For the profit of one that stands in need, a good work is sometimes freely to be omitted, or rather to be changed for a better. For by doing thus, a good work is not lost, but is changed into a better.
-Bk. I, ch. xv.
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"When the bell rings for us, or someone knocks, we must mortify ourselves and not do another stitch before answering. I have practised this, and can assure you that it is a source of peace to the soul."
After the Saint had given me this advice I followed it faithfully. One day during her last illness she witnessed my prompt obedience: "When you come to die," she said, "you will rejoice to see your merit. You have done a more glorious thing than if you had been clever enough to win the goodwill of the Government towards religious communities, and all France acclaimed you a Judith."
-Conseils et Souvenirs.
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For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 21
FROM what going astray shall not he be free, who looks into and loves and follows the actions and sayings of that Manhood, wherein the Son of God rendered himself unto us as an ensample of life?
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Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 21
WE have only one soul.
A Prince asked, through his ambassador, a favour of Benedict XII, which he could not grant without sin. The Pope answered:
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
A Prince asked, through his ambassador, a favour of Benedict XII, which he could not grant without sin. The Pope answered:
"Tell the Prince that if I had two souls, I might, perhaps, lose one of them for him and reserve the other for myself; but since I have but one, I cannot and will not lose it."_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost, The Wedding Garment
By The Rev. H. G. Hughes
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"Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment?" - Matt. xxii, 12.
Dear Brethren in Jesus Christ. - The parable which we have just heard read in the Holy Gospel for today, and from which my text is taken, is one of those which our divine Saviour spoke on the closing day of His public teaching.
Early in the morning of that day, which was the Tuesday in Holy Week, He had gone forth to preach for the last time in the Temple at Jerusalem. He went there to offer to the hard hearts' of the priests and rulers, the Scribes and Pharisees, one more opportunity of repentance and conversion. He went there to utter His last words of warning against the terrible act of Apostasy they were soon about to commit in rejecting Him, their King and their Lord, who was ready, if they willed it, to be their Saviour also.
This "parable" of the wedding of the king's son is one of those warning words which Divine love drew from our blessed Lord that day; and though it was spoken so long ago to the Scribes and Pharisees, and the people of the Jews, it has, nevertheless, like every word that fell from those sacred lips, lessons of the highest import for us today, and for the men of all times. Some of these lessons, with the help of God, we will briefly consider.
"The Kingdom of Heaven," our Lord said, "is likened to a king, who made a marriage," that is to say a marriage, a feast, for his son. That kingdom which is here likened to a marriage feast, is Christ's holy Catholic Church, which He came on earth to found, and of which He said, " My Kingdom is not of this world"; for though the Church of God is in the world, it is not of the world.
The king who made the marriage feast for his son is the Eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, King and Lord of heaven and earth. The marriage, as St. Gregory the Great tells us, is that union of the Only-begotten Son of God with His immaculate bride, the holy Church, which He entered into by means of the Incarnation. To the marriage feast of the good things plentifully set out in His Church, God first invited His own chosen people, the Jews; sending to them His servants, the prophets of old. But "they refused" and "would not come." Afterwards, when the King's Son Himself had come, had lived and died, had set up His Kingdom the Church, and made ready therein the feast of the Gospel blessings, the invitation was repeated to them by the Apostles and Apostolic men; and these are those other servants of whom we read "and again He sent other servants, saying, 'All things are now ready; come ye to the marriage.'" "Twice," says St. Gregory, "did the King send His servants to invite by the prophets the Incarnation of His Son, and announcing it by the Apostles after it had come to pass."
How, then, did the subjects of the King receive His royal invitation? With nothing else than ungrateful and rebellious contempt. Ungrateful because of the benefits He wished to bestow upon them; rebellious, because an invitation from the King was nothing less than a command. As the holy Gospel describes it, "They went their ways; one to his farm, another to his merchandise." Others even carried their rebellion so far as to ill-use and put to death the servants of the royal household who came to bid them to the marriage. By this figure our blessed Lord describes the death which some of the prophets had undergone at the hands of the perfidious children of Israel~ meriting His sad rebuke, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not." By this also He foretold the martyrs' death that so many of His Apostles and disciples were afterwards to meet with at the hands of the same unfaithful and unbelieving generation. "But when the King heard of it, He was angry; and sending his armies, He destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city.'" Even so Jerusalem, that fair and favored city of God, whose beauty had moved the Son of Man to tears, not many years after was utterly overthrown by the Roman armies; and thus was fulfilled the warning of our Lord, and the curse which its inhabitants had called down on their own heads: "His Blood be upon us and upon our children."
Coming back to the parable, we read that the King next sent His servants into the highways to call to the marriage as many as they should find; and they gathered together all they found, and in this way the marriage was filled with guests. The goodness and generosity of God are not foiled; though the chosen people have rejected His word, and, as St. Paul and St. Barnabas declared to the Jews of Antioch, judging themselves unworthy of eternal life, have been cast .out, the servants of the King have gone out into the highways of the world, and have preached the Gospel to every nation, and the Gentiles have been gathered into God's holy Church. The invitation of the King has come to us, and, thank God, we have accepted it. We have entered, by God's mercy we have been brought, into His Church, to take part in the marriage feast of God's Son; to participate in the good things there only to be found-the Holy Mass, the Seven Sacraments, the Word of Salvation,. the intercession and patronage of the holy Mother of God and of the Blessed with whom we are united in the Communion of Saints, and all the other means of grace and of blessing so abundantly poured out upon us in the holy Catholic Church.
There are still, alas, many who will not come to this marriage feast, although the invitation is constantly repeated to them by the Gospel messengers, the ministers of God's Church, not once or twice, but many times, "Come, for all things are now ready; come ye to the marriage." But "they neglect, and go their ways, to their merchandise, or to their farm"; they will not even listen, but remain outside the church in the exterior darkness of heresy, indifference, or unbelief. It seems strange to us, who know the force of the claims of the Catholic Church, that men can refuse their assent to her authority and her teaching. It is all so plain to us. Sometimes we get discouraged and wonder whether it is any good going on, with our efforts to bring the Church before our countrymen; whether it were not better to concentrate our endeavors upon the perfection of our own organization and the increased effectiveness of our work among Catholics. But the Church of Christ is and must be a missionary Church. Christ has said to lIer: "Go, teach all nations; preach the Gospel to every creature."
If we neglect this work, our own interior organization and the effectiveness of our work among our own people must suffer. Yet at times we are apt to be discouraged at the poor reception which our missionary efforts meet with. And the worst, most chilling element in that reception comes from the utter indifference to all religious truth and sentiment which is so widespread in the modem world, and especially in countries like our own where the great Protestant tradition gained a footing, and has logically led to religious indifference and free thought, so that the "farm" and the "merchandise," worldly things and worldly objects of ambition, wealth, position, enjoyment, success in business, occupy entirely" the thoughts and the hopes of so many. But we must not despair, and we must not slacken our efforts. Still the King sends out His messengers, and in the highways and byways, in the most unexpected places, souls are touched by God's grace, and hear the invitation, and accept, and come in to the marriage feast of the Church. It is for us, by our own faithful Catholic lives, by example at all times, by a word in season where opportunity offers, by showing to the world and forcing the world to realize the high value of Christian Catholic ideals and principles in citizenship, to work towards the breaking down of that fatal indifference and so-called liberality in questions of morality and religion which is so great a bar to the acceptance of the Catholic faith of Jesus Christ. Then, in God's good time, our efforts, our prayers, our sacrifices "and our good example shall be crowned with success, and "the marriage shall be full of guests."
But have we Catholics nothing to learn from this parable concerning ourselves; is there no warning for us who by God's great mercy have been brought in to the marriage feast of God's Son? Indeed, it is not so. There is a warning in this parable, and a terrible warning for us; and should we fail to heed it, we shall find ourselves in a worse plight even than those who have refused to enter in to the feast.
For we read, at the end of the parable, how the King went in to see the guests, and He found there a man who had not on a wedding garment. Giving him an opportunity to explain his negligence, the King said to him, "Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment?" But he was silent.
It is a well-known custom in Eastern countries, even at the present day, for the giver of a banquet, especially if he be a prince, or a man of high rank, to send to the invited guests rich and splendid robes, which they are expected to wear at the feast. Not to wear them would be a serious insult to the host. It is related by a modem traveler that a courtier invited to a banquet by the Sultan of one of those Eastern lands, having in some way offended the steward who had the distribution of the robes of state, that officer sent him only a plain black garment which the guest refused to wear, fearing that it would be taken by the others as a sign that he was in disgrace at court. The Sultan, coming in and seeing him without the customary garb, took it as a personal insult, and not giving any opportunity of explanation as did the king in the parable, condemned the unhappy guest to death. The sentence was, in fact, carried out. This incident explains what we read in the parable: The King said to the waiters, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into exterior darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Brethren, it is not enough that we have been invited; it is not enough that we have accepted the invitation. We must have on the wedding garment, the garment which consists of sanctifying grace and the Christian virtues. For the King is coming to see the guests, and this word "see" means in the original language more than a passing glance; it signifies an inspection, a close and searching examination. Each of us must undergo that examination; indeed, it is going on now; for by trials and temptations we are constantly being proved, and the all-searching eye of God is ever fixed upon us to see how we carry ourselves-whether we resist or whether we give way, whether we show ourselves to be clothed with the garment of supernatural grace and virtue which He Himself has provided, or only in the poor threadbare garments of our fallen nature; whether, in a word, we have on the wedding garment of true, solid, Christian virtue, which is none else than the very character of our Lord and Saviour Himself-that character which the holy Apostle St. Paul speaks of when he says to us: "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh and its concupiscences" (Rom. xiii, 3).
And we "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" by imitating His virtues, each in our own measure and degree-His humility, His obedience, His patience, His resignation to the will of His heavenly Father, His detachment from the world, His meek and kind behavior to others, and, above all, His charity, His love of God and Man, without which all else is nothing worth.
It is for us to look into our own hearts and to find out, by the light of Christ's law laid down in the holy Gospels, and with the aid of Christ's holy Spirit which He will give to those who ask, whether we are living up to our privileges as Catholics, invited to the wedding feast of the King's Son, and especially whether we are practicing those virtues which belong to our particular state and condition in life. For it would be a great mistake to seek about after something heroic to do, while our daily duties are badly and imperfectly performed. All so-called piety, as St. Francis of Sales remarks, which does not lead to the better performance of our ordinary duties, is a delusion. This, therefore, is the first thing to be looked into, for when the King comes for the last time to inspect the guests, this is the wedding garment He will expect to find-the robe of grace woven in with virtues and the good works which the duties of each day give us the opportunity of performing.
If we are wanting in this, we also, like the guest in the Gospel, shall be silent before Him, we shall have no excuse to make, shame and confusion will make us dumb. It will not avail merely to have come in to the feast-that will be only for our greater shame and condemnation, and we shall be cast out for ever into the exterior darkness.
Take to yourselves, brethren, the warning words of our blessed Lord. Lose no time. Single out at once that fault, that sin which conscience tells you is the one that would most displease the King, should He come to see you now; which makes you, in the words of St. Jude, "a spot upon the banquet," and set to work to root it out without delay. When you have done this, or at least lessened the power of that fault over you, go on to attack another in the same way, and then a third, putting off thus, according to St. Paul's exhortation, "the old man who is corrupted according to the desires of error" and "putting on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth" (Eph. iv, 22 ss.).
Then, at the last and great visit of the King, when, surrounded by the hosts of angels and saints, He shall come to judge the world, you will be translated to that heavenly Banquet of which the angel in the Apocalypse declared, "Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb…"
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Adapted from Plain Sermons by Practical Preachers, Vol. II(©1916)
Nihil Obstat: Remegius Lafort, S.T.D
Imprimatur: John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
________________
"Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment?" - Matt. xxii, 12.
Dear Brethren in Jesus Christ. - The parable which we have just heard read in the Holy Gospel for today, and from which my text is taken, is one of those which our divine Saviour spoke on the closing day of His public teaching.
Early in the morning of that day, which was the Tuesday in Holy Week, He had gone forth to preach for the last time in the Temple at Jerusalem. He went there to offer to the hard hearts' of the priests and rulers, the Scribes and Pharisees, one more opportunity of repentance and conversion. He went there to utter His last words of warning against the terrible act of Apostasy they were soon about to commit in rejecting Him, their King and their Lord, who was ready, if they willed it, to be their Saviour also.
This "parable" of the wedding of the king's son is one of those warning words which Divine love drew from our blessed Lord that day; and though it was spoken so long ago to the Scribes and Pharisees, and the people of the Jews, it has, nevertheless, like every word that fell from those sacred lips, lessons of the highest import for us today, and for the men of all times. Some of these lessons, with the help of God, we will briefly consider.
"The Kingdom of Heaven," our Lord said, "is likened to a king, who made a marriage," that is to say a marriage, a feast, for his son. That kingdom which is here likened to a marriage feast, is Christ's holy Catholic Church, which He came on earth to found, and of which He said, " My Kingdom is not of this world"; for though the Church of God is in the world, it is not of the world.
The king who made the marriage feast for his son is the Eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, King and Lord of heaven and earth. The marriage, as St. Gregory the Great tells us, is that union of the Only-begotten Son of God with His immaculate bride, the holy Church, which He entered into by means of the Incarnation. To the marriage feast of the good things plentifully set out in His Church, God first invited His own chosen people, the Jews; sending to them His servants, the prophets of old. But "they refused" and "would not come." Afterwards, when the King's Son Himself had come, had lived and died, had set up His Kingdom the Church, and made ready therein the feast of the Gospel blessings, the invitation was repeated to them by the Apostles and Apostolic men; and these are those other servants of whom we read "and again He sent other servants, saying, 'All things are now ready; come ye to the marriage.'" "Twice," says St. Gregory, "did the King send His servants to invite by the prophets the Incarnation of His Son, and announcing it by the Apostles after it had come to pass."
How, then, did the subjects of the King receive His royal invitation? With nothing else than ungrateful and rebellious contempt. Ungrateful because of the benefits He wished to bestow upon them; rebellious, because an invitation from the King was nothing less than a command. As the holy Gospel describes it, "They went their ways; one to his farm, another to his merchandise." Others even carried their rebellion so far as to ill-use and put to death the servants of the royal household who came to bid them to the marriage. By this figure our blessed Lord describes the death which some of the prophets had undergone at the hands of the perfidious children of Israel~ meriting His sad rebuke, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not." By this also He foretold the martyrs' death that so many of His Apostles and disciples were afterwards to meet with at the hands of the same unfaithful and unbelieving generation. "But when the King heard of it, He was angry; and sending his armies, He destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city.'" Even so Jerusalem, that fair and favored city of God, whose beauty had moved the Son of Man to tears, not many years after was utterly overthrown by the Roman armies; and thus was fulfilled the warning of our Lord, and the curse which its inhabitants had called down on their own heads: "His Blood be upon us and upon our children."
Coming back to the parable, we read that the King next sent His servants into the highways to call to the marriage as many as they should find; and they gathered together all they found, and in this way the marriage was filled with guests. The goodness and generosity of God are not foiled; though the chosen people have rejected His word, and, as St. Paul and St. Barnabas declared to the Jews of Antioch, judging themselves unworthy of eternal life, have been cast .out, the servants of the King have gone out into the highways of the world, and have preached the Gospel to every nation, and the Gentiles have been gathered into God's holy Church. The invitation of the King has come to us, and, thank God, we have accepted it. We have entered, by God's mercy we have been brought, into His Church, to take part in the marriage feast of God's Son; to participate in the good things there only to be found-the Holy Mass, the Seven Sacraments, the Word of Salvation,. the intercession and patronage of the holy Mother of God and of the Blessed with whom we are united in the Communion of Saints, and all the other means of grace and of blessing so abundantly poured out upon us in the holy Catholic Church.
There are still, alas, many who will not come to this marriage feast, although the invitation is constantly repeated to them by the Gospel messengers, the ministers of God's Church, not once or twice, but many times, "Come, for all things are now ready; come ye to the marriage." But "they neglect, and go their ways, to their merchandise, or to their farm"; they will not even listen, but remain outside the church in the exterior darkness of heresy, indifference, or unbelief. It seems strange to us, who know the force of the claims of the Catholic Church, that men can refuse their assent to her authority and her teaching. It is all so plain to us. Sometimes we get discouraged and wonder whether it is any good going on, with our efforts to bring the Church before our countrymen; whether it were not better to concentrate our endeavors upon the perfection of our own organization and the increased effectiveness of our work among Catholics. But the Church of Christ is and must be a missionary Church. Christ has said to lIer: "Go, teach all nations; preach the Gospel to every creature."
If we neglect this work, our own interior organization and the effectiveness of our work among our own people must suffer. Yet at times we are apt to be discouraged at the poor reception which our missionary efforts meet with. And the worst, most chilling element in that reception comes from the utter indifference to all religious truth and sentiment which is so widespread in the modem world, and especially in countries like our own where the great Protestant tradition gained a footing, and has logically led to religious indifference and free thought, so that the "farm" and the "merchandise," worldly things and worldly objects of ambition, wealth, position, enjoyment, success in business, occupy entirely" the thoughts and the hopes of so many. But we must not despair, and we must not slacken our efforts. Still the King sends out His messengers, and in the highways and byways, in the most unexpected places, souls are touched by God's grace, and hear the invitation, and accept, and come in to the marriage feast of the Church. It is for us, by our own faithful Catholic lives, by example at all times, by a word in season where opportunity offers, by showing to the world and forcing the world to realize the high value of Christian Catholic ideals and principles in citizenship, to work towards the breaking down of that fatal indifference and so-called liberality in questions of morality and religion which is so great a bar to the acceptance of the Catholic faith of Jesus Christ. Then, in God's good time, our efforts, our prayers, our sacrifices "and our good example shall be crowned with success, and "the marriage shall be full of guests."
But have we Catholics nothing to learn from this parable concerning ourselves; is there no warning for us who by God's great mercy have been brought in to the marriage feast of God's Son? Indeed, it is not so. There is a warning in this parable, and a terrible warning for us; and should we fail to heed it, we shall find ourselves in a worse plight even than those who have refused to enter in to the feast.
For we read, at the end of the parable, how the King went in to see the guests, and He found there a man who had not on a wedding garment. Giving him an opportunity to explain his negligence, the King said to him, "Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment?" But he was silent.
It is a well-known custom in Eastern countries, even at the present day, for the giver of a banquet, especially if he be a prince, or a man of high rank, to send to the invited guests rich and splendid robes, which they are expected to wear at the feast. Not to wear them would be a serious insult to the host. It is related by a modem traveler that a courtier invited to a banquet by the Sultan of one of those Eastern lands, having in some way offended the steward who had the distribution of the robes of state, that officer sent him only a plain black garment which the guest refused to wear, fearing that it would be taken by the others as a sign that he was in disgrace at court. The Sultan, coming in and seeing him without the customary garb, took it as a personal insult, and not giving any opportunity of explanation as did the king in the parable, condemned the unhappy guest to death. The sentence was, in fact, carried out. This incident explains what we read in the parable: The King said to the waiters, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into exterior darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Brethren, it is not enough that we have been invited; it is not enough that we have accepted the invitation. We must have on the wedding garment, the garment which consists of sanctifying grace and the Christian virtues. For the King is coming to see the guests, and this word "see" means in the original language more than a passing glance; it signifies an inspection, a close and searching examination. Each of us must undergo that examination; indeed, it is going on now; for by trials and temptations we are constantly being proved, and the all-searching eye of God is ever fixed upon us to see how we carry ourselves-whether we resist or whether we give way, whether we show ourselves to be clothed with the garment of supernatural grace and virtue which He Himself has provided, or only in the poor threadbare garments of our fallen nature; whether, in a word, we have on the wedding garment of true, solid, Christian virtue, which is none else than the very character of our Lord and Saviour Himself-that character which the holy Apostle St. Paul speaks of when he says to us: "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh and its concupiscences" (Rom. xiii, 3).
And we "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" by imitating His virtues, each in our own measure and degree-His humility, His obedience, His patience, His resignation to the will of His heavenly Father, His detachment from the world, His meek and kind behavior to others, and, above all, His charity, His love of God and Man, without which all else is nothing worth.
It is for us to look into our own hearts and to find out, by the light of Christ's law laid down in the holy Gospels, and with the aid of Christ's holy Spirit which He will give to those who ask, whether we are living up to our privileges as Catholics, invited to the wedding feast of the King's Son, and especially whether we are practicing those virtues which belong to our particular state and condition in life. For it would be a great mistake to seek about after something heroic to do, while our daily duties are badly and imperfectly performed. All so-called piety, as St. Francis of Sales remarks, which does not lead to the better performance of our ordinary duties, is a delusion. This, therefore, is the first thing to be looked into, for when the King comes for the last time to inspect the guests, this is the wedding garment He will expect to find-the robe of grace woven in with virtues and the good works which the duties of each day give us the opportunity of performing.
If we are wanting in this, we also, like the guest in the Gospel, shall be silent before Him, we shall have no excuse to make, shame and confusion will make us dumb. It will not avail merely to have come in to the feast-that will be only for our greater shame and condemnation, and we shall be cast out for ever into the exterior darkness.
Take to yourselves, brethren, the warning words of our blessed Lord. Lose no time. Single out at once that fault, that sin which conscience tells you is the one that would most displease the King, should He come to see you now; which makes you, in the words of St. Jude, "a spot upon the banquet," and set to work to root it out without delay. When you have done this, or at least lessened the power of that fault over you, go on to attack another in the same way, and then a third, putting off thus, according to St. Paul's exhortation, "the old man who is corrupted according to the desires of error" and "putting on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth" (Eph. iv, 22 ss.).
Then, at the last and great visit of the King, when, surrounded by the hosts of angels and saints, He shall come to judge the world, you will be translated to that heavenly Banquet of which the angel in the Apocalypse declared, "Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb…"
__________________
Adapted from Plain Sermons by Practical Preachers, Vol. II(©1916)
Nihil Obstat: Remegius Lafort, S.T.D
Imprimatur: John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Gospel for Sept 20, Memorial: St Andrew Kim Taegon, Priest, and St Paul Chong Hasang, and companions, Martyrs
Saturday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Eustace and His Companions, martyrs
From: Luke 8:4-15
Parable of the Sower. The Meaning of the Parables
[4] And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to Him (Jesus), He said in a parable: [5] "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. [6] And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. [7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. [8] And some feel into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As He said this, He called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
[9] And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, [10] He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. [11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [12] The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. [13] And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. [14] And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. [15] And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."
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Commentary:
4-8. Our Lord explains this parable in verses 11-15. The seed is Jesus Himself and His preaching; and the different kinds of ground it falls on reflect people's different attitudes to Jesus and His teaching. Our Lord sows the life of grace in souls through the preaching of the Church and through an endless flow of actual graces.
10-12. Jesus uses parables to teach people the mysteries of the supernatural life and thereby lead them to salvation. However, He foresaw that, due to the bad dispositions of some of His listeners, these parables would lead them to harden their hearts and to reject grace. For a fuller explanation of the purpose of parables see the notes on Matthew 13:10-13 and Mark 4:11-12.
12. Some people are so immersed in a life of sin that they are the patch on which falls the seed "which suffers from two kinds of hazard: it is trodden on by wayfarers and snatched by birds. The path, therefore, is the heart, which is trodden on by the frequent traffic of evil thoughts, and cannot take in the seed and let it germinate because it is so dried up" (St. Bede, "In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc."). Souls hardened by sin can become good soil and bear fruit through sincere repentance and penance. We should note the effort the devil makes to prevent souls from being converted.
13. "Many people are pleased by what they hear, and they resolve to do good; but as soon as they experience difficulties they give up the good words they started. Stony ground has not enough soil, which is why the shoots fail to produce fruit. There are many who, when they hear greed criticized, do conceive a loathing for it and extol the scorning of it; but as soon as the soul sees something else that it desires, it forgets what it previously promised. There are also others who when they hear talk against impurity not only desire not to be stained by the filth of the flesh but are even ashamed of the stains that they already bear; but as soon as bodily beauty presents itself to their eyes, their heart is so drawn by desires that it is as if they had done or decided to do nothing against these desires, and they act in a manner deserving condemnation and in a way which they themselves previously condemned when they reflected on their behavior. Very often we feel compunction for our faults and yet we go back and commit them even after bemoaning them" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia Homiliae", 15).
14. This is the case of people who after receiving the divine seed, the Christian calling, and having stayed on the right path for some time, begin to give up the struggle. These souls run the risk of developing a distaste for the things of God and of taking the easy, and wrong, way of seeking compensations suggested to them by their disordered ambition for power and their desire for material wealth and a comfortable life involving no suffering.
A person in this situation begins to be lukewarm and tries to serve two masters: "It is wrong to have two candles lighted--one to St. Michael and another to the devil. We must snuff out the devil's candle; we must spend our lives completely in the service of the Lord. If our desire for holiness is sincere, if we are docile enough to place ourselves in God's hands, everything will go well. For He is always ready to give us His grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 59).
15. Jesus tells us that the good soil has three features--listening to God's demands with the good disposition of a generous heart; striving to ensure that one does not water down these demands as time goes by; and, finally, beginning and beginning again and not being disheartened if the fruit is slow to appear. "You cannot `rise'. It's not surprising: that fall!
"Persevere and you will `rise'. Remember what a spiritual writer has said: your poor soul is like a bird whose wings are caked with mud.
"Suns of heaven are needed and personal efforts, small and constant, to shake off those inclinations, those vain fancies, that depression: that mud clinging to your wings.
"And you will see yourself free. If you persevere, you will `rise'" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 991).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Old Calendar: St. Eustace and His Companions, martyrs
From: Luke 8:4-15
Parable of the Sower. The Meaning of the Parables
[4] And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to Him (Jesus), He said in a parable: [5] "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. [6] And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. [7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. [8] And some feel into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As He said this, He called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
[9] And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, [10] He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. [11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [12] The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. [13] And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. [14] And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. [15] And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."
_____________________
Commentary:
4-8. Our Lord explains this parable in verses 11-15. The seed is Jesus Himself and His preaching; and the different kinds of ground it falls on reflect people's different attitudes to Jesus and His teaching. Our Lord sows the life of grace in souls through the preaching of the Church and through an endless flow of actual graces.
10-12. Jesus uses parables to teach people the mysteries of the supernatural life and thereby lead them to salvation. However, He foresaw that, due to the bad dispositions of some of His listeners, these parables would lead them to harden their hearts and to reject grace. For a fuller explanation of the purpose of parables see the notes on Matthew 13:10-13 and Mark 4:11-12.
12. Some people are so immersed in a life of sin that they are the patch on which falls the seed "which suffers from two kinds of hazard: it is trodden on by wayfarers and snatched by birds. The path, therefore, is the heart, which is trodden on by the frequent traffic of evil thoughts, and cannot take in the seed and let it germinate because it is so dried up" (St. Bede, "In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc."). Souls hardened by sin can become good soil and bear fruit through sincere repentance and penance. We should note the effort the devil makes to prevent souls from being converted.
13. "Many people are pleased by what they hear, and they resolve to do good; but as soon as they experience difficulties they give up the good words they started. Stony ground has not enough soil, which is why the shoots fail to produce fruit. There are many who, when they hear greed criticized, do conceive a loathing for it and extol the scorning of it; but as soon as the soul sees something else that it desires, it forgets what it previously promised. There are also others who when they hear talk against impurity not only desire not to be stained by the filth of the flesh but are even ashamed of the stains that they already bear; but as soon as bodily beauty presents itself to their eyes, their heart is so drawn by desires that it is as if they had done or decided to do nothing against these desires, and they act in a manner deserving condemnation and in a way which they themselves previously condemned when they reflected on their behavior. Very often we feel compunction for our faults and yet we go back and commit them even after bemoaning them" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia Homiliae", 15).
14. This is the case of people who after receiving the divine seed, the Christian calling, and having stayed on the right path for some time, begin to give up the struggle. These souls run the risk of developing a distaste for the things of God and of taking the easy, and wrong, way of seeking compensations suggested to them by their disordered ambition for power and their desire for material wealth and a comfortable life involving no suffering.
A person in this situation begins to be lukewarm and tries to serve two masters: "It is wrong to have two candles lighted--one to St. Michael and another to the devil. We must snuff out the devil's candle; we must spend our lives completely in the service of the Lord. If our desire for holiness is sincere, if we are docile enough to place ourselves in God's hands, everything will go well. For He is always ready to give us His grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 59).
15. Jesus tells us that the good soil has three features--listening to God's demands with the good disposition of a generous heart; striving to ensure that one does not water down these demands as time goes by; and, finally, beginning and beginning again and not being disheartened if the fruit is slow to appear. "You cannot `rise'. It's not surprising: that fall!
"Persevere and you will `rise'. Remember what a spiritual writer has said: your poor soul is like a bird whose wings are caked with mud.
"Suns of heaven are needed and personal efforts, small and constant, to shake off those inclinations, those vain fancies, that depression: that mud clinging to your wings.
"And you will see yourself free. If you persevere, you will `rise'" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 991).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Just for Today, September 20
Lo! thou art made a priest, and art consecrated to say Mass: see now that in due time thou faithfully and devoutly offer up sacrifice to God, and that thou behave thyself in such manner as to be without reproof. Thou hast not lightened thy burden, but art now b;Jund with a stricter bond of discipline, and art obliged to a greater perfection of sanctity.
-Bk. IV, ch. v.
________________
The sanctification of priests held the first place in her apostolic zeal. She writes to her sister:
-Letters.
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
-Bk. IV, ch. v.
________________
The sanctification of priests held the first place in her apostolic zeal. She writes to her sister:
"Do not let us waste the short time that remains, let us save souls! I feel that Jesus wants us to slake His thirst by giving Him souls, above all the souls of priests. So let us consecrate our lives to them and pray much for priests. Their souls should be clear as crystal, but alas, many are not what they ought to be. Let us then pray and suffer for them; I know you understand my soul's longing."The Saint was only sixteen when she wrote these lines.
-Letters.
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 20
WHO shall judge a blessed life to stand in those things which the Son of God hath taught us are to be despised?
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 20
THE pain which constitutes hell is the pain of having lost God. When Absalom heard that David condemned him never more to appear before him, he said: Tell my father either to permit me to see his face, or put me to death.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Sacramento vs. the Dominicans: why St. Paul would approve
Dr Edward Peters writes:
The Diocese of Sacramento is suing the Western Province of the Dominicans for payment of what the diocese asserts is the religious order's fair share of a civil judgment entered against the diocese in regard to a sexual misconduct case involving a Dominican priest then working in the diocese.Find out why here.
What's unusual here is that the diocese is not suing the province in a civil court, but rather, in an ecclesiastical tribunal. One need not know anything about the merits of the case to say, this is a good move.
Open Letter from Head of the Knights of Columbus to Senator Joseph Biden
Dear Senator Biden:Source: Knights of Columbus
I write to you today as a fellow Catholic layman, on a subject that has become a major topic of concern in this year's presidential campaign.
The bishops who have taken public issue with your remarks on the Church's historical position on abortion are far from alone. Senator Obama stressed your Catholic identity repeatedly when he introduced you as his running mate, and so your statements carry considerable weight, whether they are correct or not. You now have a unique responsibility when you make public statements about Catholic teaching.
On NBC's Meet the Press, you appealed to the 13th Century writings of St. Thomas Aquinas to cast doubt on the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion.
There are several problems with this.
First, Aquinas obviously had only a medieval understanding of biology, and thus could only speculate about how an unborn child develops in the womb. I doubt that there is any other area of public policy where you would appeal to a 13th Century knowledge of biology as the basis for modern law.
Second, Aquinas' theological view is in any case entirely consistent with the long history of Catholic Church teaching in this area, holding that abortion is a grave sin to be avoided at any time during pregnancy.
This teaching dates all the way back to the Didache, written in the second century. It is found in the writings of Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine and Aquinas, and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which described abortion as "an unspeakable crime" and held that the right to life must be protected from the "moment of conception." This consistent teaching was restated most recently last month in the response of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Statements that suggest that our Church has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion are not merely incorrect; they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision.
Neither should a discussion about a medieval understanding of the first few days or weeks of life be allowed to draw attention away from the remaining portion of an unborn child's life. In those months, even ancient and medieval doctors agreed that a child is developing in the womb.
And as you are well aware, Roe v. Wade allows for abortion at any point during a pregnancy. While you voted for the ban on partial birth abortions, your unconditional support for Roe is a de facto endorsement of permitting all other late term abortions, and thus calls into question your appeal to Aquinas.
I recognize that you struggle with your conscience on the issue, and have said that you accept the Church's teaching that life begins at conception - as a matter of faith. But modern medical science leaves no doubt about the fact that each person's life begins at conception. It is not a matter of personal religious belief, but of science.
Finally, your unwillingness to bring your Catholic moral views into the public policy arena on this issue alone is troubling.
There were several remarkable ironies in your first appearance as Senator Obama's running mate on the steps of the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois.
His selection as the first black American to be the nominee of a major party for president of the United States owes an incalculable debt to two movements that were led by people whose religious convictions motivated them to confront the moral evils of their day - the abolitionist movement of the 19th Century, and the civil rights movement of the 20th Century.
Your rally in Springfield took place just a mile or so from the tomb of Abraham Lincoln, who in April 1859 wrote these words in a letter to Henry Pierce:"This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."Lincoln fought slavery in the name of "a just God" without embarrassment or apology. He confronted an America in which black Americans were not considered "persons" under the law, and were thus not entitled to fundamental Constitutional rights. Today, children of all races who are fully viable and only minutes from being born are also denied recognition as "persons" because of the Roe v. Wade regime that you so strongly support. Lincoln's reasoning regarding slavery applies with equal force to children who are minutes, hours or days away from birth.
The American founders began our great national quest for liberty by declaring that we are all "created equal." It took nearly a century to transform that bold statement into the letter of the law, and another century still to make it a reality. The founders believed that we are "endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights," and that first among these is "life."
You have a choice: you can listen to your conscience and work to secure the rights of the unborn to share in the fruits of our hard-won liberty, or you can choose to turn your back on them.
On behalf of the 1.28 million members of the Knights of Columbus and their families in the United States, I appeal to you, as a Catholic who acknowledges that life begins at conception, to resolve to protect this unalienable right. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues personally with you in greater detail during the weeks between now and November 4.
Respectfully,
Carl A. Anderson
Supreme Knight
News Updates, 9/19
The Surprising Geopolitics of Joseph Ratzinger, Pope (Chiesa)
After three years in the pontificate, and defying the expectations of most, the refined theologian has left his mark on international politics as well. In the West, with Islam, with China. The journal of the Aspen Institute in Italy explains how, and why
Prof Who Desecrated the Eucharist Now Leads Attack against Pro-Life Pharmacist
Myers' latest screed of religious intolerance on his blog Pharyngula incited an all-out internet attack against pharmacist
Joe Biden loses Barack Obama the Catholic vote
Backlash in every state by Catholic newspapers, TV and radio stations, and blogs.
“Thoroughly authentic”
Gregorian chant CD by Orange County Norbertines a big hit
Churchgoing Catholics returning to GOP fold
Palin has huge impact on important bloc in key states
“Not on my dime”
Public interest law firm files complaint over utility’s contribution to "No on 8"
British schools introduce sex guide for 6-year-olds
First lesson includes naked boy and girl comic book
Feds sue Catholic Charities for firing 71-year-old
Non-profit organization accused of age discrimination
Biden abortion issue to Georgia Catholics
Candidate's 'flawed moral reasoning' brought to light
Pope says Pius XII 'spared no effort' to help Jews
He should resist temptation to wade into theology
Cleveland parishes protest downsizing plan
Catholics working to save 45 churches from closing
Theologian rejects Vatican demand for retraction
Priest criticized Church's attitude toward ecumenism
French Cardinal: Time right for a new secularism
Notes religious history of Europe, anti-Catholicism
Comic escapes prosecution for insulting Pope
Government blocked an investigation against her
After three years in the pontificate, and defying the expectations of most, the refined theologian has left his mark on international politics as well. In the West, with Islam, with China. The journal of the Aspen Institute in Italy explains how, and why
Prof Who Desecrated the Eucharist Now Leads Attack against Pro-Life Pharmacist
Myers' latest screed of religious intolerance on his blog Pharyngula incited an all-out internet attack against pharmacist
Joe Biden loses Barack Obama the Catholic vote
Backlash in every state by Catholic newspapers, TV and radio stations, and blogs.
“Thoroughly authentic”
Gregorian chant CD by Orange County Norbertines a big hit
Churchgoing Catholics returning to GOP fold
Palin has huge impact on important bloc in key states
“Not on my dime”
Public interest law firm files complaint over utility’s contribution to "No on 8"
British schools introduce sex guide for 6-year-olds
First lesson includes naked boy and girl comic book
Feds sue Catholic Charities for firing 71-year-old
Non-profit organization accused of age discrimination
Biden abortion issue to Georgia Catholics
Candidate's 'flawed moral reasoning' brought to light
Pope says Pius XII 'spared no effort' to help Jews
He should resist temptation to wade into theology
Cleveland parishes protest downsizing plan
Catholics working to save 45 churches from closing
Theologian rejects Vatican demand for retraction
Priest criticized Church's attitude toward ecumenism
French Cardinal: Time right for a new secularism
Notes religious history of Europe, anti-Catholicism
Comic escapes prosecution for insulting Pope
Government blocked an investigation against her
Gospel for Friday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Januarius, bishop & martyr
Old Calendar: St. Januarius and his Companions; Our Lady of La Salette
From: Luke 8:1-3
The Holy Women
[1] Soon afterward He (Jesus) went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the Good News of the Kingdom of God. And the Twelve were with Him, [2] and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, [3] and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
___________________
Commentary:
1-3. The Gospel refers a number of times to women accompanying our Lord. Here St. Luke gives us the names of three of them--Mary, called Magdalene, to whom the risen Christ appeared beside the Holy Sepulchre (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9); Joanna, a lady of some position, whom we also meet among the women who went to the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection (Luke 24:10), and Susanna, whom the Gospel does not mention again. The role of these women consisted in helping Jesus and His disciples out of their own resources, thereby showing their gratitude for what Christ had done for them, and in cooperating in His ministry.
Men and women enjoy equal dignity in the Church. Within the context of that equality, women certainly have specific characteristics which must necessarily be reflected in their role in the Church: "All the baptized, men and women alike, share equally in the dignity, freedom and responsibility of the children of God.... Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can give--their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy.... A woman's femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this contribution for which there is no substitute--and if she incorporates it into her own life" ([St] J. Escriva, "Conversations", 14 and 87).
The Gospel makes special reference to the generosity of these women. It is nice to know that our Lord availed Himself of their charity, and that they responded to Him with such refined and generous detachment that Christian women feel filled with a holy and fruitful envy (cf. [St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 981).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Old Calendar: St. Januarius and his Companions; Our Lady of La Salette
From: Luke 8:1-3
The Holy Women
[1] Soon afterward He (Jesus) went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the Good News of the Kingdom of God. And the Twelve were with Him, [2] and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, [3] and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
___________________
Commentary:
1-3. The Gospel refers a number of times to women accompanying our Lord. Here St. Luke gives us the names of three of them--Mary, called Magdalene, to whom the risen Christ appeared beside the Holy Sepulchre (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9); Joanna, a lady of some position, whom we also meet among the women who went to the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection (Luke 24:10), and Susanna, whom the Gospel does not mention again. The role of these women consisted in helping Jesus and His disciples out of their own resources, thereby showing their gratitude for what Christ had done for them, and in cooperating in His ministry.
Men and women enjoy equal dignity in the Church. Within the context of that equality, women certainly have specific characteristics which must necessarily be reflected in their role in the Church: "All the baptized, men and women alike, share equally in the dignity, freedom and responsibility of the children of God.... Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can give--their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy.... A woman's femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this contribution for which there is no substitute--and if she incorporates it into her own life" ([St] J. Escriva, "Conversations", 14 and 87).
The Gospel makes special reference to the generosity of these women. It is nice to know that our Lord availed Himself of their charity, and that they responded to Him with such refined and generous detachment that Christian women feel filled with a holy and fruitful envy (cf. [St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 981).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Just for Today, September 19
Oh! how great thanks am I obliged to return to Thee, for having vouchsafed to show me and all the faithful a right and good way to an everlasting kingdom. For Thy life is our way: and by holy patience we walk on to Thee, who art our crown.
If Thou hadst not gone before and instructed us, who would have cared to have followed? Alas! how many would have stayed afar off, and a great way behind, if they had not before their eyes Thy excellent example!
-Bk. III, ch. xviii.
_______________
I must explain what the odour of Thy ointments means to me. As Our Lord has ascended into Heaven, I can only follow His footprints. How fragrant and full of light are the traces He has left on earth! I have only to open the Gospels and at once I find the most sweet odour of His life, and know whither to run: not to the first place, but to the last.
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme).
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
If Thou hadst not gone before and instructed us, who would have cared to have followed? Alas! how many would have stayed afar off, and a great way behind, if they had not before their eyes Thy excellent example!
-Bk. III, ch. xviii.
_______________
I must explain what the odour of Thy ointments means to me. As Our Lord has ascended into Heaven, I can only follow His footprints. How fragrant and full of light are the traces He has left on earth! I have only to open the Gospels and at once I find the most sweet odour of His life, and know whither to run: not to the first place, but to the last.
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme).
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 19
IF we think much of ourselves, let us deign to imitate him, who is called the Son of the Most High. If we think little of ourselves, let us dare to follow fishermen and publicans, who followed him.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 19
EVERY. affection for creatures, however honourable it may be, when excessive, is an impediment to the love of Jesus Christ. You must, therefore, detach your heart from every affection, otherwise you will never be able to belong entirely to God.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
News Updates, 9/18
Fordham to honor pro-abortion judge
Justice Breyer supported partial-birth procedure
Pro-life pamphleteers arrested at basilica
Jailed for Passing out anti-Obama literature
Abortion issue again dividing Catholic votes
'People should straighten out their religious beliefs'
Scottish bishop reignites row over faith schools
Large number of non-Catholic students cause overcrowding
Carmelite convent attacked by Hindus in India
Wave of anti-Christian violence continues to spread
Catholic bishops seek to meet with McCain, Obama
Neither has replied to invitations offered last month
Rare condition turning Filipino woman into man
Court lets her change her name from Jennifer to Jeff
Iran says Satanist cults challenging Islam
'Satan-worshippers wear broken-cross, skeleton necklaces'
Fake seminarian arrested after breaching orphanage
Man asked sexually explicit questions to teen girls
Justice Breyer supported partial-birth procedure
Pro-life pamphleteers arrested at basilica
Jailed for Passing out anti-Obama literature
Abortion issue again dividing Catholic votes
'People should straighten out their religious beliefs'
Scottish bishop reignites row over faith schools
Large number of non-Catholic students cause overcrowding
Carmelite convent attacked by Hindus in India
Wave of anti-Christian violence continues to spread
Catholic bishops seek to meet with McCain, Obama
Neither has replied to invitations offered last month
Rare condition turning Filipino woman into man
Court lets her change her name from Jennifer to Jeff
Iran says Satanist cults challenging Islam
'Satan-worshippers wear broken-cross, skeleton necklaces'
Fake seminarian arrested after breaching orphanage
Man asked sexually explicit questions to teen girls
Gospel for Thursday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor
From: Luke 7:36-50
The Woman Who was a Sinner
[36] One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at table. [37] And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, [38] and standing beside him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears; and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. [39] Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. [40] And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “What is it, Teacher?” [41] A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42] When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” [43] Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” [44] Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. [45] You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. [46] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. [47] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little loves little.” [48] And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” [49] Then those who were at table with him began to say among them- selves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” [50] And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
_______________________
Commentary:
36-40. This woman, moved no doubt by grace, was attracted by Christ’s preach- ing and by what people were saying about him. When dining, people reclined on low divans leaning on their left arm with their legs tucked under them, away from the table. A host was expected to give his guest a kiss of greeting and offer him water for his feet, and perfumes.
41-50. In this short parable of the two debtors Christ teaches us three things – his own divinity and his power to forgive sins; the merit the woman’s love deserves; and the discourtesy implied in Simeon’s neglecting to receive Jesus in the conventional way. Our Lord was not interested in these social niceties as such but in the affection which they expressed; that was why he felt hurt at Simeon’s neglect.
“Jesus notices the omission of the expression of human courtesy and refinement which the Pharisee failed to show him. Christ is perfectus Deus, perfectus homo (Athanasian Creed). He is perfect God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, and perfect man. He comes to save, not to destroy nature. It is from him that we learn that it is unchristian to treat our fellow men badly, for they are crea- tures of God, made in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26)” (Bl. J. Escriva, Friends of God, 73).
Moreover, the Pharisee was wrong to think badly of this sinner and of Jesus: reckoning that Christ did not know anything about her, he complained inwardly. Our Lord, who could read the secret thoughts of men (which sowed his divinity), intervened to point out to him his mistake. True righteousness, says St. Gregory the Great (cf. In Evangelia homiliae, 33), is compassionate; whereas false righteousness is indignant. There are many people like this Pharisee: forgetting that they themselves were or are poor sinners, when they see other people’s sin they immediately become indignant, instead of taking pity on them, or else they rush to judge them or sneer at them. They forget what St Paul says: “Let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12); “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness […]. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 6:1-2).
We should strive to have charity govern all our judgments. Otherwise, we will easily be unjust towards others. “Let us be slow to judge. Each one see things from his own point of view, and with his own mind, with all its limitations, through eyes that are often dimmed and clouded by passion . . . Of what little worth are the judgments of men! Don’t judge without sifting your judgment in prayer (Bl. J. Escriva, The Way, 451).
Charity and humility will allow us to see in the sins of others our own weak and helpless position, and will help our hearts go out to the sorrow of every sinner who repents, for we too would fall into sins as serious or more serious if God in his mercy did not say by our side.
“It was not the ointment that the Lord loved”, St. Ambrose comments, “but the affection; it was the woman’s faith that pleased him, her humility. And you also, if you desire grace, increase your love; pour over the body of Jesus Christ your faith in the Resurrection, the perfume of the holy Church and the ointment of charity towards others” (Expositio Evangelii sec. Lucam, in loc.).
47, Man cannot merit forgiveness for his sins because, since God is the offended party, they are of infinite gravity. We need the sacrament of Penance, in which God forgives us by virtue of the infinite merits of Jesus Christ; there is only one indispensable condition for winning God’s forgiveness – our love, our repentance. We are pardoned to the extent that we love; when our heart is full of love there is no longer any room in it for sin because we have made room for Jesus, and he says to us as he said to this woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Repentance is a sign that we love God. But it was God who first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:1:10). When God forgives us he is expressing his love for us. Our love for God is, then, always a response to his initiative. By forgiving us God helps us to be more grateful and more loving towards him. “He loves little”, St Augustine comments, “who has little forgiven. You say that you have not committed many sins: but why is that the case? […] The reason is that God was guiding you […]. There is no sin that one many commits, which another may not commit also unless God, man’s maker, guides him” (Sermons, 99, 6). Therefore, we ought to fall ever more deeply in love with our Lord, not only because he forgives us our sins but also because he helps us by means of his grace not to commit them.
50. Jesus declares that it was faith that moved this woman to throw herself at his feet and show her repentance; her repentance wins his forgiveness. Similarly, when we approach the sacrament of Penance we should stir up our faith in the fact that it is “not a human but a divine dialogue. It is a tribunal of divine justice and especially of mercy, with a loving judge who ‘has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; I desire that the wicked turn back from his way and live’ (Ezek 33:11)” (Bl. J. Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 78).
__________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
From: Luke 7:36-50
The Woman Who was a Sinner
[36] One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at table. [37] And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, [38] and standing beside him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears; and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. [39] Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. [40] And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “What is it, Teacher?” [41] A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42] When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” [43] Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” [44] Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. [45] You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. [46] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. [47] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little loves little.” [48] And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” [49] Then those who were at table with him began to say among them- selves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” [50] And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
_______________________
Commentary:
36-40. This woman, moved no doubt by grace, was attracted by Christ’s preach- ing and by what people were saying about him. When dining, people reclined on low divans leaning on their left arm with their legs tucked under them, away from the table. A host was expected to give his guest a kiss of greeting and offer him water for his feet, and perfumes.
41-50. In this short parable of the two debtors Christ teaches us three things – his own divinity and his power to forgive sins; the merit the woman’s love deserves; and the discourtesy implied in Simeon’s neglecting to receive Jesus in the conventional way. Our Lord was not interested in these social niceties as such but in the affection which they expressed; that was why he felt hurt at Simeon’s neglect.
“Jesus notices the omission of the expression of human courtesy and refinement which the Pharisee failed to show him. Christ is perfectus Deus, perfectus homo (Athanasian Creed). He is perfect God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, and perfect man. He comes to save, not to destroy nature. It is from him that we learn that it is unchristian to treat our fellow men badly, for they are crea- tures of God, made in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26)” (Bl. J. Escriva, Friends of God, 73).
Moreover, the Pharisee was wrong to think badly of this sinner and of Jesus: reckoning that Christ did not know anything about her, he complained inwardly. Our Lord, who could read the secret thoughts of men (which sowed his divinity), intervened to point out to him his mistake. True righteousness, says St. Gregory the Great (cf. In Evangelia homiliae, 33), is compassionate; whereas false righteousness is indignant. There are many people like this Pharisee: forgetting that they themselves were or are poor sinners, when they see other people’s sin they immediately become indignant, instead of taking pity on them, or else they rush to judge them or sneer at them. They forget what St Paul says: “Let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12); “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness […]. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 6:1-2).
We should strive to have charity govern all our judgments. Otherwise, we will easily be unjust towards others. “Let us be slow to judge. Each one see things from his own point of view, and with his own mind, with all its limitations, through eyes that are often dimmed and clouded by passion . . . Of what little worth are the judgments of men! Don’t judge without sifting your judgment in prayer (Bl. J. Escriva, The Way, 451).
Charity and humility will allow us to see in the sins of others our own weak and helpless position, and will help our hearts go out to the sorrow of every sinner who repents, for we too would fall into sins as serious or more serious if God in his mercy did not say by our side.
“It was not the ointment that the Lord loved”, St. Ambrose comments, “but the affection; it was the woman’s faith that pleased him, her humility. And you also, if you desire grace, increase your love; pour over the body of Jesus Christ your faith in the Resurrection, the perfume of the holy Church and the ointment of charity towards others” (Expositio Evangelii sec. Lucam, in loc.).
47, Man cannot merit forgiveness for his sins because, since God is the offended party, they are of infinite gravity. We need the sacrament of Penance, in which God forgives us by virtue of the infinite merits of Jesus Christ; there is only one indispensable condition for winning God’s forgiveness – our love, our repentance. We are pardoned to the extent that we love; when our heart is full of love there is no longer any room in it for sin because we have made room for Jesus, and he says to us as he said to this woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Repentance is a sign that we love God. But it was God who first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:1:10). When God forgives us he is expressing his love for us. Our love for God is, then, always a response to his initiative. By forgiving us God helps us to be more grateful and more loving towards him. “He loves little”, St Augustine comments, “who has little forgiven. You say that you have not committed many sins: but why is that the case? […] The reason is that God was guiding you […]. There is no sin that one many commits, which another may not commit also unless God, man’s maker, guides him” (Sermons, 99, 6). Therefore, we ought to fall ever more deeply in love with our Lord, not only because he forgives us our sins but also because he helps us by means of his grace not to commit them.
50. Jesus declares that it was faith that moved this woman to throw herself at his feet and show her repentance; her repentance wins his forgiveness. Similarly, when we approach the sacrament of Penance we should stir up our faith in the fact that it is “not a human but a divine dialogue. It is a tribunal of divine justice and especially of mercy, with a loving judge who ‘has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; I desire that the wicked turn back from his way and live’ (Ezek 33:11)” (Bl. J. Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 78).
__________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
New McCain Statement on Stem Cell Research Shows More Pro-Life Movement
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The campaign of presidential candidate John McCain has released a new statement on his position on stem cell research funding that has some observers saying it shows the senator continues to move in a pro-life direction on key bioethics issues.
The campaign sent comments on Monday to the ScienceDebate2008 web site on the issue of stem cell research and federal funding....
Deal Hudson a leading pro-life Catholic writer, writes approvingly of the McCain statement.
"There has been some evidence during the campaign that McCain's position on embryonic stem cell research was softening. I was skeptical of drawing any conclusions having discussed it with McCain several times. But now the more optimistic prediction has come to pass,' he explained.
Hudson interprets the McCain statement as saying he will continue the current policy of President Bush, which limits any federal funds for new embryonic stem cell research involving the destruction of human life....
Just for Today, September 18
Behold, the cross is all, and in dying to thyself all consists: and there is no other way to life and true internal peace, but the way of the holy cross and of daily mortification.
-Bk. II, ch. xii.
______________
She contrived to hide her mortification under a gracious manner, but I saw her sprinkling wormwood on an extra dish ordered for her by Mother Prioress on a fast-day, and which she found too agreeable to her taste.
Another time I saw her slowly sipping a particularly nasty medicine. "Drink it down quickly!" I urged. "Oh, no!" she replied, "I must take advantage of these little opportunities of mortifying myself, as greater penances are denied me."
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme).
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
-Bk. II, ch. xii.
______________
She contrived to hide her mortification under a gracious manner, but I saw her sprinkling wormwood on an extra dish ordered for her by Mother Prioress on a fast-day, and which she found too agreeable to her taste.
Another time I saw her slowly sipping a particularly nasty medicine. "Drink it down quickly!" I urged. "Oh, no!" she replied, "I must take advantage of these little opportunities of mortifying myself, as greater penances are denied me."
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme).
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 18
LOVE not the things of time; for if it were well to love them, the Manhood which the Son of God took upon himself would love them.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 18
LET us be persuaded that the Lord does not demand from us great things, but only that we present to him the little we do with a pure intention.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Group Condemns Sarah Palin for Not Killing Disabled Baby in Abortion
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A writer for a libertarian group has written perhaps the most scathing attack on pro-life vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin since the Alaska governor was announced weeks ago as John McCain's running mate. Nicholas Provenzo condemns Palin for the birth of her baby Trig, who has Down syndrome.Individual rights? The person in the womb is also an individual yet the pro-death, pro-eugenics mentality persists...some have learned absolutely nothing from history or the moral law.
Provenzo, who writes for the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, not only bashes her for allowing Trig to be born, but says she should have made the so-called morally justifiable decision to kill him in an abortion.
The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism bills itself as a group "dedicated to advancing individual rights and economic freedom through Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism."
While as many as 80-90 percent of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome become victims of abortion, Palin didn't let her child become a statistic. Palin, who has deeply-felt pro-life views, gave birth to her fifth child in April and the baby was diagnosed with the condition.
Abortion Issue Again Dividing Catholic Votes
So states the New York Times as it "reports" on the fundamental issue of life and professed "Catholics" who promote political supporters of abortion and infanticide.
Karl Keating's E-Letter illustrates how Catholics United twists the truth in its attack upon Catholic Answer's Voter's Guide.
Some wonder when or if the Church will purge from her fold those who follow the evil one and who usurp the name Catholic and cause untold scandal and confusion?
In a related story, "Catholics United" (and that's so difficult for me to write without provoking anger) is running a false ad claiming that John McCain is not Pro-Life on abortion...
Should we really expect anything less from those who are opposed to Christ and His Church? Are they not in league with the evil one, the father of lies, who, our Lord tells us, is a murderer from the beginning and has no truth in him?
SCRANTON, Pa. — Until recently, Matthew Figured, a Sunday school teacher at the Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church here, could not decide which candidate to vote for in the presidential election....Then came the erroneous "theological insights" of Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, with the swift rebuttals and corrections by a number of US Bishops.
Now Mr. Figured thinks he will vote for the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona....As long as there are so-called "Catholics for Obama," or for other supporters of murdering the unborn and those who survive and are born alive, this will remain an issue which needs constant teaching and prayer.
A struggle within the church over how Catholic voters should think about abortion is once again flaring up just as political partisans prepare an all-out battle for the votes of Mass-going Catholics in swing-state towns like Scranton....
Progressive Catholics complain that by wading into the history of church opposition to abortion...Democratic officials are starting a distracting debate with the church hierarchy.'Progressive' Catholics is a term which many view as code for those who embrace heresy or otherwise rebel against the Church's teachings or disciplines. In far too many cases, these people have already abandoned the Church yet cling to the name Catholic, apparently, it seems, because of some deep seated psychosis.
“Getting into Augustine and Aquinas — it is just not helpful,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, a progressive Catholic group running television commercials that emphasize the church’s social justice teachings...."Catholics United" usurps the name "Catholic" and persists in confusing Catholics. CatholicCulture documents this here.
Karl Keating's E-Letter illustrates how Catholics United twists the truth in its attack upon Catholic Answer's Voter's Guide.
“I think that one of the teachings of God is to take care of the less fortunate,” said Susan Tighe, an insurance lawyer who identified herself as “a folk Catholic, from the guitar-strumming social-justice side” of the church.A perfect example of those who are lost and claim to be Catholic though they have, essentially, left the Church. Pathetic, hippie culture buffoons who lack faith and any knowledge of authentic morality, and the natural law.
Catholic Democrats outside the campaign have also worked hard to avoid repeating the experience of 2004, when a small group of outspoken bishops dominated news coverage of the church with criticism of Democratic Senator John Kerry focused on the single issue of abortion......Jean, of course, has it completely wrong - abortion is not the only issue - the protection of life is the fundamental issue about which all other issues revolve. We can understand her confusion; she is at a Jesuit-run institution.
The same debate is already playing out almost every day in the letters section of Scranton’s newspaper, said Jean Harris, a political scientist at the Jesuit-run University of Scranton. “It is a running debate between Catholics saying ‘abortion is the only issue’ and others saying ‘you have to look at the whole teaching of the church,’ ” she said.
Some wonder when or if the Church will purge from her fold those who follow the evil one and who usurp the name Catholic and cause untold scandal and confusion?
In a related story, "Catholics United" (and that's so difficult for me to write without provoking anger) is running a false ad claiming that John McCain is not Pro-Life on abortion...
Should we really expect anything less from those who are opposed to Christ and His Church? Are they not in league with the evil one, the father of lies, who, our Lord tells us, is a murderer from the beginning and has no truth in him?
News Updates, 9/17
“Authentic femininity”
Sacramento conference for Catholic women offers feminism with an orthodox twist
“Coffee in his face”
Same-sex 'marriage' extremists assault Prop 8 supporters
Police clash with Christian protesters in India
After 17 churches were attacked by Hindus in the region
Cardinal: Trads not satisfied with old Mass indult
Vatican office continues to receive further demands
Pope delivers anti-euthanasia message at Lourdes
People must accept death at 'the hour chosen by God'
From France, the lesson of the 'liturgist Pope'
Benedict XVI defends the ancient rite of the Mass
U.S. Catholics pray for more priests
Churches shuttering at quickening pace in Northeast
Vatican: Evolution fine but no apology to Darwin
Church conference to bring together theologians, scientists
What happened to Catholic schools in Rochester?
Public and charter schools find new homes under old roofs
Teen forbidden from wearing rosary at school
Catholic devotional beads considered a gang symbol
Appeals court dismisses clergy sex abuse suit
Says it was filed almost twenty years too late
Sacramento conference for Catholic women offers feminism with an orthodox twist
“Coffee in his face”
Same-sex 'marriage' extremists assault Prop 8 supporters
Police clash with Christian protesters in India
After 17 churches were attacked by Hindus in the region
Cardinal: Trads not satisfied with old Mass indult
Vatican office continues to receive further demands
Pope delivers anti-euthanasia message at Lourdes
People must accept death at 'the hour chosen by God'
From France, the lesson of the 'liturgist Pope'
Benedict XVI defends the ancient rite of the Mass
U.S. Catholics pray for more priests
Churches shuttering at quickening pace in Northeast
Vatican: Evolution fine but no apology to Darwin
Church conference to bring together theologians, scientists
What happened to Catholic schools in Rochester?
Public and charter schools find new homes under old roofs
Teen forbidden from wearing rosary at school
Catholic devotional beads considered a gang symbol
Appeals court dismisses clergy sex abuse suit
Says it was filed almost twenty years too late
Gospel for Wednesday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, bishop and doctor
Old Calendar: Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis
From: Luke 7:31-35
Jesus Reproaches His Contemporaries
(Jesus spoke to the crowds), [33] For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.' [34] The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' [35] Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."
____________________________
Commentary:
31-34. See the note on Matthew 11:16-19.
[The note on Matthew 11:16-19 states:
16-19. Making reference to a popular song or a child's game of His time, Jesus reproaches those who offer groundless excuses for not recognizing Him. From the beginning of human history the Lord has striven to attract all men to Himself: "What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5:4), and often He has been rejected: "When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:4).
Our Lord also condemns calumny: some people do try to justify their own behavior by seeing sin where there is only virtue. "When they find something which is quite obviously good," St. Gregory the Great says, "they pry into it to see if there is not also some badness hidden in it" ("Moralia", 6, 22). The Baptist's fasting they interpret as the work of the devil; whereas they accuse Jesus of being a glutton. The evangelist has to report these calumnies and accusations spoken against our Lord; otherwise, we would have no notion of the extent of the malice of those who show such furious opposition to Him who went about doing good (Acts 10:38). On other occasions Jesus warned His disciples that they would be treated the same as He was (cf. John 15:20).
The works of Jesus and John the Baptist, each in their own way, lead to the accomplishment of God's plan for man's salvation: the fact that some people do not recognize Him does not prevent God's plan being carried into effect.]
35. The wisdom referred to here is divine Wisdom, especially Christ Himself (cf. Wisdom 7:26; Proverbs 8:22). "Children of Wisdom" is a Hebrew way of saying "wise men"; he is truly wise who comes to know God and love Him and be saved by Him--in other words, a saint.
Divine wisdom is revealed in the creation and government of the universe, and, particularly, in the salvation of mankind. Wise men "justifying" wisdom seems to mean the wise, the saints, bear witness to Christ by living holy lives: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Old Calendar: Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis
From: Luke 7:31-35
Jesus Reproaches His Contemporaries
(Jesus spoke to the crowds), [33] For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.' [34] The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' [35] Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."
____________________________
Commentary:
31-34. See the note on Matthew 11:16-19.
[The note on Matthew 11:16-19 states:
16-19. Making reference to a popular song or a child's game of His time, Jesus reproaches those who offer groundless excuses for not recognizing Him. From the beginning of human history the Lord has striven to attract all men to Himself: "What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5:4), and often He has been rejected: "When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:4).
Our Lord also condemns calumny: some people do try to justify their own behavior by seeing sin where there is only virtue. "When they find something which is quite obviously good," St. Gregory the Great says, "they pry into it to see if there is not also some badness hidden in it" ("Moralia", 6, 22). The Baptist's fasting they interpret as the work of the devil; whereas they accuse Jesus of being a glutton. The evangelist has to report these calumnies and accusations spoken against our Lord; otherwise, we would have no notion of the extent of the malice of those who show such furious opposition to Him who went about doing good (Acts 10:38). On other occasions Jesus warned His disciples that they would be treated the same as He was (cf. John 15:20).
The works of Jesus and John the Baptist, each in their own way, lead to the accomplishment of God's plan for man's salvation: the fact that some people do not recognize Him does not prevent God's plan being carried into effect.]
35. The wisdom referred to here is divine Wisdom, especially Christ Himself (cf. Wisdom 7:26; Proverbs 8:22). "Children of Wisdom" is a Hebrew way of saying "wise men"; he is truly wise who comes to know God and love Him and be saved by Him--in other words, a saint.
Divine wisdom is revealed in the creation and government of the universe, and, particularly, in the salvation of mankind. Wise men "justifying" wisdom seems to mean the wise, the saints, bear witness to Christ by living holy lives: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Just for Today, September 17
Men's sentiments are often wrong in their judgements; and the lovers of the world are deceived in loving visible things alone.
What is a man the better for being reputed greater by man? One deceitful man deceiveth another; the vain deceives the vain, the blind deceives the blind, the weak the weak, whilst he extols him; and in truth doth rather confound him, whilst he vainly praiseth him.
For how much each one is in Thy eyes, so much he is, and no more, saith the humble St Francis.
-Bk. III, ch. I.
____________
To a young Sister, who said that she must be a privileged soul for God to confide other souls to her care, she replied: "I am what I am in God's sight, and nothing more. Because He has made me His interpreter, it does not mean that He has a special love for me, but rather that He has made me your servant. It is for your sake, not mine, that He has given me a certain attractiveness and the virtues that you see in me.
"The most privileged souls are those whom God keeps for Himself alone. As for those who are brought forward, a miracle of grace is needed to preserve their freshness. "
-Esprit de Sainte Therese.
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
What is a man the better for being reputed greater by man? One deceitful man deceiveth another; the vain deceives the vain, the blind deceives the blind, the weak the weak, whilst he extols him; and in truth doth rather confound him, whilst he vainly praiseth him.
For how much each one is in Thy eyes, so much he is, and no more, saith the humble St Francis.
-Bk. III, ch. I.
____________
To a young Sister, who said that she must be a privileged soul for God to confide other souls to her care, she replied: "I am what I am in God's sight, and nothing more. Because He has made me His interpreter, it does not mean that He has a special love for me, but rather that He has made me your servant. It is for your sake, not mine, that He has given me a certain attractiveness and the virtues that you see in me.
"The most privileged souls are those whom God keeps for Himself alone. As for those who are brought forward, a miracle of grace is needed to preserve their freshness. "
-Esprit de Sainte Therese.
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 17
LET the race of man lift up its hope and learn to know its own nature; let it see how great a place it ~as in the works of God. Despise not yourselves, ye men; the Son of God took upon him the nature of man. Despise not yourselves, ye women; the Son of God was born of a woman.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 17
IF God were to allow us to present our petitions to him once a month, it would be a great favour. The kings of the earth give audiences a few times in the year, but God gives a continual audience.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
News Updates, 9/16
Benedict's blessing a balm to the suffering
Pope's homily focuses on the hopefulness of Mary's smile
Pope to French Catholics: Don't be afraid
Fear, frustration, misunderstanding over religion run deep
Pastor gets police protection after Pope insult
Guitar song lyrics allegedly raise hackles in Germany
“Clearly disappointing”
Northern California Lay Convocation draws sparse crowd
Palin staunchly pro-life in ABC interview
Reiterates her opposition to abortion, embryo research
Lawyer: priest abuse case like Salem witch-hunt
Says media treatment had been 'an absolute disgrace'
Saudi OKs killing 'immoral' TV executives
Says satellite channels cause 'deviance of thousands'
Christian-Hindu tensions in India spread south
Hindus attack churches over religious conversions
Sex-in-confessionals book criticized by Catholics
'This is sick stuff and the authors should be ashamed'
Does Joe Biden have a Catholic problem?
He should resist temptation to wade into theology
Pope's homily focuses on the hopefulness of Mary's smile
Pope to French Catholics: Don't be afraid
Fear, frustration, misunderstanding over religion run deep
Pastor gets police protection after Pope insult
Guitar song lyrics allegedly raise hackles in Germany
“Clearly disappointing”
Northern California Lay Convocation draws sparse crowd
Palin staunchly pro-life in ABC interview
Reiterates her opposition to abortion, embryo research
Lawyer: priest abuse case like Salem witch-hunt
Says media treatment had been 'an absolute disgrace'
Saudi OKs killing 'immoral' TV executives
Says satellite channels cause 'deviance of thousands'
Christian-Hindu tensions in India spread south
Hindus attack churches over religious conversions
Sex-in-confessionals book criticized by Catholics
'This is sick stuff and the authors should be ashamed'
Does Joe Biden have a Catholic problem?
He should resist temptation to wade into theology
Gospel for Sept 16, Memorial: St. Cornelius, Pope, and St. Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
Tuesday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Cornelius, pope and martyr and St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr; Sts. Euphemia, Lucy and Geminanus, martyrs.
From: Luke 7:11-17
The Son of the Widow in Nain Restored to Life
[11] Soon afterwards He (Jesus) went to a city called Nain, and His disciples and a great crowd went with Him. [12] As He drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, theonly son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. [13] And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." [14] And He came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." [15] And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And He gave him to his mother. [16] Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited His people!" [17] And this report concerning Him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
________________________
Commentary:
11-17. "Jesus crosses paths again with a crowd of people. He could have passed by or waited until they called Him. But He didn't. He took the initiative, because He was moved by a widow's sorrow. She had just lost all she had, her son.
"The evangelist explains that Jesus was moved. Perhaps He even showed signs of it, as when Lazarus died. Christ was not, and is not, insensitive to the suffering that stems from love. He is pained at seeing children separated from their parents. He overcomes death so as to give life, to reunite those who love one another. But at the same time, He requires that we first admit the pre-eminence of divine love, which alone can inspire genuine Christian living.
"Christ knows He is surrounded by a crowd which will be awed by the miracle and will tell the story all over the countryside. But He does not act artificially, merely to create an effect. Quite simply He is touched by that woman's suffering and cannot but console her. So He goes up to her and says, `Do not weep.' It is like saying, `I don't want to see you crying; I have come on earth to bring joy and peace.' And then comes the miracle, the sign of the power of Christ who is God. But first came His compassion, an evident sign of the tenderness of the heart of Christ the man" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 166).
15. This mother's joy on being given back her son reminds us of the joy of our Mother the Church when her sinful children return to the life of grace. "The widowed mother rejoiced at the raising of that young man," St. Augustine comments. "Our Mother the Church rejoices every day when people are raised again in spirit. The young man had been dead physically; the latter, dead spiritually. The young man's death was mourned visibly; the death of the latter was invisible and unmourned. He seeks them out Who knew them to be dead; only He can bring them back to life" ("Sermon", 98, 2).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Old Calendar: St. Cornelius, pope and martyr and St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr; Sts. Euphemia, Lucy and Geminanus, martyrs.
From: Luke 7:11-17
The Son of the Widow in Nain Restored to Life
[11] Soon afterwards He (Jesus) went to a city called Nain, and His disciples and a great crowd went with Him. [12] As He drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, theonly son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. [13] And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." [14] And He came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." [15] And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And He gave him to his mother. [16] Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited His people!" [17] And this report concerning Him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
________________________
Commentary:
11-17. "Jesus crosses paths again with a crowd of people. He could have passed by or waited until they called Him. But He didn't. He took the initiative, because He was moved by a widow's sorrow. She had just lost all she had, her son.
"The evangelist explains that Jesus was moved. Perhaps He even showed signs of it, as when Lazarus died. Christ was not, and is not, insensitive to the suffering that stems from love. He is pained at seeing children separated from their parents. He overcomes death so as to give life, to reunite those who love one another. But at the same time, He requires that we first admit the pre-eminence of divine love, which alone can inspire genuine Christian living.
"Christ knows He is surrounded by a crowd which will be awed by the miracle and will tell the story all over the countryside. But He does not act artificially, merely to create an effect. Quite simply He is touched by that woman's suffering and cannot but console her. So He goes up to her and says, `Do not weep.' It is like saying, `I don't want to see you crying; I have come on earth to bring joy and peace.' And then comes the miracle, the sign of the power of Christ who is God. But first came His compassion, an evident sign of the tenderness of the heart of Christ the man" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 166).
15. This mother's joy on being given back her son reminds us of the joy of our Mother the Church when her sinful children return to the life of grace. "The widowed mother rejoiced at the raising of that young man," St. Augustine comments. "Our Mother the Church rejoices every day when people are raised again in spirit. The young man had been dead physically; the latter, dead spiritually. The young man's death was mourned visibly; the death of the latter was invisible and unmourned. He seeks them out Who knew them to be dead; only He can bring them back to life" ("Sermon", 98, 2).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Just for Today, September 16
Help me, O Lord God, in my good resolution, and in Thy holy service, and give me grace now, this day, perfectly to begin, for what I hitherto have done is nothing.
According as our resolution is, will the progress of our advancement be: and he hath need of much diligence who would advance much. Let us endeavour what we can, we shall still be apt to fail in many things.
-Bk. I, ch. xix.
If a man does what lies in him, and is truly penitent, as often as he shall come to Me for pardon and grace, as I live, saith the Lord, I will no longer remember his sins, but all shall be forgiven him.
-Bk. IV, ch. vii.
_____________
I quite agree with you that the many imperfections of His friends wound the Sacred Heart of Jesus more deeply than do the grave faults of His enemies. But, my dear brother, it seems to me that it is only when these failings spring from habit, and are not regretted, that He can say: "What are these wounds in the midst of my hands?" With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved me (Zach. xiii, 6). But those who love Him, and who throw themselves into His arms after every fall asking for pardon, only fill His Heart with a new joy.
-Letters.
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
According as our resolution is, will the progress of our advancement be: and he hath need of much diligence who would advance much. Let us endeavour what we can, we shall still be apt to fail in many things.
-Bk. I, ch. xix.
If a man does what lies in him, and is truly penitent, as often as he shall come to Me for pardon and grace, as I live, saith the Lord, I will no longer remember his sins, but all shall be forgiven him.
-Bk. IV, ch. vii.
_____________
I quite agree with you that the many imperfections of His friends wound the Sacred Heart of Jesus more deeply than do the grave faults of His enemies. But, my dear brother, it seems to me that it is only when these failings spring from habit, and are not regretted, that He can say: "What are these wounds in the midst of my hands?" With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved me (Zach. xiii, 6). But those who love Him, and who throw themselves into His arms after every fall asking for pardon, only fill His Heart with a new joy.
-Letters.
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 16
THIS medicine for men is so great, as that thought cannot reach unto it. For what pride can be healed if it be not healed by the humiliation of the Son of God? What covetousness can be healed if it be not healed by the poverty of the Son of God?
What wrath can be healed if it be not healed by the long-suffering of the Son of God? What ungodliness can be healed if it be not healed by the love of the Son of God? Finally, what fearfulness can be healed if it be not healed by the Resurrection of the body of Christ the Lord?
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
What wrath can be healed if it be not healed by the long-suffering of the Son of God? What ungodliness can be healed if it be not healed by the love of the Son of God? Finally, what fearfulness can be healed if it be not healed by the Resurrection of the body of Christ the Lord?
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 16
IT is better and safer to act through a motive of doing the will of God, than with the intention of promoting his glory, because we shall thus escape all the delusions of self-love.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Britain Honors Birth Control, Eugenics Advocate with Postage Stamp
Is this pure stupidity or pure evil? Much of the world appears to have gone mad, deranged or possessed.(CNSNews.com) – Britain’s Royal Mail is under fire over a decision to honor a birth control pioneer and eugenicist who shared views on racial purity with the Nazis.
Marie Stopes [who died in 1958] is one of six female pioneers commemorated in a series of postage stamps named “Women of Distinction,” which will be on sale from mid-October.
[...]
Interested in “selective breeding,” she founded an organization called the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress, and in 1935 – according to published accounts – Stopes attended a Nazi-hosted population conference in Berlin.
[...]
Anthony Ozimic, political secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, also slammed the Royal Mail decision.
“Praising Marie Stopes as a woman of distinction should be as unacceptable as praising Adolf Hitler as a great leader,” he said. “Both promoted compulsory sterilization and thereby the eventual elimination of society's most vulnerable members to achieve what they called racial progress.”
[...]
Although the Roman Catholic Church was the leading opponent of her activism, she also was accused by rivals in the birth control movement of anti-Semitism.
[...]
According to her biography in The World of Genetics, it was after Stopes met and was inspired by American birth control activist Margaret Sanger in 1915 that she “began crusading for sexual freedom and birth control....”
Minnesota Parish "Canonizes" Three New Saints?
Click on the picture for a better view!This is truly unbelievable, but then many have made themselves popes in their own minds!
The Saint Lawrence Catholic Parish and Newman Center for the University of Minnesota has set up a special prayer chapel area complete with kneelers to pray to the following "saints" of the Catholic Church. Notice the halo surrounding each of the "saint's" heads.
So who are these new saints? Looking at the picture, they are:
"Saint" Dorothy Day in the upper left corner.
"Saint" Martin Luther King in the upper right corner.
"Saint" Gandhi of India in the bottom left corner and,
There is a new devotional name for Our Lady - the Our Lady of the Disappeared [whoever this is]- in the bottom right corner of the picture.
According to information in the Newman Center, this prayer chapel has been located here since 1966. And Catholics wonder why Catholics in the US are so confused...
And I haven't even mentioned the "corpus" on the cross....What's wrong with these people?
Contact:
St. Lawrence Newman Center
Phone 612-331-7941
Fax 612-378-177
Email: 1info@umncatholic.org
1203 5th Street, SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414-2030
For what it's worth, let's look at the Code of Canon Law which discusses this matter:
Can. 1186: To foster the sanctification of the people of God, the Church commends to the special and filial veneration of Christ's faithful the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, the Mother of God, whom Christ constituted the Mother of all. The Church also promotes the true and authentic cult of the other Saints, by whose example the faithful are edified and by whose intercession they are supported.Is a Catholic to understand that some ecclesiastical authority has approved these new "saints"?
Can. 1187: Only those servants of God may be venerated by public cult who have been numbered by ecclesiastical authority among the Saints or the Blessed.
Previously posted here was a episode at a parish in the St Louis Archdiocese where a picture of "Saint" MLK, complete with a votive candle, was displayed in the sanctuary next to the altar during Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, initiated, as we were led to understand, by St Cronan's pastor.
HT to Peter Cansius for the tip!
News Updates, 9/15
Birds of a feather?
Bishop Jaime Soto will give keynote address at National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries convention
Arizona bishops support Prop. 102
Provides a legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Pope Benedict XVl's Homily at Lourdes
“What a great thing it is to possess the Cross! He who possesses it possesses a treasure”
New liturgical journal to promote "mutually enriching" development of Roman rite
Committed to the study and promotion of the historical, philosophical, theological and pastoral aspects of the Roman rite
Bishop Braxton and his priests begin four days of mediation
Designed to resolve problems between a bishop and his priests
How Pelosi got her theological ideas
Systematically undermined by Catholic moral theologians.
Judge rejects anti-Obama group's request
Thwarts advertising plans to tell "the real truth" about Barack Obama's abortion views.
Denial of 1st Amendment Rights?
Bishop Jaime Soto will give keynote address at National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries convention
Arizona bishops support Prop. 102
Provides a legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Pope Benedict XVl's Homily at Lourdes
“What a great thing it is to possess the Cross! He who possesses it possesses a treasure”
New liturgical journal to promote "mutually enriching" development of Roman rite
Committed to the study and promotion of the historical, philosophical, theological and pastoral aspects of the Roman rite
Bishop Braxton and his priests begin four days of mediation
Designed to resolve problems between a bishop and his priests
How Pelosi got her theological ideas
Systematically undermined by Catholic moral theologians.
Judge rejects anti-Obama group's request
Thwarts advertising plans to tell "the real truth" about Barack Obama's abortion views.
Denial of 1st Amendment Rights?
Gospel for Sept 15, Memorial: Our Lady of Sorrows
Monday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
St. Nicomedes, martyr
For the Alternate Gospel according to John 19:25-27, click here.
________________
From: Luke 2:33-35
Simeon's Prophecy
[33] And His father and His mother marvelled at what was said about Him; [34] and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother, "Behold this child is set for the fall the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against [35] (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."
_______________
Commentary:
33. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph marvelled not because they did not know who Christ was; they were in awe at the way God was revealing Him. Once again they teach us to contemplate the mysteries involved in the birth of Christ.
34-35. After Simeon blesses them, the Holy Spirit moves him to further prophecy about the Child's future and His Mother's. His words become clearer in the light of our Lord's life and death.
Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, yet He will be a sign of contradiction because some people will obstinately reject Him--and for this reason He will be their ruin. But for those who accept Him with faith Jesus will be their salvation, freeing them from sin in this life and raising them up to eternal life.
The words Simeon addresses to Mary announce that she will be intimately linked with her Son's redemptive work. The sword indicates that Mary will have a share in her Son's sufferings; hers will be an unspeakable pain which pierces her soul. Our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and it is those sins which forge the sword of Mary's pain. Therefore, we have a duty to atone not only to God but also to His Mother, who is our Mother too.
The last words of the prophecy, "that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed", link up with verse 34: uprightness or perversity will be demonstrated by whether one accepts or rejects Christ.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Old Calendar: Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
St. Nicomedes, martyr
For the Alternate Gospel according to John 19:25-27, click here.
________________
From: Luke 2:33-35
Simeon's Prophecy
[33] And His father and His mother marvelled at what was said about Him; [34] and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother, "Behold this child is set for the fall the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against [35] (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."
_______________
Commentary:
33. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph marvelled not because they did not know who Christ was; they were in awe at the way God was revealing Him. Once again they teach us to contemplate the mysteries involved in the birth of Christ.
34-35. After Simeon blesses them, the Holy Spirit moves him to further prophecy about the Child's future and His Mother's. His words become clearer in the light of our Lord's life and death.
Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, yet He will be a sign of contradiction because some people will obstinately reject Him--and for this reason He will be their ruin. But for those who accept Him with faith Jesus will be their salvation, freeing them from sin in this life and raising them up to eternal life.
The words Simeon addresses to Mary announce that she will be intimately linked with her Son's redemptive work. The sword indicates that Mary will have a share in her Son's sufferings; hers will be an unspeakable pain which pierces her soul. Our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and it is those sins which forge the sword of Mary's pain. Therefore, we have a duty to atone not only to God but also to His Mother, who is our Mother too.
The last words of the prophecy, "that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed", link up with verse 34: uprightness or perversity will be demonstrated by whether one accepts or rejects Christ.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Bishop Vasa: Pro-Abortion Candidates are "Disqualified" - Clarifies "Faithful Citizenship"
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, September 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During the opening day of the Catholic Leadership Conference yesterday, Baker Oregon Bishop Robert Vasa clarified the teaching of the US Bishops Conference regarding voting in favor of pro-abortion politicians. The question of whether Catholics may remain in good standing with the Church while voting for pro-abortion politicians was raised.
Bishop Vasa responded referencing the document of the United States Catholic Conference titled "Faithful Citizenship", noting a pro-abortion stance disqualifies candidates from consideration by faithful Catholics....
Speaking of politicians with a pro-abortion stand he said, "When we have someone who has that stand on a disqualifying issue, then the other issues, in many ways, do not matter because they are already wrong on that absolutely fundamental issue...."
Just for Today, September 15
Drink of the chalice of thy Lord lovingly, if thou desirest to be His friend, and to have part with Him.
-Bk. II, ch. xii.
_______________
During her long agony which lasted twelve hours, she cried out: "O my God, O sweet Virgin Mary, come to my help! My chalice is overflowing; I could not have thought it possible to suffer so much...I can only explain it by my great longing to save souls. O my God, Thy will be done, only have pity on me!"
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme).
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
-Bk. II, ch. xii.
_______________
During her long agony which lasted twelve hours, she cried out: "O my God, O sweet Virgin Mary, come to my help! My chalice is overflowing; I could not have thought it possible to suffer so much...I can only explain it by my great longing to save souls. O my God, Thy will be done, only have pity on me!"
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme).
__________________
For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
Thoughts of St Augustine for September 15
HE is displeasing unto the proud, because he most patiently endureth insults. He is displeasing to them of soft lives because he was put to the torture of the Cross; he is displeasing to the fearful because he died.
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Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-September 15
OUR LADY'S SORROWS
TIME, which usually mitigates the sorrows of the afflicted, did not relieve Mary; nay, it even increased her sorrows; for, as Jesus, on the one hand advanced in age, and always appeared more and more beautiful and amiable; so also, on the other hand, the time of his death always drew nearer, and grief always increased in the heart of Mary, at the thought of having to lose him on earth.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
TIME, which usually mitigates the sorrows of the afflicted, did not relieve Mary; nay, it even increased her sorrows; for, as Jesus, on the one hand advanced in age, and always appeared more and more beautiful and amiable; so also, on the other hand, the time of his death always drew nearer, and grief always increased in the heart of Mary, at the thought of having to lose him on earth.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Who's Behind the "Matthew 25 Network?"
From Catholic Citizens of Illionois, by Stephanie Block
A 'Who's Who' of Left-leaning "Catholics" Who Embrace Saul Alinsky's Marxist StrategiesProfessed Catholics are at war with Christ and His Church...Pray for them and for those who become infected by their insidious disease.
The words are all about feeding the hungry, freeing sex slaves, caring for AIDS orphans - the stuff, more or less, of Matthew 25, in which Jesus exhorts those who hope to inherit the kingdom to help, in very practical, material ways, their fellow men.
And these are the right words, used to craft a message to Christian voters in terms Christians find familiar and comforting. The purpose for using them, however, is to narrow the "God gap" between Republicans, who have a long-standing advantage among religious voters, and Democrats.
Whose bright idea was this? Any of a number of people have noticed and decried this "gap" but it's only been in the last four years someone has developed an effective way to bridge it. That someone is Mara Vanderslice, who has formed the political action committee called the Matthew 25 Network to "coordinate grassroots mobilization in these Christian communities, develop credible religious surrogates in the media, respond to negative faith-based attacks, and communicate directly with undecided voters through paid advertising and direct mail." [Background authorized and paid for by The Matthew 25 Network and published at here (PDF)....]
...Democrat candidates needed "a new language to use in talking about faith and values, aimed in part at neutralizing hot-button issues."....
[And] The tactic works. According to one report, candidates coached by Vanderslice did 10 percentage points or better than Democrats nationally. They're getting elected....
The Matthew 25 Network has a good number of Catholic "endorsers" -Ron Cruz, former Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Hispanic Affairs;A number of these people - Sr. Catherine, Ron Cruz, Sharon Daly, Vincent Miller, and David O'Brien - are on Obama's Catholic National Advisory Council....
Sharon Daly, former Vice-President of Catholic Charities;
Delores Leckey, Senior Fellow, Woodstock Theological Center and Former Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth;
Vince Miller of Georgetown University;
David O'Brien of College of the Holy Cross; and
Sr. Catherine Pinkerton, who serves on the board of Faith in Public Life and works for NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby.
Chicago Catholics Respond to Heterodox Views of "Obama Catholic" Doug Kmiec Recently Published in the Chicago Tribune
Some would say that Kmiec's views are more than "heterodox" - they're outright heretical.
Letters here...
Letters here...
Elections Have Consequences
Does it matter to the pro-life cause whether a President is pro-life or not? Does it matter how many pro-life people are elected to Congress?
Part of the responsibility pro-life educational organizations like Priests for Life is to familiarize people with the electoral process and its implications.
The present document, therefore, explores the progress made for the pro-life cause under a pro-life administration, and the possible impact of a pro-abortion one.
Gospel for Sunday, Feast: Triumph of the Cross
From: John 3:13-17
The Visit of Nicodemus (Continuation)
(Jesus said to Nicodemus,) [13] "No one has ascended into Heaven but He who descended from Heaven, the Son of Man. [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." [16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God sent the Son into world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
______________________
Commentary:
13. This is a formal declaration of the divinity of Jesus. No one has gone up into Heaven and, therefore, no one can have perfect knowledge of God's secrets, except God Himself who became man and came down from Heaven--Jesus, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man foretold in the Old Testament (cf. Daniel 7:13), to whom has been given eternal lordship over all peoples.
The Word does not stop being God on becoming man: even when He is on earth as man, He is in Heaven as God. It is only after the Resurrection and the Ascension that Christ is in Heaven as man also.
14-15. The bronze serpent which Moses set up on a pole was established by God to cure those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpents in the desert (cf. Numbers 21:8-9). Jesus compares this with His crucifixion, to show the value of His being raised up on the cross: those who look on Him with faith can obtain salvation. We could say that the good thief was the first to experience the saving power of Christ on the cross: he saw the crucified Jesus, the King of Israel, the Messiah, and was immediately promised that he would be in Paradise that very day (cf. Luke 23:39-43).
The Son of God took on our human nature to make known the hidden mystery of God's own life (cf. Mark 4:11; John 1:18; 3:1-13; Ephesians 3:9) and to free from sin and death those who look at Him with faith and love and who accept the cross of every day.
The faith of which our Lord speaks is not just intellectual acceptance of the truths He has taught: it involves recognizing Him as Son of God (cf. 1 John 5:1), sharing His very life (cf. John 1:12) and surrendering ourselves out of love and therefore becoming like Him (cf. John 10:27; 1 John 3:2). But this faith is a gift of God (cf. John 3:3, 5-8), and we should ask Him to strengthen it and increase it as the Apostles did: Lord "increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5). While faith is a supernatural, free gift, it is also a virtue, a good habit, which a person can practise and thereby develop: so the Christian, who already has the divine gift of faith, needs with the help of grace to make explicit acts of faith in order to make this virtue grow.
16-21. These words, so charged with meaning, summarize how Christ's death is the supreme sign of God's love for men (cf. the section on charity in the "Introduction to the Gospel according to St. John": pp. 31ff above). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for its salvation. All our religion is a revelation of God's kindness, mercy and love for us. `God is love' (1 John 4:16), that is, love poured forth unsparingly. All is summed up in this supreme truth, which explains and illuminates everything. The story of Jesus must be seen in this light. `(He) loved me, St. Paul writes. Each of us can and must repeat it for himself--`He loved me, and gave Himself for me'(Galatians 2:20)" (Paul VI, "Homily on Corpus Christi", 13 June 1976).
Christ's self-surrender is a pressing call to respond to His great love for us: "If it is true that God has created us, that He has redeemed us, that He loves us so much that He has given up His only-begotten Son for us (John 3:16), that He waits for us--every day!--as eagerly as the father of the prodigal son did (cf. Luke 15:11-32), how can we doubt that He wants us to respond to Him with all love? The strange thing would be not to talk to God, to draw away and forget Him, and busy ourselves in activities which are closed to the constant promptings of His grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 251).
"Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This [...] is why Christ the Redeemer `fully reveals man to himself'. If we may use the __expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity.[...] The one who wishes to understand himself thoroughly [...] must, with his unrest and uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into Him with all his own self, he must `appropriate' and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself.
How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he `gained so great a Redeemer', ("Roman Missal, Exultet" at Easter Vigil), and if God `gave His only Son' in order that man `should not perish but have eternal life'. [...]
`Increasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection" (John Paul II, "Redemptor Hominis", 10).
Jesus demands that we have faith in Him as a first prerequisite to sharing in His love. Faith brings us out of darkness into the light, and sets us on the road to salvation. "He who does not believe is condemned already" (verse 18).
"The words of Christ are at once words of judgment and grace, of life and death. For it is only by putting to death that which is old that we can come to newness of life. Now, although this refers primarily to people, it is also true of various worldly goods which bear the mark both of man's sin and the blessing of God.[...] No one is freed from sin by himself or by his own efforts, no one is raised above himself or completely delivered from his own weakness, solitude or slavery; all have need of Christ, who is the model, master, liberator, savior, and giver of life. Even in the secular history of mankind the Gospel has acted as a leaven in the interests of liberty and progress, and it always offers itself as a leaven with regard to brotherhood, unity and peace" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 8).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
The Visit of Nicodemus (Continuation)
(Jesus said to Nicodemus,) [13] "No one has ascended into Heaven but He who descended from Heaven, the Son of Man. [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." [16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God sent the Son into world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
______________________
Commentary:
13. This is a formal declaration of the divinity of Jesus. No one has gone up into Heaven and, therefore, no one can have perfect knowledge of God's secrets, except God Himself who became man and came down from Heaven--Jesus, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man foretold in the Old Testament (cf. Daniel 7:13), to whom has been given eternal lordship over all peoples.
The Word does not stop being God on becoming man: even when He is on earth as man, He is in Heaven as God. It is only after the Resurrection and the Ascension that Christ is in Heaven as man also.
14-15. The bronze serpent which Moses set up on a pole was established by God to cure those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpents in the desert (cf. Numbers 21:8-9). Jesus compares this with His crucifixion, to show the value of His being raised up on the cross: those who look on Him with faith can obtain salvation. We could say that the good thief was the first to experience the saving power of Christ on the cross: he saw the crucified Jesus, the King of Israel, the Messiah, and was immediately promised that he would be in Paradise that very day (cf. Luke 23:39-43).
The Son of God took on our human nature to make known the hidden mystery of God's own life (cf. Mark 4:11; John 1:18; 3:1-13; Ephesians 3:9) and to free from sin and death those who look at Him with faith and love and who accept the cross of every day.
The faith of which our Lord speaks is not just intellectual acceptance of the truths He has taught: it involves recognizing Him as Son of God (cf. 1 John 5:1), sharing His very life (cf. John 1:12) and surrendering ourselves out of love and therefore becoming like Him (cf. John 10:27; 1 John 3:2). But this faith is a gift of God (cf. John 3:3, 5-8), and we should ask Him to strengthen it and increase it as the Apostles did: Lord "increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5). While faith is a supernatural, free gift, it is also a virtue, a good habit, which a person can practise and thereby develop: so the Christian, who already has the divine gift of faith, needs with the help of grace to make explicit acts of faith in order to make this virtue grow.
16-21. These words, so charged with meaning, summarize how Christ's death is the supreme sign of God's love for men (cf. the section on charity in the "Introduction to the Gospel according to St. John": pp. 31ff above). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for its salvation. All our religion is a revelation of God's kindness, mercy and love for us. `God is love' (1 John 4:16), that is, love poured forth unsparingly. All is summed up in this supreme truth, which explains and illuminates everything. The story of Jesus must be seen in this light. `(He) loved me, St. Paul writes. Each of us can and must repeat it for himself--`He loved me, and gave Himself for me'(Galatians 2:20)" (Paul VI, "Homily on Corpus Christi", 13 June 1976).
Christ's self-surrender is a pressing call to respond to His great love for us: "If it is true that God has created us, that He has redeemed us, that He loves us so much that He has given up His only-begotten Son for us (John 3:16), that He waits for us--every day!--as eagerly as the father of the prodigal son did (cf. Luke 15:11-32), how can we doubt that He wants us to respond to Him with all love? The strange thing would be not to talk to God, to draw away and forget Him, and busy ourselves in activities which are closed to the constant promptings of His grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 251).
"Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This [...] is why Christ the Redeemer `fully reveals man to himself'. If we may use the __expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity.[...] The one who wishes to understand himself thoroughly [...] must, with his unrest and uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into Him with all his own self, he must `appropriate' and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself.
How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he `gained so great a Redeemer', ("Roman Missal, Exultet" at Easter Vigil), and if God `gave His only Son' in order that man `should not perish but have eternal life'. [...]
`Increasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection" (John Paul II, "Redemptor Hominis", 10).
Jesus demands that we have faith in Him as a first prerequisite to sharing in His love. Faith brings us out of darkness into the light, and sets us on the road to salvation. "He who does not believe is condemned already" (verse 18).
"The words of Christ are at once words of judgment and grace, of life and death. For it is only by putting to death that which is old that we can come to newness of life. Now, although this refers primarily to people, it is also true of various worldly goods which bear the mark both of man's sin and the blessing of God.[...] No one is freed from sin by himself or by his own efforts, no one is raised above himself or completely delivered from his own weakness, solitude or slavery; all have need of Christ, who is the model, master, liberator, savior, and giver of life. Even in the secular history of mankind the Gospel has acted as a leaven in the interests of liberty and progress, and it always offers itself as a leaven with regard to brotherhood, unity and peace" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 8).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.