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Sundays | Thy Sins are forgiven | Page 5

Category Archives: Sundays

Anointing of the Sick

July 12, 2015 12:44 pm ⋅
Beloved in Christ, if you open up your bible to the Epistle of St. James, you will see that he says this: ‘Is any one among you sick? Then let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.’
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This is really a description of the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, and it was the practice of the first Christians.
We see also, in the gospel, that as Jesus was training his 12 apostles to be priests, he sent them out to pray for the sick and anoint them with oil. ‘And sending them out he gave them authority over unclean spirits, and they anointed with oil many who were sick.’
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Anointing of the sick used to be called ‘Extreme Unction,’ which means the last anointing. This is because the first anointing is in baptism, the 2nd is at Confirmation, and the last anointing is Anointing of the Sick. Of course people sometimes receive this sacrament more than once. A person could have a serious illness, be anointed by the priest, then get better, and then another time be anointed, when sick again.
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This holy sacrament is not for those who have a cold or a headache; it is not for people who have a broken arm. It is for someone who has a serious illness or is old or weak – anyone for whom there is at least some risk of death, even if remote. Of course if someone is dying, they should definitely receive this sacrament.
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Anointing of the Sick was instituted by Christ, to give grace. Our Protestant friends do not have this sacrament, nor do they even believe in it, yet as we read, the Holy Bible teaches that when someone is sick the priest should be called to do this.
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First let us see today, how Anointing is given. The two important parts of the sacrament are the Oil and the prayers. There are three oils used by the Church: Oil of Catechumen, for those who will be baptized, Sacred Chrism, which is used in Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders; and Oil of the Sick. Our oils are kept in the little bronze receptacle at the side of the sanctuary.
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When a person is sick, a family member should call the priest. If there is an immediate danger of death, one should call at any hour of day or night. If there is no immediate danger, one should not ‘put off’ calling the priest until the last minute of someone’s life! No way! For one thing, if you wait until the last minute, the priest might be gone away or busy saying Mass or at another emergency; it is also much better that the person is still conscious, so that he can confess his sins or at least hear the prayers of forgiveness. So we should never intentionally wait until the last minute of life to make that call.
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If the sick person has not gone to confession recently, he should confess his sins first, and then he is anointed on the forehead and the hands. Now this sacrament is primarily for spiritual healing, which we will discuss. But it can cause physical healing. When I was a newly ordained priest, there was a call from the Emergency Room that a parishioner was near death. It was my first Anointing. I had hoped for an easier first one.
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As I drove to the hospital, my mind raced; I wondered what I would encounter there. Walking into the emergency room, nurses were glad I came, and immediately took me to the room. There I saw the man surrounded by a frenzy of doctors and nurses and blood and syringes. To my surprise, the doctor stepped back and said, ‘Father, go for it.’ I went right over to the bed, absolved him, and with shaking hands, read the prayers, anointed him, and gave the Apostolic Blessing.
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As the doctors went right back to work, I went home wondering and praying for the man. How did it turn out?
Well, for the next 5 years, that man sat in the front pew of Church on Sunday with his wife, and always said, ‘Father, I was your first one!’
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I don’t know if the anointing saved his life, or if God’s grace guided the doctors, or both, but I do know that if this sacrament does not always bring physical healing, it always brings spiritual effects, and this is it’s primary action.
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When a person has a serious illness of the body, it can lead to stress in the soul. For example, when someone is sick, they can become depressed, they can feel very alone, and they may have a fear of death. People are sometimes very able to bear the little crosses of life with patience, but when they become ill, it is not always so easy to keep one’s trust in God. Anointing of the Sick has the supernatural power to change the soul and drive away the anxiety of illness.
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This sacrament drives away fear of death and judgment, and gives the person the strength to fight the devil, who often comes around when our life is in danger.
Our life is one that imitates Jesus. So when we are in pain, when we are on the cross with Christ, we need this special grace to help us bear it with joy and peace.
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Many times, a sick person is fearful and worried; but no sooner are they anointed, than they are at peace sometimes even ready to offer their sufferings to God. This infusion of hope and the lifting of the burden of sickness, is a primary effect of this Holy Sacrament. The person is thereby united to the prayers of the Church, and by their sufferings, they too contribute to the saving work of the Church.
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Under normal conditions, Confession takes away mortal sins, while Anointing of the Sick can take away venial sins. This is why we should make a good confession first. However, let’s say that the person has a sudden medical emergency, and becomes unconscious; then provided that the person is sorry for their sins, Anointing of the Sick for an unconscious person will take away even their mortal sins.
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For those dying, Anointing of the Sick is a preparation for the new world ahead; it strengthens the soul against the final temptations of the devil, who wishes not to lose anyone to heaven. The body is anointed because it is through the 5 senses that any evil can come to us, and so in this way, the man is cleansed of the remains of sin.
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Fr. Mersch says that by this sacrament, the person becomes conformed to the dying Christ, and is prepared for the passage to the invisible Church above.
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When one is very sick, the family must not hesitate to summon the priest to bring this sacrament to their loved one. And a priest, even at the risk of his life, must administer the sacraments to his children who are in extreme need.
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‘But my father hasn’t been to Mass for many years, he almost never prays.’ ALL THE MORE REASON to call the priest!
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Older people will say, ‘Can you give the Last Rites’ to my mother? ‘Last Rites’ is a term not used much today. It refers to all of the final sacraments – whatever is possible. In the ideal situation, a dying person would receive 3 Sacraments: a good Confession, Anointing of the Sick, and then Jesus in Holy Communion for the final journey. This would be to receive all of the ‘Last rites.’ Obviously people are not always able to speak to make their Confession, or to swallow, to receive Communion; but if they have Faith, they can always receive the grace of Anointing of the Sick.
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It goes without saying that the family should be praying with the sick or the dying person. These can be some made-up prayers from the heart, but be sure to also pray the Our Father and the Hail Mary with them, because it is an immense comfort to the dying, to hear the names of Jesus and Mary.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Pelagia]

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

Reparation for the world’s sins

July 5, 2015 1:27 pm ⋅
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Beloved in Christ, in the Book of Genesis, we read of how the descendants of Noah multiplied and became very wicked. Their sins darkened their heart, and so they fell into idolatry. They built this Tower of Babel: They said, ‘Come, let us build a tower, that the top of it would reach up even to heaven.’ In their arrogance and pride, they believed they could build a tower to heaven, to challenge God.
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Friends in Christ, the world shakes it’s fist at God. The world makes it’s laws, thinking that man’s laws can supersede God’s laws. This is pride. We see the same attitude in the first reading. God sends Ezekiel his prophet, saying: ‘I am sending you to the Israelites, they are rebels who have rebelled against me.’ The world is in rebellion against God. Open rebellion.
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I’ve heard a lot from people of faith lately: ‘Father, I’m angry at the Supreme Court,’ ‘I’m upset about how the world is going and what is being taught to my kids.’
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We all know that our nation has plenty of failings, but what is perhaps most painful, is to think that we are now a nation that stands for sin, legalizing evil in complete contradiction to Christian religion. I’d like to speak today about the response that we might have to all of this insanity.
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One response might be that we must work to elect different public officials who will defend marriage and innocent life and decency – and who will put God-fearing decent people on the Supreme Court. And we certainly should be part of such an effort.
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But this would not be the highest sort of response for us. What is needed most, that we can and must do is: we must make Reparation.
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We don’t speak much these days about Reparation.[i] To ‘Repair,’ is to restore something to good condition again. When a house is falling apart, it has to be repaired. In the moral realm, the repair of a sin or evil is done by Reparation, meaning an oblation of one’s self. Moral order is restored by some penalty being inflicted on the wrong-doer or else it is self-imposed.
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When Tommy, in anger throws a rock at Mr. Smith’s window, the boy must pay to replace it. Reparation. But if he can’t pay, his older brother may step in and say ‘I’ll pay it for him.’ Or it could be that Tommy is unrepentant and refuses to pay; in which case, to repair the damage, his older brother still might pay it for him, to repair the damage.
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This is the case with our world. Those who are stomping on the moral law and shaking their fist at God are not repentant. Evil is being done. But the moral order is being badly disrupted. Someone has to do reparation.
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Now our Protestant friends may not understand this; they may say, ‘Jesus paid the price for all sins.’
Jesus Christ has come to this earth for one purpose: To make Reparation. To repair what has been ruined through sin, and restore our relationship to God. From the moment he was shivering in that stable, ridiculed in his life, crucified, and still mocked and wounded every day of human history – Christ has been expiating the sins against God, manifested continually in the Mass.
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The Catholic Church teaches that the person of Christ who walked the earth and is now in heaven, does not constitute the whole Christ. The whole Christ consists of himself plus ourselves, his mystical body. And so he wishes to make each of us another Christ, and that means that we must do what he does; we must participate in the expiation of sins, and in the redemption of the world.
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At the offertory of Mass, a drop of water is placed in the chalice with the wine. If the wine represents Christ, then the drop of water is us. The wine alone would be adequate for the consecration, but the Church insists that the drop of water be placed there also. In the end, the water, mixed with wine, becomes Divine Blood. So our offerings – ourselves – we become one with Christ’s offering.
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St. Paul offered his sufferings; he says to us: ‘I rejoice in what I am suffering, I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ.’ What could be lacking in Christ’s sufferings? Our part. Ourselves.
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Jesus Christ expects his followers to take up the cross, and participate in his work of Redemption; for this reason, when St. John Vianney saw all the sins of his parish, he immediately began Reparation: fasting, eating only boiled potatoes, sleeping on the floor, scourging himself.
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St. Rose of Lima was determined to offer her life in reparation for sin and the corruption of her society. So, she inflicted penances on herself; while yet a child, she fasted 3 days a week on bread and water. She ate bitter herbs and during Lent she existed on five lemon seeds a day. Ready to offer any pain, one time when her mother put a beautiful garland of flowers on her head, she unknowingly stuck it to Rose’s head with a pin so deep, that there was great trouble that night prying it out of Rose’s head. She said nothing.
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Friends, we must become true Christians who offer ourselves in sacrifice to God – in reparation for the sins of our world. Jesus wants us to become great, like him. And so we must become a victim. ‘I beseech you brethren,’ says St. Paul, ‘that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing unto God.’ (Rom 12:1)
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How can we Christians who know all this – how can we waltz through life on easy street while the world destroys itself morally? We have to make reparation, it’s our vocation.
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What are the sacrifices that we are to offer? The best way, is the ‘little way;’ St. Teresa tells us. We can make reparation in a hundred little ways, for our sins and those of the world. Choose a food that is not our first choice; don’t turn on the air, take water instead of soda, or giving up the nap. Little things.
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St. Josemaria says that spiritual sacrifices are even better: ‘the mean word that you left unsaid, the bad joke you didn’t tell; the cheerful smile for those who bother you, silence when unjustly accused; your kind conversation with those who are boring.’ (The Way, #173)
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‘But a life of sacrifice takes all the fun out of life,’ you say. Not at all. Haven’t we noticed that those who live a life of indulgence are often empty and discontent? Far from ‘taking the fun out of life,’ sacrifices give us joy. It is true. Because in so doing, we are helping Jesus repair the wrongs of this world.
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When Mary appeared at Fatima, she asked: ‘Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear the sufferings He sends, as reparation for sinners?’
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Let us answer Mary’s challenge. Let us be other Christ’s, and answer the evil of the world with reparation;

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Blessed Bartolo Longo]

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[i] See article ‘Reparation is Fundamental Obligation of Christianity, Raoul Plus, 1921.

Posted in: Sundays

Christian fathers

June 23, 2015 2:29 pm ⋅
Beloved in the Lord,
St. Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower”, is a favorite saint of many people. I pray to her every day. But how are saints made? The answer must be: ‘In as many ways as there are different saints,’ and this would be true. But it’s also safe to say, that in many cases, parent’s play a critical role in the formation of a saint.
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For St. Therese, her mother died when she was quite young, and her father became the most influential person in her life. She writes many things about the influence of her father. Here is one thing she says about her time growing up:
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‘One of my favorite amusements was making colored mixtures of seeds and the bark of trees. I would put them n a cup, promptly offer them to Papa, and entice him to taste them; then my dearest Father would leave his work, and with a smile, pretend to drink. I would never be able to stop, if I told you of the thousand and one incidents of this kind. How shall I make you understand the love that my Father lavished on [me].
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Friends in Christ, today is Father’s Day; we cannot underestimate the critical influence father’s have – or can have – on their children. Fathers are not just a ‘2nd adult’ in the home, but they bring unique gifts and influence that no one else can.
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Let us speak first of all, of the blessings of a father on the human formation of a child. For example, children whose fathers are involved in their life, do better in school. On average, when fathers are active in their child’s life, kids have better intellectual functioning, academic achievement, and better verbal skills. The U.S. Dept. of education found that children of highly involved fathers were 43% more likely to get A’s in school. Children whose fathers played with them as infants, have higher IQ’s and better cognitive capacities. As toddlers they start school ahead of other kids. and are found to handle the stress of school with more patience.
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But the influence of a father also helps a person’s emotional development. Children who have a loving father, are more emotionally secure: they are less likely to get in trouble or use drugs and less likely to tell lies or experience depression.
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Sons with involved fathers have fewer behavioral problems, while daughters have stronger self-esteem, and are less likely to become involved in unhealthy relationships with men. Generally speaking, while mothers stress nurturing, fathers tend to promote independence and an orientation to the outside world, both of which are important. As a result, children who have active fathers in their life tend to be more comfortable exploring the world around them and more confident in exploring their surrounds.
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By the way, fathers interact with their children in playful activity, children learn to regulate their feelings and aggressive impulses without losing control of their emotions. These are all direct effects of father on kids.
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But here is an important indirect effect: a man’s relationship with his wife. A father who has a good relationship with his wife will also tend to be more involved and spend time with his kids. A woman who feels affirmed by her children’s father is usually a better mother. Fathers who treat their wives with respect and handle disagreements in a mature way tend to have sons who understand how to treat women.  Girls who have respectful and loving fathers see how they should expect men to treat them. So these are some of the benefits of a good father on a child’s social and intellectual development.
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But there is something even more important than these, and that is the spiritual health of a child. It doesn’t do much good to be well-adjusted socially and do well in school, if the person does not get to heaven. There could be nothing more tragic for a parentt than to find that his or her child in the end, is lost to God. ‘What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but in the end lose his soul? ‘ says the Lord.  So a life of faith in Jesus Christ is the most important thing, and that is evidenced by the heart-broken parents whose children are not living their Faith.
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I think we here know this, and we wish children to follow Jesus, remain true to the Holy Faith, and reach Heaven – but here is an interesting thing: Fathers have a lot to do with it. There was an important study done, which shows that it is the religious practice of the father that mostly determines whether children will continue to practice their faith.
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If both mother and father go to Mass every week for example, 33% of their kids will be faithful to Mass in the future, 41% will go sometimes. If the father does not attend Mass but the mother is faithful, then only 2% of their kids will be faithful in the future, while 37% will go sometimes.
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When dad is not going to Mass, it really hurts the future faith of the children. What is really interesting, is that if ONLY dad goes to Mass, not the mother, the children are even MORE likely to practice their faith in their adult lives. What this means, is that it is the religious practice of the father that above all, determines the future practice of the children’s faith, and therefore, their salvation.
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The reason for this seems to be that while children take their cues about domestic life from mom, their conceptions of the world outside come from dad. If dad takes faith in God seriously, then the message to their children is that God should be taken seriously.
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Catholic fathers are a huge blessing to their families when everyone knows that dad stands with Christ, that he is humble, and places himself under the rule of God.
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We see in the gospel today how the disciples are fearful of the wind and the storm: but when they call on Jesus for help, the storm is calmed and they are safe. So too the family, when the father calls on Christ, to be in their home, his children will not be afraid of the storms of life. The attitude of the Christian father is expressed in the psalms: ‘If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders build. If the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.” The Catholic father knows that all his efforts will come to nothing, unless they are done with Christ. But when the children see that he humbles himself before Almighty God, and bends the knee on Sunday to his Maker, then they are infallibly taught to do the same.
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Let our Catholic fathers always say as did Joshua, ‘As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’
Let us conclude by invoking the great patron of fathers, St. Joseph: Oh good St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Family, guide our Fathers and grant them the grace and Will, to emulate your faithfulness to God and so bring their own dear children safely to the glory of heaven.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Paul]

Posted in: Sundays

Final Perseverance

June 14, 2015 3:04 pm ⋅
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Beloved in the Lord,
In 1839, two young seminarians who were good friends, decided to make a pact: ‘Whoever dies first, they said, ‘should return from the grave and tell the other of what happened.’ What they did not expect, was that one of them would soon die.
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The other mourned his loss, as he attended the Funeral. That night, he couldn’t sleep. His bed was in a dormitory with 20 other seminarians; everyone else was sleeping, but he sat on the edge of his bed, and thought about the events of the day.
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Suddenly at midnight, it began: it sounded like a dull roll, then the eerie sound grew louder. It grew in intensity and the vibrations echoed off the walls like many horses or an engine. The whole dormitory was now wide awake, and then came a sound almost like an explosion, as the doors flew open.
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What entered the room was not a shape that could be identified, but a light, changing in color. As all the boys watched, it spoke: Calling out the name of the young man seated on his bed it spoke three words: ‘I am saved!’ Then it vanished.
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The seminarians all ran out of the room in fear, but not the young man seated on his bed. He had peace. His friend had kept their pact, and he was happy, because he was saved.
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Now you might say, ‘Father, that’s just another one of those “stories,”‘ until we consider who tells it to us. That young man who saw and heard all of this, was none other than St. John Bosco.
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Friends in Christ, no one knows for certain, when they die, whether they will be saved or lost; whether they will reach heaven, or hell. If a person dies in mortal sin, they will not be saved, that much is certain, because mortal sin means that a person has turned away from Christ, in a serious way has acted against God’s commandments and has not repented. One must be a friend of God to be saved. For this reason, no one should be too smug about how they will fair on judgment day.
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I meet people who think they are doing just fine, but they are living an immoral life. They are deceived. They are not on the path to heaven, but they think they are.
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And even if we feel that we are trying to follow the Lord faithfully, we cannot be certain of what state we will be in on our last day. And this brings us to the question of ‘Final Perseverance:’  persevering in Faith, in a life faithful to Christ, all the way to death. The devil will no doubt try to tempt us in the final hour, even with our past sins. And so we pray that we will obtain the ‘grace of Final Perseverance;’ we pray to obtain this grace, because it is a sheer gift of God. In no way can we earn it.
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Only God knows who will persevere to the end and be saved, and who will be lost. We call this Predestination. God knows, in his plan, who will persevere and reach heaven and who will not, and go to hell. God already knows whose names are written in the Book of Life, and whose names are missing.
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Jesus tells us today about the little seed, that grows into a giant mustard tree. This is how our faith and life of virtue should be: growing all our life until it is a study tree at our death. Then we will have confidence that the Lord will welcome us into his kingdom. But like a growing plant, the Christ-life in us must be tended to.
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So on the one hand, the mercy of Christ is ever urging us on to hope. On the other hand, we must never presume that we in any way deserve heaven. That is the sin of ‘presumption:’ presuming that God will bring me to heaven – no matter what. It is pride. Even the great St. Paul said that he does penance, ‘lest after having preached the gospel, I myself might be lost.’ So if this great saint didn’t presumed on his salvation, we certainly may not. I tell you that we priests often feel like St. Paul. ‘Lord, grant in your mercy, that I will persevere, that after having preached the gospel I myself will not be lost.’
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We read about King Joash in the Book of Kings. The Lord gave him so many graces and blessings; he did great good for a time, but in the end, he turned away from God in moral disaster. There are plenty of examples of people who were very good for some or most of their life, but in the end turned from God: The great Tertullian, King Saul, Judas of course, and many more, even today. They failed, because they did not persevere in grace.
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A very holy woman used to bury the martyrs;[i] it was sort of her mission; she found one who actually still had life in him; she nursed him back to health, and when he was better, temptation lead them both to commit sin, and afterward they entirely left the Catholic Faith. St. Paul says, ‘take great care, lest ye fall.
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When we walk out of a good Confession, resolved to be faithful, we can have confidence that we are a friend of God. But we must remember: we are not yet saved. As Holy Scripture says: ‘He that perseveres to the end, he shall be saved.’
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On judgment day, as the Book of Life is opened with the names, we will desperately search for our name there. As St. John says, ‘Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.’
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Some people speak foolishly about ‘once-saved-always-saved;’ they say that all you have to do is declare Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, and then it doesn’t matter what you do or what kind of sin or evil you do. Hogwash! As if my commitment to Jesus today is sufficient for the rest of my life? This is the sin of presumption. Such an idea is not in the Holy Scriptures – rather, the opposite.
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In many places, St. Paul writes letters to other Christians – who have fallen back into sinful ways. Does he tell them that they are still alright, and will be saved? No.
‘DO NOT ERROR,’ he says. ‘Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor the evil-tongued, nor the greedy will inherit the kingdom of God.
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He is writing to people who once had faith, but they have fallen back into sin. They can be forgiven, but they must change their life. Otherwise, as he says, they ‘will not inherit the kingdom of God.’
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Mother Church tells us over and over, to pray for the grace of Final Perseverance. It is a gift from God of which none of us is worthy. But Jesus desires that we persevere; the whole reason he has come and died for us, is to offer us the grace to choose the right path; all we have to do is cooperate with his grace, which he offers in abundance.
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‘But when I think about judgment and the end of my life and all my sins, I get nervous.’ Then go to Mary. St. Alphonsus says, devotion to the Mother of God during our life, will bring us joy at the end.
‘You will experience joy at your death, he says, if you can at that time remember that you have loved Mary. Nor will this joy be withheld from you, even if you have been for a time, a sinner, provided that from this day on, you live rightly, and love this dear and merciful Lady.
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Mary, pray for us. Jesus, have mercy on us. That our names will be found written in the Book of Life.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Audrey Santo. If a miracle occurs through her prayers, please contact the Little Audrey Santo Foundation]

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[i] Preparation for Death, p. 320

Posted in: Sundays

Corpus Christi at St. John Vianney’s

June 9, 2015 10:32 am ⋅

Here are some photos from our Corpus Christi procession. They forecast rain, rain, rain: 100% chance of rain. Then, we asked the Blessed Virgin to grant us a procession. And so it was!

 

The procession begins

The procession begins

Praised be Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, now and forever!

Praised be Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, now and forever!

Many faithful of all ages

Many faithful of all ages

Christ, escorted and guarded by our Knights of the Altar

Christ, escorted and guarded by our Knights of the Altar

Fr. Oliver and the Lord's blessing

Fr. Oliver and the Lord’s blessing

Taking a brief rest

Dedication is tiring

Posted in: Sundays

Receive Him with Faith

June 7, 2015 4:33 pm ⋅
Corpus Christi 
Beloved in Christ,
for little Louis Martin, his life was not always easy. He was born with a rare disease that left the doctors confused; he spent a lot of time lying on the couch instead of playing with his friends. But eventually the doctors figured it out, and with the proper medicine, he started to improve.
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In August of 2013, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, WI, Louis’ older brother Gregory, received his 1st Communion; he received Jesus for the first time from none other than Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was visiting his boyhood diocese.
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Louis sat with his family during the Mass, but afterwards he wouldn’t say a word. Finally, his parents discovered that he was heart broken that he couldn’t receive Jesus in the Eucharist like his brother. After Mass, Cardinal Burke came over to greet the families of the first communicants. He had a little gift for each one. When he approached the Martins, he gave Gregory his gift, but then he saw Louis crying. He asked what was wrong. Did he want a gift too?
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His mother explained that he was sad because he did not receive his 1st Communion as well. Cardinal Burke looked compassionately at Louis, and with that, Louis leaned into the Cardinal grabbing his vestments, and cried. His Eminence embraced the boy warmly and said, “don’t worry! Your first Communion will come soon enough!” Well, it was true. The next year, actually on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, young Louis Martin received his first Holy Communion at the hands of His Eminence, Cardinal Burke.
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Friends in Christ, this true story is floating around the internet, and I thought it was very appropriate for today, to hear about a little boy who longed to receive Jesus in Holy Communion.  Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi: the Body of Christ. It is the day that we put all of our attention and love on Christ, present in the Holy Eucharist.
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We can pray to Jesus all day, and we should – spiritually. But only in Holy Communion can we touch him, bodily receive him, join our flesh to his. This union is the most sublime of all existence, our union with God. This union on earth is veiled by sacrament, under the appearance of bread, but it is a foretaste – an anticipation of our union with the Lord in heaven. Receiving Christ at Mass, we should then speak to him, tell him all our worries and ask him many things.
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Jesus came bodily into this world 2000 years ago; his disciples could touch God, embrace God, in the flesh, but it took Faith. This marvel continues through history, Jesus Christ still comes bodily into the world, is born on our altars that we may touch and embrace and love this Lord, and become one with him.
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Today on Corpus Christ – the Feast of the Body of Christ – we proclaim this to the world. At 2pm we will have our Eucharistic procession, weather permitting. We will carry this Jesus, gloriously displayed in a beautiful gold monstrance with all the pageantry and solemnity owed to a king, because he is Our King, he is really here in the world, and so we display our Faith.
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It is so beautifully Catholic, that all over the world on this day, from the doors of Catholic Churches stream little processions of young and old, the serious and the excited, marching through the streets of the secular world. So many people – too many people – live in our neighborhoods and do not know this Lord, this Savior. Today is a day that we carry him through our streets, singing, marching, praying – stopping at altars, to be blessed again by our Eucharistic Jesus.
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I often wonder: ‘what do the police think as they block the streets for us, for this excited little band of pilgrims carrying their Jesus? I wonder about those who are not Catholic or have no Faith at all: what do they think looking through their curtains at this motley group of Catholics? ‘Look honey, they are out there again, so many. You really have to give them credit.’ ‘Dear, why are you crying?’ ‘Because it’s so beautiful – I mean, their faith.’
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I wonder about the lax Catholics who don’t attend Mass. When they see this procession out their window. If they wonder: ‘I should be with them.’ There are altar boys, and incense, and candles; priests, music and singers and instruments; people walking with canes – there’s a wheel-chair being pushed, and another; children who don’t know how to stay in line – ‘What gives them such faith?,’ they ask. ‘Maybe we should return to God.’
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Elizabeth Hesselblad, who was a protestant, when a Eucharistic procession was going past, the Catholic people were all going down on their knees. ‘I will certainly not kneel down’ she said to herself. But as soon as the priest came by her spot, she felt herself compelled to kneel. She said, ‘I knew it was true’. She became a Catholic, and re-founded the Brigiteen sisters.
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Dom Chautard reminds us, that it was just after Christ had given us the Holy Eucharist at the last supper, that he spoke of the Vine and the Branches. ‘I am the Vine, you are the branches.’ By receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, with a holy heart and living the Christ-life, it is in this way that we the branches are in contact with the Vine; then Christ can act in us; ‘He that abides in me and I in him, will bear much fruit.’
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When the Christian retains in his heart the Eucharistic life of Christ from Mass – when his heart is consumed with the fire that consumes the heart of Jesus – what life his words and actions will have, they will be living flames.
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For each of us, our 1st Holy Communion was a great event; well prepared, we tried to receive Jesus with great faith and love. But this love and faith – we must make it grow, and seek to receive our Savior with ever greater devotion.
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Let us ask then, the Blessed Virgin to help us have great faith; faith in our Eucharistic Lord; faith to know that when we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving the Living Lord, his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Nicholas]

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

The Mystery of God

May 31, 2015 2:31 pm ⋅
The Most Blessed Trinity
 ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’
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Beloved in Christ,[i] today is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The Blessed Trinity is the source of all life and of all creation, and is the meaning and goal of every human life. It is the most important belief of our Faith.
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We believe that God is 3 Divine Persons in One God.
God the Father – is God.
God the Son – is God.
God the Holy Spirit – is God.
3 “Persons” with the same Essence, and so we say that they are “Consubstantial,’ of the same substance; One Divinity.
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Those who deny the divinity of Christ naturally also deny the Holy Trinity. Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, and Muslims do not know about this inner life of God.
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In the past we have spoken of how this Holy Trinity is reflected in the family. Husband loves wife, and wife loves husband, and this love brings another person into the world, yet it is one family; so, this is a sort-of-image of the inner life of God.
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Priests on this day often wrestle with how to preach on the subject of such a great mystery. Today, I thought we could delve deeply into some theology; so I’d like to give you a 2 week course in 8 minutes on the Holy Trinity!
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In God, there are 4 Relations, 3 Persons, 2 Processions, and one Essence;
and let us preface this by saying that there are two operations in God: knowing and willing, due to his Intellect and Will. This is true of human beings and of angels as well: the operations of knowing and willing. God has an intellect and Will.
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When we ourselves ‘think a thought,’ the thought is something in itself, but it is not ourself. The thought comes from ourself, but it is not ourself. It is a little bit like that with God, but on an infinite scale.
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God the Father is the source of all, he is the first principle of life. From the ‘knowing’ in God – his intellect – proceeds the Son, he is called the Word, like a thought of God that comes forth. This is the 1st Procession in God: the Procession of the Son from the Father; we say that the son proceeds by generation, or by an eternal begetting; this is not something that began in time, since God is outside of time; the Son has always been. So this is the first Procession.
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The 2nd Procession is due to the Will in God, his willing. From the Father and the Son, proceeds the Holy Spirit, who is Love. Love is in the Will.
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Procession in God must therefore be either by an operation of the intellect, by which the Word proceeds – the Son – or by an operation of the will, by which Love proceeds – the Holy Spirit.
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St. Thomas Aquinas says that since God knows all things by a single act of intellection, and loves all things by a single act of the will, there cannot be several ‘Sons’ or several ‘Holy Spirits.’
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Now there are two primary heresies regarding the Holy Trinity: some will say that the Son of God is God’s first and greatest creation, such as the Jehovah Witnesses. This is the heresy of Arianism.
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Others, such as the United Pentecostal Church or other Oneness movements – they say that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are merely names given to modes or aspects of God, not distinct Persons. This is known as the heresy of Sabellianism.
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Those are heresies, but they are nothing new. By a proper study of what Jesus Christ has told us in the Holy Scriptures about his relationship to his Father, and their relationship to the Holy Spirit, theology has enabled us to understand some true things about the mysterious inner life of God.
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The Son of God proceeds from the Father by ‘generation.’ This is because this procession is due to the Intellect; the thought of the Father generates an image of himself that is identical in all ways except Fatherhood. This image is of the same divine nature as the Father, sharing a single Will.
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The Holy Spirit proceeds not by generation, but by Spiration from the Father and the Son. This means that a single act of the will, shared between the Father and Son, results in the spiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has its origin not in an act of the intellect, as with the generation of the Son, but in an act of the will. This is, in fact, an act of love between Father and Son, and so this 3rd Person of the Blessed Trinity is called Love.
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If we can grasp that the infinite love of the Father pours itself out to the Son, and the infinite love of the Son pours itself back to the Father, and from that, proceeds the 3rd Person, the Holy Spirit – well, this eternal chase of love within God is called the circuminsession.[ii]  St. John Damascene said that these Divine Persons dwell in each other, always One, in the intimacy of their friendship.
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Our discussion has focused on the inner life of the Trinity. But beyond that inner life, God has created all things: the world, the angels, the universe, ourselves; and the 2nd Person of the Blesssed Trinity, the Son of God, has united himself to this creation, to this world by Jesus’ taking humanity to himself. Why did he do it?
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Because he wishes to bring each of us into the loving intimacy of the Holy Trinity. At the Cross, at Mass, Christ offers himself, pours himself out to the Father as he has always been doing. We too are swept up with Jesus at Holy Mass, we are also offering outself with him, and through Christ we become participants in the very life of the Trinity.
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St. Peter tells us that we participate in the Divine nature of God. St. Paul says, God, has raised us up together, and has made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus. Eph 2:6
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In a superb talk on the Holy Trinity, lecturer Tim Staples says: ‘we become the flower that is flowering this earth; the cause of that flower is the Holy Spirit, and in a way, become the love that is proceeding from the Holy Trinity into the world.[iii]
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In Chapter 22 of the Book of Revelation it gives us a great vision of the Holy Trinity: It says: ‘He showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming forth from the throne of God and the Lamb. And in the mist of the city street, on both sides of the river, was the Tree of Life.’
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The throne of God signifies the Father, the Lamb signifies the Son, and the water is the Holy Spirit. The Divine life of God flows from, proceeds from, the Father and the Son. The water of life is the Holy Spirit, clear as crystal.
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The result? Divine Life for us, Zoe, straight from the heart of God. When we find this, we have found the Tree of Life.
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May the Blessed Virgin always help us – Mary help us, to forever praise the Most Blessed Trinity, to whom we owe our existence, and in whom is our destiny. To the Holy and undivided Trinity, be everlasting praise, honor, power, and glory, from every creature, and to us forgiveness of all our sins, forever and ever. Amen.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Bernadette]

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[i] Ideas for this homily can be found  in the tape series by Tim Staples on the Holy Trinity.

[ii] or the pericoresis

[iii] For more on this, see the Theology of the Mystical Body, by Mersch.

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

Love the Holy Spirit

May 24, 2015 2:57 pm ⋅
Beloved in Jesus Christ, today is Pentecost. It is the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles as flames of fire above their heads, and so the color for Pentecost is red – for this ‘fire he brings.’
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As Christ is the Head of the Church, so the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church.[i] Today this Divine Spirit brings the Church alive, and so we say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Catholic Church.
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Jesus said, ‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.’ ‘and the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things.[ii] It is the 3rd Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who vivifies the Sacraments which pour out grace, and who guards the true teaching of Mother Church. Because of the Holy Spirit, the blessings, the prayers, and the Masses bring down God’s salvific grace to mankind.
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Our Blessed Lord prepared the Apostles, taught them, instructed them. But yet, the Church was not alive. The apostles did not understand many things; they abandoned the Lord at his Passion and forgot all he had told them. Life was not as yet in the Church. But the Holy Spirit changed everything, and the apostles became the greatest missionaries. This Good Spirit guides the Church, but let us today, see also how this Spirit acts in each person, in our own soul.
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The Saints tell us,[iii] by Christ sending the Holy Spirit, we have become sharers in his Divine Nature. At our Baptism, and then in a new way at our Confirmation, we begin to live an entirely new kind of life in the Spirit. ‘It is no longer I who lives, says St. Paul, but Christ who lives in me.’ And this is how Christ lives in us: by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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St. John Vianney said, ‘The Father is our Creator, the Son is our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is our Guide. Man, by himself is nothing, but with the Holy Spirit he can be very great.’ Worldly people do not have the Holy Spirit, or if they do it is only for a moment; they are too busy with their sins. Those who are led by the Spirit have true ideas, that is the reason why so many simple peole are often wiser than the learned.
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Jesus said: I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to dwell with you; you shall know him, because he will dwell with you, and be in you.’[iv]
The Holy Spirit is our glory.
St. Gregory of Nyssa says,[v] No one can deny that the Holy Spirit is called glory, for Christ has said, ‘the glory you gave to me Father, I have given to them.’ He gave this glory to us when he said, ‘Received the Holy Spirit.’ Christ received this glory when he put on human nature. When his human nature had been glorified by the Spirit, the glory of the Spirit was passed on to his kin. We are his ‘kin!’ This is why he said, ‘The glory you gave to me Father, I have given to them’
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Let us see how the Holy Ghost transforms us. Here is what St. Cyril of Jerusalem said:[vi] He said, Christ associated the Holy Spirit with water. He said that he would give us Living Water. But why did the Lord call the grace of the Holy Spirit ‘water?’
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Because all things are dependent on water; plants and animals depend on water. Water comes down from the skies as rain, and although it in itself is the same, water produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the cactus, and another in the lily, and so on throughout the whole of creation.
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In the same way, the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, apportions grace to each person as he wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul bears the fruit of holiness when receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit makes one man a teacher of Faith, inspires another to preach, gives another the power to fight devils, enables another to interpret Scripture and empowers others to be Christian mothers or fathers.
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The Spirit shows one man how to help the poor, and another is moved to be a martyr. Each person is special to this dear Holy Spirit. And his grace produces unique abilities, personalities, and strengths in each person. As the same water produces roses, daisies, and violets, the same Spirit produces saints of all types, each with unique fruits and gifts. The Holy Ghost comes gently, brings light and hope, and brings the tenderness of a true Friend.
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You know, when young people first fall in love, they often say too quickly: ‘I love you.’ And sometimes they wish they would have waited to say that. As we grow older, we resist saying those words, because they risk our heart, and besides, those words, ‘I love you,’ produce a sort of commitment.
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But we can say those words without any reluctance to the Good Holy Spirit. To tell him we love him with all our heart, involves no risk of rejection, and produces an expansion of love in our soul, which is his gift.
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You know, it was to our Good Mother Mary that the Holy Spirit came, and brought alive Jesus in her – Let us daily ask this Good Mother to bring us this Holy Spirit – in ourselves – this life of Jesus.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Paul]

[i] Mystici Corporis

[ii] John 14:18, 14:25

[iii] Breviary II, p. 990.

[iv] John 14:15

[v] Breviary II, p. 958.

[vi] Brev II, p. 967

Posted in: Sundays

Hope in heaven

May 17, 2015 10:27 am ⋅
The Ascension
Beloved in the Lord, after Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he spent 40 days with many of his disciples – that’s a month and a half. They lived and spoke with Jesus, passed time with him – with the only man who has ever gloriously risen from the dead.
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They saw in Christ, this future which could be theirs as well. St. John writes about that experience: ‘I write of what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon and our hands have touched: the Word of Life.’
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For 3 years Christ had tried to teach them of his plan for humanity. But it didn’t sink in. Now, for 40 days, they could see it for themselves: a glorified man. You can just hear their elation in the writings of the Apostles: ‘We now testify and announce to you, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, the Life Eternal which has appeared to us.’
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Friends, we ourselves will not only be resurrected one day, God-willing, but we will also be taken to heaven to be united with God. Jesus shows us this: at the end of his earthly life, he Ascended up to Paradise – we are supposed to follow him: ‘And it came to pass as he blessed them, that he was carried up into heaven and a cloud took him out of their sight.
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Today we celebrate the Ascension of Christ into heaven. The Holy Scriptures tell us that after Jesus had disappeared from sight, the apostles were looking up at the sky, and this shows us that their minds were now on heaven.  
– Our minds should be on heaven –
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A good friend of mine, when his mother suddenly died, he was devastated. He felt lost without his mother. But a friend gave him a book to read about heaven; for the first time in his life, he really understood how important are the promises of Jesus and our Holy Faith. ‘Now I know, that Mom is not dead, but alive,’ he said; ‘and if I can get to heaven I will be with her again.’ His life changed, because now his mind was on getting to heaven.
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Our whole life is rushing toward this goal; heaven is our hope.
Hope is the desire for something that will fulfill our happiness. Hope is always on something that is not so easy to obtain, but it is obtainable.
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A boy being trained by his coach has hope that he will win. Hope in achieving his goal, makes him work hard; and this hope of victory already gives him happiness.
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A man told me, ‘when I first met my future wife, I said ‘I want to marry that girl.’ That was his hope. Hope is for something somewhat difficult to achieve, but possible. He had to work at it; he had to show the girl he was a man of good character and complete his education – yet in all of this he was driven by hope: hope that he could win her hand.
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When a goal that we desire cannot be achieved, then hope is gone; we experience despair. Many today are without hope. Some don’t believe they can achieve any goals. ‘I’ll never find a job; ‘I’ll never find a good husband;’ ‘I can’t pass these classes.’ To be without any hope, is despair and that means sadness. Others, because of past failures, become jaded and cynical, and this too is lacking in any hope.
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Another requirement for hope is that the goal we have can be achieved, but it will not be easy to achieve. If a girl from a rich family is spoiled: given a new car, a huge allowance, college all paid-for, and anything she wants; she may have no hope, because hope is for a goal that is not easy to achieve; but if everything is easy, she has no hope. So we can see how important it is in life to have hope, it is important for our happiness.
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Now attaining many of these goals – winning the track meet, marrying the girl – fulfilling our hopes – once achieved, we are not always so fulfilled. And this is because earthly hopes are important, but they are not the real source of happiness.
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If you read the life of St. Alphonsus, you will see that SO MANY things did not work out for him; his plans fell apart many times; and on top of it all, his health was utterly horrible. When he was 52 years old he believed the end of his life was near because his body was totally falling apart. Little did he know that he had yet 40 more painful years to live!
He had arthritis in his back so bad, that he could no longer lift his head off of his chest – 19 years like that. But in all of this and all his failed projects, he never lost hope. Why? Because under all those ‘little hopes’ of his projects, was a much larger, underlying hope: hope in Jesus, hope in heaven.
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The Lord’s Ascension up to heaven gives us hope, because he leads the way. The apostles were not sad when Jesus Ascended, it says that they had great joy. The Ascension gave them the certainty that they had a friend, not only on earth but in heaven. And this filled them with the hope that not only would they see him again, but that Jesus would be living in them, working with them.
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We have our hopes and dreams, we have hopes for certain earthly projects, which may or may not work out as we wish. But our joy and peace should always be grounded in the great hope of a Christian. As St. Paul says: ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, so that by the Holy Spirit you may ever abound in hope.
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Hope in Jesus – hope in heaven, this leads us to someone else too, who will help us: Mary. What did the Apostles do after the Ascension? It says that they returned to Jerusalem to pray with Mary. They went right to their Mother.
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Let us too stay close to this Mother during our time on earth, until we rejoice with her and with Jesus in the glory of heaven.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Teresa]

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays

A mother’s virtues

May 10, 2015 12:08 pm ⋅
Beloved in Jesus Christ, in 1550, a woman very much wanted a child, and finally that child was born, whom she named ‘Camillus.’ But instead of being a joy to her, the boy caused her many sorrows. Camillus had a violent temper, he rarely went to school, and he was stubborn and lazy. Sadly, his mother died when he was only 12 years old.
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From then on, Camillus followed in the footsteps of his irresponsible father. He became addicted to gambling and learned about every sin there was. With his father, he hired himself out for fighting in wars, and – well his life spiraled downward for a long time.
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But after many years of a disastrous life, and after the death of his father, Camillus changed. He wanted to change – to give up his sinful ways, and help others. Eventually he would become famous for his compassion and care of the sick, and we would come to know him today as: St. Camillus.
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Why did he change? What was it, that led him to leave his evil life and become a great saint? If you read books about him, you will find one thing that they always say: He never forgot the love of his mother.
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Today is Mother’s Day, it is a day we think about this beautiful gift given only to some: to be a mother. One need only look through history to see how many great people were influenced by their mother. Thomas Edison said: “My mother was the making of me; I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”
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“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw,’ said George Washington, ‘All I am I owe to my mother.
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And Abraham Lincoln said; “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.”
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Nowadays, many don’t wish to be mothers; they wish to live only for themselves. ‘My condo, my live-in-boyfriend, my dog – it’s all I need.’
Civilization itself, in Europe and the US is dying, because so few wish to be mothers. No babies, no future.
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Although this is the situation, it is also nevertheless true, that there are still many very good and generous mothers keeping the world alive.
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Mothers come in different sizes, personalities, and styles; there is no ‘one way’ to be a good mother. Some work outside the home to make ends meet, some keep a business from their home. Other moms may do volunteer work in the community, but otherwise are dedicated to domestic work and a near-fulltime raising of children; some oversee the direct education of their kids, as for example in a homeschooling family which can only be done with an energetic, full-time mom at home. There is no one ‘rule’ for how to be a mother.
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For centuries, most families were raised on a farm, and mom was busy with kids and cows and chickens, all at the same time. The Holy Scriptures show us that women were often helping support the family: Proverbs (31) says, the good woman puts her hands to the spindle and makes garments for her home and also sells them; with her own hands she plants a vineyard and she looks well to the ways of her household; her children rise up and call her blessed.’ Would that children today would rise up and call their mother blessed.
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The Church does not insist on any certain way that a mother build up her home, and as we have said, many mothers must work outside the home; today there is plenty of encouragement for this approach; but let us today speak of the loving, domestic work of the home to which many mothers have committed themselves.
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St. Josemaria has said that today there is disdain, even a loathing, for those committed to working in their home; domestic work is ridiculed, and is called ‘exploitation,’ merely because others benefit from this careful work.
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A woman who pours herself out selflessly, putting in long hours at the company office is called ‘dedicated,’ and she is an asset to the company. ok.
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But when another pours herself out, selflessly putting in many hours to make a home warm, and clean, and holy – she is sometimes ridiculed as being a servant to others. But how is being at the service of one’s family of LESS importance than being of service to a corporation and it’s stockholders?
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In the eyes of God, there is no distinction at all between ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ classes of work. The value of one’s work is the amount of love with which it is done, and therefore, it is precisely domestic work in the home for one’s family that really stands out as valuable.
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St. Josemaria, who urged people to sanctify their work, even in the smallest things – he was once speaking to a reporter who questioned the value of homemaking. He said, ‘Let us not forget that although some people consider work in the home as demeaning, it is not so at all. Such work is just as valuable as that of a teacher or a judge.’
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We can and must certainly declare, that too many mothers are not appreciated. The Holy Sciptures tell us: ‘Children, do not forget the birth pangs of your mother (Sirach 7:27) and forsake not your mother’s teaching (Prov 13:1). Yet many good mothers remain in the background, quietly helping the family with little recognition.
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A boy was angry after the laundry. ‘Where are my favorite sports socks?! Did they get thrown out?!’ Then he realized that his mother was mending a hole in them.
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In many ways a mother has to be like God. God pours out his love on us, and often receives no thanks or gratitude, sometimes he is even ignored or insulted. A mother too often does not receive thanks for all the little things she does for her family, or is even taken for granted. But she knows that her treasure is in heaven, and her ‘Father who sees in secret will reward her.’
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Sometimes at a funeral, or a wake service – I say, ‘tell me something about your mother;’ and sometimes what I hear is: ‘Her life wasn’t easy father, when dad was alive, he often belittled her, and we ourselves, too often did not show respect. But it was mom who was the heart of our home, who kept everybody together; she never complained, and touched so many, even the neighbor families.’
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The mother who thinks not of herself or her own needs but of others – this is the heart of a mother who can quietly change the world. And it follows the advice that Jesus gives in the Gospel: ‘No one has greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’
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The world needs generous mothers; it is my prayer that more young women will dedicate their life to raising a family of many children, creating homes of love and safety, where each person feels that they belong. It is from such homes that come the Abraham Lincolns, the George Washingtons, and the saints.
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The Holy bible tells us that a mother has a unique authority over her children, because she has given them life. (Sirach 3:2-6) If this is true, then we should look not only to our earthly mother, but to Mother Mary in heaven.
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St. Alphonsus says that although Mary in heaven, no longer commands her Son as when he was a child on earth, nevertheless her prayers are always the prayers of a Mother, and consequently she obtains whatever she asks.
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Mary, bless our mothers, and obtain the choicest blessings for them from Jesus.

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[Entrusted to St. Joseph]

Posted in: Latin Mass, Sundays