Category Archives: Latin Mass

Latin Mass:  15th Sunday after Pentecost 

Friends in Christ, today, in his Epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul says ‘In doing good, let us not fail, while we have time.’

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‘While we have time.’

We are given a short amount of time in this world. 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. 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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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.

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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 a 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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But the Good News is, it’s never too late to change our ways. There is that parable Jesus tells about those workers who were standing around idle. But the master hires them to work, even late in the day, and in the end pays them the full days wage.

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Even if we HAVE wasted time, it is not too late to go to work for God. If we decide to work in His Kingdom with our whole heart – if we give up our idleness, and give our heart to Christ by using our time well – well the Lord is ready to reward us for our diligence, even if we get started late in the game.

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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

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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

Latin Mass: 13th Sunday after Pentecost

 ‘And one of them went back, and he fell on his face before His feet, giving thanks.’

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Beloved in Jesus Christ, This leper in the gospel today, was full of gratitude for all that the Lord had done for him, healing him. It says, that ‘he praised God.’ ‘He fell on his face giving thanks.’

Let us see today, that this disposition toward God of this leper, is precisely what should be in our own hearts daily.

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Most Catholic children that you ask will say that it is true,[i] that God loves every person with a special love, it is a commonly known fact in our Faith. But when we face this fact squarely, and really consider it, we may actually have difficulty believing it. It is not uncommon for a person to say to their priest, ‘Father, I sometimes am not convinced of God’s love for me.’

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Yet God does not look at us, as just a big group of people, rather, we are each before the Lord, before his eyes of love and affection.

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‘From all eternity, God chose to create you and me, not just another child of our parents, or another American, or just another person to work and then die in the 21^st century – No. He made you and me unique and different from any other person who will ever walk the earth.

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Others may have many great abilities; other people may please God more than me or you; but there was something about you which God preferred, something special in you, in your ‘way,’ about you, something – that drew God to create you. This is the faith we must have.

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In Psalm 139 David says: ‘O Lord, you have searched me and you know me; You know when I sit and when I rise, for you formed my inward being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

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The value of each person is greater than the entire material universe put together. This is how dear you are to God.

If this then, is true, then clearly each person belongs to a plan; we have a place, a role in this world, a work to do. It implies that God has given each of us a special mission. Jesus has given us this unique life, and he is asking something of each of us specifically.

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St. Teresa the Little Flower felt this unique concern that the Lord has for each of us, and the sense of the mission he has given. She said, ‘When God stretches out his hand to ask, his hand is never empty, and his intimate friends can draw from him the strength they need.[ii]

St. Teresa would admit, that from the age of 3 she never refused God anything he asked. Why? What did she know about her relationship to her Creator?

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Well, the more that we ponder the specialty of God’s love for each of us, that you and I were made intentionally by God, with a purpose, well- we immediately recognize that we cannot love God as he deserves, we cannot return the favor adequately.

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Recognizing then, this special love God has for you, and me, individually, this is the same thing that makes us feel – fearful. Fearful, that we have not always been such a dear friend to Christ. fearful that we would ever betray God’s love, or forget Him.

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‘Fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom, says the Psalmist.

‘Fear of the Lord is honor and glory,’ says the book of Sirach.

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Even in human relationships, the greater the love, the greater the fear of offending the beloved. Lovers take particular care to please the other and they would dread the thought of offending.

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Well if human love is half fear, then we can say regarding Divine Love, that he who loves most, fears most.

This is the Gift of the Holy Spirit, called ‘Fear of the Lord.’ Father Benedict Bauer says, love of God and fear of God, go hand in hand. We look on God’s goodness, we see his love for us, and then we look at ourselves, and we are filled with fear, lest through our many sins we should lose Him or displease him.[iii]

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‘I shudder to think, says St. Augustine:

‘I shudder because I am so unlike God, but my heart glows because I am so like Him.’

So then, if God made no two of us alike, then he wants us to carry out the special plan he has for us, and nobody else can do it. No one else can do it.

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Sometimes difficulty comes in life: the cross. Jesus is saying, ‘I know this is difficult, but I need you to do this for me, it’s important, part of the big plan, and you are the perfect person to do it.’ ‘I’ve made you this way for just this circumstance.’

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In the Gospel today, this leper first humbly prostrated himself before Jesus; it was through his Awe of Christ then, by which Jesus could tell him, Arise.

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Fr. Gerald Vann[iv] says, our daily prayer should begin with Awe of God. The prayer of a child in the face of Infinity. We must not have the proud familiarity with God that is contempt, rather, the humble familiarity of a child with his Father. To achieve this, we need to have a sense of our sinfulness; then in our misery, we can rise to confidence in His love. This is expressed so well before Holy Communion: ‘Domine, non sum dignus.’ ‘Lord, I am not worthy – that you should enter under my roof.

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This God, who if he wished, could destroy the immense machinery of the universe in a blink of an eye, he who burned five cities with a deluge of fire and flooded the earth – this All-Powerful God is really ours, in a way in which he is no one else’s.

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His arms are not around everyone as a group, with us among them, no. His arms are around our own selves individually. And while we marvel at this personal love God has for us, it also makes us fear that we would ever betray Him.

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Mary understood God’s special love. By the Divine light given her, she knew the infinite greatness and goodness of God’s concern for her, but she also knew her own nothingness.

Mary, this is our joy, to know our nothingness in the face of God’s affection for us. Help us to be worthy of God’s incredible and personal love for us.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.]

[i] This subject of God’s special love for us is found in Spiritual Conferences, Faber, p. 327.

[ii] Story of a Soul, p. 110

[iii] Frequent Confession, p. 214

[iv] The Divine Pity, p. 38

Latin Mass: 12th Sunday after Pentecost

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 we read about this man who is injured, beaten up and left to die. All those various people walking by, who have excuses of why they must avoid helping the man. These are not responsible persons. Only the Samaritan shows responsibility.

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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 us, there is often irresponsible behavior, an avoidance of duty, an avoidance of what is inconvenient.

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I’m sure everyone here knows some people who are irresponsible, who neglect their duties.

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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 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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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, a child’s moral development comes down to this: moving from self to others. Children are self-centered, mature adults are other-centered.

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.

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And, the responsible person lives with the consequences of his actions. He does not play the victim, or blame others, or shirk his duties. 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.

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But how can we help others be responsible? How can we help our children? 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 has seemed to show little 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

Latin Mass:  11th Sunday after Pentecost

‘And he said: Ephpheta, that is, Be thou opened: and his ears were opened, his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right.’

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Friends in the Lord, in the Gospel today, it seems that this man healed by Jesus, was not entirely unable to speak,[i] but rather, after being healed, his tongue was loosed so that he would speak rightly.

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A spiritual interpretation of this text points us to our own use of the tongue. There are times when we almost need such a healing miracle from Christ, in order to speak rightly.

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There is a little-known Commandment of God called the 2^nd commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain. We are commanded to keep respect for God’s holy name.

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One day, driving down North Ave, I happened to notice a billboard, that had on it an acronym, OMG. I thought nothing of it – some acronym that I don’t know. But one day it dawned on me what this was. ‘Oh my God.’

Apparently ‘OMG’ is also an abbreviation being used today in texting. Friends in Christ, how far have we come, that the Lord’s name would be used in vain on billboards, in texting.

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A very good lady I know, in conversation, kept using the Lord’s name as a throw-away phrase. OMG I said, hold on a minute, why don’t you say ‘Oh brother,’ or Oh my word, or something, we can’t say this, the Lord’s name. ‘Oh, its just a habit, she said – Yeah, a sinful habit.

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All sins are hateful to God, but dishonoring his name directly insults the Lord. St. John Chrysostom[ii] says that no sin exasperates the Lord so much as blaspheming his adorable name.

But living the 2^nd Commandment according to the Law of Christ, is more than just avoiding OMG. The Christian fulfillment of the commandments means an entirely new way of life.

St. Paul says, ‘You must put to death that part of you that is earthly: cursing and obscene language that comes out of your mouth.’ We must put to death that part of us, that is crude and base; we must always be fighting against the animal-side of ourselves, and seek the angelic, godly side.

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This Commandment of God: ‘Thou shalt not use the name of the Lord in vain,’ is for us, speaking with reverence of God, and also keeping the words from our lips worthy and pure – this makes us more like God, and less like animals.

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There was a radio program[iii] a while back, it said: ‘If your child ate his breakfast cereal like a dog, with his face down in the bowl, you would say, ‘stop eating like an animal.’ Even unbelievers would agree that this style of eating is inappropriate, why?

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Well, when your dog eats with his face down in a bowl, we don’t think anything of it. But when a person mimics an animal’s behavior, it is repulsive.

There is something about human life, that makes us want to act in a way different from animals. There is something in us, that is different, that is higher, and we call that the soul, the image of God.

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Animals don’t wear clothes, and no one is surprised; but when people wish to be vulgar or shocking, they go without clothes. The more that one acts like an animal, the further we are from holiness.

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So: if you met someone who was using vulgar speech and indecent words, they may be an ethical person, who knows – but you would know one thing for sure: they are not close to God. They are not holy.

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St. John Vianney says that the person who tries to tell you something by using God’s Name or vulgarity, he thinks his vulgarities make himself more convincing; but they are not convincing; because someone who has no religion can’t be believed or trusted.

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The world will ask: ‘If I am obscene in my words, or indecent in my dress, who is hurt by it? Well this is the standard today. Anything goes, as long as no one is hurt.

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But the trouble is, the higher part of ourself is hurt. The higher part of you and me is wounded. ‘But there is no higher part, there is no soul, ‘we are just animals’, they say. Yes. And that’s what holiness fights against. That is what the 2^nd Commandment fights against.

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When I see a car with a bumper sticker that has an obscene word on it, I don’t know if the person in the car is immoral or evil, but I know one thing: They are not holy.

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Vulgar language or behavior leads people away from God, leads them to become more like an animal; but using God’s name with reverence, speaking with polite and pure language – this helps us remain close to God.

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St. Augustine says, those who speak obscenely are the ministers of Lucifer; their tongue is fired in hell, and is used to burn themselves and others.[iv]

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St. John Vianney says, alas, how many parents there are with so little religion, that bad words are always on their lips; many little children are weak and sour and even vicious because of the tongues of parents.

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Father Sabatino[v] tells of a 15 year old boy who having heard an obscene word began to indulge in impure thoughts, and died that night. A priest started to say Mass for him, but the boy appeared and told him that he was already damned.

Obscene words lead to the ruin of others.

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We don’t eat with our faces in a bowl like an animal, because even in today’s society, it is still felt that we are different from animals. But as you will notice, routine insults to God: OMG, vulgar language on tv and the movies, routinely – people are losing their godliness as they seek to be an animal.

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St. Paul says, ‘seek what is above. ‘Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For your life is now hidden with Christ.’ St. Paul is urging us to live a ‘higher’ life, and he means holiness.

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Some people feel very bad when they have used God’s name, Jesus’ name badly, they confess it. well, thank goodness that they at least recognize their fault, at least they are hearing their conscience.

St. Josemaria[vi] says that the deaf and dumb man in the scriptures, represents the person who is deaf to his conscience, and who is unable to confess his sins.’

‘Never let evil talk pass your lips; say only the good things others need to hear, things that will really help them.'[vii]

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‘We are just animals’, they say.’ Yes. And that’s what the 2^nd commandment fights against. Keeping God’s name holy, pure words – this is to fight for the higher, godly nature in Man.

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O Mary, our Mother. Mary, pray for us, that by honoring God’s Holy name, and keeping our words innocent and pure, we will fight to live that higher, godly life, the life of Jesus Christ.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of little Audrey Santo]

[i] Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori, p. 301.

[ii] Sermons …, p. 401.

[iii] Dennis Prager radio show.

[iv] Sermons …, p. 301

[v] Sermons …, p. 304.

[vi] Christ is Passing By, p. 300.

[vii] Eph 4:29

Latin Mass: 10th Sunday after Pentecost

‘Two men went up to the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a publican.’

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Beloved in Jesus Christ, There are many types of prayer, all of which should be part of our life. Prayer of praise – praising God in gratitude – perhaps we don’t do enough of this. Mental prayer or Meditation: time every day to just ‘BE’ with the Lord, to talk over things – this should be for 30 minutes. And then there is Intercessory Prayer: asking the Lord’s help, asking for favors, his assistance – and this is our subject today: Intercessory Prayer.

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The Holy Gospel shows us the Pharisee’s method of praying: but it is really self-centered. His prayer is more about himself and an almost hubris of braggadocio about his own so-called pious works. This is not even really a prayer, and therefore cannot move the heart of God.

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The prayer of the Publican however is the model Jesus gives us. It is a prayer made in humility, cognizant of our own dependence and reliance on God. Jesus told this parable it says, to those who trust in themselves. We wish therefore, to come before the Lord not trusting in ourselves, especially when we make Intercessory Prayer, asking for the Lord’s help in humility.

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Last week we spoke about the need to trust God in our life; and accept everything that happens, as part of God’s plan. One person wondered whether this acceptance of God’s will in the difficulties of life – whether this doesn’t imply a lessening of the value of earnest prayer for our needs. Not at all – So let us talk today about the importance of Intercessory Prayer.

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For myself, Intercessory Prayer – asking God for things – is huge: lists of many whose needs we must pray for: the sick, the dying, requests, the parish, the bishop, the Church, so many needs. And I know that we all have lists of requests we are asking from God every day.

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In a thousand places in the Old Testament[i] God promises to hear all who pray to him: ‘Cry to me and I will hear thee,’ says the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah.[ii] And Jesus assures us: ‘ If you abide in me, and my words in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done unto you.'[iii] ‘Seek, and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened.'[iv]

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Now some people say,[v] it is pointless to try to change the Plan of Almighty God, since he has foreordained all that will be. It is true, that God already knows all that will be, he knows from the beginning of creation. So what is the use of prayer, of trying to alter the Divine Decree? The answer is that prayer does not attempt to alter God’s plan; we pray not against his Plan, but within it. We pray because prayer is one of the forces which govern events in the world, just as God takes into account other forces. We pray because in God’s Providence, this prayer, that we just made, may be fore-ordained to contribute to bringing about this event rather than another.

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So we always pray: ‘Lord, I want this; it seems good to me, it seems like it is best, please – but your will be done. You know best.’ When the Lord grants us what we ask, we should be very thankful, grateful. It is easy to say ‘my prayer worked!’, and then go on to the next thing without a word of thanks to God. We must be very grateful.

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Sometimes we may feel, that when we pray, we are petitioning a ‘hard, unmovable God, in which it almost seems barely worth our effort, as if God is a block of granite and we are trying to press out of him just one drop of water for our needs. Or as if our prayer is a mere lottery, where we hope by some luck of the draw, God will hear us. But this is completely wrong.

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God is our Father. He hears every single prayer we say to him. ‘Before they call, I will hear; as they are yet speaking, I will hear,’ says the Lord.[vi]

St. James says, when we pray, the Lord opens his hands and gives us more than we ask. ‘Let him ask it of God, and it will be given to him; God, who gives abundantly to all men; but let him ask with faith,[vii] …… ‘and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over into your lap.[viii] The Lord is not stingy in any way, but very, very generous; he hears us, because he is our Father.

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If your little child came and asked for help in something that was of great concern, wouldn’t we listen carefully to his trouble, and find the best way to help him? ‘What father, if a son asks for a fish would hand him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg would hand him a scorpion?[ix] Jesus said that. If earthly fathers want to help their children, Our Father in heaven wants to give us good things, but we don’t always understand his gifts to us.

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A little boy is being wheeled down the hall for a life-saving surgery. He is very afraid, and asks his father: ‘Why are you doing this to me?

Children often don’t understand why their parents hurt them, why the Peroxide must be put on the cut, why the infection must be pressed out of the wound. Children don’t understand why they must go through pain. But we are children, of God, and we too often don’t know why God’s answers seem to hurt. We must pray daily; give God all our greatest desires and requests. Then trust his answer.

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I was with the elderly at the retirement center last night, speaking on this same subject. A lot of people there with physical problems. I said, ‘Brace yourself now for what St. Francis de Sales says.’ He says: When we are sick, ask God’s help; obey your doctor, take the prescribed remedies.

‘Desire to be cured,’ he says, ‘that you may serve God more.’

‘But do not refuse to be ill, that you may obey him,

and be prepared to die should this be his will, to praise him.'[x]

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St. Bernard says, when we pray, the Lord will give either the grace we ask, or one that is more useful to us.[xi] St. Augustine says,[xii] ‘We owe this much to God: if he does not take away our trouble, we must not imagine that we are being forgotten, but we must await greater blessings.

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God always hears our prayers. A person wrote a letter to St. Francis de Sales, asking him why God does not answer her prayers. Here is what he says: ‘all trees my dear child do not bear fruit at the same season; some of the best are the longest in coming to maturity. I have heard it said that the palm tree grows a hundred years before it bears fruit. God has hidden within the secrets of his Providence, when and how he answers your prayers, and it may be that he will answer you by doing according to his views rather than yours. Be at peace, my child, within his fatherly arms and in his loving Care.[xiii]

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So we pray hard and with confidence – and we trust God in his answers. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say, God feels as if he were under an obligation to the person that prays to him.

St. John Chrysostom says, ‘the kings of the earth give an audience only to a few; but God gives an audience to all who wish for it.’

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So let us pray daily and often for all our needs. We should all have a list of those things for which we beseech God. It is true, we do not always know what is best to ask for. So why don’t we put it all in the hands of Mary to bring to Jesus. Mary, I entrust everything to you, because you know best, how to bring everything to Jesus.

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[Placed in the prayers of St. Nicholas]

[i] Efficacy of prayer is nicely discussed in: Preparation for Death, St. Alphonsus, p. 301-303.

[ii] Jeremiah 33:3

[iii] John 15:7

[iv] Matt 7:7

[v] The Divine Pity, p. 109.

[vi] Isaiah 65:24

[vii] see James 1:5

[viii] see Luke 6:38

[ix] Luke 11:12; Matt 7:10

[x] Introduction to the Devout Life, p. 96.

[xi] Preparation for Death, p. 301.

[xii] Roman Breviary, Office for Thursday, 29^th Week.

[xiii] Spiritual letters of St.Francis de Sales, p. 191.

Latin Mass: 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Beloved in Jesus Christ, the Introit for today’s Mass says: ‘Ecce Deus adiuvat me, et Dominus susceptor est animæ meæ,’ that is: ‘Behold, God is my helper, and the Lord is the protector of my soul.’

All over the Holy Scriptures, we see that the Lord is our helper, our protector – that he is trustworthy. But do we trust him?

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We wish to speak today about trust in God, confidence[i] in the Lord.

In one sense, we might say that trust in God equals worship.[ii] Without trust, there can be no real, living Faith, because living Faith inevitably leads to trust. How can a person say, ‘I have faith in the Lord,’ but I don’t completely trust him. If we had total confidence in God, we would never worry.

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Trust in God means a child-like simplicity. We see little children asleep in their mother’s arms carrying them around in the in the store, and they are completely at ease. Many wish to become holy, but do not attain it, because of a lack of confidence in God.

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There is an expression which is often said: ‘I am so worried about this, I just have to give it over to God.’ People say this: ‘I know, I just have to put it in God’s hands.’ So our conscience is telling us this, to trust in God. We say: ‘Lord, I put this problem into your hands’ – yet we do not feel peace. We go on worrying, and we try to control the situation, to make it turn out the way we want.

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I was listening to a talk by Fr. Thomas Richter.[iii] He says, that we often pray in order to get God to agree to give us things. ‘Lord, please give us a sunny day for the family reunion.’ We get sunshine, God complied with our request, and then we sort of forget about him, until the next need arises. This is really to make the Lord a dispenser of favors, our prayers try to control him, because controlling everything is what we want.

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A person might say, ‘My brother is getting a test to see if he has Leukemia, we’re praying that he doesn’t. We are putting our trust in God.’ So here is the question: What is meant by ‘trust in God?’ Do we mean that we have confidence that he won’t have Leukemia? Is this confidence in God? not really. This is why we keep worrying. Total trust in God means, that we believe he hears our prayer, that he loves us, and that whatever his plan is, without question, it will be for the best; and then we have peace, even if he has Leukemia, because we trust him.

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St. Polycarp was being pursued by those who hated Christians; he wanted God to protect him from capture, and he even hid himself. But he was captured. Yet when the solders found him – they found him at complete peace; he even offered them a meal. So was the gruesome martyrdom that he went through, a failure of his prayer? Had his confidence in God been misplaced? no God wanted him to be a martyr, and this was a greater thing.

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Confidence in God means that we want what he wants. Trust in God means embracing his plan today, accepting with peace, his plan, today. It has to do with that little phrase we say in the Our Father: ‘Thy will be done.’

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Some people think that being a Christian means that we will use prayer to get every cross out of our life. But Jesus says that to be a Christian is to take up your cross! The truth is, we all have some-thing or some-one in our life that is a real cross for us. Something. We probably pray and anguish, the most about that.

Let’s think right now, about that one thing or one person. If we had a magic wand, and could make that one problem in our life go away – an illness, our boss, a child’s lapse from the faith, a sinful past; my poor head for arithmetic;

it could be a co-worker who tries us, or a relative; or if my spouse just wasn’t – ‘that way;’ if only THAT, would be taken away, our life would be SO beautiful.

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Well, deep down we all know: this THING in our life, is no doubt exactly the thing by which Jesus wants us to find holiness. This is where complete trust in Jesus must be found. We spend our life trying to get rid of our big cross, but it is in precisely in this, by which God wants to teach us to abandon ourselves into his Providence.

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People who want to manipulate God, this is their relationship to him – when they don’t get that job they prayed for, or the cure they asked for, they can become bitter or angry: ‘I tried trusting God, but he did not come through.’

This is trying to get God to do what we want, but really, we are supposed to be embracing what God wants!

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Think of a 5-year old child who can’t sleep, tossing and turning; he is worrying about how to pay the electric bill; and how he will do all the shopping for the family tomorrow, and pay his older brother’s college tuition, big problems. He tells another boy how stressed out he is: But that boy says, ‘my parents do all that!’

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In reality, we are MORE dependent on God than that 5-year old. We have to put our confidence in the Lord, and not worry. We can’t control everything at all.

When things are not the way we want them, this is where grace wants to come in. Being a true Christian means to stop hating hardship, but accepting it, so that we can grow.

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‘When I am weak, then I am strong,’ says St. Paul. St. Paul prayed to God: He had something, that was a thorn in his side. ‘3 times I asked God to take it away. But God said, no. My grace is sufficient for you.’ St. Paul had to learn to embrace that thorn in his life, whatever it was, and to trust God.

Some think it was a temptation of the flesh which kept coming back to him. it is often found that temptation is conquered precisely by confidence in God.

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Those struggling against a sinful habit or addiction know that it is imperative, that at the first moment of temptation one must make an act of total confidence in God. ‘Lord help me, without you I will fall, but with you I will conquer. Father Faber[iv] says, a person who has been tested a lot by temptation is always someone with a lot of trust in God.

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‘I can do all things in he who strengthens me.’ There, that’s St. Paul. That’s confidence in God. The same St. Paul, in the Epistle today sums it all up: ‘God is faithful, he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, He will give you the way to bear it.'[v]

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Often we wish to pray, ‘Jesus, take this storm away from me;’ We can go through life asking God to take away everything that makes us dependent on him – or we can trust him.

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Confidence in God, is true worship. It shows real, living Faith. Our trust must be bold and it must be total. Then God can have his way with us in the storm.

Mary trusted God more than anyone. ‘May it be done unto me, according to your word.’

Help us Mary, to put our total trust in Jesus, Our Savior,

come what may.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Teresa of Avila]

[i] See ‘Interior Freedom’ by Jacques Philippe for a great deal more on this subject.

[ii] See his conference ‘Confidence is the only Worship,’ in father Faber’s Spiritual Conferences.

[iii] Portions of this homily are from the talk on CD: ‘Trust in the Lord,’ by Fr. Thomas Richter, Lighthouse Media.

[iv] Spiritual Conferences, Faber. See his chapter: ‘Confidence, the Only Worship.’

[v] 1 Cor 10:13

Latin Mass: 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Beloved in the Lord, on October 18th 1985, Father Steven Scheier[i], while traveling to his parish in Kansas, was involved in an accident: a head-on collision. He was unconscious at the scene. Behind him in the ambulance on the way to the hospital was a nurse, who tried to help him with the Hail Mary but she couldn’t remember all of it; He had suffered a broken neck, a C2, the hangman’s break. He tells, that on the edge of life and death, he found himself alone in another dimension, standing before the judgment of God. At that moment, Jesus Christ took him through his entire life and showed him how he had failed as a priest. Fr. Scheier said “yes” to everything Jesus said, about his life.

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He admits that he was a lax priest, without a solid spiritual life; “I could not stand peer pressure, he says. I wanted to be one of the guys. The priests at that time wanted to talk about peace and love; not morality, or dogma, or what the Church is about, because this made one unpopular – You had to tell the people what they wanted to hear.’ ‘I just wanted to follow the crowd.

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So there, before God, the ‘Lord went through all my unconfessed and mortal sins, he says. There was much said in regards to my life. The only thing that I could say was: ‘Yes, that’s true,’ to each thing. I had no excuse. At the end of his speaking, the Lord said, ‘The sentence you will have for all eternity is Hell.’   “I thought to myself, ‘This is what I deserve.’ The Lord was merely honoring my choice.

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Friends in Christ, Today in the Gospel our Lord says ‘Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit, will be cut down, and cast into the fire.’ Our life needs to bring forth good fruit for Jesus Christ, or else our long-term future will not be pretty. Jesus uses the example of a tree, upon which he is looking for good fruit; our life is the tree. A tree grows, and it grows into something.

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At the end of our life therefore, each of us will BE something, for good or bad; a person of good character, a disciple of Christ – or not. At birth, we become a part of the Mystical Body of Christ. We have the Divine Life in us, but then – what do we do with it? If our will turns away from the Lord, we cut off that Divine Life, the Holy Spirit leaves us. We remain a member of the Body of Christ, but a dead member. At the end of our life, we will find whether we have the Supernatural life in us, with our will united to God, or, our will set against God.

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Many will say, that even though they have committed mortal sins they do not hate God. Fair enough. But a selfish life, thinking only of one’s self and ignoring God and his commandments – this is perhaps very common- Father Frank Sheed[ii] says, a man might go through life ignoring the Lord, not hating him, yet building up such a love of self that he has only to be confronted with God, in order to hate him. After death, God cannot be ignored; then the love of self will bring to the surface the hatred of God which has always been implicit.

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St. Alphonsus says, ‘why torture yourself saying, ‘I wonder if I will end up in heaven or hell.’ When the tree is cut down, it falls to the side that it had been leaning. So, to what side do you lean? Toward God, or away?

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All sinners hope that they will be saved, but in the mean time, by the way they live, they condemn themselves to hell. St. Augustine says,[iii] ‘Who is so foolish as to take poison with the hope of escaping death? Yet many Christians who are fools, kill their souls and then believe there will be a cure. When Jesus describes our life to us at the judgment, we will nod and agree, that what he says is exactly true. And we will ourselves know immediately where we are to go.

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Few people explicitly hate God in this life. They ignore him, so that they may live as they please and follow the crowd. But when such a person must face God, all will turn to hate.

If a husband is unfaithful or evil, he avoids the face of his wife; although there are in him seeds of a love which once was, he avoids her and he may even leave. But if it should be that he must face her, those seeds of love can turn to hate. When police find a gruesome murder, where the victim’s face has been gashed, they first suspect a lover, because love turns into the worst hatred.

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God, who is pure love, has been loving us all life-long. The sinner who must face God at judgment will find his heart full of hate, and he will go where he knows he must. As scripture says: ‘Man shall go into the house of his eternity.’ (Ecclesiastes, 12:5) Each person will go to the house that he wishes to go. He won’t be carried there, he will go by his own choice.[iv]

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‘Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father, he shall enter the kingdom of heaven.’

It is not hard to go to heaven; it is a matter of not following the crowd; of setting our life on the path Jesus has for us – of choosing to do God’s will. Thomas Aquinas’ sister asked him, ‘How can I become a saint.’ ‘Just WILL it,’ he said. Decide to do it.

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It is not hard to go to heaven, but we must decide. A lady once wrote to St. Francis de Sales[v] about her fear of death and of hell which troubled her soul. He wrote back: ‘Put aside self-seeking and leave yourself totally in God’s hands. He will either deliver you from this fear, or he will enable you to bear it. God is too good to reject a person who does not wish to be a hypocrite. Say often to God, ‘I am yours, save me.’ And he will do so, dear child.’

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We all must face the judgment of Christ, as to our life. I mentioned Father Steve Scheier, and the horrible judgment he received: ‘Your sentence is hell.’ But that was not the end of that priest’s experience. After Jesus, he heard another voice, a woman’s voice. The voice said, ‘Son, would you please spare his life. ‘Mother, he has been a priest for 12 years, for himself, not for me. Let him reap the punishment he deserves.

But she said, ‘Son, if we give to him special grace and strength, and see if he bears fruit, then if not, your will be done.’ There was a short pause, and then he said, ‘Mother, he is yours.’ With that, the priest returned to life. Today his life is very different from the lukewarm life he had been living.

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It is not hard to go to heaven. We must decide to, and then do God’s will. It means not following the crowd.

Jesus and Mary, help us to make the tree of our life fruitful, that the Lord will find on it abundant fruit, in the world to come.

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[Entrust to the prayers of St. Mary of Egypt]

[i] His experience is recounted in the National Catholic Register, Aug 19, 2011.

[ii] Map of Life, p. 137

[iii] Preparation for Death, p. 149.

[iv] Preparation for Death, p. 148

[v] Paraphrased from the Spiritual Letters of St. Francis de Sales, p. 194.

Latin Mass: 6th Sunday after Pentecost

‘I have compassion on the crowd, for they have been with me 3 days and have nothing to eat.’

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Beloved in the Lord, The crowds that we read about in the gospel today had been earnestly following Christ for days, and they were hungry. It was here that Our Lord worked the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

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St. Alphonsus says,[i] the mystical sense of this gospel, is that there is no food which can fill the desire of our souls; in fact, there is no one and no thing that can satiate the soul, only the Divine Person: Jesus Christ.

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In the Holy scriptures it is seen that even after Our Lord had fed the multitudes, they were immediately seeking more, and in this, they are a sign of that longing by man to be fulfilled.

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Hearts today seek fulfillment in so many dead-end streets. For persons of faith who hunger for Christ, it is perhaps not uncommon in moments of weariness to have the thought: ‘if only I had lived during the lifetime of Jesus.’ ‘if I could just see him for a moment, walk alongside and listen to him – or if he would even appear to me. If Christ’s words reformed a hardened sinner like Mary Magdelene we think, then if I could only hear his voice, perhaps I would be changed as well. If I could only feel the Lord’s eyes on me, it would be different. We might think this sometimes, I have.

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In reality however, we have an advantage to be living at this time, and not then. The people of Christ’s time did not have the full picture, Redemption had not yet occurred, and most importantly, they had not been baptized. So we have an advantage. The Epistle today urges us to gratitude for our own baptism. Because of our baptism, the Lord is now living in us. St. Paul tells us, ‘do you not know that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.’ And this is because of our Baptism, we are a temple.

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So it is, God’s presence is within us. The foundation of the spiritual life can be summed up in one goal: Keeping the Presence of God all day. Maintaining an awareness that God is in us, with us, which he is.

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Why are we urged to begin the day with a morning offering, to pray at meals, daily Mass if possible; why are we urged to say the Rosary, the Angelus at noon, spiritual reading, prayers before bedtime – what is the purpose of all this? It is for one purpose: to try to keep the Presence of God all day. This is success in the spiritual life, if we are able to have an awareness of the Lord with us every part of the day. The rest will take care of itself.

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‘If only I had lived during the lifetime of Jesus.’

Father Goodier in an essay, puts us in the scene in the time of Christ: Imagine we are walking along a country lane in Galilee. We come to a small group of people from the farms, and in the middle is a young man, tall and thin in appearance, his clothes are white, he is seated on a stone by the roadside, talking quietly to the simple folk around him. In his eyes there is strange glitter of joy and pain, of laughter and tears, of hope which cannot be described. But perhaps more startling is, that Jesus seems to know each person.

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He knows each person. He knows you and I. ‘Oh, if only I had lived during the lifetime of Jesus.’ Balderdash! as my father used to say! We have an advantage today, we don’t need to be living at the time of Jesus to speak to him, he is here, he is in us – with us. ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,’ says St. Paul.

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When we go into Church, we instinctively lower our voice – God is here, he is present. But leaving the Church, do we leave Jesus behind? not at all. ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. In our work, our shopping, our play, we cannot get away from the Lord, we are a living Cathedral, as long as we are in the state of grace.

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In his book, ‘How to Pray Always,'[ii] Fr. Plus says: The presence of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity who are in us due to our Baptism, is no less real than the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle, only the mode of presence is different.

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And so it cannot be emphasized enough: this goal of the Christian life of practicing the Presence of God, of cultivating always, a sense that Christ is within, that he is intimately with us.

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The renowned Fr. Pergmayer says, ‘The practice of the presence of God will lead sooner or later to perfection.'[iii]

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Each month we have Eucharistic Adoration for our school children; and in the prayers we say with them, well, they are simple prayers; but simple prayers are excellent for us, to cultivate the Presence of God.

‘Because you are so good, Jesus I love you’

“Because you understand me, Jesus I love you.’

Making aspirations, often. Making all kinds of aspirations during the course of the day, this is how we should speak to our Savior, who is within us.

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‘If only I had lived during the lifetime of Jesus.’

We ARE living during the time of Jesus, he is not walking alongside us, he is within us. St. Josemaria,[iv] says: Oh ‘apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you …doesn’t it mean anything?…seek God within, and listen to him.

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‘Because you understand me, Jesus I love you.’ Simple aspirations – it really helps us to keep the Presence of God. A disciple of St. Bernard[v] said: ‘Wherever you are, be recollected. There is no need for a special place, you are this special place. Are you in bed? Then your bed is a temple.’

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And really, if we are temples, if God dwells in us, then he is in our neighbor too – and we know the implications of that.

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So practicing this Presence of God all day, of giving glances to the Lord – if we can have at least an implicit sense that Christ is with us in all our activities, we will soon become saints.

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And if Our Lord is with us, so is Mary;

if it is a pious practice to glance at a picture of Mary upon entering our house, then how much better to often speak to this Mother, to make a glance to her, who never leaves us. Mary, pray for us, that our days will be filled with the sweet presence of you, and your Son.

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Entrust to the prayers of St. Thomas Aquinas

[i] Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori, p. 262.

[ii] How to Pray Always, p. 103

[iii] Cited in ‘How to Pray Always,’ p. 40

[iv] The Way, #319, 321

[v] How to Pray always, p. 104