack of love and the poverty of our fallen human nature. It reminds us that, “Sometimes, even in the journey and life of faith we can feel our poverty, feel our inadequacy in the face of the witness to offer the world.”
But, the star also reminds us that, God chose a humble woman, in an unknown village, in one of the most distant provinces of the great Roman Empire. Always, even in the midst of the most difficult problems to face, we must trust in God, renewing faith in His presence and action in our history, like in that of Mary. Nothing is impossible with God! With him, our lives always walk on solid ground and are open to a future of firm hope. (Pope Benedict Angelus Address Jan 1st, 2012)
Like the wise men we for our part must come in faith on bended knee and with bended heart and bow down in adoration before the God-Child truly present in the Holy Eucharist; adoring the One who is our holy Hope and placing our complete trust in Him. We must like the wise men bring our gifts and place them before the newborn King.
Just like the wisemen we too are to bring our gifts of gold, incense, and Myrrh. In this case, our gold is the treasures of our heart to be offered to Jesus made present to us in the Eucharist. The Incense we are to offer is the sweet fragrance of our good works, of our little acts of love done each day for the Love of God, our witness to others of our love for God. And what of the Myrrh? The myrrh is the very sacrifice of ourselves, our hearts, all that we have and are, offered to the Heavenly Father as an oblation of love in union with the sacrifice of His only Son made truly present before us.
We like the wisemen also need to turn to the Star of the East, Mary and ask her to help us in our fears and weakness so that in hope and complete trust we may lead others to Jesus in the Eucharist. His True Presence is the antidote for all our anxieties and fears, including pain and death. He is the Bread of Angels that removes our pains, our cares, our worries; He alone brings joy and peace to our soul, he alone satisfies our whole being and gives us true hope. Let us ask Holy Mary who leads us to the Star that is Christ to help us become as stars as well so that our light may lead other men to light of God and His love for them!
Holy Mary, stella Maris, stella orientis—Holy Mary, star of the sea, star of the east pray for us, lead us, and others through us, safely to Jesus. Amen.
Today we continue our Celebration of Christmas—The feast of Hope with the Feast of the Epiphany-the manifestation of God. In this feast, the Nativity of the Lord once again illuminates the darkness that often surrounds our world and our hearts with his light, bringing hope and joy. Where does this light come from? From the stable in Bethlehem, where the shepherds found "Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger" (Lk 2:16). Before this Holy Family, another and deeper question arises: how can the small and weak child have brought such radical novelty to the world to change the course of history? Is there not something mysterious in its origin that goes beyond that stable? (Pope Benedict Angelus Address Jan 1st, 2012)
In this Christmas season, we rejoice in the light, which surrounds Christ’s birth, bringing a hope which transforms our life in this world. Each year our celebration leads us to reflect anew on Jesus’ identity as the only-begotten Son of God, who became man for our salvation. Jesus is truly Emmanuel: "God among us", born of the Virgin Mary. When we profess the mystery of the incarnation in the Creed, we bow our heads in awe and adoration.
(At Christmas,) we acknowledge (anew) that the incarnation is the work of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, brought about through Mary’s free cooperation. The incarnation is the beginning of the new creation. Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is the new Adam who offers humanity rebirth in the waters of Baptism, by which we become sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. (We pray ever more intensely that) during this holy season, we may welcome the Saviour into our hearts, allow God’s power to strengthen and transform our weakness, and bear joyful witness to the dawning of the new creation. (Pope Benedict Angelus Address Jan 1st, 2012)
Today on the feast of Epiphany we ask, who were the wiseman that came to the light and professed in faith that the Christ Child was not only the King of all kings, but God Himself? Were they Astonomers, philosophers, magicians…maybe they were all of these? But whatever else they were, the three wise man were “people of inner unrest, people of hope, people on the lookout for the true star of salvation. They were not just astronomers or philosophers they were wise in the truest sense of the word, they recognized their inner restlessness for something greater than this world and with courage set out to find It, or better yet, Him.”
In a way the Wise men represent all men; and they represent the inner dynamic, the inner desire-restlessness, which can never be fully quenched, of all men toward that which surpasses man; it is a inner search from the heart of man for the true God, not just to know about Him or even to know Him personally but to possess Him and be possessed by Him in love. The wise men represent all of those who would, in every age, come after them and who would be seekers of the truth. This is why the wise men and all “wise” men after them follow the star.
But what was the star of Bethlehem? Was it an astronomical event or was it a supernatural event? There have been many arguments on how the star shown its light to the wise man. What ever the star was physically, the point is, is that “it is not the star that determines the child’s destiny in the manger, it is the child that directs the star.
In other words, Jesus is himself the Star that shines upon the world and determines it’s fate. And so, it also is not the star (or stars) that determine our own destiny, it is the Child that directs our destiny. Human nature now assumed by God—as revealed in God’s only begotten Son—the Christ child in the manger—is greater than all the powers of this material world, greater than the entire universe.
This truth about the Christ Child while a source of hope for us; is also, many times a source of hopeful unrest for us. The wisemen went to Herod to inquire after the newborn “king of the Jews.” We are told Herod was troubled by their questions, and all of Jerusalem was troubled with them.
The birth of the messiah would evitable bring more questioning and eventually bring trial and tribulation to the people of Jerusalem and to the whole world. Who is this Christ Child that was born into our world and causes a disturbance to the supposed peace of this world? The truth is that He is God, the God “who disturbs our comfortable day-to-day existence. Our faith in Him and in His only Begotten Son, is the star of hope-yes; but it can be also a star of disturbance to our daily life, but only to lead us to greater love of Jesus and union with God. This is why Jesus’ kingship goes hand and hand with His Passion (cf. Benedict “The Infancy Narratives, Jesus of Nazareth).
And so the Star even today directs us to the One who gives us hope but does so by disturbing the comfortableness of our daily mediocrity and selfish love; it directs us to the paradox of the cross, the cross which calls us to a daily self-denial and a daily dying to self in order to live for the sake of the other, for love of the other. The other being first, God Himself in Christ Jesus, but then through Him to love our neighbor as Christ loves us.
The Star shines brightly even in our day pointing to our hope—that is, to Jesus and the power of His divinity which helps us to overcome our lack of love and the poverty of our fallen human nature. It reminds us that, “Sometimes, even in the journey and life of faith we can feel our poverty, feel our inadequacy in the face of the witness to offer the world.”
But, the star also reminds us that, God chose a humble woman, in an unknown village, in one of the most distant provinces of the great Roman Empire. Always, even in the midst of the most difficult problems to face, we must trust in God, renewing faith in His presence and action in our history, like in that of Mary. Nothing is impossible with God! With him, our lives always walk on solid ground and are open to a future of firm hope. (Pope Benedict Angelus Address Jan 1st, 2012)
Like the wise men we for our part must come in faith on bended knee and with bended heart and bow down in adoration before the God-Child truly present in the Holy Eucharist; adoring the One who is our holy Hope and placing our complete trust in Him. We must like the wise men bring our gifts and place them before the newborn King.
Just like the wisemen we too are to bring our gifts of gold, incense, and Myrrh. In this case, our gold is the treasures of our heart to be offered to Jesus made present to us in the Eucharist. The Incense we are to offer is the sweet fragrance of our good works, of our little acts of love done each day for the Love of God, our witness to others of our love for God. And what of the Myrrh? The myrrh is the very sacrifice of ourselves, our hearts, all that we have and are, offered to the Heavenly Father as an oblation of love in union with the sacrifice of His only Son made truly present before us.
We like the wisemen also need to turn to the Star of the East, Mary and ask her to help us in our fears and weakness so that in hope and complete trust we may lead others to Jesus in the Eucharist. His True Presence is the antidote for all our anxieties and fears, including pain and death. He is the Bread of Angels that removes our pains, our cares, our worries; He alone brings joy and peace to our soul, he alone satisfies our whole being and gives us true hope. Let us ask Holy Mary who leads us to the Star that is Christ to help us become as stars as well so that our light may lead other men to light of God and His love for them!
Holy Mary, stella Maris, stella orientis—Holy Mary, star of the sea, star of the east pray for us, lead us, and others through us, safely to Jesus. Amen.
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