Friends in Christ, Today is the feast of St. Barnabas.
Barnabas is called an apostle, but he is actually not one of the original 12. His full name is Joseph Barnabas; he was a Greek-speaking Jew, born on the island of Cyprus. He became a Catholic soon after the death of Christ in the original community at Jerusalem.
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As we read in Acts of the Apostles, he was so committed to the Faith, that he sold the property he owned and gave it to the Church.
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Now when St. Paul had just converted to the Faith, no one trusted him because he had been a persecutor of Christians. The Jews saw him as a traitor, and the Christians thought his conversion was a trick. Only one man understood him, and that was Barnabas. Barnabas was a very gentle and patient man, and because of his special gift of being able to sympathize with others, he was called the ‘Son of Consolation.’
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It was Barnabas, perhaps the most lovable of all the persons of the early church, who had looked kindly on this lonely brother Paul, and saw the soul of a great apostle. It was Barnabas who stretched out his friendly hand to Paul, and introduced him to Peter and James.’
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Paul and Barnabas soon went about converting the city of Antioch to the Faith. In about the year 48, Barnabas accompanied Paul on the 1st great missionary journey. In Lystra, the people were so impressed with the miracles they saw, that they called Barnabas a god; they thought he was the god Jupiter, probably because he was such a big person.
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St. Dorotheus says that Barnabas first preached in Rome, and became the bishop of Milan, Italy. He preached the gospel with Mark in Cyprus, and took with him the Gospel written by St. Matthew; he would often hold the Gospel over sick people, by which they were cured.
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One day, Barnabas saw nude men and women involved in a pagan feast, and so he cursed their temple; immediately a part of it fell in and crushed them, and it was there that the people put a rope around his neck, and dragged him out of the city to be burned alive.
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They put his bones in a leaden urn, intending to cast it into the sea; but St. Mark in the middle of the night, took the bones and buried them secretly in a crypt.[i]
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In a letter that St Barnabas wrote, he says: ‘The Lord was ready to undergo suffering for our soul’s sake, even though he is Lord of the whole earth; having thus renewed us by forgiving our sins, he refashioned us and gave us the souls of children.’
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[i] They remained there until the year 500, until Barnabas himself appeared to a man to reveal their location.
Friends in Christ, today is the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his 21 Companions. They are Martyrs of Uganda, Africa, in 1886.
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Priests known as the White Fathers had only been in Uganda 6 years, but had already baptized many Catholics. A number of them worked in the court of the African King.
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Now the King was a violent ruler, and he was known for his homosexual actions, forcing himself on boys who served in his court. The Christians working there tried to protect them from the King. Their leader was Joseph Mukasa.
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Once, when the King had murdered a missionary, Joseph confronted him, and demanded that he change his homosexual lifestyle. The King ordered him killed, and when the executioners went to tie Joseph’s hands, he told them that it was not necessary, because a Christian is not afraid to die.” He forgave the King and was burned alive.
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Charles Lwanga took over the leadership of the Christian community – and they continued to try protecting young boys from the King. But the King’s anger flared again at another Christian, Denis, so he thrust a spear into his throat. The king called his court and said, “Whoever does not pray, come over by me. To the others he asked: Do you intend to remain Christian? They all answered ‘yes,’ and so they were forced onto a 37 mile walk to be executed.
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One Fr. Lourdel remembers hearing these martyrs laughing and chattering; he says that he almost fainted in seeing the courage and joy of these condemned young people. When one man named James was ordered killed, he said, ‘Goodbye, I am going to heaven.’ As Fr. Lourdel gave him absolution, James smiled broadly, and raised his tied hands pointing to his goal: heaven.
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When one official asked why God does not rescue them, a lad named Matthias said: ‘God will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my body.” On June 3, they were brought out wrapped in reed mats, and burned to death on the fire. At their death they called on the Name of Jesus and proclaimed: “You can burn our bodies, but you cannot harm our souls.”
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Today, the Church in Africa is very young and growing; there are 13.6 million Catholics today in Uganda, 42% of the entire country.
Friends in Christ, until the year 410, Great Britain, known as Britania, had been part of the Roman Empire: Roman culture, structure, and laws were present. But because the empire weakened, in the year 410, Roman soldiers were removed from Britain, and the people were left to fend for themselves against the Saxon tribes.
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The invading, war-like, Anglo-Saxons settled in the south, while the western parts still remained Christian. The invasions destroyed most remnants of Roman culture. This was the situation in which Pope Gregory the Great decided to send missionaries to convert the Anglo-Saxons. He sent 40 missionaries, led by the saint who we remember today: St. Augustine of Canterbury.
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On their way there, they heard from people of the cruelty and barbarism of the Anglo-Saxons, and so they wanted to give up. They sent Augustine back to Rome to request permission to return, but the Pope said that they must go on. Gregory had heard encouraging news that England was ready for the Faith, so he sent Augustine on his way, feeling that the time was right.
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Arriving in 597AD, they found that the king was willing to listen to them. In fact, he was just as afraid of them as they were of him! Fearful that they would use magic on them, he held the meeting in the open air. He listened to what they had to say about Christianity and allowed them to preach as long as they did not force anyone to convert.
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In only one year, Augustine’s missionaries baptized more than 10,000 Catholics, and even the King himself was baptized. Augustine sent letters to the Pope asking for advice: How to organize the Church, who was allowed to marry whom, the consecration of more bishops, when could people receive Communion, and how to punish church robbers.
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Evidently his mission was difficult. He converted many pagan temples to Churches, pagan feasts were moved to saints days to inculcate the faith, and a school was established which would send teachers to other parts of Britain.
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Of the ‘old Catholics’ who had still been in Britain, they had in many ways strayed from true practice of the Faith. Augustine met with them several times to try to bring them along, but they could not forgive their conquerors, and instead chose isolation and bitterness. Ironically, the old church was not open to Faith, but the pagans entered the Faith in droves, thirsty for Jesus Christ.
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Today is not so much different. It is often easier to convert a non-Catholic, than to convince a lapsed Catholic to return to the WAY. And so, like St. Augustine of Canterbury, we share the faith wherever the land is fertile.
Friends in Christ, today is the feast of St. Philip Neri.
Born in 1515, Philip was impulsive from the time he was a boy. But early on, he discovered the love of prayer. He often said, ‘Night was made for prayer.’ After dark he would go sometimes to churches, but most often to the catacombs of St. Sebastian, to pray.
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Once he had an experience of God, and this inspired him to work at the hospital to help the most incurable people.
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Philip knew how weak all of us are, and so every morning he said this prayer: ‘Lord, beware of Philip, today he might betray you.’
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He studied to be a priest and was ordained at age 36. When he offered Mass, he would sometimes be lost in spiritual ecstasy. When his servers saw this, they knew it would be a while, so they would put out the candles, take a two hour break, and then returned to re-light the candles.
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Young men often went to Philip to confession, but he realized that they needed more guidance in their daily lives. In the afternoons, he gathered them to discuss spiritual readings, and then stay for prayer in the evening. As this group grew, it eventually became the Congregation of the Oratory, known as the Oratorians.
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Philip Neri was known to be unpredictable and humorous. He used many approaches to bring people to God. One man came to the Oratory just to make fun of it. But Philip was patient with him, and eventually the man became a Domincan priest.
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On the other hand, when he once met a condemned criminal who refused to repent, he did not try gentle words. He grabbed the man by the collar and threw him to the ground. The criminal was so shocked that a priest would do that, that he repented on the spot.
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But to Philip, humility was the most important virtue. He tried to teach others not to take themselves so seriously, because that is pride. Some of his lessons were outlandish: when a priest was very proud of his sermon, he ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so that people would think he had only one sermon – a lesson in humility.
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One priest wanted to speak at their meetings about the subjects of hell and damnation. Philip commanded him instead, to speak of church history, which he did for 27 years and even wrote a book on history.
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To remain humble, Philip himself, would often wear ridiculous clothes or walk around with half his beard shaved off. When some people traveled from Poland to see this famous holy man Philip, to keep them from praising him, they found him wearing some giant shoes, a tiny hat, and reading a book of jokes.
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St. Philip often said, I don’t want any sad people around my house. He could not stand two-faced people, and as for liars, he could not endure them for one moment.
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St. Philip Neri teaches us two things: how essential prayer is in our life, and that we should be very natural and not take ourselves too seriously.
Beloved in Christ, today is Memorial Day, and it is also the Feast day of a few different saints: St. Bede, St Gregory, and also St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi – I thought today we could speak a bit about Mary Magdalene de Pazzi.
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She was born in 1566, and from her youth her mother taught her to meditate on the things of God for ½ hour each day. And this is an excellent practice for us as well, to meditate for ½ hour each day with a spiritual book or the scriptures.
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At age 16, she entered the Carmelites, and took the name Mary Magdalene. A priest once gave her a crucifix, and at that moment, she made a decision to suffer for her Savior any way that God asked. In fact, she soon contracted a serious illness. When asked how she could bear the pain she said: ‘Those who offer their sufferings to God, soon find their pain to be very sweet.’
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At one point, she became so near to death, that she was allowed to profess her vows early. She made them lying on a stretcher before the altar. After that, she experienced forty days of spiritual ecstasies.
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Her many conversations with Christ are famous; her and Jesus often spoke with familiarity, and with teasing and banter. Jesus once said to her: “I called to you Mary Magdalene, and you didn’t answer;” she replied, “Lord, you didn’t call loud enough!”
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But Christ would give her a great trial, to make her Faith even more pure; he said: “I will take away from you, not my grace, but the feeling of grace, yet I will be close to you.” At age nineteen, she started five years of dryness and desolation in which she was tempted to sin, and didn’t even want to pray. In her darkness everything in life seemed horrible and gloomy. She was so depressed, that twice she came close to suicide. All she could do to fight this darkness, was to serve others, help others, hold onto prayer, and trust God.
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Her darkness ended in 1590 when at Mass, she fell into a rapture. On emerging from it she took the hands of the sisters and said, ‘rejoice with me, for my winter is at an end, help me thank my Creator.’ From this time on, she received a flood of remarkable supernatural gifts. The sisters wrote down many of the wondrous words that fell from her lips.
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She was a very strong woman; she spoke clearly and bluntly. One nun thought herself to be quite important, but Mary de Pazzi simply said to her: ‘Sister, you should lose your pride.
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In 1604, headaches and paralysis confined her to bed. Despite her sufferings, she was filled with the joy of Christ and she died in happiness, at the age of 41; her body remains perfectly incorrupt, to this day.
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Rita.
St. Rita was born in Cascia in central Italy, and from early on, her parents taught her to be a virtuous person. She often thought about the suffering of Jesus, and when she was a teenager, she spent hours praying in her room. She wanted to be a Sister and consecrate her life to God, but her parents thought it would be good if she married, so she was introduced to Paul Ferdinando and they married.
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Now Paul had a furious temper, and ‘Fiery Paul’ often yelled at his wife and treated her cruelly. Yet Rita prayed for him and remained always gentle. They had two sons, who also inherited Paul’s fiery temper. As the years passed however, Paul came to admire his wife’s patience, and he became a changed man. The lion was changed into a lamb! Sadly however, after 18 years of marriage, some enemies murdered her husband.
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Although this was hard on Rita, she then learned of a more terrible thing: her sons had vowed to avenge their father’s death. She prayed night and day that they would not commit this crime, and even prayed that they would die rather than commit murder. Her prayer was answered. The two sons contracted an illness and soon, both of them died before they could commit the crime.
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Rita then resolved to dedicate the rest of her life completely to God, and she became a Religious Sister. From then on, her life was entirely occupied with trying to do God’s will in every task of the day. One day, she went before the crucifix and prayed: ‘Lord, make me suffer with you.’ She felt a sharp pain in her forehead, as blood trickled down her face. The wound never healed, and always gave her pain. A horrible smell came forth from the wound that kept people away from her. She moved into a room away from the other sisters where in her prayer life she grew even closer to Christ. Even though she lived with pain, she felt enormous joy and peace.
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One day, a bright light shown in her room; Jesus and Mary appeared to her and told her she would be in heaven in 3 days. She asked a visitor to go to the garden at her old house, and bring her a rose. Now it was not the season for roses, but there in the garden was a rose bush in full bloom! The day she died, the church bells of the city rang by themselves.
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St. Rita is the patron saint of those who suffer from loneliness, difficult marriages, impossible causes, sick people, and wounds. She is often pictured with a wound in her forehead and holding a rose.
Friends in Christ, today is the feast of martyrs of Mexico: St. Cristobol Magallanes, and his companions.
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Cristobol, or ‘Christopher,’ was born in Jalisco in 1869. At age 19, he went to the seminary in Guadalajara to study for the priesthood. As a priest, he worked to evangelize the native people, he helped found schools and carpentry shops.
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Then came the anti-Catholic government. Churches, schools and seminaries were closed. It became a crime to receive baptism or to celebrate Mass. Father Cristobol, established a secret seminary at the northern edge of Jalisco. He, along with other priests and laymen operated the seminary secretly during those years. But the members of this courageous group would ultimately be captured. They were either shot or hanged.
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On May 21st Fr. Cristobol was arrested. Four days later, without any trial, he was put to death. Before his death he said: ‘I forgive with all my heart those responsible, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood would serve the peace of Mexico.
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Today is also the feast of St Mateo Correa Magallanes (no relation to St. Cristobol Magallanes). He was ordained at age 27.
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In 1926, Father Mateo was arrested by soldiers for bringing Holy Communion to a sick woman and taken to a prison in Durango. From prison, he sent a letter to his sisters saying: “Now is the time to suffer for Christ Jesus, who died for us.” Also imprisoned there, were members of the Cristeros movement.
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On February 5, General Eulogio Ortiz said to Father Mateo: “You will hear the Confessions of those bandit rebels (the Cristeros), they will be shot quickly; then we’ll see what we do with you.” Father Mateo agreed to hear their Confessions, and in this way he prepared the men well for their death.
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After he was finished, the General said: ‘Now you are going to tell me what those bandits have said in Confession,’ but Father Mateo refused. General Ortiz then pointed a gun at his head and threatened him with immediate death if he did not talk; but he refused, because a Catholic priest may never violate the seal of the Confessional.
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At dawn on February 6, 1927, he was taken to the countryside on the outskirts of Durango and shot through the head. Today, the tomb of St. Mateo Correa is venerated in the Cathedral of Durango.
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– So, great Mexican martyrs today –
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Bernardine of Sienna. St. Bernardine was born just 10 years after the great Catherine of Sienna in 1380. As a youth, he was a good boy from the start. He was often found trying to help other children to be good.
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One day, for example, after the annual procession in honor of the Blessed Mother, he heard a call for help – a boy was being treated badly by bullies out in the street, so he ran to help, but soon they had overpowered him. He prayed to the Blessed Mother; the prayer was no sooner said than answered: his friends came to his aid. Immediately he took those friends to the Church, and led them in prayer before the image of Mary. ‘He will be a special boy,’ said one of the bystanders.
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Some days later, a man came down with the Bubonic Plague, and fell down in the street. Risking his own life, Bernardine carried the man covered with sores to the hospital. Soon the plague spread throughout the region. Bernardine was everywhere, helping person after person, and assisting the sick. He did not care if he caught the plague. Most people fled the town, leaving few behind to care for the sick. So he gathered together other boys, and they decided: we will risk our lives in God’s honor and help the sick. And so they stayed.
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When the plague ended, Bernardine made the decision, at age 22, to become a Franciscan. The Franciscans asked him to go out and preach the gospel; And so St. Bernardine became a powerful preaching force all over Italy. He persuaded many to give up their lives of vanity and waste, and to embrace the simplicity of the Gospel; wherever he went, he was like a flame of love that brought peace to families.
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One day he was preaching about Mother Mary; he was saying, ‘Mary is as pure and precious as a star of heaven’ – as he said this, the crowed shouted, ‘look in the sky! and sure enough, in broad daylight, a brilliant star appeared in the sky.
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Saint Bernardine of Sienna is well-known for his wonderful love of the Blessed Virgin and also he is known for urging everyone to honor the Holy Name of Jesus. Because of St. Bernardine, IHS, the symbol of Jesus’ Name, is found in many places. He said, ‘The Name of Jesus is a sign that shows how much God has done for the love of us.’
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St. Bernardine is the patron saint of gambling addicts, and of any kind of respiratory illness.
Friends in Christ, today is the feast of Pope John I, who lived in the 6th century.
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If we look at history, we see that it is hard to become a saint without an antagonist. The experience of the cross is part of Christian life, and often this cross comes in the form of a person who is against us. In the case of Pope John, this person was the barbarian king, Theodoric.
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The Goths had invaded and conquered Italy, and Theodoric was the ruler; Theodoric was an Arian. That means he belonged to a religion that in outward appearances was Catholic, but which believed that Jesus was not Divine, that the Son of God is not Eternal. Arians. This heresy had spread to many of the barbarian tribes; for this reason, the Emperor was taking measures to resist this heresy, which provoked the anger of Theodoric.
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The day came when Theodoric insisted that the Pope go to Constantinople on a mission to the Emperor. He wanted the Emperor to stop antagonizing and excluding Arians from public office; reluctantly Pope John went. He was the first Pope to leave Italy, and so when he reached the great city of Constantinople, he was overwhelmed by the reception of the people. For the last 12 miles to the city, the clergy led him in a procession carrying candles and crosses; he was enthroned, and celebrated Mass at the great Church of Hagia Sofia.
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In meeting the Emperor, Pope John asked him to moderate his measures against the Arians in order to avoid reprisals against Catholics in Italy.
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But Theodoric’s suspicions were growing about the friendship between the Pope and the Emperor, and he was convinced that nothing was done on his behalf; no sooner did the mission reach Theodoric’s capital in Ravenna, than was Pope John cast into prison, where he died a few days later from poor treatment.
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It’s often those who make our life difficult or who are against us – the Theodorics in our life – who make it possible for us to practice virtue, to be long-suffering, patient, praying for our enemies, or making acts of courage. Many times our boss or family member or even our spouse are never satisfied with anything we do, even though we try to accommodate their desires.
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Pope John is an example for us, to do what we think the Lord wants, and then be at peace.
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Isidore the Farmer. St. Isidore was a farmer in 11th century Spain. Early in his life he fled the approaching Muslim invasion of Spain, and obtained farm work near Madrid. He married Maria Torribia who was a peasant girl. Together they had one son, but he died as a child. They spent their lives as farmers, faithfully doing their daily work.
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Isidore was a man who trusted God, a man of prayer. While walking behind the plow or bailing hay, he thought often of the Lord. Despite hours of hard work, he went to daily Mass. This love of God led Isidore and his wife to be very generous with themselves in love of neighbor, especially assisting the poor living in the city slums. Both Isidore and Maria were declared saints – at that time, the only husband and wife saints, although there are more now.
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We can learn a great deal from them. They did not do what we would call ‘heroic things.’ They lived their daily life so as to give glory to God. God HAS raised up saints who have done great miracles, but the majority of us are called to offer our simple daily life to God, as a gift to him.
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We begin our day with a morning offering. ‘Lord, I offer everything to you. ‘Let my words and my work and my thoughts be holy and pleasing to you.’ We do our work well as a gift to God. We encounter Jesus in our workmates; we do housework in patience; we see children, not as a chore but as a divine mission. Praying at meals, the Angelus at noon; we punctuate the day with prayer, but the entire day is filled with aspirations of love of God. ‘Lord, I love you.’ ‘O Holy Spirit, help me in this task.’ At nightfall, we kneel and thank the Lord, and briefly examine our conscience, make an act of sorrow for our sins. Ask the Blessed Virgin’s help at night.
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This is the life of a saint to which we are called, holiness in the little things, doing them for God. And this was the humble, faithful life of St. Isidore the farmer.
