Mass at the Cathedral, Thursday, Jan 26, 7:00AM
Thursday, January 26th will be the second anniversary of Archbishop Burke's installation as the Archbishop of St Louis. Many of us have seen his appointment here as a tremendous blessing for the archdiocese and for us and we are most grateful to God for His Divine Providence for the local Church here. At the same time, however, we have witnessed a dark side resulting from his appointment - we have seen all sorts of dissent, disobedience, rebellion, and calumnies arise during this time. We should not be too surprised at this, though.
Archbishop Burke has provided his flock with fidelity, truth, gentleness, courage, witness, and countless examples of virtue and holiness. It seems clear that he takes seriously, his episcopal obligation of teaching, governing and sanctifying the faithful for whom he has been given charge. For presenting the teachings of Christ and His Church, his reward from some of the faithful, including priests, has been ridicule. For asking that disciplinary norms be followed, his reward from some of the faithful has been been calumnies and derision. For trying to follow our Lord in humility and obedience, he has become an object of persecution by the media and by those faithful who rebel against God and ecclesiastical authority.
But this persecution is not completely without some good, for we can understand that our Lord foretold of such happenings and He reminds us that those who follow Him must suffer these things since "the servant is no greater than the Master. If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you also; if they have kept My word, they will keep yours also." (St. John 15:20).
Jesus has made it a mark of His followers that they would be persecuted. Yet, He has given us consolation and assurance as we read in the Eighth Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (St. Matthew 5:10)
"For justice' sake" means that one bears such trials or afflictions for the sake of the faith or for some moral issue, for the truth.
Of course, we must remember that to bear such attacks is to be blessed since:
persecution helps us to grow in virtue; it leads us to trust more completely in God; it helps in our imitation of Christ; it keeps alive the spirit and zeal for the faith; it brings about our salvation; and it merits for those persecuted the special protection of God as we see in the lives of the martyrs.
For those who would like to demonstrate their solidarity with and love and support for Archbishop Burke, the "Defendors of Archbishop Burke" are organizing such an undertaking. This will happen this Thursday, Jan 26, at the 7:00am Mass at the Cathedral Basilica. It will provide an excellent opportunity to unite our prayers for the intentions of Archbishop Burke and to unite our prayers of grateful thanksgiving to God on the date of this Second Anniversary of Archbishop Burke's Installation as our Episcopal Shepherd in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
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