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Sundays | Thy Sins are forgiven | Page 7

Category Archives: Sundays

The Savior Rescues Us

December 25, 2014 11:57 am ⋅
Christmas Day
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, today is Christmas. It is the day when we celebrate the birth of Our Savior into the world.
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Jesus came into the world for one purpose: to save us from our sins, so that we may go to heaven.
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I saw a man in the hospital the other day, he was not sure he would make it home for Christmas, but he said, ‘Father, if Jesus had not come, we would all end in hell.’ I said, ‘You’re right.’
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Since the Original Sin had alienated us from God, the world had been waiting for the promised Savior. Our first parents chose to follow the Devil, instead of their Creator, and so we were under the rule of sin and Satan.
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But as the time was nearing for the Son of God to come down from heaven, the prophecies of the Old Testament were being fulfilled, and those who were seeking God felt that something – was happening.
A great Impulse of grace was about to push into the world. This world, and the heavenly world were mixing, touching.
Shepherds observe a tear in the fabric of space, momentarily revealing angels on the other side;
those supernatural beings, unable to contain themselves, break through to this world singing, ‘Glory to God in the highest.’
God is preparing to renew the world, to save us.
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But as Divinity is preparing to enter the world of Man, as the Son of God prepares to begin his mission to take back the earth, an uncomfortable silence is felt in the world of the demons. That satanic being, Lucifer, is very old. When he tricked Adam and Eve, and took them from the heart of God, he knew God would come some day to win them back. And now there was a sense that he was losing his grip on humanity. One can almost hear Lucifer say ‘I sense that he is coming, the Promised One, there is danger.
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Today the demons tremble. The God of Armies enters the world as a helpless infant. A sense of dread has infected the demonic channels. The battle is enjoined; God’s invasion of the earth is about to begin, to win it back. ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, says Zechariah, for he has come to his people to set them free to save us from our enemies.’
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Brothers and sisters, how many people out there are walking in the darkness, lost in their sins? So many, are in the shadow of death. Caught in an empty life of despair, not knowing the call of the Savior. In our own circles we know those who are trying to fill their heart with THINGS – materialism; or yet another relationship – giving their body away outside of marriage, killing the pain of loneliness in drunkenness or drugs or pornography or gambling or adultery – and the endless ways that lives are dissipated away in despair.
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There are many who say to themselves: ‘I should stop this way of living, it’s destructive, but it will have to be later.’
You know, for St. Augustine, before his conversion, he cried out to God, ‘Lord, make me chaste, but not yet!’
I’ll turn back to God – later. The devil uses this thought to drug these poor souls and hold them in their mess.
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But Jesus says, ‘I have come to wash you clean in my blood, to cure you, and take away all your sins. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven. You can begin again.’
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Christ once told a parable about a shepherd who lost one of his sheep. He went out carefully looking for that sheep, and when he finds it, does he scold it and say, ‘why have you wandered away? No. He is very happy, and he puts it on his shoulders and carries it home. ‘I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.’
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This is why Jesus came down from heaven. He is the shepherd who has left heaven, to come down to search for his lost sheep: you and I. And everyone.
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‘But my sins are too great; it’s too late for me; my lifestyle I can’t change,’ they say. Really? Do you know how many saints in the Catholic church we honor, who lived lives – I guarantee you – worse than yours? St. Cammilus, St. Margaret of Cortona, Mary of Egypt, St. Augustine, Bartolo Longo, thousands who knew that they could not get out of their sinful life without the power of Christ. But with his grace, following him – Yes. A new life is possible.
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You know, there was a custom[i] at the time of Our Lord that when a child was born, musicians would go gather at the house to play music welcoming the family’s new child. Well, Jesus’ arrival was not greeted by some simple musicians, but by a choir of angels from heaven. They sang the message out: We proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.’
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We don’t need to go to hell. And we should tell our friends.
One drop of the blood of Jesus Christ has the power to take away all our sins. And then we begin again, we begin a new life, but not a lonely or empty one, chasing lies of the devil; we begin a new life in the Lord.
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How do we keep living it? How do we walk through a perverse world keeping our joy? Well, we here know: daily we pray.
St. Alphonsus says that if we don’t pray we can’t be saved. We pray when we rise. We pray at meals, and thank the Lord at the end of the day. And even more, we speak words to Jesus who is with us in our work and in our play. ‘Lord help me now.’ ‘Help me to love you.’ ‘Forgive me again.’
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And when the spirit of sadness tempts us, we say: ‘Lord, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me that you hear me, that you are with me.’ And in this, we are walking daily, not our own life any more, but Jesus’ life in us.
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Many go to daily Mass, and monthly confession, spiritual reading, pray the family Rosary. Walking daily with the Lord. Jesus said, ‘I will be with you all days, even to the end of the world. He is with us spiritually in our souls all day, and he is with us bodily – we touch him – at Holy Communion,[ii] in which he builds us up. He is still with us.
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St. Paul was once an enemy of Christ, but he changed. He left his former ways. Of the destructive life he led before, he says ‘I count all that as rubbish!’[iii] Leaving it all, he found happiness. The renewed St. Paul says: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; Rejoice! Have no anxiety….and may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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May the prayers of Mary, the Mother of God help us all to walk with Jesus in our life, and find the joy and the peace of Christmas.

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[Entrusted to  the prayers of Venerable Mother Dudzik]

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[i] The Gospel of Luke, William Barclay, p. 17

[ii] In the Latin Mass, at the end of nearly every Mass the priest recites the beginning of John’s gospel: ‘In the beginning was the Word……and the Word was made flesh.’ This reminds us that this is what just happened at Mass.

[iii] Phil 3:8

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

The Incarnation

December 21, 2014 5:33 pm ⋅
4th Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, the foundation of the entire structure of the Christian Faith, is the divinity of it’s Founder.[i] Our religion is not made by man, but was given to us by God who walked the earth. Everything we believe and teach, the sacraments, rituals the moral way of life we lead – all of this is for the very reason that it was given to us by a Divine Voice.
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If we look at the solar system, we see that all things are dependent and centered on the sun; the sun’s gravity keeps the planets in orbit, the sun’s light and heat keep our planet alive.
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Just as the solar system would fail if the sun were not there, so the doctrines and teachings of our faith would be worthless unless they are centered on Christ’s divinity.
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In the Nicene Creed, we say that Christ is born of the Father before all ages. He is true God from true God, consubstantial with the Father. Our Founder, Jesus Christ, is Divine.
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But in the creed, we then speak of the other foundational mystery of the Faith: ‘For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became Man.’
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Here is the important mystery that we are preparing to celebrate this week, the Incarnation. Some say that God became ‘a man,’ or a ‘human being.’ But this is not such a good way of speaking; rather we say, that the Son of God ‘took humanity to himself;’ ‘he took on our flesh,’ or God ‘assumed human nature.’ We speak this way because God has united all of humanity to himself in the Person of Christ.
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Some say that the Son of God became a ‘human person,’ but this is incorrect. Jesus is a Divine Person, he is the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, who always was and always will be.
Jesus has two natures: human and Divine, but he has one Person – he is not a split-personality. When St. Peter spoke to Christ, he was speaking to the one Person, Jesus. So we can really say, that St. Peter was speaking to God in the Flesh.
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The Holy Scriptures tell us: ‘Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is of God.’ On the contrary, those who deny that Jesus has come in the flesh are of the anti-christ.[ii]
So belief in the Incarnation is the distinctive sign of the Christian Faith.[iii]
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On the stairs going up to the choir loft you will see there a large statue of St. Anthony of Padua. Almost every statue of St. Anthony shows him holding the Child Jesus, why?
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Well, once while traveling, Anthony stayed at a man’s house; during the night, the man heard voices coming from Anthony’s room, he got up, and saw a stream of brilliant light coming from under the door. In those days, there were only candles, no electricity, so what was the cause? He took a peek into the room. There he saw Anthony speaking in a familiar way with the Christ Child – the source of the brilliant light. And so this is the reason St. Anthony is often depicted holding the Infant Jesus.
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But notice in these statues, that the Infant is standing not firstly in the arms of St. Anthony, but on the Bible – almost as if he is stepping out of the page. Jesus is the Word, made flesh, and a favorite subject of St Anthony’s preaching was the Incarnation: God has become Man.
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So the Nativity of the Lord for which we are preparing – this is the great event of the Incarnation when God united his divine nature to human nature. The union in Christ of the divine nature with human nature is called the Hypostatic Union. This is the moment when God entered his own creation. St. John describes it at the beginning of his Gospel: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ So here he refers to Christ as the the eternal Word which proceeds from the Father. And then he says, ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory.’
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Why did God do this, taken on our human flesh? The catechism tells us:
460 [The Son of God] became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature. What’s that again? [The Son of God] became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature. This was God’s plan all along. He wants us to literally share in his own divine life.
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But can a finite being like ourselves be united to the Infinite God? Actually, yes.
Our nature is finite – we are created beings with limits;[iv] human nature could not be united with another finite nature, such as that of an angel; an angel exists in a definite way that excludes other ways of existing, including the human way. So a man could not become an angel without negating himself.
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But to be united to God, to divine nature, is simpler, because God is ‘being itself.’ His nature is not finite. The Holy Scriptures tell us that the Son of God became Man so that we might become sons of God: ‘To as many as received him, he gave the power of becoming sons of God, to those who believe in his name. John 1:12
The early fathers of the church never tired of saying: ‘God became man, that man might become God.’
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Father Goodier in his book on Jesus Christ – he tries to understand how is was that the apostles followed Jesus so quickly. It is because their Maker had come for them. Take the case of St. Philip meeting Christ.[v] Philip looks at Jesus; as their eyes met, they were the eyes of – his Creator. A friend meeting a friend. In only a glance, he shows that he knew Philip, and Jesus said follow me.  The same with Matthew the tax collector:[vi]  At the customs table, Matthew looks up at Jesus, his Creator, and at a glance they knew each other: ‘follow me!,’ he said.    And he left everything.
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Our Creator has joined himself to us in the Incarnation; our Maker seeks us, to bring us to himself. All he needs from us is Faith.
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When someone shows love for us, we instinctively respond with affection. In the Incarnation, our Creator has shown us this great love, So what is our response?
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St. Alphonsus asks, ‘Do you not desire God?[vii] If you do not desire God, then desire something better, go ahead, seek something better, find someone who is better qualified than God to make you happy. There is no one.
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Let us conclude today by going to the Blessed Virgin.
Mary, your Son who came down from heaven has shown his great love for us. As we prepare for his Nativity, help us to really love him in return; help us to have the grace of really loving God.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Alphonsus]

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[i] See Parochial Course of Instructions, Vol 1, p. 76

[ii] 1 John 4:3

[iii] Catechism, #463

[iv] This is explained in ‘Theology of the Mystical Body, by Mersch, p. 218.

[v] The Public LIfe of Jesus Christ, Goodier, vol 1, p. 41.

[vi] The Public LIfe of Jesus Christ, Goodier, vol 1, p. 184.

[vii] Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ, p. 29

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

Confession for Advent

December 14, 2014 3:50 pm ⋅
3rd Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, One early morning, when Bishop Fulton Sheen was opening the Church door, a young woman fell into the Church. ‘Who are you?, asked the Bishop?
‘Where am I?, she asked.
‘Well one thing is, you are drunk, he said. ‘Yes, I suppose I am.
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Then he told her, ‘Men drink because they love the stuff,’ ‘but women drink because they don’t like something else.’ What are you trying to escape from, by drinking?
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‘I’m involved in relationships with 3 different men,” she said,  but they found out the truth, so I got drunk.’
‘Who are you? he asked. She pointed across the street to her picture, and her name in neon lights at the theatre. ‘Father, I’m the leading lady in that musical comedy.’
Sheen took the actress in, out of the cold, and made her some hot tea. He told her to come back later and talk to him that afternoon. I’ll come back, only on one condition, she said, that you do not ask me to go to Confession. ‘Very well then,” he said. ‘I shall not to ask you to go to Confession.’ ‘I want you to promise me that you will not ask me to go to Confession. ‘Ok, I promise you that I will not ask you to go to Confession,’ he said.
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So she came back that afternoon, and the bishop told her that there are two paintings in the Church that are very famous, would she like to see them? She did, and so as they walked down the aisle of the Church, he showed her the Confessional – he did not ask her to go to Confession – he pushed her into it!
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Well, it was really what she wanted, confession, and the bishop knew it. It was a turning point in her life, to begin new, and once again to follow Jesus. In fact, this actress left her career and became a religious Sister.
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Friends in Christ, Confession is the sacrament that heals us of our sins. Mother Church requires us to go at least one a year, and that is to keep us on the straight and narrow, to get a clean start and begin again. We have had hundreds and hundreds of confessions here at St. John’s so far this Advent, it is really inspiring. And I know that these young people here today – you will all be going to Confession this Saturday.
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Confession is repentance of our sins, it is to get a clean start in the Christian life.
The theme of the Gospel this Sunday and last, has been the call to repent, and prepare for Christmas. ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,’ says John the Baptist, ‘make straight the way of the Lord. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ At the heart of Christ’s teachings is repentance. The adulterous woman repented and was forgiven by Jesus. How many do we read in the Holy Gospels, came up to Our Lord and falling on their knees say, ‘Forgive me and help me,’ and he does. Turning from our sins often, should always be part of our life.
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At the end of every day, we should kneel down and make an examination of conscience. We think of how we lived, we thank God for his blessings, and we tell him we are sorry for our sins and faults. So daily, we ask the Lord’s forgiveness. But we also go to Confession.
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Someone asked Pope Francis, ‘Why can I not only confess my sins to God?’ ‘You can tell God ‘Forgive me’, he said, ‘But our sins are also against the brothers, against the Church, and for this it is necessary to ask forgiveness to the Church in the person of the priest.’ It is what Jesus asks us to do.
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God can heal cancer by a miracle, but he usually chooses to do it through a doctor;
God forgives sins, but he usually chooses to do it through a priest.
For sure we must confess our mortal sins, in order to receive Communion, and although it is required to go only once a year, it is a good practice to go to monthly to Confession. We receive grace every time, and it keeps us on track.
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A little boy, about 7 years old, told me, ‘Father, I will be going to confession every week,’ I told him ‘Very good,’ I do that also! And you know, that boy goes every week.
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When doctors do surgery on cancer, the question often asked is: ‘Did you get it all?’ Well, the priest is the doctor of the soul, and we want him to ‘get it all’ – we can’t withhold mortal sins, or else the cancer will continue.
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The priest who was the most famous confessor was our patron saint, St. John Vianney. He had amazing abilities as a priest. One time,[i] an old man who was a liberal-thinker, and who in his pride, thought that he was ‘above’ religion, happened to be on a tour of Ars, France. When St. John Vianney saw the man, he immediately took him by the arm and led him to Confession. ‘Now then, how long since your last confession?,’ he asked. With a smirk, he said it had been 30 years. Then John Vianney told him at exactly which church and on which day and in which town the man had made that confession. He was stunned! How could the priest have known all that? ‘And now you will make your confession,’ said Vianney. Out poured all his sins, and he promised to change his life, then and there. Instead of walking to hell, he got on the path to heaven.
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Another time,[ii] three ladies went to visit Ars, a mother, a grandmother, and a daughter. They had hoped to see the famous John Vianney, but he was busy hearing confessions. What the mother and grandmother did not know, was that the daughter had a mortal sin which was torturing her conscience, and she really needed to confess. As they were about to leave, John Vianney suddenly went out of his confessional leaving everyone standing in line; he went straight to the back of the Church and up to those 3 ladies, and asked the daughter to follow him to confession, which she did. The weight was lifted from her soul.
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Now friends, the priests here at our parish are not able to read souls like that, but we really will help people to make a good confession, and begin again. The Pope has said: ‘Don’t be afraid of confession, ‘when you are in line, you may feel [nervous], even shame – but then, when you finish confessing, you feel great – beautiful, clean, and happy.’
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Advent is a time of preparation, and we can prepare very well if we do it with Mary.
Mary, with you in our life, everything is sweeter, everything is easier. Help us and pray for us, that this Advent we will really experience the mercy of Jesus, which is the whole reason that he came.

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– a guide for going to Confession can be found at the top menu of this blog –

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Cabrini]

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[i] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Gheon, p. 113

[ii] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Gheon, p. 110

Posted in: Sundays

Preparing the way for Jesus

December 7, 2014 1:16 pm ⋅
2nd Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, in the 10th Century BC, the Israelites were under the leadership of King Saul. It was a difficult period because they were constantly being attacked by enemy tribes.
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Now there came a day when Israel was in a face-off with the brutal Philistine tribe; on that day, Jesse called his youngest son David in from the field – he was a shepherd – and asked him to take some food to the front lines of the army, where his older brothers were facing down the Philistines.
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So young David made his way there, and on arriving, he saw the worry on the soldier’s faces and asked what is going on. ‘Hey kid, you see that tyrant of a Philistine down there – the one that is over 6 cubits tall – somebody has to fight him. If we lose, we’ll be slaves of the Philistines. But who do we have that can beat that giant?    He said that, because Goliath’s height of 6 cubits works out to over 9 feet tall, he WAS a giant.
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So little David goes straight up to King Saul and says, I can fight him! ‘you kid?’ come on! Seriously King, in my work as a shepherd, I’ve killed a lion and a bear with my own hands, and I can beat Goliath.
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So Saul said, ‘Why not give the kid a shot?’ But you better put on my armor. So he put on his armor, and gave him his heavy sword, but it was way too heavy. ‘I’m not used to these, he said. So David took it all off, and without any armor, ran down toward Goliath with only his trusty sling-shot and staff. He stopped at the brook, to collect 5 stones and then ran toward the towering monster.
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Looking down at him, Goliath said with disdain: ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” I will give your flesh to the birds of the air. Then David said, “You come to me with sword and spear; but I come in the name of the LORD of hosts, this day the LORD will deliver you into my hand.
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David ran to the right, then to the left, and then, taking careful aim, shot a stone that embedded itself in Goliath’s forehead. The giant came towering down in a thud; then David took Goliath’s own, huge sword, and cut off his head.
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Friends in Christ, The victory of little David over Goliath is a ‘type’, a symbol that points to something greater. Goliath was 6 cubits tall, his spearhead weighed 6 hundred sheckels, and he wore 6 pieces of armor: 666. This cruel giant is a symbol of the Devil. And against all odds, a little shepherd – defeats him.
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David is a ‘type’ of the coming Savior, Jesus, who will call himself the Good Shepherd. It will be Christ who will defeat the Devil, the seemingly unbeatable monster, not by a sling shot, but with the Cross.
The story of the Old Testament is filled with ‘types,’ images, prophecies and symbols: and these ‘precursors,’ were preparing the way for the Savior. The final and greatest of these precursors is encountered in the gospel today: St. John the Baptist. St. John represents the last and final preparation for this long foretold Savior. He was the ‘voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord.’
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How many hundreds of prophecies pointed to this coming Christ.
His Incarnation was foretold: ‘the Desired of all nations shall come… thy King will come the just Savior.’
His birth was foretold: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.’
His mission and preaching were foretold: For it was written: ‘Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, I will save my flock.’
And his Passion: ‘they will tear holes in my hands and feet.’
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This Messiah had been foretold in types and signs for a thousand years, but then comes St. John the Baptist. His followers say to him, ‘Is Jesus the excepted Messiah?’ ‘Go ask him, says St. John. So they go to Jesus and say to him:’ Art thou he who is to come? And he answered them, ‘go and report to John what you have heard and seen; the blind see,[i] the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
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Why does Our Lord give this answer? Because he is reminding them of many things that were foretold about the coming Savior. Isaiah said that the Redeemer would cure the blind, and the lame and the deaf, and that the dead would be raised – all of which they were seeing Jesus do.
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You know, history is full of famous religious leaders. Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, LaoZi, Bahaullah, Joseph Smith, and many others. Of these religious figures then we must ask them: ‘What record was there before you were born, that you were coming?[ii] Buddha had no one to foretell his birth or his message. For Confucius, the events of his birth and his mother were not recorded, nor were they written down centuries before his arrival.
There were no predictions about Bahaullah, Joseph Smith, or Mohammed, or anyone else. They just came and said, ‘Here I am, you must believe me.’
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But the collection of the prophecies of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are simply staggering. It was a torrent of prophecy that preceded Him. Oh, He is the Savior, the one foretold!
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St. Paul, writing about the Old Testament says:[iii] ‘What things soever were written, were written for our learning: that, through the comfort of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
We believe. We believe Lord, that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who have come to save us from our sins.
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Advent is a time in which our hope is raised up.
‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?[iv]
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During this season, may the Blessed Virgin obtain a sure hope for us, in the confidence and faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Peter]

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[i] Isaiah 35:5; 26:19

[ii] It is Fulton Sheen who makes this point.

[iii] Rom 15:4

[iv] Rom 8:31

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

The 2nd Coming of Christ

November 30, 2014 3:16 pm ⋅
1st Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, today we begin Advent, this time of waiting for the Coming of Christ. The Mass today brings to our mind the TWO comings of the Lord: His first coming as an Infant in Bethlehem, and his 2nd coming in Power at the end of the world.
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Many seem to think that the 2nd coming and the end of the world are getting near, but we don’t know when. Nevertheless, Jesus says that we should live as always being prepared. Our Lord says, ‘Be watchful and alert![i] ‘You do not know when the time will come.’
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So we should always be living the best that we can, because the end of our life or the End of the world could come anytime.
Today we consider the 2nd Coming and the End of the world. So let’s today restate those things that we know for sure about it.
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The End, will involve a sequence of 6 major events. These can be seen in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and also in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and other books on doctrine.[ii]] The first sign of the End is that the Gospel will have been preached to the whole world. Our Lord has said, ‘the Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world….and then the end will come.’[iii]
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Has the Gospel been sufficiently preached to the whole world today? Probably not yet, there are many who do not really know Jesus Christ or his Church. It is not uncommon now to meet a 15 year old young person who has never been baptized – they’d like to know Jesus and the way of salvation.
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A 2nd sign of the End times, is that many Jewish people will accept Christ as the Messiah, and enter the Faith. St. Paul speaks of this in Romans, Chapter 11, and this will be an important sign, as the Catechism teaches.
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The 3rd event that signals the coming End, is the appearance of the Anti-christ, who will lead a cruel persecution against the Church, and many will fall away.
Who this will be is unknown, but the attraction to his promises will be very great. The Catechism says, ‘it will be a religious deception, offering men an apparent solution to their problems, at the price of apostasy.’ St. Paul: ‘Let no one deceive you, for the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.’[iv]
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Now for those who stand firm in the Truth, this persecution will be very great. But whether we are present at that time or not, Our Lord urges us to live today, now – live our life in faithfulness to God.
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Are we faithful under pressure? We urge our young people to refuse peer pressure – are we resisting peer pressure? When our neighbor announces that her daughter has moved in with her boyfriend, do we smile in friendly agreement in order to get along?
When a co-worker tells an impure joke, do we laugh in order to be accepted, for fear that we might be called – a Christian?
When the whole world is carried away by false ideas of marriage, do we take an unpopular stand?
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In Iraq, a group of Christian kids were told by ISIS, ‘Convert, say the words! or die. ‘No,’ was the answer from these children. ‘We love Jesus.’ And all their heads were chopped off.
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They withstood the greatest test, but do we stand up for the teachings of Christ in far easier tests? If we cannot resist the pagan world today, we will be no match at all for the Anti-christ.
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The 4th event leading to the end of the world is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. It will be during a dark time of persecution when Jesus will return: ‘On the earth, distress of nations, men withering away for fear. And then they shall see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and majesty.’[v]
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A young girl said, the End of the world makes me nervous, Father. I said, listen, it will be a bad day for the wicked, but a great day for we faithful Christians. Say in a few years, you are at home. You are doing your homework in your room at night, when suddenly, the windows are bright, sunlight is pouring into your room at 9pm; ‘What is happening?, you think.’ Then your mother calls from outside: ‘Gale, come out, come out and see!’ And you run outside, and you have never seen your mother so happy – you look into the sky, and there is Jesus coming in glory! And you too, are filled with an unexplained happiness.
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‘And then they shall see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand.’[vi]
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‘The word ‘Advent’ means ‘Coming.’ This season is preparation for Christmas, which was the first coming of Christ, but we are also reminded today of the 2nd coming, when Christ will come, not as a meek child, but as a Judge.
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The 5th event then, is the resurrection of the dead, and Judgment. The dead will all be resurrected, and together we will face the General Judgment of all.
‘The hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, they who have done good, shall come forth to resurrection of life, they who have done evil, unto resurrection of judgment.’[vii]
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For us, who have stood firm in Faith, it will be a great and joyful day. If we are still alive at the 2nd Coming, we will be there; but if we have died, we will be resurrected, and we will be there too!
St. Paul describes it: ‘We who live, who survive until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God will descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ will rise up first.’[viii]
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The Judgment will be made. The Just, risen in glorified bodies, the wicked in hideous bodies to hell. And finally, the End of the world – this universe, obliterated, we will enter the New Creation: Paradise.
‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away…. And he who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’[ix]
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May the Blessed Virgin pray for us;
Mary, pray for us, that we will always be preparing ourselves to meet our Savior;
always ready, for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Mary, niece of Abraham]

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[i] Mark 13:33

[ii] These events are nicely explained in ‘Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma’ by Ludwig Ott.

[iii] Matt 24:14

[iv] 2 Thess 2:3

[v] Luke 21:25

[vi] Luke 21:28

[vii] John 5:28

[viii] 1 Thess 4:15

[ix] Rev 21:1

Posted in: Sundays

Be Great for God

November 16, 2014 5:27 pm ⋅
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

TO THE YOUTH

Beloved in Jesus Christ, in the year 1227, a distraught man ran to St. Anthony of Padua because his daughter had just drown in the river: ‘Oh Father Anthony, please help us, my daughter has died.’
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So they hurried to the river and found a crowd of people and the mother holding her dead daughter who had been pulled from the river.
Anthony took the limp girl into his arms, and kneeling down with the little, lifeless body he looked to heaven and prayed: ‘Father. Father, listen to another father’s suffering. I ask you only for a breath of air. A single breath, for your child.    Breathe into this girl; Make her live, Lord!
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Hardly had he finished, than did the wind begin to blow; a sign – an answer. The wind blew and blew, and – suddenly, coughing up water, the girl opened her eyes and sat up – alive. ‘She lives!,’ they said. ‘She lives!’
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Friends in Christ, young people here today: What St. Anthony was able to do in his short life is literally astounding. In the Holy Gospel today, Jesus tells us a parable about using our life in the very best way we can.
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He tells of a Master who went on a journey; he entrusted money to his servants to invest for him. He expected them to use the money in ways that would increase his wealth.
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We know about this; you can put your money in the bank and at least get a little interest every year. You can buy some stock in a company; Or you can take your money and use it to start a business. There are many ways that those servants could have taken the money their master entrusted to them, to make it grow, if they took initiative.
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So what do we find.  Some did. The man who was given 5 talents was able to make 5 more. The one who was given 2 talents, he made 2 more. The master was proud of those hard workers who had taken initiative. But the man to whom he gave 1 talent did nothing with it. The master said to him: ‘You lazy servant! Should you not at least have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest? Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten; And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside.’
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What is Jesus teaching us here? Well, the Master who entrusted his servants with talents, and then went on a long trip – this is Jesus. St. Gregory says, the man traveling into a far country is our Redeemer, who ascended into heaven.’
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But he has entrusted to each of us certain gifts, talents, and abilities that he expects us to use. The word in the bible, ‘talent,’ means a certain weight of gold, used in ancient times. But it is from this parable that we get the word ‘talent’ today, meaning the abilities or natural gifts that each person has.
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Every single person here is unique; each of you are irreplaceable in God’s plan, with your own abilities and talents. There is not another person in the entire universe like you, never was and never will be, and we all have a role to play in God’s great drama.
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So our Master, Jesus, has ascended to heaven, but he now gives each of us our life, to make something of it for him. We have one life to give God as much glory as we can.
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I mentioned St. Anthony. He was a person who did as much as he possibly could with his life, for the glory of God; he did very difficult things for other people, he thought of how he could help others not himself, and he did all for the glory of God.
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When St. Anthony was young, he had many talents. He was very smart, he was excellent at sports. There is a movie I have about him which shows that he was really athletic, very good at jousting; jousting was a fierce sport between two horsemen, riding at each other with lances. The goal was to strike the opponent with the lance while riding towards him at high speed, if possible breaking his lance or shield, knocking him off his horse.
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St. Anthony had many talents, but he wanted to use his talents in the best way he could. He became a priest and used his tremendous mind to study the Holy Scriptures, he was an expert. He risked being killed for the Catholic Faith in Morocco, and then as a great Franciscan, preached the word of God everywhere.
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St. Anthony did everything he could for Jesus Christ; in this way he multiplied the talents that God gave him and God rewarded his efforts with many miracles.
When we do in our life what God is asking us to do; when we use our gifts to help others; when we do what is right even if it is not popular, and stand up for the Truth and true morality, when no one else will. then we are using our talents for Christ, and it is this that makes life really worth living.
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Some people waste away the life God has given them; they hang out at bars or parties their whole life, or at gambling casinos day in and day out, wasting their talents. Others had good abilities in school – aptitude to learn – they could have been a doctor or engineer or architect, but they were lazy and did nothing at all with their life.
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Others could have been an apprentice to learn to be a carpenter or electrician or craftsman; or taken classes to be a nurse or a teacher; but instead they spend their years playing computer games.
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When we face our Master at Judgment, he will ask, ‘What have you done with your life?’ And to those who have wasted it, he will say, ‘You wicked lazy servant. You have done nothing with the talents I gave you.’ ‘Then cast him into the outer darkness.’
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Everything we do, if we do it well and use our abilities, can be done for God, for his glory; then we will be able to say at the end of our life: ‘Lord, you have given me these talents, and I have done great things with them.’ And he will say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your Master’s joy.’
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I have a friend who did not have too many talents; he was not super smart or gifted, really. But he tried his best and worked hard. He prayed and asked God to always show him the way, and to have the courage to do whatever is best. He is very successful today. He has a good job, a wife and family, and he still prays and goes to Mass and keeps trying to do what God wants. All this, because he used his talents the best he could, and asked God’s help.
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We should do the same:
To study, to give up laziness, to work hard, and make plans for our future. When we earn money, save some of it for trade school or for college. Make a plan to become a great mother or father some day, or even a priest or a religious sister, and lead others in the right way all the time, no matter what.
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We aren’t perfect; we make mistakes and sins. But then we go to Confession, and begin again – to serve God. By praying every day and asking God to help us, we will know how to be great and use our talents to the full. St. John Vianney says, ‘Without the Holy Spirit we are nothing. But with the Holy Spirit, we can be very great.’
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This world, dear young people, needs such great persons. But we must decide, especially when it is difficult, to use our talents for what is right and good, and to work hard.
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Pope John Paul II was recently named a saint. Here is what he said one time to a group of young people such as yourselves, about their future:  ‘I address myself especially to you, dear young people, you who are in the decisive moment of your life. I would like to ask each one of you: what are you going to do with your life? What plans do you have? Have you ever thought of giving yourself totally to Christ?    
    You find yourself in a time in which you have to decide your path, decide how to build a happy future. I tell you this, when you decide the future, do not decide it thinking only of yourselves. Your Christian vocation means introducing the Gospel to the world in which we live!    
     You who are single, or preparing for marriage, I say this – follow Christ! You who are young or old – follow Christ! You who are sick or aging – follow Christ! You who feel the need for a friend – Follow Christ!
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St. John Paul tells us the way to build a happy, wonderful future: we must follow Jesus Christ, and it is never too late to begin, even if you are 98 years old!
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To follow Jesus – well, we can always count on Mother Mary to help us on the way. Mary, pray for us, so that we will really use our talents always for the glory of God.

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[Entrusted to the Prayers of St. Agatha]

Posted in: Sundays

Purgatory

November 2, 2014 10:23 pm ⋅
All Souls Day
Beloved in the Lord,
In the year 590AD, a monk named Justus lived at St. Andrew’s Monastery in Rome. Justus was a doctor and did his best using his knowledge to care for the monks. Now it happened that he himself became very ill and needed help. He sent a brother to his cell to get some medicine, but there the brother noticed 3 gold pieces that Justus had hidden there. Well, the monks took vows of poverty; this was a serious sin, so they went and told St. Gregory about it. He was really upset, because he expected the monks to take their vows seriously. Fortunately, Justus was very sorry for what he had done, and he repented of his sin a great deal before he died.
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After his death, Pope Gregory was filled with concern for Justus who would surely be in Purgatory for a long time. He insisted that the Holy Mass be offered for Justus for 30 days in a row. At the end of those 30 days, Justus appeared in a vision to his friend and told him, ‘I have just received pardon and release from Purgatory because of the Masses said for me.’
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Friends in Christ, today is All Souls Day, it is the day in which we particularly pray for those who have died, who may still be in Purgatory.
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Holy Scripture assures us that in order to be in heaven you have to be holy. The Book of Hebrews says: ‘Strive…for that holiness without which no man will see God.'[i] The Book of Revelation says nothing unclean shall ever enter heaven.[ii] To be in union with God, one must be perfect. Unless a person is a Saint on earth, he or she is not yet ready to be in heaven.
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Yes, God-willing we have confessed our mortal sins and are justified and saved by the Blood of Christ – in the ‘State of Grace – but the temporal punishment due to our sins remains.
The neighbor can forgive me for breaking his window with my baseball, but I still have to pay for it to be repaired.
The addict, who is sorry and forgiven by his family, still needs to go through a lot of painful change to be purified of his sins. A lot of change.
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We know this is true for one clear reason: because the Church has always prayed for the dead; if those who died are in heaven, they need no prayers; if they are in hell, prayers do no good. So why have prayers always been offered for our departed loved ones? Because there is another place of purification that we call Purgatory.
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Jesus says, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. St. Paul says our works will be evaluated at the end of our life. ‘fire, he says, will assay the quality of our works,’ the works that are good will receive a reward, those that burn we will lose any reward, but we will ‘be saved as through fire,’ he says.
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Our Lord said that sins against the Holy Spirit can’t be forgiven in the next life, but other sins can.
And so people who die need prayers to help them be purified of their sins.
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Praying for the dead is clearly found in the Holy Scriptures. In the Book of Macabees, after a battle, they found amulets around the necks of dead soldiers – this was a sin of superstitious practices.
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What did their friend do? He immediately made a collection to send to Jerusalem to have prayers offered in the temple for his friends so that they could be forgiven. It says, ‘he acted in a very excellent and noble way…thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.’ 2 Mac 12
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Every person must pray daily, for sure, what kind of a Catholic does not pray? No Catholic. But within those daily prayers, there should be a list of names: children, parents, sick relatives, friends in trouble, and…..those who have died. ‘Lord, look with favor on grandma, on Joe, on Laura and Edward – forgive and heal them of their sins; in your mercy bring them to heaven.’
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I was speaking at a wake service some time back, and I told the folks that you have to be perfect to get into heaven, but the trouble is, none of us are perfect, so we all want to be prayed for when we die. The decease’s wife was nodding her head, she said ‘yes! yes! yes!’
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It is the greatest act of charity to pray for those in Purgatory. Those souls can’t help themselves, they are unable to merit, so they rely on us. Many times, people come to the rectory and ask to have a Mass said for their loved one. I always see such love there, in that action. A Mass offered is the best way to help them to reach heaven.
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When St. Francis de Sales’ friends died, he never grew weary of speaking fondly of them and asking other to pray for them. He said that we do not sufficiently remember our dead or speak of them. We turn away from that conversation as if from a sad story, but we should be recalling their needs and their lives.[iii]
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A Plenary Indulgence obtained for a loved one in Purgatory can get them to heaven. For 8 days now, one can obtain a Plenary Indulgence for a poor soul by visiting a cemetery and saying a prayer for that person.
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Let’s today and this week, really give our heart to those who need our prayers.
St. Catherine of Genoa said that Purgatory is incomparably painful because we see all the horror of our sins, yet it is also very joyful, because God is with us there, and we are learning to endure his truth and his light.[iv]
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But if those in Purgatory are consoled by our prayers, even more are they helped by the Mother of God.[v] Mary once spoke to St. Bridget and said, ‘I am the Mother of all those in purgatory.’ St. Alphonsus says that the Blessed Virgin herself goes occasionally to that place to visit and comfort her children.
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But if we are determined to be faithful children of Jesus Christ, and Mary, why can we not hope to go straight to heaven by leading a holy life – without even going to Purgatory?

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Mary Magdalene]

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[i] Heb 12:14

[ii] See Rev 21:27

[iii] Quoted from an article by Susan Tassone: Consoling Thoughts on Purgatory from a Saint Who saw beyond Suffering

[iv] Catholic Christianity, by Peter Kreeft, p. 149.

[v] Glories of Mary, pp. 232, 235.

Posted in: Sundays

Don’t Waste Time

September 21, 2014 4:49 pm ⋅
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 
‘And seeing them in the marketplace he said: ‘Why do you stand here idle all the day.’
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Friends in Christ, wasted time, idleness, is the enemy of the spiritual life. St. Bernard says,[i] ‘nothing is more precious than time, yet people see it as very cheap.
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Life is short. We are given a short amount of time in this world. The Book of Wisdom says, ‘Our life passes away like traces of the clouds, scattered in mist.[ii] Compared to Eternity, this life is very short – ‘Man is like a mere breath,[iii] say the scriptures; he comes forth like a flower, and then withers.[iv]
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‘Why do you stand around here idle all the day?.’  God is asking us.
It is true, that some people waste their time in laziness, frittering away the hours on internet or tv or gossip, or games – this is the weakness of some. But there is another way we waste our time –
We see people going a hundred miles an hour in their life; ‘I have too much to do’ ‘I’m too busy,’ they say. But if we look at what they do, we may see that they are inventing needs that aren’t necessary. Silly things become urgent tasks, a way to avoid the more difficult thing that should be done. They may be busy, but they are not using their time well.
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Using our time well might mean caring for a sick person, or helping a child with homework, or taking time with our spouse; some say, ‘those are not important tasks compared with what I have to do.’ But in reality, acts of charity are a very good use of time.
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Using our time well is central to a life rooted in Jesus Christ. St. James[v] says, people make all sorts of plans for next month or next year, but we don’t know what will happen even tomorrow ….we should rather say, If the Lord wishes me to do this, [today], I will do it.’
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If we use our time doing what God wants, we are walking the path to heaven. But if we waste our time, then we are walking the dark path.
Wasted time is a cancer in our daily actions.
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Recall in the Book of Samuel, how Abigail[vi] saved her family; it was because she went right into action; as it says, ‘she wasted no time.’
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Time is a blessing only for this life. Those who are in hell, say over and over: ‘If only I had one more hour, I could have used it to save my soul.’ Those in Purgatory weep over the time they wasted. Those in heaven cannot be sad, but if they could, it would be over time they lost, by which they could have obtained a higher place in heaven.
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St. Alphonsus tells us that people will say, ‘I’m not doing anything wrong.’ Really? Is it not wrong to spend your time at shows and useless activities, for hours upon hours? Is it not a waste of the time God has given?
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The devil wishes us to either waste time thinking about the past, or waste time worrying about the future. He wants most of all, to keep us from living the present moment. Most troubles come from wondering about the future:[vii] fear, greed, lust, ambition, worry – these all look to the future.
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The devil knows, our life is short; therefore he looses not a moment of time in tempting us. The Book of Revelation says: ‘The devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that the time is short.'[viii]
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We see people in malls, or coffee shops, speaking on useless or obscene subjects for hours and hours. If you ask them what they are doing, they will say, ‘We are passing the time.’
We might see a gambler, spending nights and days gambling;[ix] if you ask him what he is doing, his answer is: ‘I am passing the time.’
By wasting time, we lose many days, days that will never return.
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St. Lawrence Justinian said, ‘What is more precious than time? By it, we can purchase heaven.'[x]
Being disorganized in our work, or incomplete is not worthy of God. Lounging in bed, taking hours for meals, wasting our life. If we waste 7 minutes every day, in a year, that’s an entire work-week that is lost.
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Cardinal Manning says, For everyone, there is a seed-time and then harvest time. Our daily work is the seed-time, the reward is the harvest time. If through waste, we lose the seed-time, we lose the harvest. It is true, God may give us another seed-time, but it’s another one. That which is lost, is lost forever.
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‘Why do you stand there idle all the day?, asks the Lord.
Today Jesus gives us hope. Even if we HAVE wasted time, it is not too late to go to work for God. Jesus is teaching, that if we begin new, today; and decide to work in his Kingdom with our whole heart – if we give up our idleness, and give our heart to Christ in our daily work – well the Lord is ready to reward us for our diligence, even if we get started late in the game. We can start today.
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A man told me, he became convinced that praying Mary’s Rosary would change his life. He decided to pray as many Rosary’s as he could each day. He found himself not only using the beads, while driving to work or at home, but also praying in his head while crossing the parking lot, or waiting in line at the store; counting Hail Mary’s in his mind while dressing or combing his hair.
He said: ‘Father, there is so much wasted time each day, but now none of it is wasted, because I’m always praying in the gaps.’
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What effect did this have on that man? It changed his life. Sins he struggled against, bad thoughts, temptations – faded away.
Mary wishes us to be perfect disciples of Jesus Christ.
She wishes to help us;
and so by praying and using our time well, how beautiful if we could say,
today, I did not waste any of the time God gave me.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Mary Magdalene]

[i] Preparation for Death, p. 119.

[ii] Wisdom 2:2-4

[iii] Psalm 143:4

[iv] Job 14:2

[v] James 4:13

[vi] 1 Samuel 25

[vii] Screwtape Letters, Letter XV

[viii] Revelation 12:12

[ix] Preparation for Death, p. 119

[x] Mirror of Priests, p. 180

Posted in: Sundays

Exultation of the Holy Cross

September 14, 2014 3:53 pm ⋅
Beloved in Jesus Christ, today is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Rarely does this feast fall on Sunday, and so let us today take a look at the origin of this Feast.
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For this, we must go back to the year, 313AD. Before then, the Church was persecuted. Red with the blood of martyrs, 24 of the first 32 Popes, were put to death.
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The pagan gods were the official gods of the Roman Empire, and it was illegal to be a Christian, so the Mass was in secret, usually in homes.
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But by the 4th century, the Empire was in turmoil. Rival Caesars vied for control, and those in power demanded more blood of Christians. The holy monks of the desert came out into public, offering their own lives in witness to the Faith.[i]
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In the midst of this turmoil, competition for Royal power finally came down to two men: Constantine against Maxentius. Now although both were pagans, Constantine did not persecute Christians, but Maxentius was bloodthirsty.
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Constantine met with his officers in the winter, in Alsace: can we win? Can we win this, he asked? Their response was ‘no: Maxentius had crushed many stronger armies.’ Yet for Constantine, his instinct was to strike.
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So, although his army was far inferior, he marched rapidly into Italy in the spring of 312. Approaching Rome at the Milvian Bridge, they faced an army over 4 times their strength, his men were afraid.
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But that night, Constantine was to look into the sky, and see before him a great Cross, with the words: ‘in hoc signo vinces.’ By this sign, you shall conquer. He was immediately transformed by this experience.
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Though he was a pagan, he had the sign of the cross painted on every man’s battle shield.
And as with a dexterity never seen before, his troops outflanked the elite Preatorian guard, Maxentius was driven back in a route. Fleeing over the Milvian bridge in panic, it collapsed, sending him in his armor down into the water.
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The gates of the city were opened; they entered Rome in triumph. The Edict of Milan granted full toleration for Christians throughout the Empire. There was rejoicing through the streets; churches opened, and thousands who had been afraid to be Catholic poured into the Church.  
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Along with this stunning victory, and seeing the transformation in her son, the mother of Constantine, Helen, also became Catholic.[ii] Her Faith was unshakable.
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Helen spent her life building Churches, strengthening the Faith, and helping the poor. She would become a saint: St. Helen.
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Still, at 80 years of age, she set off for Jerusalem to find the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The site of the Lord’s Passion had long ago been covered over, but a Jewish man, whose name ironically was Judas, came forward to Helen. His grandfather had told him on his deathbed, where the Cross was buried. ‘Here,’ he said, pray at this spot.’ And so they prayed; the earth rumbled and a sweet smell came forth from the ground. Judas clapped his hands saying: ‘In truth O Christ, you ARE the Savior of the World,’ and he himself was later baptized and became a bishop.
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When the site was dug up, THREE crosses were found. But which was the True Cross?
They placed them in the center of the city and prayed; now around 3pm, there happened by a funeral procession of a young man, being carried to the grave. Judas halted the procession. He held the first cross over the body; then the second – nothing. Then the third cross, and the dead man immediately came back to life; more such miracles occurred – this was the True Cross. It was September 14th.
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Today is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and if we think about it, we make this sign – the Sign of the Cross, very often.
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The ancient writer Tertullian said, in the 2nd Century, “In all our travels, in our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table / in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever occupies us, we mark our forehead with the sign of the cross.”
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St. Cyril of Jerusalem said, Let the cross, as our seal, be boldly made with our fingers upon our brow and on all occasions over the bread we eat, over the cups we drink / when we are on the way and when we are still… let the cross be our seal.
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St. Basil taught that the sign of the cross was a tradition which has come down to us from the apostles themselves.[iv]
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But the Cross is not only an outward sign, it is inside of us. Many today say there is no point in suffering, there is no point to the cross. but that would mean that God’s suffering on the cross was meaningless for us. Suffering – is central to the mystery of salvation.
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In his beautiful encyclical on the Mystical Body of Christ, here is what Pope Pius XII says: ‘Our Savior does not rule the Church directly, in a visible way. He wants to be helped by the members of His Body in carrying out the work of redemption.[v]
Christ wills that our sanctification be due to the action of the Church [and her members]. This is a deep mystery, …, that the salvation of many depends on the prayers and penances which the members of the Mystical Body offer.[vi]
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Jesus is living in us. When we suffer, and offer our crosses to God, we are being other christs, participating in the Redemption of the world.
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I was with a woman who was discouraged by her suffering. In tears, she asked why she must suffer. so I posed to her a question: what if someone you love will make it to heaven only because of the suffering you offer? Then what would you say?
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She immediately said: ‘Then I would be very happy to do it.’ But this IS what’s happening. Through our own cross, we are being other christs, helping in the salvation of the world.
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The Holy Scriptures say: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
St. Bonaventure replies, that this may also be said of Mary: That she so loved us, that she gave her only-begotten Son.
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At the cross, Mary could have defended Jesus, spoken on his behalf;
the words of a dear Mother would have had much influence on Pilate, who was already inclined to free him.
But no. Mary did not utter one word in favor of her Son to prevent his death, because Jesus needed to be on the Holy Cross, to save us. +

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Paul]

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[i] Antony of Egypt himself, emerged from the prayer of the desert, and daily offered HIS life, which the bloodthirsty officials dared not accept. The Founding of Christendom, p. 526.

[ii] Butler’s Lives of the Saints (1961, under St. Helen)

[iv] whenever an Exorcist begins his work, he begins with the words Ecce crucem Domini:’ Behold the Cross of the Lord.

[v] This is not because He is weak, but because He wills it, for the glory of His Spouse [the Church].

[vi] (In this, all the faithful…..cooperate in these offerings to the Savior, as though they were His associates.’)

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

Maturity and Responsibility

August 31, 2014 1:30 pm ⋅
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Beloved in the Lord Jesus,
the inability to make commitments, unwillingness to live up to responsibilities, this is common in today’s world. Marriage is delayed, people living together, because no one can make a commitment; fathers of families continue carrying-on like the bachelors they still wish to be; many other features of modern life are driven by a lack of Christian maturity.
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Maturity has been described as a balance between a person’s own desires and the needs of others. In his book, Psychology of the Cross,[i] Father Emmett Carter says that in each of us is the ‘Will to Power,’ this instinct to get what we want, to do what we want; little children can only think of what they want; but there are childish adults as well, who are focused only on their own desires, unable to adjust themselves to the needs of others in their life.
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But for the mature, well-adjusted person, he has learned that his own desires must sometimes be set aside, for the good of others – or for what is noble.
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Today in the Gospel, St. Peter shows some immaturity. When Jesus speaks of the Passion that he must go through, Peter says: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” But he is not thinking of the greater good of everyone else; of the very mission and purpose of Our Lord’s Life, Peter wants the easy way.
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In the comfort-seeking world of today, there is a lot of focus on ourselves, and “Our Needs;” but when the needs of others press upon us, there is often irresponsible behavior, an avoidance of duty, an avoidance of the cross.
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I’m sure everyone here knows some people who are irresponsible, who neglect their duties.
I saw a mother with her teenage son at a restaurant, that’s good right? Except that she said hardly a word to him, she was texting on her phone the whole time. I felt sad for that child. This is not responsible.
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There are people at work who pretend not to see their voicemail message; or they avoid their boss who might have work for them, or pretend to be sick to avoid a difficult presentation – We’ve seen more and more today, terrible service by people in stores – who seem uninterested in a job well done, or in their customers. A lack of responsibility.
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Recall the story Jesus tells of the Good Samaritan where this man is injured. And those various people who have excuses of why they must avoid helping the man. These are not responsible persons. The Lord is telling us, we have to step up to our duties.
Psychologists say that the time of immaturity in youth is a time for experimental play, without serious consequences, a time to explore. But this is what many wish to continue doing, keeping all their options open, just having fun. Being responsible can come later. For many, college has become an extension of adolescence; 4 more years until we get serious.
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It’s true, many of the saints led irresponsible lives for a while. St. Augustine took 33 years to get serious. It took St. John of God 42 years to become responsible. At least they did. But it is not the first part of their life that we admire.
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James Stenson[ii] who writes about raising children says that a child’s moral development comes down to this: moving from self to others. Children are self-centered, mature adults are other-centered.
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Because other people have rights, this leads to our obligations. We have a duty to drive safely because people on the highway have a right to safety. Parents who gave us life and raised us, have a right to be honored. Because God created us and saved us, we have the duty to love, obey, and even praise him. We have duties toward other people.
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Mature people center their lives on their responsibility toward others, not on their own desires. Immature people avoid responsibility and focus on their own wants. A mature government official thinks of what is good for his country, not himself. A responsible wife thinks of her husbands needs, a husband – his wife’s needs; and both sacrifice for their children. 
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You know, St. Peter is an example of someone who was not ready to accept responsibility, he feared hardship, the cross. When he had a chance to die with Christ, he instead denied him 3 times – to a girl.
But see later the mature Peter; the St. Peter who leads the others, who teaches the people regardless of danger. And dies a martyr.
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Responsible people carry out their duties no matter how they feel. A man who is mature, who is a father of a family, carries out his obligations even if he is tired.
And, the responsible person lives with the consequences of his actions. He does not play the victim, or blame others, or shirk his duties.
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And perhaps the key feature of a mature person, is that he keeps his promises, come what may – no matter what. People today skip appointments if something better comes along they do not even call. It is God’s will that we be mature, responsible, Christians. But how can we help others be responsible? How can we help our children?
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One way is to let children see examples. They should see their parents being responsible, not living a life of entertainment, but focused on duty, sacrificing for each other, and above all, trying to please Jesus Christ.
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There is something else that has a strong effect on inspiring people to be responsible. It is affirmation, encouragement. Dr. Conrad Baars says, people ‘are incapable of being emotionally mature adults unless they first have received authentic affirmation from another person'[iii]
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James Stenson[iv] says that parents should encourage and praise their children. ‘Don’t give up yet, try it again.’ ‘You’re almost there, try one more time.’ ‘You did your best, I’m proud of you.’
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‘How much this phrase means to children, ‘I’m proud of you.’ Children need encouragement and praise. But this goes for everyone. Most people flourish when they feel the respect and confidence of others.[v]
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When that store clerk is apathetic and uninterested in his customer, it might be a good guess that he does not feel appreciated by his boss; has not been praised or encouraged for anything. St. Paul says, encourage one another and build each other up.
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How often, parents see their child who seems to have no initiative; but then he obtains a part-time job and is entrusted with real responsibility, it can instantly change him.
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St. Peter became a responsible and great disciple; it was because Jesus showed confidence in him. Peter, ‘Feed my sheep.’   ‘But Lord, I’ve failed you a lot…. ‘Feed my sheep!’ ‘You can do it!’
Showing a person that he is valued and trusted, and given responsibility – this affirmation can help a person mature overnight.
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St. John Bosco, who reformed thousands of problem boys, he used to say: ‘Trust a boy even if he does not deserve it; then you will make him trustworthy.
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May the Blessed Virgin encourage us, to praise the Lord by embracing the duties of daily life, as worthy children of God.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Luke]

 

[i] Psych. of the cross, 80

[ii] Lifeline, James B. Stenson, p. 93

[iii] Dr. Conrad W. Baars. See Healing the Unaffirmed.

[iv] Lifeline, p. 97-98

[v] Psych. of the Cross, 27

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