Category Archives: Latin Mass

Latin Mass:  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 2^nd coming in Power at the end of the world.

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Many seem to think that the 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 4^th event leading to the end of the world is the 2^nd 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 2^nd coming, when Christ will come, not as a meek child, but as a Judge.

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The 5^th 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 2^nd 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

Latin Mass: 24th or Last Sunday after Pentecost

Beloved in Jesus Christ, today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and so the Gospel calls to mind the final destruction of this world; the End.

The scene is striking. Our Lord had just spent the whole day in the Temple[i] debating with the Scribes and Pharisees, but it was impossible to penetrate their stone hearts.

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As Christ was leaving there in the evening, with a heavy heart, his disciples, perhaps to lift his spirits, called his attention to the beauty of the Temple. ‘And as Jesus left and was going away, his disciples came forward to show him the buildings of the temple. But he said to them, ‘Do you see all these things? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’ The disciples were breathless with fear of what his words might mean.

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It was then that Christ spoke those shocking prophecies: the total destruction of the great Temple of Jerusalem, and the future destruction of the world.

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In the Holy Scriptures, we find that the earth – creation itself – is really seen as one giant temple. The Garden of Eden was described using some temple-imagery, the psalmist uses imagery to depict creation as a temple; creation, with Man at the top, possessing a mind and will – Man, who alone is able to offer everything in adoration to God.

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Now scholars tell us that the Temple of Jerusalem was really supposed to be a microcosm of this world, it was an image, if you will, of this world: The huge ‘sea’ of water, walls carved with flowers, a giant grape vine over the entrance; the blue veil in front of the Holy of Holies symbolized the sky, and beyond the sky, the Holy of Holies represented heaven.

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If it is then a sign of this universe, what does it mean if it is destroyed? A sign of the coming end of this world; and so, in one breath Our Lord speaks of both.

‘I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’ ‘This generation shall not pass away, until all these things have been accomplished.’ And so it was true – the shocking destruction of the temple took place in those people’s generation, just 37 years after Jesus’ prophecy.

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After it was burned to the ground, the greedy soldiers searching for the gold that melted from the fire, turned over every single stone to get it.

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But not just the end of the temple was prophesied; the world as well: ‘the day nor the hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,’ says the Lord. ‘People will be eating and drinking – partying away – as in the days of Noah.

‘You will hear of wars and rumors of wars; nation will rise against nation; there will be pestilence and famines and earthquakes. They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake. And there will be a great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world.

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So Our Lord is speaking at once about the end of the Temple, and also the coming end of the world.

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I was at an airport, and a young Jewish man came over to talk. He was studying to be a Rabbi, and he recognized me as a Catholic priest.

‘This is a sad time for us, he said, ‘it is the ‘Three Weeks;’ the Bein ha-Metzarim.[ii] This is when we remember the destruction of the Temple. I said to him, Yes, the destruction of the temple in 70AD. But you know, we Christians have another understanding of this, not so sad.

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The temple was great and glorious, for sure, and it was the site of the sacrifices by the priests. But the temple was a sign, a pre-figurement, pointing to a new priesthood of Jesus, the Messiah – a new Sacrifice – and a New Temple.

Ezekiel prophesied an entirely new, glorious temple. And this glorious temple is in heaven, which the Jewish temple was preparing for.

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Destroyed? Only in the sense that it was a sign, preparing the way. That temple offered sheep and goats in sacrifice, but those pre-figured the True Sacrifice of the Messiah, which we renew on our altars today. The priesthood continues, the priesthood of Jesus – and at the Catholic Mass, we are participating in the praise of God in the Eternal Temple of heaven.

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We spoke some more, especially about the Jewish roots of our Faith. The Mass as fulfillment of Passover.

Then he said, ‘Father, almost no one knows, even few Jewish people know, that it was also at this time of the Three Weeks, that we believe Moses threw down and broke the 10 commandments because of sin.[iii] So we are mourning this too.

‘That’s VERY interesting,’ I told him. And I thanked him for the discussion, time to get on the plane, he was on a different flight.

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So I’m on the plane, sitting down, and the woman next to me says, ‘You’re a priest.’ ‘Yes,’ I said.

I’m Jewish!, she said. In fact, I have been doing research on my religion in Israel. Father, did you know that this is a very sad time for us? It is when the Temple was destroyed.

‘I said, yes. ‘And you know, it is very interesting, that it was also during this time, long ago, that Moses broke the 10 commandments.’ ‘How did you know that?!!!!!!’, she asked me!

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Friends, people today live as if the world will never end, as if THEY will never end. When I cover the subject of the End Times with the kids in school, one question I always ask is very simple: ‘True or false: This world will one day come to an end.’ True. Strangely, we have to be reminded of this.

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At the end of the Liturgical Year, Mother Church presents to us this subject, to be pondered: the End Times. Jesus prophesied the destruction of the Temple, which happened in the exact detail as he described it. So when he tells us that this world will end, it will. This world, this life – is temporary.

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Next week we will speak of what will be the signs of the End of the World, and the 2^nd Coming. But this week, we remember our mortality; we know not when the world will end, nor when our life will end. So let’s live each day for the glory of God.

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As St. John Vianney used to day, ‘All the saints did not start out so well, but they ended well.’

May the Blessed Virgin help all of us, to end well.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Augustine]

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[i] A Parochial Course in Doctrinal Instructions, p. 540

[ii] The day the destruction of the Temple is remembered is Tisha B’Av, the 9^th day of the month of Av at the end of the Three Weeks.

[iii] The breaking of the 10 Commandments was on the first day of the Three Weeks, Tammuz 17.

Latin Mass:  Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica

Beloved in the Lord, in May of 1862, St. John Bosco recounted what would be the most famous of his mystic dreams. He saw the ocean covered with many ships in battle, heavily armed and moving to attack another great ship. They closed in and tried to ram it, set it on fire, and cripple it.

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Then there appear in the sea two towering columns. On one, a statue of the Blessed Virgin, on the other a large Communion Host.

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In the battle, the Pope is wounded, yet is helped up and leads again; then struck down, he dies. A new Pope rises and steers the ship safely between the two columns of Mary and the Eucharist, and calm is restored.

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Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran in Rome. It is an anniversary of this, but it is about more than the Cathedral of Rome, this day is really about our Mother, the Church.

There are many images of the Church in Holy Scripture. Today in the Book of Revelation we see this image of the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem. ‘And I saw the Holy City coming down out of heaven, prepared as a Bride for her husband.’ The Church is called the Bride of Christ, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Mystical Body.

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There is another image of the Church seen through the scriptures, it is the boat. From time immemorial, the Church has been called the ‘Barque of Peter.’ I asked a group recently, what is meant by the ‘Barque of Peter,’ but they did not know; it is an old word which means ‘boat,’ or ‘ship.’

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In St. Mark’s gospel, one reads about the multiplication of the loaves to feed the 5000. Then after that, is the scene of the apostles in the boat, tossed in the storm on the windy sea, full of fear; they see Our Lord walking on the sea, and when he comes into the boat, he says ‘Take courage, it is I.’ and the wind fell. There is a mysterious line then, which says: ‘They were beside themselves with astonishment, for they had not understood about the loaves.’ Many ask, ‘What did the multiplication of the loaves have to do with the incident in the ship?’

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Well, this multiplication of the loaves was a Eucharistic sign. But the incident in the boat was a sign also. The 12 apostles in the boat, represent the Church. The Church is tossed in the sea, and there is fear; but when Jesus comes into the boat with the Church, they are safe, and he comes into the Church – in the Holy Eucharist. This is why St. Mark comments, that they were astonished because they did not understand about the loaves.

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So here, the boat is a sign of the Church. Now if we turn to the Acts of the Apostles, we see there the apostle Paul[i] has been arrested and is being taken on a boat – to Rome. Here again, they find themselves in a storm; ‘We were being tossed about by the violence of the storm,’ he says, and the next day they threw some of the cargo overboard. Some wanted to bail out, but St. Paul tells them: ‘Unless these men remain in the ship, you cannot be saved.’ You have to remain in the ship to be saved.

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Then he said to them, ‘I beg you to take some food for your safety,’ then no one of you shall perish. Then he took bread, gave thanks to God and broke it and began to eat.’ A Eucharistic sign, on the ship.

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Jesus is with us in the boat. Unless we remain in the boat, we cannot be saved. But this Barque of Peter must experience many great storms.

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One time the apostles were in the boat during a storm; it was being swamped by the waves and taking on water – but ‘Jesus was sleeping!,’ it says, he was awoken, calmed and storm and said, Do you have no faith?’

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Of course the original boat image of the Church is found way back in Genesis, the story of Noah and the ark. There, the Just man, Noah, saved his family in that ship; but this was a sign of the Just Man, Jesus, who will save his family in the Church.

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That great ark brought them through the flood to the new creation. The boat of Peter, the Church, will bring us safely to the New Creation, heaven.

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Way back in 1970, a little known theologian named Joseph Ratzinger[ii] made a prediction. He said: “The church will become small and will have to start afresh. As the number of her members diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges. . . It will be hard-going for the Church; [this] process … will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek . . . . . But when the trial of this sifting is past, he says, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. [Then] men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. But they will discover the little flock of believers as something new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them. Our Lord’s boat is being tossed by storms and waves, but Jesus is with us. And so is Mary.

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Blessed Isaac of Stella said, Mary and the Church are one Mother.

Each gives birth to a child of God without sin.

Without any sin, Mary gave birth to Christ.

By Baptism and forgiveness, the Church gives birth to us.

O dear Blessed Virgin, aid us and help us in the stormy seas, and guide us safely to the port of heaven.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Thomas Aquinas]

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[i] Acts 27:18-35

[ii] – Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), from his book Faith and the Future

Latin Mass

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 November 2^nd, which is All Souls Day. Here, in the Traditional Calendar this memorial is moved to tomorrow, although the Novus Ordo keeps it on this day. In any case, All Souls Day 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.

Latin Mass:  Feast of Christ the King

Friends in Christ, Today, in the traditional calendar, is the Feast of Christ the King. In the Gospel of St. Mark, Our Lord asked the Apostles, ‘who do you say that I am?’ This is the question that continues to vex the world to this day. Who is Jesus Christ? Is he the King, or not. This question as we read was on the mind of Pontius Pilate as well: ‘Who are you Jesus?’ ‘Are you a king?’ St. Paul will declare to the world: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend….and every tongue proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.

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Now we would all here say that Jesus is Lord, for sure. But if we examine ourselves, we may find that there are times when he is not really our Lord and King.

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The first sin of Adam and Eve was that of pride: ‘You will be like gods,’ said the serpent. This temptation, to be a rival to God is the sin of Pride.

Pride in the world today, almost seems to be a virtue.

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I’ve noticed the change in sports for example. Years ago, if a Walter Payton or other player scored a touchdown, the player then showed reserve and humility, handing the ball to the Ref, as if to say, ‘I’m just one member of the team doing my job.’

Today, everyone’s a hotdog, pumping fists in the air, jumping around, as if it’s all about them. It seems that pride is considered a virtue today.

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But for all of us, pride has a way of slipping in, no one is free of it. In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis[i] says that pride is one sin that everyone loathes when they see it in another, but hardly recognize it in themselves. No fault makes us more unpopular, and no fault is harder to see in ourselves, than pride.

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Impurity, anger, greed, drunkenness, are nothing in comparison to pride. Pride leads to every other vice, it is the sin by which we put ourselves on the throne instead of Jesus Christ.

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Now pride is essentially competitive. If we wish to see pride in ourselves, look for our competitive spirit, which can be very subtle. How angry do I get when someone snubs me, or patronizes me, or refuses to give me credit? If I get angry, I have pride.

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Each person’s pride is in competition with the others. I wanted to be the center of attention, but someone else was. I am angry. Pride. I really like that certain necklace, I really want it; is it because we appreciate it’s design, or is it because with it, I will outshine others? People are not proud of being rich, or smart, or good-looking; they are proud of being RICHER, SMARTER, MORE good-looking than others. Pride is competitive.

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Pride can even creep into the spiritual life, to make our religion false. I am praying secretly in my room, but I could be thinking in the back of my mind, ‘Few people probably pray as much as I do.’ I give alms anonymously to the poor. Good. But I may feel in my heart that few others give in such a way as myself.

The competition of pride can be very subtle. There are loud and arrogant men full of the pride of vainglory, but their quiet spouse who is convinced of her moral superiority could be guilty of greater pride.

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A Harvard psychologist says, The neurotic[ii] person is living a life of extreme self-centeredness. The very nature of the neurotic disorder is tied to pride. If the person is hypersensitive, resentful, or fault-finding, he may be afraid of looking bad in competitive situations. If the person is chronically indecisive, he is showing fear that he may do the wrong thing and be discredited. If he is over-scrupulous and self-critical, he may be fishing for the praise of others. ‘Therefore, he says, most neuroses are rooted in the sin of pride.

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Ironically, it is sometimes as a result of God’s blessings and our success, that pride comes. Recall in the scriptures, how Uzziah succeeded so wonderfully as a good king. He sought the Lord, and listened to his spiritual director, Zechariah. But then as he became famous and successful, he stopped trusting in God and trusted in himself. Pride ruined him.[iii]

Uzziah’s mistake was to forget who the real KING is: the Lord. Too often we wish to put ourselves on his throne, and lord ourselves over others.

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Power is what pride really enjoys. Power over others is what makes a person feel superior. A boss who loves his power, or the school bully who lives for power.

A woman who uses her beauty to manipulate her admirers, who enjoys ‘turning heads,’ is often not driven at all by her sexual instinct, but by power and pride.

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Pride is the main cause of misery in the world, not the other sins.

Vanity for example, is a child of pride, but it is not the worst. The vain person wants praise and admiration too much, but the vain person at least cares what other people think. The person full of the blackest pride, looks down on others so much, that he doesn’t even care what they think, he knows he is superior. This is diabolical. Such black pride may even act as a check on vanity: he thinks: ‘I am a superior person, and such a superior person does not give in to vanity.’

Other vices and sins come through our animal nature, but pride comes through our spiritual nature, it is more deadly.

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Again, C. S. Lewis asks the question: ‘How is it, that people who are eaten up with pride, can say they believe in God?’ It is because their “god” is not really Christ the King. Their idea of God is false. Their invented God sits up there and approves of them, approves of their superiority and wonderfulness.

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A test for us to see if we are delusional with pride, is to ask if our religion makes us feel superior to others. And to ask ourselves if we are not sometimes proud; if we say that we are not, then we can be sure that we are.

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Of course the antidote to pride is humility, and we need look no further for an example of humility, than the Blessed Virgin.

When Jesus was teaching one day in a house, although she is the mother, Mary did not presume to enter and interrupt, ‘instead it says, she remained outside.

Mary, help us to be more humble, and make your Son truly the King of our life.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. John Vianney]

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[i] Many quotes and ideas here are from C. S. Lewis, ‘Mere Christianity,’ chapter 8.

[ii] 4. Gordon Allport, quoted in Solomon Schimmel, The Seven Deadly Sins, p. 28.

[iii] Good ideas on this subject from on-line article: Pride and Humility, by Thomas A. Tarrants, C. S. Lewis Institute

Latin Mass:  19th Sunday after Pentecost

Friends in Christ, the Holy Gospel today speaks of this ‘wedding banquet’ that the king put on for his son. In this parable, Our Lord surely is pointing to the Holy Mass. Mass is the center of our life, and so I will tell you, it breaks one’s heart to hear of parents who don’t bring their children to Mass, or even teach them their religion.

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The Catechism says, ‘parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children.’ The Catechisms also says, “The role of parents in education is of such importance, that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.’

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So it is clear that parents may not sooth their consciences by merely dropping kids off for CCD or to Catholic school. The primary educators of children in the Faith is the parents.

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Now you can ask any of the 800 priests in the Archdiocese about those children who know nothing of how to pray or who is Jesus Christ, and they will all tell you that even the best parish programs are ineffective if the parents won’t teach the children at home. Completely ineffective. The poor children.

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But today we will not speak about those homes where mother or father is more cruel than a ferocious lion, in which the children live in fear; there they cannot find God at all.

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But for families who love their children, their formation in the Christian faith is of utmost importance. A child’s future, whether for good or bad, depends largely on how he is brought up. Even in the animal world for heaven’s sake, we see animals teaching their young how to survive.

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Unfortunate child, whose parents do not discipline him, or who, when involved with bad friends or bad habits, do nothing. Scripture says, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from the way.[i] Yes, young people often go through stages of rebellion, but they usually return to the way they were first taught.

A parent was horrified the other day – she was telling me of the troubles raising her son, I told her, ‘Sociologists tell us that although children go through rebellious modes and many things, in the end they usually turn out a lot like their parents.’ She was horrified!

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St. Alphonsus says,[ii] God gives children to parents that they may be brought up in the way of salvation.’ ‘Children, he says, have not been given to parents as a present, but as a trust, for which they must render an account to God.

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So how do we teach our children the faith? A good start, is when they are young, to read little books with them about Jesus and the saints. Get a children’s bible and read it with them. If they go to catechism class, or Catholic school, then pick up their religion book and ask them about it – ‘What is this? What did you learn? Let’s read this lesson.’ And above all, we teach best, by good example.

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St. Teresa of Liseux became a saint because she had such a wonderful example in her loving father.

St Lucy became a saint, because her mother taught her, and even risked her life to take her to Mass.

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The essentials we must teach to our kids: The Holy Trinity, that God is a loving God, who knows you and hears you.

We must tell our kids about the creation, the fall of Man, the first sin, and God’s promise to send a Savior.

We can show them this at the beginning of the bible.

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The stories of the Old Testament we can read, and explain that these are signs, pointing to the coming Savior.

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The Gospel: that God sent his own Son to save us; the birth of Christ to Mary, his life, death, and resurrection. And the Church he gave us, the Holy Sacraments. And why we go to Holy Mass every Sunday.

St. Paul tells parents to ‘bring up your children in the discipline and correction of the Lord. By ‘discipline,’ he means teaching them to live the moral life and habits of virtue. Even in very ancient times, it was understood the importance of raising children well. Moses said, we must teach our children the commandments and love of God; then he said, ‘Drill them into your children’. (Deut 6) To ‘Drill’ children, means to go over and over the things. Ask them to recite the 10 commandments over and over, and their prayers – until they are perfect.

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One saint says, if parents do not instruct their children in the faith, they and their children will end in damnation.

Parents worry that kids have the best school, stylish clothes, a ballet teacher, the best coach, good health – but what about the most important thing? Salvation?

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In the baptismal rite, we pray the prayer of exorcism, we ask that Christ cast out the power of Satan, the spirit of evil. From birth, the devil wishes to capture each person. Now how could a parent bear it, if their precious child should end up captured in hell forever. How could anyone bear to see their own child lost in this way?

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We must guide our children with love and discipline. We guide them to have good friends, not bad ones. We are careful about what they listen to or watch – most tv is bad – most of it.

Guiding adolescents in dealing with the opposite sex. This requires refinement, helped by grace and the advice of other parents.

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But more than advice, we must be convinced that our children won’t be able to live a good life, and be a great person without prayer. We must teach them to pray, and help them to advance in prayer as they mature, to develop an interior life.

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I was with a group of young people; I said, ‘well, let’s say the Hail Mary.’ One girl said, ‘I don’t know it Father, I was never taught.’

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Our children have to be taught their faith, in order to be great on this earth, and to be happy in heaven.

To know Jesus, and Mary;

Mary, help us to become worthy of the promises of Christ.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Pelagia]

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[i] Prov 22:6

[ii] See Sermons of St. Alphonsus on Education of Children.

Latin Mass:  18th Sunday after Pentecost

Friends in Christ, during World War II, Albert Speer was Hitler’s head of armament production. He escaped the death penalty at the Nuremburg trials, because he claimed to not know about the atrocities.

Once, he had been advised by another official that he should never accept an invitation to visit a concentration camp, because that official had seen something that could not be described. ‘From that moment on, says Speer, ‘I was morally contaminated; I feared to discover something – I had closed my eyes.

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Beloved in Christ, October is Respect Life Month. It is the month when we remind ourselves and others of the holocaust going on in our own society: the abortion of little children, and other crimes against humanity.

We do not close our eyes to it. In fact, we Catholics must be ambassadors for Christ, spreading the gospel of life.

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Many of our leaders who are supposed to be the traditional defenders of life, have turned their backs on this responsibility.

Mother Teresa said, ‘It is a poverty, that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.’ ‘Freedom, people say, is to be able to do whatever you want. And that may mean, that someone else needs to die – so that I may live as I wish.’

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We are here speaking of the poison of abortion, in which a child must die so that our society can continue on with its “free-love” with no consequences. But this is not love at all. It is hedonism.

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But let us today, also look at the other end of life. The elderly and those who are dying. There is a problem here as well. St. John Paul II said, ‘A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the weakest are the unborn and the dying.’

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It is not uncommon, to receive a call to go to a dying person. One goes to the hospital, to the room you’ve been given. And often, one finds only the dying person there. A relative put the call in to the priest, but they are not there. They just want it “taken care of.” Friends, no one should ever die alone.

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‘He just sleeps all the time, so I go and take care of other things.’ ‘Dad doesn’t even know if I’m there,’ people say. Really? You might be wrong about that. And even if it’s true, how can a person not accompany their parent, or sibling, or friend in this last journey, at least with their presence.

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No one should die alone, yet it is happening often. Of course there are sometimes circumstances when a person can’t be there. Perhaps he is on a trip to Japan. No time to get back. Perhaps he is himself a doctor trying to save a life, or a priest, who must put his people ahead of his own family. But unfortunately, it is more common that a person simply does not wish to be inconvenienced. ‘I have my life, my routine, and mom’s quality of life is no good anyway.’

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People speak too much today about “quality of life.” ‘Unless you can be a productive member of society, then giving medical treatment is useless, they say. Just be done with them.

I knew a case where a son was literally trying to speed up the death of his father, because he never did like him. There are cruel things going on during the sacred time of death.

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We see in the gospel today the love and care that Jesus has for the sick man in his bed; this is the example he gives us. Yet today, we are crawling toward that evil of euthanasia: putting people out of their misery, as if they were dogs, because death interferes with our nice routine.

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The Church teaches, that we are not required to accept extraordinary means to stay alive. So, if a person is in very bad shape, and is being kept alive by a lung machine or something – then that person CAN choose to just let nature take its course or they may choose to keep going.

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Food and hydration however, are not extraordinary means, even if food must be given by a tube or in an artificial way; we need to give food and drink because these are normal parts of living.

Of course, if the body won’t tolerate food or hydration, which sometimes happens in late stages – or if it is causing other problems, then this is not required.

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Pain medication may be used as necessary, even if, as a side-effect, it might shorten life, but it may never be given with the intention of shorting life, that is killing.

‘But let’s end dad’s suffering, let us hurry up his death.’ No. That is a sin.

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Now many times, a person can no longer make these decisions because of the illness. In this case, it is best not to use a Living Will, or a POLST[i] directive. It is not a good idea, to write down all the things you want or don’t want, because situations change.

‘Oh, I never want extraordinary means to keep me alive.’ Great. But let’s say you only need a respirator for one day and then you’ll be fully recovered and go home. Too bad, you said ‘no’ to respirator.

Better than trying to predict things, give someone you trust the power to make all the decisions, and explain to them your thinking. This is better. You can give them the Power of Attorney for Healthcare.

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But the most important thing, is that we be ambassadors of life: speaking about, and being witnesses to the dignity of human life, from conception, to natural death.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary pray for us and our world, that everyone would always be treated with the dignity they deserve as children of God.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Blessed Bartolo Longo]

[i] Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment

Latin Mass:  17th Sunday after Pentecost

‘And a doctor of the law asked him, tempting him, ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment?’

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Friends in Christ, In the Gospel we find this scholar of the law questioning Jesus. He is not really seeking an answer, rather, it is an effort at entrapment.  

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He addresses Christ as ‘didaskalos,’ which means ‘teacher.’ But this is clearly said out of contempt, because those who wish to learn do not ‘test’ their teachers.

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As Erasmo Leiva Merikakis says in his book on St. Matthew,[i] ‘this strategy of entrapment, popular with the Pharisees and Sadducees makes for a dramatic background,’ because the moment Jesus begins to give his answer, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘You shall love.’  

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‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart.’ The contrast is clear: the Pharisee’s contempt versus Jesus’ invitation to love.

Although Our Lord appears to be merely answering the question, in reality, he is reproving them for their conniving attitude.  

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‘You shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole soul and thy whole mind.’

Jesus could have quoted scripture, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test,’ but instead he says, ‘You shall love.’  

You shall love, rather than scheme and plot and destroy – .

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St. Francis de Sales says,[ii] we should love God ‘simply.’ There should be a simplicity of heart in our loving God. Simplicity of heart means not being over-complicated; it means not worrying about what others think; not putting on airs or nuancing our speech, or over-thinking everything out of human respect; and it certainly means not being duplicitous like the Pharisees, speaking one way, but thinking another.

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This is the virtue that Christ valued when he met Nathaniel: ‘Oh finally, he said, an Israelite without guile.’

Simplicity in our love for God, means that if we do something wrong or make a mistake, we do not waste time questioning and reviewing our every word; we leave it to Divine Providence and go forward.  

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Now some people think that simplicity of heart – acting without over-thinking everything – they think this virtue is contrary to prudence, but this is not so. Simplicity is contrary to cunning.  

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Cunning means we are speaking and acting in one way, but really, we wish to deceive or manipulate our neighbor.

Cunning desires to subtlety lead our neighbor to the point for which we are scheming.

Cunning is contrary to simplicity, because to be simple means that our interior should match our exterior.  

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Some politicians that we see, answer questions with great care, trying to say the things that will give a certain impression – thinking about votes; we can tell there is no simplicity there.

But when a person speaks right from the heart and hides not his real intentions but is sincere, we trust that person. And that person also has an inner peace. When a snake is being attacked, it will expose and sacrifice it’s whole body in order to save it’s head. We too, in living simplicity, must take the risk, and expose the truth of our heart.

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But this does not mean that our emotions and worries should be given free reign. As St. Francis says, we must discriminate between the effects of our higher soul versus our lower soul. A simple love of God requires that we sometimes restrain our feelings, mortify them and subdue them, in order to present a calm exterior, because simple love of God is in the will, not the emotions, and love of God sometimes requires us to present a calm exterior under stress.

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‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart – and thy neighbor as thyself.’

Our dealings with our neighbor should be sincere, forthright, and without deceit, but the motive for this must be a simple, love of God.

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When a child is very young, he is in a state of such simplicity that he thinks of nothing except his mother. He has only one love: his mother, just so, perfect simplicity has only one love: God.  

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The pagans knew nothing of this virtue. The great philosophers of antiquity spoke eloquently on many virtues: fortitude, prudence, perseverance, temperance – but they said nothing at all of simplicity, it is strictly a Christian virtue.  

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One time, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in the form of a little child; she asked, ‘Lord, why do you take the form of a small child when you come to me? Jesus replied, ‘Until you learn simplicity.’ A child is never filled with anxiety or stress. The child’s world is simple: obey those whom it is your duty to obey, because you can trust them. And then keeping going. We adults, on the other hand, are too complicated. We worry; we want God’s will – but we also want our own will. We try to serve God and mammon.  

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You have heard that expression, ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him all your plans.’ We say we will love God with our whole heart, that we only want his will – yet we also want this to happen, or that thing to turn out a certain way for us. But the Lord wants us to love him with our WHOLE heart, and soul, and mind. And this is simple love. Uncomplicated love. Simple love of God feels very free, it has nothing to hide.

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St. Vincent de Paul valued very much, simplicity of soul. ‘Simplicity,’ he said, leads us straight to the kingdom of God. A person who is sincere, and good, and not a schemer or a fraud – for such a person, people have great affection.

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Loving God simply, is a great virtue. It leads us to tell things candidly, just as they are in our hearts. It leads us to act simply, without hypocrisy or cunning or pretense.  The Pharisees who speak to Christ with a forked tongue in their subtle machinations, they are not people of inner peace. They do not have peace inside.

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In the past week, two different people asked me: ‘Father, what does the word serenity mean?’ Serenity is what we want, inside; the interior freedom, found in simplicity of soul, in loving God without qualification.  

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And you know, simplicity of soul is found beautifully in the Blessed Virgin. Here is what Servant of God Fr. John Hardon said: ‘Among the virtues that we should especially try to imitate in Our Lady, I would place her simplicity near the top. ‘The more you deal with souls,’ he says, the more evident it is that what we need today is simplicity. This is partly due to the complexity of modern civilization. What does it mean, he asks, to live a life modeled on the simplicity of Our Lady? It means no pretense.

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Help us Mary, to always have a pure and simple love of God, that we may find the serenity, of life in Christ.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Bernadette.]

[i] Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis: Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, p. 578.

[ii] The Art of Loving God, p. 105-122. Ideas and quotes here are from this book.