Latin Mass: 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Beloved in Jesus Christ, St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, there are two different kinds of passions: the concupiscible passions, and the irascible passions. Within the irascible passions is that of anger. This is why we might say that someone is ‘irascible,’ meaning that he is easily angered.
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Anger is a passion with which many people wrestle in their lives, especially if they have a hot, choleric temperament. Our Lord warns us in the gospel today: ‘I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.’ St. John Vianney says,[i] that person who is full of anger, what terrible company he is. ‘Look at the poor wife who has a husband like this. If she wishes to prevent her husband from offending God or treating her badly, she can’t say even a single word. She must content herself with weeping in secret.
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Anger can poison families and take us from God. In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul warns that anger is one of the sins that can keep us out of heaven: ‘I warn you as I have warned you before, they who do such things will not attain the kingdom of heaven.’ Gal 5;19
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Now as a mere emotion, anger is not a sin; when we see something that is wrong, or unjust – if someone is harmed, or we are insulted – anytime there is some injustice, we feel the impulse of anger: the desire to fight against what is wrong. So as an emotion, anger rouses us to oppose injustice. But now comes the moral choice: will this passion be used in an appropriate way or will it unleash hatred in our heart or inordinate words or actions?
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A strong and powerful horse is a great asset to a rider, but if it is not controlled with a bit and a harness, it can be destructive, and how often does this wild horse of anger get the best of us. The worst thing about anger is that it can cause us to, in a way, ‘lose our mind.’ If you’ve ever dealt with someone who is boiling with rage, you have surely noticed that they are not reasonable at all. The person makes wild accusations, demands excessive retaliation, and will not listen to anything you say. It is as if he has lost his use of reason.
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St. Paul says to the Philipians: ‘Watch out for the dogs.’ (Phil 3:2) Commenting on this passage, St. Thomas says, ‘it is the nature of a dog to bark from anger, not from reason.’ So unleashed anger makes us lose our good sense. As we have said, it is normal for a feeling of anger to arise in the face of injustice. If an employee sees the boss ridicule and degrade a co-worker, he should feel anger. But his reason tells him to act with prudence; glancing to God, he speaks up, in the defense of his co-worker: ‘Now Ed, John has done some very good work on this project, isn’t this a little unfair what you say?’ He uses reason to address the situation calmly. But another person, losing control, might pull out a pistol and shoot the boss! Holy Scripture says: ‘A fool gives vent to his anger, but a wise man quietly holds it back.’ (Prov 29:11)
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It is easy to see anger in the choleric person. He even looks as if he is boiling over. But other people’s anger comes out in other ways. For some, it is in the silent treatment, which can go on for days. I knew a young man who hadn’t spoken to his sister in 10 years – he was ‘teaching her a lesson.’ some lesson. There are others whose anger emerges in a passive-aggressive way. A woman is angry at her husband, and so she just happens to run the vacuum cleaner at kick off time for the game.
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St. John Vianney says, anger never travels alone.[ii] ‘It is always accompanied by plenty of other sins. He goes on: You have heard an angry father using bad language, cursing and yelling hateful things. Very well. Listen to his children; the same vile words come out of their mouths.
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‘I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be liable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be liable to the fire of hell.’
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Our Lord gives the stages of anger here. First, the passion stirs in our heart; it is not a sin yet, it is a feeling, but we must exercise good judgment, or our passion will control us.
If we give in to anger by cruel words or actions, then we certainly sin.
But the worst is when out-of-control-anger leads to contempt: ‘You fool,’ we might say. Contempt for another is to write that person off as useless. As Our Lord says, this is how anger can lead us to hell.
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Explosions in angry passion can make us regret many things. The answer really, is to calm our passions before they explode. In today’s Epistle, St. Peter says: ‘Let him refrain his tongue from evil. Let him seek after peace.’
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It is widely known that when you face a person who is angry, the worst thing you can do is respond back with anger. The Book of Proverbs says, ‘A soft answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.’ Prov 15:1 St. Monica had a husband always full of wrath, but her response was to be patient and calm, and pray for him.
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So if calm words by another person helps simmer down an angry person, this is what needs to happen inside of us as well. If passion begins boiling in us, we should speak to ourselves calmly, patiently: Make an aspiration to God: ‘Lord, grant me peace. Then think it through: ‘this thing that is provoking me, what is the response I wish to make, what does God want of me?’ As with all the passions, we must nip anger in the bud before it takes root. This wild horse must be kept under control from the start, and then our passions will be used effectively, for God’s glory.
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In this way we will not respond too quickly when provoked, we will know how to wait for the right moment to speak in a calm and reasoned way. This gets results that an angry response could never achieve.
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But if we wish to please Jesus in how we handle our passions, let’s see that Mary can help us. St. Alphonsus[iii] says ‘it is well, at the beginning and end of every action to say a Hail Mary; Happy are those actions that are enclosed between two Hail Marys; Then he says: ‘and in every burst of anger, always say, ‘Hail Mary. May the Blessed Virgin help us to use our passions, always for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ.
Entrust to the prayers of Mother Maria Kaupas
[i] Sermons of the Cure of Ars, p. 49
[ii] Sermons of the Cure of Ars, p. 49
[iii] The saint gives this suggestion at the end of one version of Glories of Mary under ‘Various practices of devotion to the divine Mother.
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of the two great pillars of the church: St. Peter and St. Paul. St. Peter, the first Pope, was given the keys of heaven by Jesus. St. Paul was the greatest missionary the Church has ever known. Both achieved the greatest honor a Christian can have: They gave their lives as martyrs for Jesus Christ.
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If you go to Rome someday, you should visit ‘The Church of St Paul at the 3 Fountains.’ It was on that spot that St. Paul was martyred. His head was cut off, and as legend says, when his head was severed, it bounced and struck the earth in three different places, from which fountains sprang up. These fountains still flow today.
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If you go over to the Roman Basilica of St. Peter, under the high altar is the crypt where lie the bones of St. Peter. Jesus had foretold that Peter would be crucified, and in fact he was. But when the time came, he felt so unworthy to die like Christ, that they crucified him upside down.
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But these saints suffered greatly even before they were martyred. St. Paul tells of how he was one time scourged, other times beaten with rods, even stoned – And Peter suffered too. For example, we read today of the persecution by King Herod. When they wanted to go after the Church, they struck at the head of the Church, and that was St. Peter. Of the first 30-some Popes, nearly all were martyred. So Peter was arrested and thrown in prison. The whole church then did what we would do if the Pope were in prison; they began praying. As it says: ‘Prayer to God was made without ceasing by the Church for him.’
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So, there he was, chained up in this dark and gloomy prison. ‘What am I going to do, he thought? In that jail there were four guards guarding him, it seemed hopeless. But in the middle of the night, a bright light flashed in the cell, and an angel appeared. ‘Peter, wake up, put on your sandals, and let’s go!’ The chains fell off of his hands. But what about the guards? Well, they walked right past the guards. It suppose the angel put them to sleep. Now Peter wondered if he was dreaming because it says: ‘He followed him out, not knowing that what was being done by the angel was real.’ They passed through the first guard and the 2nd until they came to the iron gates that protect the city. Now what? At nighttime, the gates are locked. But what is this? The gates opened by themselves! And after going down one street, the angel disappeared. Then Peter thought, its really true! An angel has freed me! All of this is explained in the Acts of the Apostles.
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So, on the run, Peter goes to the house where St. Mark lived, for a place to stay. Now the people in there were praying so hard for Peter to be released from jail: ‘Please Lord, let Peter be freed, please Lord let Peter be freed. And then? !KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! A young girl named Rhoda[i] goes to the door. She looks through the peep-hole – its Peter! But she was so excited that she forgot to open the door! Rhoda then runs in to tell the others – its Peter outside! He’s here! You’re crazy! They said. It must be his angel! (This is, by the way, an example of belief in guardian angels so clearly shown in Sacred Scripture).
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So they kept praying – ‘please Lord, let Peter be freed from prison, please Lord let Peter be freed from prison.’ But Rhoda insisted that it is Peter knocking, and that they should let him in. !KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Disregarding what everyone says, Rhoda will not give up on Peter. She goes and opens the door and brings in Peter and they are amazed! So he waves his hand for them to be quiet, and tells them how the angel had freed him from prison.
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Friends, Peter went through a great deal of anguish in those years, and as we said, so did St. Paul. You can’t just be a martyr after an unvirtuous life of leisure! As the Apostles lived their Life in Christ, being faithful in numerous difficulties, they were really training for the greatest honor: martyrdom.
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You may have been following in the news that 27 year-old woman[ii] in Sudan who was sentenced to death for her Christian Faith. She was ordered to give up Christ, and become Muslim – ‘No,’ was her answer. Yes, she was happily married. Yes, she had a child. But she was determined to die rather than renounce her faith. Are we? Are we prepared to be another St. Paul and lose our head rather than our Faith? Or a St. Peter? Our Faith in Christ must mean more than our life, because we owe everything to Jesus Christ. We must be able to say what St. Peter said: I know and believe, that ‘you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’
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I think everyone here can all say ‘Yes,’ without hesitation – that we would each give our life rather than ever deny Jesus. But we can test ourselves to see if we would really do it. We just have to ask a few questions: Are we faithful to the Lord in small things? When friends or colleagues criticize the Catholic Faith, do we speak up? Can’t be a martyr if we won’t even do that.
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The martyrs gave their lives for Christ, yet today, many throw away their Faith for the most pathetic things: – in order to remarry outside the Church, many walk away – because their friends are in another religion, they go too – they want to live at their boyfriend’s apartment, so they walk away from God. Pathetic reasons.
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We have to make choices, to do what is right or to walk away from Christ. Do we tell the truth when under pressure to lie? Do we cheat when there is an advantage? God permits us many opportunities to show him our loyalty, but we aren’t worthy to be a martyr unless we can be faithful in small things.
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In the spiritual warfare that is part of life, we do have our Angel to help us like St. Peter did; and if we are on the run, we can always knock at the door of the house of Mary, who will always open to us. May the Blessed Virgin help us in our daily life to be worthy of the promises of Christ.
[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Mary, niece of Abraham]
[i] The name Rhoda means ‘Rose,’ and it is also interesting that the house he went to was the house of Mary, the mother of Mark.
[ii] Meriam Yehya Ibrahim
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
Beloved in Jesus Christ,
in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John, St. Philip makes a request to Jesus. ‘Lord, show us the Father, and then we will be satisfied.’
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– Show us the Father? – For a long time, Jesus had been telling them about his Father in heaven; and he even had told them: ‘I and the Father are one.’ So here comes Philip, and he says: ‘Show us the Father.’ Jesus says, ‘Philip, how long have I been with you explaining these things; if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father!’
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Jesus is the revelation of God in the world. God has ‘put on flesh,’ to be with his people, to walk with us, to love us, and to teach us something about what God is really like.
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In Our Lord’s public life, he spoke many times about his Father in heaven, and he usually did it with parables. For example, the story of the Prodigal Son. This son, who leaves home and wastes his father’s fortune on loose living – But he comes to his senses and returns to his Father and asks for forgiveness, asking to just be allowed to work as a hired man. But this Father not only forgives him, he throws his arms around him, kisses him, and throws a party. Christ tells many such stories really, to teach us about what God is really like.
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Cardinal Ratzinger, in his book Introduction to Christianity, he says in so many ways, we see what God is like through Jesus: God is loving, he is just, he forgives, he is filled with emotion when his child returns, he yearns for us.
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Still, the world says that such things are ridiculous; yes, they will admit that there is probably some form of ‘supreme being;’ but it is absurd, they say, that this Being should concern himself with us, or come down to us. They say that we are naïve to think this; that these ideas are left over from a primitive world of ignorant people.
Our tiny and unimportant planet – this speck of dust in the universe, shows that we are nothing; it is absurd that a supreme being would concern himself with us, with our sins, or our problems –
They will say that God is not like that Father who throws his arms around a lost son and kisses him. God is like a Force or an Energy-field in the Universe. How vast is the universe, and what a tiny, unimportant speck our earth is, so GET REAL! – So say the “modern people.”
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But in fact, things are really flipped around just the opposite. For these “modern people,” THEIR God is actually too small. They have made their idea of God, as a narrow image of themselves; an idea that God is not able to embrace the whole universe and each person – as if God has limitations and is not able to leave his chair to visit the heart of each person. Their God is way too small. The True God is actually very great.
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God reaches down to the smallest, because to him, nothing is too small. This is the true greatness we would expect from a Supreme Being, that the great would stoop down to the little.
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Imagine a powerful executive of Chase Manhattan Bank; why would such an important person have any interest in helping a dirty, street person in the gutter? Well, if he does help such a person, we would call him great. Then isn’t God greater because he compassionates his tiny creatures?
If he stoops down to this speck of dust, and takes concern over each of our problems, unite himself to us, and suffers our own life with us?
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Today is the Feast of Most Blessed Trinity. And this is a uniquely Christian revelation, that God is a communio of Persons.
Buddhism, Islam, the other religions – they don’t know this about their Creator, they don’t know. they don’t know what St. John says straight out in his Epistle: ‘God is love.’ We know this because it was revealed by Christ.
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You can’t have love, by one person. There must be a lover, and a beloved. God himself, if we may say, is an eternal chase of love. 3 Persons in One God. The Father loving the Son, the Son loving the Father, and that LOVE is the Person: the Holy Spirit.
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Now Our Savior has said that if we love God, the Three Persons will come to live in us. ‘If any one love Me, my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make our abode with him (John 14:23).
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Calling on these 3 Divine Persons then, must be part of our daily life. Speaking every day to Our Heavenly Father, to Jesus, our Savior, and to the dear Holy Spirit
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It was by calling on these Divine Persons, that a glass of poison shattered, to save St. Benedict. It was by calling on these Divine Persons that St. Anthony fought the devil, that St. Catherine challenged the emperor, and St. George defeated the dragon. It was in the Name of the Father, Son, and Spirit that St. Lawrence healed the blind, St. Sebastian healed a mute woman, and the martyrs gave their lives.
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The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – These are the Divine Persons by which Jesus commanded us to batpize: ‘I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’
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We praise these Divine Persons every time we say the Glory Be. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. The Glory Be is one of the earliest-known prayers praising the Holy Trinity, and it was an answer to the heretics who denied the Divinity of Christ; ths prayer, the ‘Glory Be,’ should certainly be part of our daily life.
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God is not a Force, or an Energy-Field, or a vapor; He is a communio of Persons. The meaning of the Holy Trinity is that God is love. And the world of nature shows this God of love: St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, when holding a flower in her hand felt wounded by Divine love, saying, God has thought of creating this flower – that I might love him.’ The blue sky, the birds of the air, every tree and each star above, seems to say to us, ‘I am a messenger from God – He loves you.’
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Mary can show us the way into the heart of the Holy Trinity. St. Alphonsus says, see with what love the Most Holy Trinity blessed Mary. The Father crowns her by sharing his power with her, the Son his wisdom, the Holy Spirit his love. Well, God desires the same for us. He wishes to share with us his power, his wisdom, and his love. May all things be to the eternal glory of the most holy Trinity.
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Entrusted to the prayers of St. Teresa of Avila
Pentecost
‘And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a driving wind … and there appeared to them tongues as of fire … and they were filled with the Holy Spirit’
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Beloved in Jesus Christ, Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. It is the day that the Holy Spirit brings the Church alive. After Our Lord had ascended to heaven, there he told the Holy Spirit, ‘now, You must go! Go down to my disciples, to the Holy Church, and give them your Life. And so down came the Good Holy Spirit in a Wind, into the souls of the followers of Jesus; into the souls of those sons and daughters of God, and into us – at our baptism.
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Some[i] people wrongly think, that the Holy Spirit has come to ‘finish the job’ of what Jesus started, as if Christ’s work was imperfect. No, this is not it. How the Holy Spirit has brought the Church alive – how the Holy Spirit acts in us, dwells in us, moves us – the explanation of the work of this Divine Consoler must be found in Jesus Christ. If we wish to know how WE possess the Holy Spirit, all we have to do is know how JESUS possesses him.
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St. Paul says: ‘As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.’
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The Holy Church is literally the Body of Christ. The Church continues the Incarnation; this ‘birthing of Christ’ is essentially prolonged in the world – in us, and as we shall see, the Holy Spirit is the one who accomplishes this. We call the Church the Body of Christ, and so it is. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says #1108: The Holy Spirit is sent, in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body.’ So the Church is the prolongation, the continuing of the Incarnation through history.
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See what a happened, when Jesus came into the world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is made present in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Well, on Pentecost, we can say that by the power of the HOly Spirit, Christ is made present in the womb of the Church; the Spirit of Jesus is born his people. In fact, the entire Book of the Acts of the Apostles shows how the Apostles began to live and do what Jesus did. The Holy Spirit is making them into ‘other Jesus’s’. So what happens at Pentecost, is really the same as what happened at the Incarnation.
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At Baptism, we are born new, of water and Spirit. And here at Holy Mass, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ becomes present in the womb of Mother Church; so we are, more and more, being incorporated into the Body of Christ. Father Mersch in his book says:[ii] He who fashioned Christ’s physical Body – the Holy Spirit – is also fashioning his Mystical Body, the Church. St. Irenaus beautifully says: ‘When the Son of God became Man, the Spirit descended upon him, and in this way, the Holy Spirit became accustomed to dwelling with the human race.[iii]
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So the birth of the Church extends over the centuries. The Holy Spirit is continually being sent, and Pentecost never comes to an end; this is a reality: This Divine Paraclete, this Holy Spirit, is in us! ‘Do you not know that you are temples of the Holy Spirit?,’ says St. Paul.
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By his Gifts, this Divine Consoler wishes to do great things in us, really make us ‘other Christs.’ Jesus wishes to reproduce his life in us. You know, when St. Teresa of Avila would pray in the chapel, sometimes the Holy Spirit came with such power, that she was lifted off the ground, levitating in the air while she prayed. Many saw this.[iv]
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One time, St. Anthony was preaching at a Church at 9:30 in the morning, and during the Homily, he suddenly realized he was supposed to be leading the chant at a monastery 30 miles away, he had forgotten. He prayed to the Holy Spirit, and sat down for about 4 minutes, then rose to continue his homily. It was reported the next day that St. Anthony WAS at that distant Church leading the chant at 9:30 in the morning.
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Levitation, miraculous transport – the saints show the power of the Holy Spirit; but this Great Friend will work daily, real miracles in our own lives, if we ask him. I can’t tell you how many times I faced a difficult situation, or a problem with no seeming solution; a short prayer to the Holy Spirit, and then – well, the results could only be caused by that great Friend.
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A lady had a terrible argument with her cousin, but she prayed for help to the Holy Spirit, then went to see the cousin. It seems that just the right words came out, and they were accepted. The quarrel was over that fast.
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We should speak often to this dear Consoler, this Divine Friend, this Advocate. ‘Oh Holy Spirit, I love you. Guide me; animate me and help me.
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Friends, we are like a ship with a sail. When there is no wind, we can paddle along, but we make little progress. Yet when we pray to the Holy Spirit, that Breath of God fills our sails and we go much farther and faster than we ever could ourselves. St. John Vianney says it is the Holy Spirit that makes unlearned people wiser than many others. But we must listen to Him.
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Let us give the Holy Spirit what he wants, what we know he is asking of us. Give the Holy Spirit what he wants – and then he will ask for more! May the dear Blessed Virgin intercede for us; Mary, pray for us, that by the help of the Holy Spirit, we ourselves will build up the beautiful Body of Christ.
Entrusted to the prayers of St. Nicholas
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[i] Introductory ideas here are taken from Fr. Mersch’s ‘Theology of the Mystical Body,’ pp. 415-417.
[ii] Theology of the Mystical Body, p. 417
[iii] Office for Pentecost
[iv] She says: though I tried to resist, it seemed that I was being lifted by a force so powerful that it can compare with nothing else…. (Mysteries Marvels, Miracles /Cruz…p. 19)
Feast of the Ascension
Beloved in Jesus Christ, today we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven. St. Leo the Great says, ‘At Easter, it was the Lord’s Resurrection which was the cause of our joy; our present rejoicing is on account of his ascension into heaven.'[i]
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Now this event actually involves all of us; Christ’s entire Mystical Body is ultimately being brought to heaven. ‘And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself,’ he said. Today is the day when our human nature is carried up to the very throne of God.[ii] Jesus shows us the way, he shows us our future which is already beginning. To be resurrected in our body is one thing, to be glorified and brought to the loveliness of heaven, to the joy of union with Our Heavenly Father, well – that is quite another; but this is where He is taking us!
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Before considering the meaning of all this for ourselves, let us go back to that day, let’s place ourselves with Jesus, on that day. Gentilucci[iii] says that it is most likely that Christ ascended at the Mount of Olives where he had begun his passion. We remember that after his resurrection, Our Lord had spent 40 days – a month and a half – living with his Apostles, teaching them, eating with them, showing them how to say Mass, how to preach – all of this they did with a Resurrected Man – As St. Luke says:[iv] ‘he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs during 40 days…..speaking of the kingdom of God while eating with them…’ their Faith could not have been stronger. Their Faith, having known a Resurrected Man – having seen in Christ their own destiny – for these apostles, who would ultimately become martyrs – their faith would remain unshaken even through tortures and prison. They had seen their own destiny, that death has been conquered.
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But was Christ the only resurrected person they had seen? It would seem not. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, there is a sort of hidden statement, at the Lord’s crucifixion, which says: ‘the earth quaked, rocks were rent, tombs opened, and bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, coming forth out of the tombs AFTER his resurrection; they went into the holy city, and appeared to many.’
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So after the Lord’s resurrection, there were these other people who had died, who came out alive from the tombs. What happened to all these people? Origen, St. Jerome,[v] St. Thomas,[vi] and others[vii] believe that they ascended to heaven with Jesus. Among that group who had risen from the dead, it is believed by many[viii] was St. Joseph.[ix] Even Pope John XXIII mentioned this, saying that it may be piously believed.
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In any case, as we come to this day of the Ascension, when the Lord in his visible presence would leave his Apostles, was it a sad day? Not at all. Silveira writes that on the way to Bethany from where Christ would ascend, there was surely a sort of procession through Jerusalem; Jesus with his Mother Mary, the saints of whom we have spoken;next the Apostles and the disciples who had formerly followed Jesus. Silveira says ‘this privileged band of the faithful no doubt passed through the streets of Jerusalem,’ while the astonished spectators looked on. ‘No one had the courage to opposed the march of this blessed procession’ as they marched off toward Bethany.[x]
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So speaking with his Mother and these disciples, the procession ascended that mountain from where every part of Jerusalem could be seen. Cornelius Lapide[xi] says that the nearer Jesus approached the summit, surely the more sweetly he spoke to his disciples, like a good father who leaving a beloved family. John Chrysostom says that to Mary were whispered great mysteries, and then she kissed him, and engulfed in a cloud, he was taken up to heaven.
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Were they sad? not at all. They recalled the words he had spoken to them: ‘you will see me again, and on that day no one will take your joy from you.'[xii] And as St. Luke says: ‘They returned to Jerusalem with great joy.'[xiii]
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Why were they so happy at Our Lord’s Ascension? They had Faith. Jesus leads the way up to heaven, and he brings our humanity, he brings our human nature there with him.
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In this life we are baptized into Christ, we live our days as a Christian, we follow Jesus in this journey. And we will follow him up in his Ascension, to heaven – its our goal. To go up there! Visiting a hospital one time, I was on the elevator, and a lady herself stepped in as well. I asked: ‘Going up?’ ‘OH I HOPE SO FATHER!!’ she said.
Yes, we wish to ascend. Jesus’ words echo in our mind: ‘Come, follow me.’ ‘Lord, we DO wish to follow you – to heaven.’
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As St. Leo the Great says, ‘Our Redeemer’s visible presence has now passed into the sacraments. Now we live by Faith. This Faith in the Lord throughout history has led men and women, young girls and boys to give their life’s blood for this Faith. It is a faith that has driven out devils, healed the sick and raised the dead. Our Faith impels us to live daily the life of Christ, and God-willing, ascend with him to heaven.
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You know, when my own father passed away, we kids surrounded his bed with prayers; we prayed for God’s mercy as he closed his eyes. and I suppose we all like to receive a ‘sign’ from God – Well, I felt some peace, when I realized: Dad! You died on the Ascension!’ – it gave me some peace.
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May we be worthy to Ascend to heaven with Jesus. May the Blessed Virgin help us in the journey of this life, that we ourselves, may ascend with Christ to Paradise.
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Entrusted to the prayers of St. Bernadette .
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[i] St. Leo the Great: Roman Breviary, Office for Friday of the 6th week of Easter.
[ii] St. Leo the Great
[iii] Life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Msgr. Romuald Gentilucci, p. 370.
[iv] Acts 1:3;
[v] Life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Msgr. Romuald Gentilucci, p. 370.
[vi] Summa, Supplement, Q. 77, a1, reply to Obj. 3. Thomas is open to the question however in III, Q. 53, a3.
[vii] ‘Origen, St. Jerome, St. Bede, St. Clement of Alexandria and others believe that they ascended in the body to heaveh. Gentilucci, p. 373 note.
[viii] Pope St. John XXII, in a homily on the Ascension,1960.
[ix] Gentilucci, p. 268: ‘the common opinion of the doctors, is that St. Joseph was of the number of the Saints who arose with the divine Master….and at last on the 40th day, with Christ, he ascended body and soul to heaven.’ The footnote says: This is the opinion of St. Bernardine of Sienna, who says: ‘as the family lived a laborious life on earth, so they reign, body and soul in amorous glory in heaven.’ St. Francis de Sales says it is without doubt. Another proof is that no part of the body of St. Joseph is venerated.
[x] Gentilucci, p. 370
[xi] Gentilucci, p. 372
[xii] John 16:22
[xiii] Luke 24:52
Latin Mass: 5th Sunday of Easter
Beloved in Jesus Christ, sometimes it will be said of a person, ‘Oh that one: he’s forever complaining.’ Complaining is poison to the Christian life; it is the perfect way to kill the Spirit of Christ and lead ourselves and everyone away from God.
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Complaining is often related to self-pity, feeling sorry for oneself. ‘I have too much homework.’ ‘I won’t have enough time to do this job.’ In these cases, we allow ourselves to be discouraged by our situation, and so we complain. But the great St. Paul, who went through so many troubles, he says: “Do everything without complaining.'[i]
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Of course there are difficult situations; we are stymied in some way from the path we desire. But it isn’t this which leads to complaining and self-pity, it’s HOW WE SEE the situation. St. Alphonsus says: ‘the crosses that God sends you are misfortunes, because you make them misfortunes.
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The true Christian lives in reality more than anyone else. He sees the real-life situation of what God has given him, today, and he says, ‘ok Lord,’ and then he proceeds to make something good out of it.
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One of my favorite movies is called ‘National Velvet;’ there, a little girl, against all odds, sets her mind on winning the Grand National Horse Race; time and again she meets obstacles. Does she say, ‘oh well, now there is nothing I can do.’ ‘Woe is me,’ everyone is against me.’ no. She accepts the situation as it is, and then gives her best to make something out of it.
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Even the secular world can teach us something here. In Steven Covey’s book[ii] ‘The 7 habits for highly effective people,’ he says that some people allow their environment to control them. If the weather is bad they feel down. If people treat them badly, they become defensive. They are driven by their feelings, and they blame everything on their circumstances.
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Sulking and self-pity and endless complaining, this is related to the vice called pusillanimity; it means ‘smallness of soul.’ The pusillanimous person fears leaving his comfort-zone, shies always from what is noble and out of fear, always takes the path of least resistance. It is cowardly. Father Urteaga[iii] says, only cowards sit home and listen to reports of what others are doing: they are spectators who watch the world go by.
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St. Thomas Aquinas says, people often have smallness of soul because they underestimate the ability God has given them. Pride makes them fear failure, afraid that they might not be successful and ‘what would people say.’ ‘Oh, I am really not qualified to do that, ask someone else.’ So they take refuge in false humility.
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If we allow our feelings or others to discourage us, it is because we have empowered them to do so. ‘You are always so messy.’ ‘You are never able to finish.’ ‘This is so easy, why can’t you get it?’ Others can make us feel useless, but if the words of others control our actions, it’s because we have empowered them to do so.
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So what do we do? What is needed here is a special virtue, and this virtue is called magnanimity. St. Thomas Aquinas[iv] says magnanimity is the stretching forth of the mind to great things.’ Magnanimity[v] is also called ‘big-heartedness;’ and it is part of the virtue of courage.[vi] To be magnanimous or ‘big-hearted,’ is to see in every situation, an opportunity to do something great, something worthwhile.
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The magnanimous person shoos away gossip and pettiness as if they were flies. If co-workers say how useless it is to work on this project when the boss is not supportive – well – the magnanimous person dismisses that self-pity and sets his mind on working with what is available; he builds-up everyone and proceeds with confidence to achieve something. If a relative is rude or deceitful the magnanimous person is above the fray, and kindly thanks him for visiting.
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Magnanimity CAN be lived in a quiet way. It can mean doing ordinary things well, even difficult things with confidence. How can we have confidence? Put some faith in God! Jesus says today, ‘if you ask the Father anything in My Name, he will give it to you. Ask, and you shall receive.’ The courage to try something hard is found in God’s grace, which will bless our every effort.
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Now there are those who will always say, ‘Oh, that’s not my job.’ Some minor thing could be taken care of, a form filled out, a spill wiped up, helping out a customer – ‘sorry, it’s not my job.’ This is small-mindedness. The magnanimous person takes care of it without complaint; his interests do not include being petty or the blame-game, and he is not concerned with who gets the credit.
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‘The world is evil’ ‘Things are so bad, the end of the world must be near.’ ‘ok.’ ‘ok says the big-hearted person, maybe the world WILL end soon, but in the meantime, let’s try to accomplish something, try to make something of it.’ – This is a bigger, more hopeful vision; not the small-minded view.
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The magnanimous person possesses the virtue of courage. Courage to step forward and act, giving no thought to failure or to problems. Obstacles are challenges that can be resolved. What is noble is to be done, even if it is difficult. The small-minded person is always weighing the cost, how much trouble he’ll have to be put through. The big-hearted person is driven by what is important, not by what it will cost him. As St. James says: ‘Be ye DOERS of the word and not hearers only!’ Be ye doers!
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We hear some people speak as if they have no power over their own lives: ‘I’m no good at fixing things, that’s just the way I am, what use is it?’ ‘I would like to do that, if only I had more time.’ ‘I could get a good job, if only I had a degree.’ IF, IF, IF – The magnanimous person dismisses ‘IF’s, and says: ‘Well, what do we have to work with, let’s make something with it, we can succeed.’
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To have a hopeful and energetic heart however, one must be living a good life, following Christ. St. Thomas says, ‘Nothing makes a person more a coward, than a wicked life.’ Sin makes life very narrow. People who are not living the life of Christ have their head down to the ground like a chicken. But the big-hearted person living in Christ, has a freshness, and soars high in the air, and sees the whole, wide, horizon. ‘In Christ, I can do all things in he who strengthens me,’ says the Apostle.
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Complainers and those full of self-pity lead a miserable life. ‘I could be happy if only my house was paid off’ ‘If only I had a more patient husband.’ ‘If I could just have more time to myself, I could be happy.’ We can ‘IF’ ourselves to our death-bed waiting for happiness. Jesus is calling us not to excuses, but to magnanimity, to greatness of heart.
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Jesus Christ has given us the best example; In his Passion he was treated with contempt and scorn, but he showed no complaint; his eyes were fixed on something greater.
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If Christ found any support during his Passion, it was his Mother who urged him on, who urged him to greatness. Let us too turn to Mary who is the Star that shines for us the way to great things. As St. Bonaventure says:[vii] ‘lift your eyes to that beautiful star, take courage, for she will guide you’ to the goal you seek.
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Entrusted to the prayers of St. Luke
[i] Philippians 2:14-15
[ii] 7 habits of highly effective people, p. 73-87
[iii] Saints in the World, p. 111
[iv] Summa, Pt. II-II, Q 129 on Magnanimity
[v] See also Edward Sri’s article ‘Called to Greatness: The Virtue of Magnanimity,’ online.
[vi] The Divine Pity, p. 105
[vii] Glories of Mary, p. 122
Easter Sunday
Beloved in Jesus Christ, yesterday, Holy Saturday, there was a great silence on the earth.[i] All kept silence, because the King was asleep; God had fallen asleep in the flesh;
but today the hearts of the Christian people rejoice, because Christ has Risen! It is EAster. He has conquered the Devil who enslaves us, he has conquered sin which destroys us, he has conquered death – …. which worries us.
He has gone to search for our first parents, to open the gates of heaven to Adam and Eve and the so-many others waiting since the beginning of the world. An ancient writer says, Jesus goes to Adam and Eve, he approaches carrying his cross, the weapon of victory. At first they are afraid, but Christ takes them by the hand and raises them up saying: ‘Rise, O Adam, let us leave this place, Awaken sleeper, rise from the dead.’
Friends, Easter is the greatest day of the year. This good God, who has lowered himself to be one of us – who has taken on our flesh – who lived our life, who suffered as we do, and died – he has defeated now the greatest fear of mankind: death. This was the reason that, upon hearing that Jesus had actually done it – conquered death – when Peter and John heard, they ran as fast as they could to the tomb. John went into the tomb with Peter, and it says ‘he saw and believed.’
So many people wrongly believe that our eternal destiny is to be some kind of floating soul, up there, somewhere – not true: this is a heresy, a lie. That is a temporary state. The Lord’s plan for us is the wonderful resurrection; Christ did not rise from the dead in order to show off or something. It wasn’t even just to prove his Divinity; it was to lead the way for us, to show us our future, to give us the pure hope of the beautiful world to come.
The Resurrection of Christ means our own resurrection in two ways: freed from sin, and freed from death. In each case, we become a New Creation. Freed from sin in this life – he offers it, all we have to do is say yes to the forgiveness that has been won for us. Freed from death – this we live by hope in this world, and reality in the next world.
St. Melito tells Christ’s attitude toward us: ‘I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. rise from the dead, I am the life of the dead, for you are in me and I in you; together we form one person, and we cannot be separated.’ The promise of our own resurrection in the world to come is really what makes life worth living.
Some time back, a friend asked me where I wish to be buried when I die. I hadn’t really thought about a grave. But I could croak anytime, so… figuring I should attend to this, I emailed my siblings, and asked if there are any extra plots available where our parents are buried. My sister sent me a message right back: ‘There are plenty of plots there with Mom and Dad, she said, please plan on using one of them, it would be nice for us to rise together at the resurrection!
You know, I felt a great happiness to see that message of hers. Her strong faith in the resurrection and the world ahead made me very happy. And she put a smiley face after ‘resurrection!’ ‘It would be nice for us to rise together at the resurrection.’
It would be nice for all of us – to rise together. May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin bring us the joy and hope of the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Cabrini
[i] adapted from the Roman Breviary, Holy Saturday, Melito of Sardis
