Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: That I may grow to appreciate the pleasure of visiting you.
The Idea: Suppose you could have a private talk with your favorite sport celebrity, or were asked to be the companion of a popular entertainer while he was in town, or the escort of the top singer in the country. Suppose you had the chance to have a long talk with the one famous person in America in whom you are most interested in and would most like to meet. You wouldn't miss the opportunity for the world!
Now, how have you acted with regard to another celebrity? This celebrity is known not only in the United States but in every country of the world! His fame is not just a temporary thing, for he has been honored by millions of people for close to 2000 years. Yet despite His greatness, He wants to have private talks with each of us. He wants to be a lifelong companion of each of us. He has made Himself available in every neighborhood. That celebrity is Christ, present in every tabernacle throughout the world.
My Personal Application: How often have I taken the opportunity to visit and chat privately with Christ? When I do stop to visit, do I just rattle off a lot of ready-made prayers? Or, do I really tell Christ of my joys and problems, asking His advice and help?
I Speak to Christ: O my Lord, I believe you are present in the Blessed Sacrament. I am sorry for ignoring you so often. I shall visit you more frequently; and when I do, give me the grace to feel at home, to speak to you about myself, my difficulties, my pleasures, my plans - and about you - your hopes, your plans, your desires for me, for your Church, for all men. Let me speak not only as an admirer to a celebrity, but as a friend to a friend.
Thought for Today: "Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
Encouraging News from Peru
This looks to be an interesting book...
As related at Lifesite, there is a very interesting and encouraging story of faith and science. It concerns one Francis Collins, the man headed the team of scientists who cracked the human genome.
Collins admits to being an "obnoxious atheist" before being persuaded by the convincing arguments and reason of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity.
This is yet another example of God's blessings in action. I'm looking forward to this man's story and his insights.
“When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information and all kinds of mystery about humankind you can’t survey that going through page after page without a sense of awe. I can’t help but look at those pages and have a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God’s mind.”His book, The Language of God, scheduled to be published in September, sets out to "explain how a scientist who studies genetics came to be a believer in a God who is unlimited by time and space, and who takes personal interest in human beings..."
Collins admits to being an "obnoxious atheist" before being persuaded by the convincing arguments and reason of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity.
This is yet another example of God's blessings in action. I'm looking forward to this man's story and his insights.
Mental Prayer for June 12 - The Real Presence
Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: O my God, increase my faith.
The Idea:In the front lines a fierce battle was raging. Time and time again the hill was charged only to be defended strongly. The men were growing weary and dejected. Suddenly word was passed around that the commanding officer was in the front lines. Knowing that he was willing to share their dangers, the men renewed their efforts. With an almost unbelievable surge of spirit the objective was taken.
We are fighting a battle now. The objective is heaven and the possession of God. The enemy is satan. Our strength lies in staying close to our leader, Christ. Christ, knowing of our battle, decided to stay with us always. Because of His tremendous love for each of us He is really present in our tabernacles, on our altars at every Mass, and in our hearts after every Communion.
My Personal Application: Do I really think of Christ as a strong and powerful leader? Do I feel that Christ is really close to me, with all His Heart wanting me to be victorious? Do I ask His help in the fight? Do I give Him the opportunity of being with me in Communion? He won't force Himself on me; He waits for me to invite Him. He is always ready to strengthen me in my daily trials, eager to give me His peace and power, His gladness and comfort.
I Speak to Christ: My Lord, I do believe that you are really present in the Blessed Sacrament. I believe that I can do everything with your help. Help me to grow in greater confidence in you. Help me to rely on you. And today may at least one more person come to realize what it really means to have you present here with us.
Thought for Today: "He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: O my God, increase my faith.
The Idea:In the front lines a fierce battle was raging. Time and time again the hill was charged only to be defended strongly. The men were growing weary and dejected. Suddenly word was passed around that the commanding officer was in the front lines. Knowing that he was willing to share their dangers, the men renewed their efforts. With an almost unbelievable surge of spirit the objective was taken.
We are fighting a battle now. The objective is heaven and the possession of God. The enemy is satan. Our strength lies in staying close to our leader, Christ. Christ, knowing of our battle, decided to stay with us always. Because of His tremendous love for each of us He is really present in our tabernacles, on our altars at every Mass, and in our hearts after every Communion.
My Personal Application: Do I really think of Christ as a strong and powerful leader? Do I feel that Christ is really close to me, with all His Heart wanting me to be victorious? Do I ask His help in the fight? Do I give Him the opportunity of being with me in Communion? He won't force Himself on me; He waits for me to invite Him. He is always ready to strengthen me in my daily trials, eager to give me His peace and power, His gladness and comfort.
I Speak to Christ: My Lord, I do believe that you are really present in the Blessed Sacrament. I believe that I can do everything with your help. Help me to grow in greater confidence in you. Help me to rely on you. And today may at least one more person come to realize what it really means to have you present here with us.
Thought for Today: "He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
On Examining One's Conscience-Peace of Soul
Every person has a little corner in his heart he never wants anyone to venture into, even with a candle. That is why we can deceive ourselves and why our neighbors know us better than we know ourselves.
The examination of unconsciousness, if it is used as a substitute for examination of conscience, only intensifies this deceit.
We often justify ourselves by saying that we are following our consciences, when we are only following our desires.
We fit a creed to the way we live, rather than the way we live to a creed; we suit religion to our actions, rather than actions to religion.
We try to keep religion on a speculative basis in order to avoid moral reproaches on our conduct.
We sit at the piano of life and insist that every note we strike is right - because we struck it.
If each man is his own judge and standard, then who shall say he is wrong?
Not only will a good examination of conscience cure us of such self-deception - it will also cure us of depression. Depression comes, not from having faults, but from the refusal to face them.
There are tens of thousands of persons today suffering from fears which in reality are nothing but the effects of hidden sins. The evil conscience is always the fearful conscience. The greatest worries come from our failure to face reality. (That is why a pain which is present is more bearable than an equal worry which is yet in the future.)
Morbidity increases with the denial of guilt, the explaining it away or the covering up of the ulcerous partP Whence comes the depression of selfpity, if it be not a total unconcern with the interests of others, which is a sin? A soldier on a battlefield does not heed the wound if he loves his cause, and the soul that can cast its anxiety and worry upon an all-loving God is thus saved from self-pity.
Many souls are like persons with boils, who could be cured by lancing, which would allow the pus to run out.
Their suppressed sins give rise to this form of sadness. There has never been in the history of the Church a saint who was not joyful: there have been many saints who were great sinners, like Augustine, but there have never been sad saints. This is understandable: perhaps there could not be anything in life more depressing than the knowledge that one has been guilty of a grave sin, without the chance Christians enjoy of starting all over again.
St. Paul wisely distinguishes between the sadness of the guilty who know Redemption and the depression of those who deny both their guilt and the possibility of forgiveness. "For the sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation; but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (II Cor. 7:10). "For know ye that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance although with tears he had sought it" (Heb. 12:17).
The examination of conscience not only relieves our sadness, not only gives us a second chance when forgiven; it also restores us to Love.
In the examination of conscience a person concentrates less on his own sin than on the Mercy of God - as the wounded concentrate less on their wounds than on the power of the physician who binds and heals the wounds.
The examination of conscience develops no complex because it is done in the light of God's justice. The self is not the standard, nor is it the source of hope. All human frailty and all human weakness are seen in the radiation of God's infinite goodness, and never once is a fault separated from knowledge of the Divine Mercy.
Examination of conscience pictures sin, not as the violation of law, but as the breaking of a relationship. It develops sorrow, not because a code has been violated, but because love has been wounded. As the empty pantry drives the housewife to the bakery, so the empty soul is driven to the Bread of Life.
Nor is examination of conscience a concentration on one's own disordered consciousness in the way an Oriental mystic contemplates his navel. Excessive introspection leads to immobility and morbidity.
No minds or souls are more helpless than those who say they will "work the thing out alone." The Christian soul knows it needs Divine Help and therefore turns to Him Who loved us even while we were yet sinners.
Examination of conscience, instead of inducing morbidity, thereby becomes an occasion of joy. There are two ways of knowing how good and loving God is. One is by never losing Him, through the preservation of innocence, and the other is by finding Him after one has lost Him.
________________
Archbishop Sheen explains in this book that "anxiety cannot be cured by a surrender to passions and instincts; the basic cause of our anxiety is a restlessness within time, which comes because we are made for eternity. If there were anywhere on earth a resting place other than God, we may be very sure that the human soul in its long history would have found it before this."
Selected excerpts from Peace of Soul,
by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, New York, 1949
The examination of unconsciousness, if it is used as a substitute for examination of conscience, only intensifies this deceit.
We often justify ourselves by saying that we are following our consciences, when we are only following our desires.
We fit a creed to the way we live, rather than the way we live to a creed; we suit religion to our actions, rather than actions to religion.
We try to keep religion on a speculative basis in order to avoid moral reproaches on our conduct.
We sit at the piano of life and insist that every note we strike is right - because we struck it.
If each man is his own judge and standard, then who shall say he is wrong?
Not only will a good examination of conscience cure us of such self-deception - it will also cure us of depression. Depression comes, not from having faults, but from the refusal to face them.
There are tens of thousands of persons today suffering from fears which in reality are nothing but the effects of hidden sins. The evil conscience is always the fearful conscience. The greatest worries come from our failure to face reality. (That is why a pain which is present is more bearable than an equal worry which is yet in the future.)
Morbidity increases with the denial of guilt, the explaining it away or the covering up of the ulcerous partP Whence comes the depression of selfpity, if it be not a total unconcern with the interests of others, which is a sin? A soldier on a battlefield does not heed the wound if he loves his cause, and the soul that can cast its anxiety and worry upon an all-loving God is thus saved from self-pity.
Many souls are like persons with boils, who could be cured by lancing, which would allow the pus to run out.
Their suppressed sins give rise to this form of sadness. There has never been in the history of the Church a saint who was not joyful: there have been many saints who were great sinners, like Augustine, but there have never been sad saints. This is understandable: perhaps there could not be anything in life more depressing than the knowledge that one has been guilty of a grave sin, without the chance Christians enjoy of starting all over again.
St. Paul wisely distinguishes between the sadness of the guilty who know Redemption and the depression of those who deny both their guilt and the possibility of forgiveness. "For the sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation; but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (II Cor. 7:10). "For know ye that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance although with tears he had sought it" (Heb. 12:17).
The examination of conscience not only relieves our sadness, not only gives us a second chance when forgiven; it also restores us to Love.
In the examination of conscience a person concentrates less on his own sin than on the Mercy of God - as the wounded concentrate less on their wounds than on the power of the physician who binds and heals the wounds.
The examination of conscience develops no complex because it is done in the light of God's justice. The self is not the standard, nor is it the source of hope. All human frailty and all human weakness are seen in the radiation of God's infinite goodness, and never once is a fault separated from knowledge of the Divine Mercy.
Examination of conscience pictures sin, not as the violation of law, but as the breaking of a relationship. It develops sorrow, not because a code has been violated, but because love has been wounded. As the empty pantry drives the housewife to the bakery, so the empty soul is driven to the Bread of Life.
Nor is examination of conscience a concentration on one's own disordered consciousness in the way an Oriental mystic contemplates his navel. Excessive introspection leads to immobility and morbidity.
No minds or souls are more helpless than those who say they will "work the thing out alone." The Christian soul knows it needs Divine Help and therefore turns to Him Who loved us even while we were yet sinners.
Examination of conscience, instead of inducing morbidity, thereby becomes an occasion of joy. There are two ways of knowing how good and loving God is. One is by never losing Him, through the preservation of innocence, and the other is by finding Him after one has lost Him.
________________
Archbishop Sheen explains in this book that "anxiety cannot be cured by a surrender to passions and instincts; the basic cause of our anxiety is a restlessness within time, which comes because we are made for eternity. If there were anywhere on earth a resting place other than God, we may be very sure that the human soul in its long history would have found it before this."
Selected excerpts from Peace of Soul,
by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, New York, 1949
Proven: Unborn Babies Feel Pain
Neonatologist Proves That Fetus Feel Pain
ROME, JUNE 11, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Fetus do feel pain, reports a renown neonatologist and professor of the University of Kansas.
K.J.S. Anand, who proved in the '80s that newborns feel pain, demonstrates in a study that appears in the June 2006 issue of "Pain Clinical Updates," official review of the International Association for the Study of Pain, that fetus feel pain as well, possibly even before late gestation.
According to Anand, the study was carried out because "fetal pain has so many implications that it requires a scientific appraisal independent of the heated controversies regarding abortion, women's rights, or the beginnings of human life."
Cardinal George: Will the real Vatican II please stand up?
The Second Vatican Council (1962-1966), 40 years after its conclusion, remains for many Catholics a source of both joy and tension. What was the Holy Spirit calling us to think and to do? For some, the Council itself was the work of the Spirit, but its implementation has been hijacked by left-wing or right-wing ideologues, depending upon one’s choice of enemies. For others, the Council itself was flawed because its documents are ambiguous or even inconsistent with apostolic tradition. The extremists in this line made tradition another word for museum and lose the sense of a living Body of Christ. Some even believe that Pope John XXIII and all his successors are anti-Popes and that the Church has been without a Bishop of Rome since the death of Pius XII in 1958.
A few months ago, the current Bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, offered an interpretation of the Second Vatican Council that merits close attention. The Council was called in order to give genuinely new impetus to the Church’s mission in the world. In order to overcome within the Church anything that might impede or obscure the Church’s mission, the Council called for an updating or renewal in the Church’s life. “Aggiornamento,” which is Italian for updating, was not, however, intended to mean that the Church should simply accommodate herself to the world. Ecclesiastical renewal is not a form of self-secularization. Pope Benedict says of those who took this path: “They have underestimated the inner tensions as well as the contradictions of the modern epoch.”
Archdiocese of Washington: Clarifications....
.....Clarification to Remarks Made on CNN’s The Situation Room
More
Some remarks by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington, that were made during an interview with Wolf Blitzer of CNN (air date June 7, 2006) were not clear and have been misinterpreted by some individuals. To prevent further confusion, the Cardinal issued the following clarification:Did he clear things up?
“I’m afraid that I misspoke last Wednesday when I was being interviewed on CNN."
More
Gospel for Monday, 10th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes
[1] Seeing the crowds, He (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples came to Him. [2] And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: [3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. [4] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [5] Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [7] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. [10] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. [11] Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven, for so men persecute the prophets who were before you."
_____________________
Commentary:
1. The Discourse, or Sermon, on the Mount takes up three full chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel--Chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of Jesus which appear in this Gospel and it contains a considerable amount of our Lord's teaching.
It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various teachings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a person must have for entering the Kingdom ofHeaven (the Beatitudes, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practice (here the "Our Father" would be included); 3) trust in God's fatherly providence; 4) how God's children should behave towards one another (not judging one's neighbor, respect for holy things, the effectiveness of prayer, and the golden rule of charity); 5) the conditions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building on rock).
"He taught them": this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can be seen at the end of the Sermon (Matthew 7:28).
2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution in their search for holiness--these are not different people or kinds of people but different demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.
Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the spirit and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes.
All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us definitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply a completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly happiness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual goods on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor--all are called, independently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.
The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but they do contain, in embryo, the whole program of Christian perfection.
3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah 2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility towards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God's mercy to be saved. This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called "spiritual childhood". A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God, a child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to God. Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks certain people--religious--to be legally detached from ownership and thereby bear witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.
4. "Those who mourn": here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suffer from any kind of affliction--particularly those who are genuinely sorry for they sins, or are pained by the offenses which others offer God, and who bear their suffering with love and in a spirit of atonement.
"You are crying? Don't be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and supernaturalize your present life" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 216).
The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who weep for their sins, and later will give them a share in the fullness of happiness and glory in Heaven: these are the blessed.
5. "The meek": those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life. Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and interior peace.
"The earth": this is usually understood as meaning our Heavenly Fatherland.
6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially religious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22 and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God, which is discovered in the commandments, in one's duties of state in life (social, professional and family responsibilities) and through one's life of prayer. Thus, righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as whatnowadays is usually called "holiness" (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 9:4).
As St. Jerome comments ("Comm. on Matthew", 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude our Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek what makes a man righteous in God's eyes. A person who genuinely wants to attain Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal vehicle of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use--frequent use of the Sacraments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet one's social, professional and family responsibilities.
7. Mercy is not a just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being understanding towards other people's defects, overlooking them, helping them cope with them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being merciful also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.
8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart, that is, in a man's soul, in the depths of his spirit. "When we speak of a person's heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the __expression `heart' in its full human meaning, as the summary and source, __expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).
Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love, in having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul says, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). Helped by God's grace, a Christian should constantly strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this purity, whose reward is the vision of God.
9. The translation "peacemakers" well convey the active meaning of the original text--those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not based on this divine peace would be vain and misleading.
"They shall be called sons of God": this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred Scripture; it is the same as saying "they will be sons of God". St. John's first letter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are".
10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian's life that call for heroism--where no compromise is admissible: either one stays true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions, or one denies Him. St. Bernard ("Sermon on the Feast of All Saints") says that the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every Christian who is faithful to Jesus' teaching is in fact a "martyr" (a witness) who reflects or acts according with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo physical death.
11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an invitation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.
___________________________
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 Beatitudes
[1] Seeing the crowds, He (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples came to Him. [2] And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: [3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. [4] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [5] Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [7] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. [10] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. [11] Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven, for so men persecute the prophets who were before you."
_____________________
Commentary:
1. The Discourse, or Sermon, on the Mount takes up three full chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel--Chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of Jesus which appear in this Gospel and it contains a considerable amount of our Lord's teaching.
It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various teachings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a person must have for entering the Kingdom ofHeaven (the Beatitudes, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practice (here the "Our Father" would be included); 3) trust in God's fatherly providence; 4) how God's children should behave towards one another (not judging one's neighbor, respect for holy things, the effectiveness of prayer, and the golden rule of charity); 5) the conditions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building on rock).
"He taught them": this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can be seen at the end of the Sermon (Matthew 7:28).
2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution in their search for holiness--these are not different people or kinds of people but different demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.
Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the spirit and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes.
All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us definitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply a completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly happiness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual goods on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor--all are called, independently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.
The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but they do contain, in embryo, the whole program of Christian perfection.
3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah 2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility towards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God's mercy to be saved. This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called "spiritual childhood". A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God, a child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to God. Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks certain people--religious--to be legally detached from ownership and thereby bear witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.
4. "Those who mourn": here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suffer from any kind of affliction--particularly those who are genuinely sorry for they sins, or are pained by the offenses which others offer God, and who bear their suffering with love and in a spirit of atonement.
"You are crying? Don't be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and supernaturalize your present life" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 216).
The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who weep for their sins, and later will give them a share in the fullness of happiness and glory in Heaven: these are the blessed.
5. "The meek": those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life. Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and interior peace.
"The earth": this is usually understood as meaning our Heavenly Fatherland.
6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially religious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22 and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God, which is discovered in the commandments, in one's duties of state in life (social, professional and family responsibilities) and through one's life of prayer. Thus, righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as whatnowadays is usually called "holiness" (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 9:4).
As St. Jerome comments ("Comm. on Matthew", 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude our Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek what makes a man righteous in God's eyes. A person who genuinely wants to attain Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal vehicle of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use--frequent use of the Sacraments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet one's social, professional and family responsibilities.
7. Mercy is not a just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being understanding towards other people's defects, overlooking them, helping them cope with them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being merciful also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.
8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart, that is, in a man's soul, in the depths of his spirit. "When we speak of a person's heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the __expression `heart' in its full human meaning, as the summary and source, __expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).
Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love, in having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul says, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). Helped by God's grace, a Christian should constantly strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this purity, whose reward is the vision of God.
9. The translation "peacemakers" well convey the active meaning of the original text--those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not based on this divine peace would be vain and misleading.
"They shall be called sons of God": this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred Scripture; it is the same as saying "they will be sons of God". St. John's first letter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are".
10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian's life that call for heroism--where no compromise is admissible: either one stays true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions, or one denies Him. St. Bernard ("Sermon on the Feast of All Saints") says that the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every Christian who is faithful to Jesus' teaching is in fact a "martyr" (a witness) who reflects or acts according with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo physical death.
11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an invitation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.
___________________________
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, June 11, 2006
Mental Prayer for June 11 - I Am the Bread of Life
Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: My God, I ask you for a deep appreciation of the Holy Eucharist.
Mental Picture (cf.John 6: 32-59) : A bright, clear morning... I am on the shore of the Sea of Galilee close to Jesus... the Apostles are near... a large crowd is present. Jesus speaks... "I am the bread of life... who comes to me will never hunger... who believes in me will never thirst... when anyone comes to Me, I will certainly not reject him... I am the bread of life... I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; the bread which I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world... He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is united with me, and I with him."
My Personal Application: How frequently have I asked Christ our Lord to be united with me physically in Holy Communion? Is there any reason why it should not be every day... or at the very least once a week? And what about all those other men - rich and poor, white and black and brown and yellow, near and far - who also receive Christ? Christ says He is united with them too... and so they, through Communion, are united in an extra-special way with me also. If we all eat together at the table of the Lord, then how should we treat each other when we leave that table?
I Speak to Christ: My Lord and my God, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to receive you in Holy Communion. Please deepen my faith in your divine presence. Help me to love you with all my heart. Help me also to love truly all those other brothers of mine, who share with me your supreme gift, yourself. "Communion" means "union with." Help me to be united with you, and through you with all men.
Thought for Today: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is united with me and I with him."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: My God, I ask you for a deep appreciation of the Holy Eucharist.
Mental Picture (cf.John 6: 32-59) : A bright, clear morning... I am on the shore of the Sea of Galilee close to Jesus... the Apostles are near... a large crowd is present. Jesus speaks... "I am the bread of life... who comes to me will never hunger... who believes in me will never thirst... when anyone comes to Me, I will certainly not reject him... I am the bread of life... I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; the bread which I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world... He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is united with me, and I with him."
My Personal Application: How frequently have I asked Christ our Lord to be united with me physically in Holy Communion? Is there any reason why it should not be every day... or at the very least once a week? And what about all those other men - rich and poor, white and black and brown and yellow, near and far - who also receive Christ? Christ says He is united with them too... and so they, through Communion, are united in an extra-special way with me also. If we all eat together at the table of the Lord, then how should we treat each other when we leave that table?
I Speak to Christ: My Lord and my God, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to receive you in Holy Communion. Please deepen my faith in your divine presence. Help me to love you with all my heart. Help me also to love truly all those other brothers of mine, who share with me your supreme gift, yourself. "Communion" means "union with." Help me to be united with you, and through you with all men.
Thought for Today: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is united with me and I with him."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Boston Priest Cheered at "Gay" Pride Service
A Catholic priest preached yesterday at the main worship service associated with Boston's gay pride week...It is correct that the Church teaches that those who suffer from this disordered inclination are to respected because of their human dignity. However, one cannot respect or defend a homosexual lifestyle - sexual deviance is not a human right. Any attempts to blur the clear distinctions are a scandal.
The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, a longtime advocate of outreach to gays and lesbians in the Catholic Church, did not criticize or dispute Catholic teaching during his remarks, and he quoted several times from a 1997 document issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which declared that "the teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended."
In 2000, Pope John Paul II called a gay pride parade in Rome an "offense to the Christian values," and last year, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document declaring that men who "support the so-called `gay culture' " should not be admitted to Catholic seminaries.It more than an offense to Christian values - it's an offense to all that is human...
Persecuted priests: A growing problem in US
During the civil war many soldiers suffered such severe wounds that surgeons had to remove limbs to save lives. Eye witnesses describe piles of arms and legs outside makeshift hospitals near the battlefield. Doctors mutilated men to save their lives. But what if the surgeons wouldn't cut? Suppose they ignored infections because they feared the attitudes of those who saw men disfigured by the knife? Even worse, what if they were quacks selling snake oil cures with no concern for their patients at all? The men would die, of course, victims of lethal bacteria.Read more at Catholic Citizens of Illinois
That's our plight in the Church in the United States.
The patient is the bride of Christ, and her diseased limbs are the many dioceses infected with the corruption of dissent and homosexuality. The doctors are bishops and clergy. Those who cover up the rot are the quacks. They apply false remedies like touching programs and mandatory fingerprinting while covering up and enabling corruption. The true doctors are faithful priests who love the Church and want to purify her. Instead of thanking their loyal sons, bad bishops persecute and vilify them. Meanwhile the quacks and charlatans flourish.
St Stanislaus Has a New Web Site...
...The old "Save St Stans" now redirects to this...
And not surprisingly, it states that it is "Polish Roman Catholic Parish"...
And not surprisingly, it states that it is "Polish Roman Catholic Parish"...
Bishop Finn Ordains 3 Priests...
Some excerpts from his homily:
"In your priestly apostolate, allow God to make you an instrument of justice and peace...Promote the dignity and respect for all human life from its inception until natural death," the bishop said.
"Support with zeal those persons who have no voice of their own - the unborn, those with special needs, the aged and the dying. Defend the integrity of marriage and the family which, as the church teaches, are at the core of our society. Be in solidarity with those who suffer injustices in our society, those who are targets of prejudice, the poor, the migrant and the refugee. Be for them signs of God's love and mercy."
"Above all, be filled with wonder and awe at the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, from which flows the life of the church and which is the primary source of the priest's pastoral love...By the manner of your celebration of the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments, the faithful will understand more fully the transcendent truths of the faith."
"Pray before Mass," he said. "Pray in thanksgiving after Mass. Though you never do this for show, do not hesitate to let your parishioners see you as a man of prayer. They will be inspired both to pray more fervently themselves and also to pray for your perseverance."
"Love confession, both as a necessity in your own life and as the expression of your priestly ministry second only to the Holy Eucharist...Make it clear to the faithful that this sacrament is a vital part of your life," he said.
"Allow yourself to be recognized as priests, not for the sake of privilege or honor, but as a sign of your ready service to God's people. Be spiritual fathers and guides. Be directors of souls. Let your priesthood be your joy...[Appreciate] the gift of priestly celibacy by which you are free to give yourself completely to the church with an undivided heart."
Gospel for Sunday, the Solemnity of The Most Holy Trinity
From: Matthew 28:16-20
Appearance in Galilee. The Mission to the World
[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
_______________________
Commentary:
16-20. This short passage, which brings to a close the Gospel of St Matthew, is of great importance. Seeing the risen Christ, the disciples adore him, worshipping him as God. This shows that at last they are fully conscious of what, from much earlier on, they felt in their heart and confessed by their words--that their Master is the Messiah, the Son of God (cf. Mt 16:18; Jn 1:49). They are overcome by amazement and joy at the wonder their eyes behold: it seems almost impossible, were he not before their very eyes. Yet he is completely real, so their fearful amazement gives way to adoration. The Master addresses them with the majesty proper to God: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Omnipotence, an attribute belonging exclusively to God, belongs to him: he is confirming the faith of his worshippers; and he is also telling them that the authority which he is going to give them to equip them to carry out their mission to the whole world, derives from his own divine authority.
On hearing him speak these words, we should bear in mind that the authority of the Church, which is given it for the salvation of mankind, comes directly from Jesus Christ, and that this authority, in the sphere of faith and morals, is above any other authority on earth.
The Apostles present on this occasion, and after them their lawful successors, receive the charge of teaching all nations what Jesus taught by word and work: he is the only path that leads to God. The Church, and in it all Christian faithful, have the duty to proclaim until the end of time, by word and example, the faith that they have received. This mission belongs especially to the successors of the Apostles, for on them devolves the power to teach with authority, "for, before Christ ascended to his Father after his resurrection, he [...] entrusted them with the mission and power to proclaim to mankind what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked upon and touched with their hands, concerning the Word of Life (1 Jn 1: 1). He also entrusted them with the mission and power to explain with authority what he had taught them, his words and actions, his signs and commandments. And he gave them the Spirit to fulfill their mission" (John Paul II, "Catechesi Tradendae", 1). Therefore, the teachings of the Pope and of the Bishops united to him should always be accepted by everyone with assent and obedience.
Here Christ also passes on to the Apostles and their successors the power to baptize, that is, to receive people into the Church, thereby opening up to them the way to personal salvation.
The mission which the Church is definitively given here at the end of St Matthew's Gospel is one of continuing the work of Christ--teaching men and women the truths concerning God and the duty incumbent on them to identify with these truths, to make them their own by having constant recourse to the grace of the sacraments. This mission will endure until the end of time and, to enable it to do this work, the risen Christ promises to stay with the Church and never leave it. When Sacred Scripture says that God is with someone, this means that that person will be successful in everything he undertakes. Therefore, the Church, helped in this way by the presence of its divine Founder, can be confident of never failing to fulfill its mission down the centuries until the end of time.
___________________________
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.
Appearance in Galilee. The Mission to the World
[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
_______________________
Commentary:
16-20. This short passage, which brings to a close the Gospel of St Matthew, is of great importance. Seeing the risen Christ, the disciples adore him, worshipping him as God. This shows that at last they are fully conscious of what, from much earlier on, they felt in their heart and confessed by their words--that their Master is the Messiah, the Son of God (cf. Mt 16:18; Jn 1:49). They are overcome by amazement and joy at the wonder their eyes behold: it seems almost impossible, were he not before their very eyes. Yet he is completely real, so their fearful amazement gives way to adoration. The Master addresses them with the majesty proper to God: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Omnipotence, an attribute belonging exclusively to God, belongs to him: he is confirming the faith of his worshippers; and he is also telling them that the authority which he is going to give them to equip them to carry out their mission to the whole world, derives from his own divine authority.
On hearing him speak these words, we should bear in mind that the authority of the Church, which is given it for the salvation of mankind, comes directly from Jesus Christ, and that this authority, in the sphere of faith and morals, is above any other authority on earth.
The Apostles present on this occasion, and after them their lawful successors, receive the charge of teaching all nations what Jesus taught by word and work: he is the only path that leads to God. The Church, and in it all Christian faithful, have the duty to proclaim until the end of time, by word and example, the faith that they have received. This mission belongs especially to the successors of the Apostles, for on them devolves the power to teach with authority, "for, before Christ ascended to his Father after his resurrection, he [...] entrusted them with the mission and power to proclaim to mankind what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked upon and touched with their hands, concerning the Word of Life (1 Jn 1: 1). He also entrusted them with the mission and power to explain with authority what he had taught them, his words and actions, his signs and commandments. And he gave them the Spirit to fulfill their mission" (John Paul II, "Catechesi Tradendae", 1). Therefore, the teachings of the Pope and of the Bishops united to him should always be accepted by everyone with assent and obedience.
Here Christ also passes on to the Apostles and their successors the power to baptize, that is, to receive people into the Church, thereby opening up to them the way to personal salvation.
The mission which the Church is definitively given here at the end of St Matthew's Gospel is one of continuing the work of Christ--teaching men and women the truths concerning God and the duty incumbent on them to identify with these truths, to make them their own by having constant recourse to the grace of the sacraments. This mission will endure until the end of time and, to enable it to do this work, the risen Christ promises to stay with the Church and never leave it. When Sacred Scripture says that God is with someone, this means that that person will be successful in everything he undertakes. Therefore, the Church, helped in this way by the presence of its divine Founder, can be confident of never failing to fulfill its mission down the centuries until the end of time.
___________________________
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.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Trinity Sunday - Hungering after Justice
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." St. Matthew, 28:19.
In a quaint little village far up in the mountains of Switzerland there lived years ago an old man who had spent his life working in ivory. His hair was white; his shoulders bent. But his eye was bright and his hand steady, as he fashioned out the hard, white ivory daisies, violets and buttercups.
From his window he could look for miles over the valley. That long look rested his eyes; but it also was his inspiration, for it let him see the beautiful storms, the gorgeous sunsets, and especially the glorious flowers pinned to the steep hillsides.
One day a visitor chose six of his flowers to take to her daughters in America. As she placed them against the soft velvet of her dress, they seemed so real that she exclaimed with admiration:
"They are perfect, just perfect. How can you make them so real?"
"No, madam," the old carver replied. "They are not perfect. I wish I could make just one perfect one. For thirty years I have tried to make a flower like God has made, but something is always missing. When I bring in a flower from the field and set it beside my own, I see how imperfect my workmanship is. However, I have honestly and laboriously tried, and it is worthwhile giving one's life trying to make a perfect thing, don't you think?"
The mother brought the flower pins home to her daughters, and tried her best to give them the message and spirit of the man who made them. His name, by the way, was Hans Klatt.
Years later one of these daughers was known as a wonderful, ideal mother, patient, courteous and loving. When a friend asked the secret of her well-known goodness, the young mother brought out the flower pin her mother had brought from Switzerland, and briefly told the story of the man who made it. She concluded by quoting the old carver's words:
"It is worthwhile giving one's life in trying to make a perfect thing."
Then she added:
"Through the years that sentence has been a challenge. I cannot be a perfect mother; I cannot expect to have perfect children. But I can keep on trying for that. Like Hans Klatt, I want to give my time and talent to making a beautiful life, as perfect a life as possible."
That young mother was living the spirit of the Fourth Beatitude: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled." St. Matthew, 5:6.
The meaning of these words is this: Blessed are they who strive strenuously after truth and spiritual perfection, for they shall attain it, they shall be satisfied, they shall be filled by the beatific vision of God in heaven.
1. Justice means the whole range of Christian virtue. In that complete sense St. Joseph was called a "just man." St. Matthew, 1:19.
2. St. Bernardine of Siena explains that this justice renders
Many of you, I am sure, want to be more perfect; you want to be more like the divine, attractive Model who spoke from the mount nearly 2000 years ago, who speaks to us today, telling us that they are blessed, they are truly and spiritually happy who try, who strive, who hunger and thirst in their effort to be more like the divine Model. In a word, they try to be more perfect. Their efforts will not be in vain.
Occasionally you may feel discouraged in your striving for spiritual success. Remember the Swiss carver. For thirty years he tried to chisel out of ivory, figures like the perfect flowers of the field. He kept on trying, even though he saw so much difference.
There is an infinite difference between ourselves and Christ, yet we keep on trying, we keep hungering and thirsting to be like Him; and, as He promises us in the Fourth Beatitude, we shall have our fill. Our spiritual strivings shall be satisfied. Amen.
__________________
Adapted from Prayers, Precepts and Virtues
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (©1949)
In a quaint little village far up in the mountains of Switzerland there lived years ago an old man who had spent his life working in ivory. His hair was white; his shoulders bent. But his eye was bright and his hand steady, as he fashioned out the hard, white ivory daisies, violets and buttercups.
From his window he could look for miles over the valley. That long look rested his eyes; but it also was his inspiration, for it let him see the beautiful storms, the gorgeous sunsets, and especially the glorious flowers pinned to the steep hillsides.
One day a visitor chose six of his flowers to take to her daughters in America. As she placed them against the soft velvet of her dress, they seemed so real that she exclaimed with admiration:
"They are perfect, just perfect. How can you make them so real?"
"No, madam," the old carver replied. "They are not perfect. I wish I could make just one perfect one. For thirty years I have tried to make a flower like God has made, but something is always missing. When I bring in a flower from the field and set it beside my own, I see how imperfect my workmanship is. However, I have honestly and laboriously tried, and it is worthwhile giving one's life trying to make a perfect thing, don't you think?"
The mother brought the flower pins home to her daughters, and tried her best to give them the message and spirit of the man who made them. His name, by the way, was Hans Klatt.
Years later one of these daughers was known as a wonderful, ideal mother, patient, courteous and loving. When a friend asked the secret of her well-known goodness, the young mother brought out the flower pin her mother had brought from Switzerland, and briefly told the story of the man who made it. She concluded by quoting the old carver's words:
"It is worthwhile giving one's life in trying to make a perfect thing."
Then she added:
"Through the years that sentence has been a challenge. I cannot be a perfect mother; I cannot expect to have perfect children. But I can keep on trying for that. Like Hans Klatt, I want to give my time and talent to making a beautiful life, as perfect a life as possible."
That young mother was living the spirit of the Fourth Beatitude: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled." St. Matthew, 5:6.
The meaning of these words is this: Blessed are they who strive strenuously after truth and spiritual perfection, for they shall attain it, they shall be satisfied, they shall be filled by the beatific vision of God in heaven.
1. Justice means the whole range of Christian virtue. In that complete sense St. Joseph was called a "just man." St. Matthew, 1:19.
2. St. Bernardine of Siena explains that this justice renders
A. To God:3. Those who hunger and thirst after justice are thosei. The honor due Him as creator.B. To neighbors:
ii. The love we owe Him as Redeemer.
iii. Filial fear of Him as our judge.i. Obedience to superiors, at home, at work and at school.C. To ourselves:
ii. Agreement with and understanding of equals.
iii. Kindness to and consideration of inferiors.i. By purity of heart.
ii. By guarding the tongue.
iii. By discipling the body.
A. Who aim at and strive for all the Christian perfections.4. Such a holy hunger and thirst bring blessings:
B. Who strive to become just, if they are not already so.
C. Who continue to advance in-virtue, once they are on the right road.
D. Who daily try to grow in love of God and man.
E. Who prefer virtue and spiritual goods to food and drink for the body.
F. Who seek only the will of God and the good of souls.
G. Who desire and work that the laws of justice be observed.
H. Who yearn and pray and labor for the conversion of sinners, and the triumph of the Church.
A. It controls the lower passions.Today Christ tells us to go and teach all nations all that He has commanded. This we are to do in the name and in the power of the Blessed Trinity, whom we especially honor today.
B. It fixes the mind on higher and more lasting things.
C. It stirs the heart and will to work for God.
Many of you, I am sure, want to be more perfect; you want to be more like the divine, attractive Model who spoke from the mount nearly 2000 years ago, who speaks to us today, telling us that they are blessed, they are truly and spiritually happy who try, who strive, who hunger and thirst in their effort to be more like the divine Model. In a word, they try to be more perfect. Their efforts will not be in vain.
Occasionally you may feel discouraged in your striving for spiritual success. Remember the Swiss carver. For thirty years he tried to chisel out of ivory, figures like the perfect flowers of the field. He kept on trying, even though he saw so much difference.
There is an infinite difference between ourselves and Christ, yet we keep on trying, we keep hungering and thirsting to be like Him; and, as He promises us in the Fourth Beatitude, we shall have our fill. Our spiritual strivings shall be satisfied. Amen.
__________________
Adapted from Prayers, Precepts and Virtues
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (©1949)
Trinity Sunday - Scandal
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." St. Matthew, 28:19.
There lived years ago a famous potter by the name of Josiah Wedgwood. He was especially renowned for his beautiful vases. One day there came to his pottery a wealthy customer. Wedgwood asked his office boy, a lad of fifteen years, to show the visitor through the plant. The stranger was just as filthy as he was wealthy, filthy in his talk and remarks. He cursed and swore. At first the lad was shocked, but gradually he began to laugh at his guest's remarks.
Accidentally Wedgwood heard some of this off-color conversation. The famous potter picked up an unusually beautiful vase. He called attention to the variety of colors and the gorgeous designs. The visitor was delighted. He reached out to look at it himself. Just as he touched it the potter let it fall to the ground-purposely. The precious vase broke into a hundred pieces.
"What's the idea?" shouted the visitor. "I wanted to buy that vase."
"Friend," replied the old potter sternly, "there are things more precious than any vase, things that can never be restored once they are ruined. I can make another vase like that, but you can never make another clean heart, another simple faith like that which you have taken from the boy working for me."
What an effective way to show the wickedness of scandal. Giving scandal is breaking the beautiful vase of a clean mind and an upright life. When we consider the Fifth Commandment we must realize that the words, "Thou shalt not kill," forbid us to injure our neighbor in body or soul.
To destroy a soul is much worse than to destroy a body.
Yet, scandal, or giving bad example, is one of the most frequent sins. It is far-reaching in its evil effects.
Scandal means any word, act, or omission which can or does cause another to commit sin. It is not necessary to have the intention of giving bad example. It is sufficient that the thing done or omitted be such as to lead others into sin.
Neither is it necessary that the thing done be sinful, as long as it has the appearance of sin. Nor is it required that the person scandalized be good or innocent, or that he actually fall into sin.
Scandal is direct when it is intended to lead others into sin. It is indirect when it is not intended to lead others into sin, but is an occasion for sin. Scandal may be given by words or actions which are not bad, but which may be misunderstood as bad by those who are weak. Even from such scandal we are bound to refrain.
1. We scandalize in words when we speak, for example, against religion or the clergy, or when we blaspheme, curse, swear, or indulge in immodest talk. That is the type of scandal of which the rich visitor in my story was guilty. He is guilty of scandal in words who makes known to others evils of which they were ignorant, who commands, advises, promises, praises or threatens others into sin, which they would otherwise not have committed.
Here we think of those who recommend birth control, especially to young couples, and of those who suggest certain unprincipled doctors for illegal and unnatural operations.
2. We scandalize in action when our conduct knowingly leads others to evil, when we provide occasion for sin which others would not otherwise have. Examples of this are working on Sunday, misbehaving in church, quarreling in public, violating the laws of fast and abstinence before others, indecency in dress and behavior.
3. Scandal is given by omission when we neglect to do what is required. Examples are missing Mass on Sunday, neglecting confession and Communion, failing to train children in their religion, or to correct and watch over them.
In a word, scandal is given whenever the Commandments of God or of His Church are publicly broken. No wonder our Lord cried out: "Woe to the world because of scandals!" St. Matthew, 18:7.
4. Scandal in itself is an exceedingly serious sin, because:
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." St. Matthew, 18:6.
Scandal-givers twist the words and wishes of Jesus as He tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. The scandal-giver goes out and makes disciples, not for Christ, but for the devil. Like the visitor at the pottery, he destroys something more beautiful and precious than the most valuable vase - he destroys a soul.
Examine yourself today. Don't do the work of the devil. Work for Christ. Amen.
_________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Commandments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1948)
There lived years ago a famous potter by the name of Josiah Wedgwood. He was especially renowned for his beautiful vases. One day there came to his pottery a wealthy customer. Wedgwood asked his office boy, a lad of fifteen years, to show the visitor through the plant. The stranger was just as filthy as he was wealthy, filthy in his talk and remarks. He cursed and swore. At first the lad was shocked, but gradually he began to laugh at his guest's remarks.
Accidentally Wedgwood heard some of this off-color conversation. The famous potter picked up an unusually beautiful vase. He called attention to the variety of colors and the gorgeous designs. The visitor was delighted. He reached out to look at it himself. Just as he touched it the potter let it fall to the ground-purposely. The precious vase broke into a hundred pieces.
"What's the idea?" shouted the visitor. "I wanted to buy that vase."
"Friend," replied the old potter sternly, "there are things more precious than any vase, things that can never be restored once they are ruined. I can make another vase like that, but you can never make another clean heart, another simple faith like that which you have taken from the boy working for me."
What an effective way to show the wickedness of scandal. Giving scandal is breaking the beautiful vase of a clean mind and an upright life. When we consider the Fifth Commandment we must realize that the words, "Thou shalt not kill," forbid us to injure our neighbor in body or soul.
To destroy a soul is much worse than to destroy a body.
Yet, scandal, or giving bad example, is one of the most frequent sins. It is far-reaching in its evil effects.
Scandal means any word, act, or omission which can or does cause another to commit sin. It is not necessary to have the intention of giving bad example. It is sufficient that the thing done or omitted be such as to lead others into sin.
Neither is it necessary that the thing done be sinful, as long as it has the appearance of sin. Nor is it required that the person scandalized be good or innocent, or that he actually fall into sin.
Scandal is direct when it is intended to lead others into sin. It is indirect when it is not intended to lead others into sin, but is an occasion for sin. Scandal may be given by words or actions which are not bad, but which may be misunderstood as bad by those who are weak. Even from such scandal we are bound to refrain.
1. We scandalize in words when we speak, for example, against religion or the clergy, or when we blaspheme, curse, swear, or indulge in immodest talk. That is the type of scandal of which the rich visitor in my story was guilty. He is guilty of scandal in words who makes known to others evils of which they were ignorant, who commands, advises, promises, praises or threatens others into sin, which they would otherwise not have committed.
Here we think of those who recommend birth control, especially to young couples, and of those who suggest certain unprincipled doctors for illegal and unnatural operations.
2. We scandalize in action when our conduct knowingly leads others to evil, when we provide occasion for sin which others would not otherwise have. Examples of this are working on Sunday, misbehaving in church, quarreling in public, violating the laws of fast and abstinence before others, indecency in dress and behavior.
3. Scandal is given by omission when we neglect to do what is required. Examples are missing Mass on Sunday, neglecting confession and Communion, failing to train children in their religion, or to correct and watch over them.
In a word, scandal is given whenever the Commandments of God or of His Church are publicly broken. No wonder our Lord cried out: "Woe to the world because of scandals!" St. Matthew, 18:7.
4. Scandal in itself is an exceedingly serious sin, because:
A. It harms the soul of our neighbor. Murder kills the body; scandal kills the soul.5. The seriousness of scandal depends on three things:
B. Even after the death of the scandal-giver his evil work continues.
C. It is the work of the devil himself.
A. The intention - he who intends bad example is more guilty than he who does not intend it.Listen to our Lord speak of scandal:
B. Scandal is more serious on the part of those in authority, especially parents, priest, bishops, politicians, and teachers.
C. The evil which results from it.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." St. Matthew, 18:6.
Scandal-givers twist the words and wishes of Jesus as He tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. The scandal-giver goes out and makes disciples, not for Christ, but for the devil. Like the visitor at the pottery, he destroys something more beautiful and precious than the most valuable vase - he destroys a soul.
Examine yourself today. Don't do the work of the devil. Work for Christ. Amen.
_________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Commandments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1948)
Trinity Sunday - The Recipient of Confession
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of a11 'ations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son; and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obew all that I have commanded you." St. Matthew, 18:19.
Bishop Curtis of Wilmington, Delaware, was one of the most illustrious American converts to the Church. In an address on how he became a Catholic he started with the blunt statement: "Confession made a Catholic of me."
When he was pastor of a prominent Anglican parish in New York City, his bishop came to officiate at some solemn ceremony. The afternoon before the solemnity Reverend Curtis requested his bishop to hear his confession. The latter put, him off. In the evening the penitent repeated his request but the bishop told him to wait until morning. Next morping the pastor again expressed his desire to go to confession. The bishop objected: "Reverend Curtis, why do you want to go to confession anyway? It is all right for the laity who desire it, but we of the clergy should be able to do without it."
Curtis was not satisfied; He felt the need of telling his sins and having them forgiven. He found his way to St. Mary's Catholic Seminary where he begged the rector to hear his confession. That good priest, gracious and smiling, explained to Curtis that his Anglican bishop was right in refusing to hear his confession, because he had no power to forgive sins. This statement startled Reverend Curtis, so the rector went on to explain that Anglican orders were no orders. They were invalid. Neither an Anglican bishop nor an Anglican priest could forgive sin.
This set Curtis thinking. He studied, he thought; he prayed; he led a Christ-like life. Soon he realized that the only sin-forgiving Church was the Catholic Church. He became a Catholic, a priest, and later an illustrious bishop.
The story of his conversion contains some important illustrations of our subject for today - the penitent, the one who goes to confession. Who may and must go to confession? Every baptized person who has committed venial or mortal sin after Baptism. The penitent must perform the acts required for a good confession, namely, contrition, telling of his sins, and satisfaction. Of these we will speak more fully in the future. Today we would like to speak of the Holy Trinity in relation to the penitent.
By Baptism the soul has become the temple of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By sin the soul has dethroned, driven out, dishonored the Holy Three Whom we honor today.
By Confirmation the soul has been strengthened with the gifts of the Holy Trinity. By sin they are lost, and by confession they are revived and again begin to work.
By Holy Communion the soul becomes the special tabernacle not only of the second Person, Jesus Christ, but also of the Father and the Holy Spirit who are ever present with Him. By sin we drive out this Trinity. By confession we invite them to return.
And it is in the name of the same Holy Three that the priest gives absolution: "I absolve thee from thy sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." With the Trinity evicted, the soul is dark and cold and helpless. Sin causes the heavenly Father to keep a displeased distance; it causes the loving Son to leave the untrue heart for which He gave His all; it compels the Holy Spirit to depart from His temple, the human body.
The human heart becomes a ghost house. It is like a palace from which the King has been driven out. It is like a home from which loved ones have been evicted, where the hearth fire has burned out, where the windows are smashed and broken. Oh, how such a heart hungers for the light and warmth and cheering presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Confession, established by an all-merciful God, brings the Trinity back to the soul.
Just as the Anglican bishop in our story could not give absolution from sins because he had not received the power from Christ and the Apostles, so too the Anglican minister, Reverend Curtis, could not receive absolution until he became a Catholic, until he became a member of the society which Christ Himself established.
Everyone who has arrived at the use of reason is bound by the law of confession. People arrive at the use of reason at various times, but the rule can be laid down that children are bound to go to confession as soon as they are able to distinguish good from evil and are capable of freely choosing one or the other, and, of course, provided they have actually sinned.
The Church also commands all tne faithful to confess their sins at least once a year. This confession need not be made during the Easter time, but because Easter Communion is commanded during Easter time, it is practical to make one's Easter confession during that same period.
Strictly speaking, only those who have committed a mortal sin are obliged by this law. A bad or sacrilegious confession does not fulfill the law. If you have not yet made your annual confession, you must do so as soon as possible, even though the Easter time closes with this feast of the Holy Trinity.
Better yet would be the praiseworthy practice of going to confession, at least, monthly. This practice enable ones to grow in grace and virtue. It helps us in our path to holiness. We receive graces to help us turn our faults and vices into virtue.
Like the Reverend Curtis all sinners have the desire to tell their sins to someone who has the power to take them away, definitely and forever. Like him, all who sin realize that they have driven out the Holy Trinity. They long to have those loving Three return to their hearts.
Jesus tells His Church to go and baptize the world in the name of the Trinity. As we keep this glorious feast may we resolve anew never to offend Them, never to dishonor Them, never to make Them leave our hearts by mortal sin.
But should that be our misfortune, we will hurry to invite the Trinity back by a sincere and contrite confession. Then every confession day will be a feast of the Holy Trinity, a day when we honor, as we always should honor the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
____________________
Adapted from Talks on the Sacraments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne,OFM (© 1947)
Bishop Curtis of Wilmington, Delaware, was one of the most illustrious American converts to the Church. In an address on how he became a Catholic he started with the blunt statement: "Confession made a Catholic of me."
When he was pastor of a prominent Anglican parish in New York City, his bishop came to officiate at some solemn ceremony. The afternoon before the solemnity Reverend Curtis requested his bishop to hear his confession. The latter put, him off. In the evening the penitent repeated his request but the bishop told him to wait until morning. Next morping the pastor again expressed his desire to go to confession. The bishop objected: "Reverend Curtis, why do you want to go to confession anyway? It is all right for the laity who desire it, but we of the clergy should be able to do without it."
Curtis was not satisfied; He felt the need of telling his sins and having them forgiven. He found his way to St. Mary's Catholic Seminary where he begged the rector to hear his confession. That good priest, gracious and smiling, explained to Curtis that his Anglican bishop was right in refusing to hear his confession, because he had no power to forgive sins. This statement startled Reverend Curtis, so the rector went on to explain that Anglican orders were no orders. They were invalid. Neither an Anglican bishop nor an Anglican priest could forgive sin.
This set Curtis thinking. He studied, he thought; he prayed; he led a Christ-like life. Soon he realized that the only sin-forgiving Church was the Catholic Church. He became a Catholic, a priest, and later an illustrious bishop.
The story of his conversion contains some important illustrations of our subject for today - the penitent, the one who goes to confession. Who may and must go to confession? Every baptized person who has committed venial or mortal sin after Baptism. The penitent must perform the acts required for a good confession, namely, contrition, telling of his sins, and satisfaction. Of these we will speak more fully in the future. Today we would like to speak of the Holy Trinity in relation to the penitent.
By Baptism the soul has become the temple of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By sin the soul has dethroned, driven out, dishonored the Holy Three Whom we honor today.
By Confirmation the soul has been strengthened with the gifts of the Holy Trinity. By sin they are lost, and by confession they are revived and again begin to work.
By Holy Communion the soul becomes the special tabernacle not only of the second Person, Jesus Christ, but also of the Father and the Holy Spirit who are ever present with Him. By sin we drive out this Trinity. By confession we invite them to return.
And it is in the name of the same Holy Three that the priest gives absolution: "I absolve thee from thy sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." With the Trinity evicted, the soul is dark and cold and helpless. Sin causes the heavenly Father to keep a displeased distance; it causes the loving Son to leave the untrue heart for which He gave His all; it compels the Holy Spirit to depart from His temple, the human body.
The human heart becomes a ghost house. It is like a palace from which the King has been driven out. It is like a home from which loved ones have been evicted, where the hearth fire has burned out, where the windows are smashed and broken. Oh, how such a heart hungers for the light and warmth and cheering presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Confession, established by an all-merciful God, brings the Trinity back to the soul.
Just as the Anglican bishop in our story could not give absolution from sins because he had not received the power from Christ and the Apostles, so too the Anglican minister, Reverend Curtis, could not receive absolution until he became a Catholic, until he became a member of the society which Christ Himself established.
Everyone who has arrived at the use of reason is bound by the law of confession. People arrive at the use of reason at various times, but the rule can be laid down that children are bound to go to confession as soon as they are able to distinguish good from evil and are capable of freely choosing one or the other, and, of course, provided they have actually sinned.
The Church also commands all tne faithful to confess their sins at least once a year. This confession need not be made during the Easter time, but because Easter Communion is commanded during Easter time, it is practical to make one's Easter confession during that same period.
Strictly speaking, only those who have committed a mortal sin are obliged by this law. A bad or sacrilegious confession does not fulfill the law. If you have not yet made your annual confession, you must do so as soon as possible, even though the Easter time closes with this feast of the Holy Trinity.
Better yet would be the praiseworthy practice of going to confession, at least, monthly. This practice enable ones to grow in grace and virtue. It helps us in our path to holiness. We receive graces to help us turn our faults and vices into virtue.
Like the Reverend Curtis all sinners have the desire to tell their sins to someone who has the power to take them away, definitely and forever. Like him, all who sin realize that they have driven out the Holy Trinity. They long to have those loving Three return to their hearts.
Jesus tells His Church to go and baptize the world in the name of the Trinity. As we keep this glorious feast may we resolve anew never to offend Them, never to dishonor Them, never to make Them leave our hearts by mortal sin.
But should that be our misfortune, we will hurry to invite the Trinity back by a sincere and contrite confession. Then every confession day will be a feast of the Holy Trinity, a day when we honor, as we always should honor the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
____________________
Adapted from Talks on the Sacraments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne,OFM (© 1947)
EPA Celebrates Gay And Lesbian Pride Month (with your tax dollars)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), your tax supported agency of the federal government, is currently promoting June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.Apparently the agency has too much time on its hands and too much money in its budget...this government promotion of sexual deviancy is repugnant and needs to be stopped.
The theme for the month is "Pride, not Prejudice."
The EPA Office of Civil Rights, Diversity Program for Sexual Orientation, is sponsoring an opening event to be held on June 14. On June 28 EPA will hosts Gilles Marchildon, Executive Director for Egale Canada (Equality Canada) as a guest speaker.
Karen Higginbotham, Director, Office of Civil Rights, states there will be other activities in which the homosexual lifestyle will be celebrated in EPA offices across the country.
I thought you might like to know that the EPA, funded by your tax dollars, has joined the push for the homosexual agenda.
To see the official notice which went out to all EPA employees, click here.
Take Action
Send your email to Stephen L. Johnson, EPA Administrator, and to President George W. Bush, to protest the tax-funded EPA celebrating this destructive and unhealthy lifestyle. Forward this to your friends and family.
Our children's future is at stake. Thanks for caring enough to get involved.
Email the EPA and President Bush Now!
Alter Christus - Zeal for Devotion to the Sacred Heart
I. Every priest ought to be an apostle of the Sacred Heart, if he wants to reap the maximum result of his labours.
There are many helps to the priest in his ministry; zeal to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of them. If he neglects it, he leaves idle a great capital wherewith he might trade most successfully...
How many priests are saddened by their powerlessness to achieve the good they dream of; they complain of, and lament over, the barrenness of their apostolate, the difficulty of bringing souls to Christ, and of making Him truly reign in those that are His.
To feel such regrets, and feel them keenly, is a grace. Unhappy the priest who remains untouched by what wrung the Heart of Jesus with sorrow... But a sign of the sincerity of our regret is the keenness not to leave untried any means to remedy the evil. The efficacy of this devotion has been experienced by many holy priests.
Indeed, it expresses the essence of Christianity under its deepest, most appealing and most powerful aspect: God is love, and He wants our love.
"Deus caritas est."
Thus, while constituting a special devotion, it has at the same time a universal character: it is the whole of religion, and, in a sense, it is in all other devotions, since all the mysteries of our faith are but particular expressions of the love of God... "This most blessed sign (the Sacred Heart) and the devotion inspired by it contain the sum total of all religion and the norm of perfect life" (Pius XI, in the encyclical Miserentissimus Deus).
Let us remember the powerful help Our Lord has promised to those devoted to His Sacred Heart:
A point of comparison; many of us have seen, in our midst, a priestly soul truly consumed with such a zeal: Fr Matheo Crawley. Well, let us ask ourselves: What is my zeal for the Sacred Heart, compared to his? ...
It may be objected: his case is quite a special one: he was at Paray-le-Monial in the Chapel of the Apparition - he was cured, there, miraculously - he felt, there, a distinct call to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Granted the extraordinary degree in which it all happened; granted also the peculiarity of his mission, to which we are not called. But as to the sources of his burning zeal: are we so far from enjoying like privileges?
Have we not our own Paray-le-Monial, in our church or chapel, where Jesus truly present is ever ready to reveal Himself to souls that long for Him? Have we not seen, with the eyes of the soul, at times, something of the Apparition of the Sacred Heart, when we looked with faith at the tabernacle, when we recalled to mind (while reciting slowly the Litany of the Sacred Heart) all His titles to our adoration and love and confidence and generosity, above all when we held Him in our hands and lifted Him up for the adoration of men in the Mysterium Fidei?
As to being cured by the Sacred Heart, like Fr Matheo: barring the miracle of a sudden bodily cure, each one of us surely has experienced in his soul the healing power of the Sacred Heart, "pax et reconciliatio nostra", "vita et resurrectio nostra",... in his soul, and in the souls of penitents and sinners.
And the secret inspirations urging us to be apostles of the Sacred Heart? Let each one scan the history of Christ's dealings with his soul, in moments of special fervour and devotion: who is the priest who has not again and again heard the voice of the Master, asking him to be a messenger of His Love, and to spread that Fire which He came to cast on earth and yearns to see enkindled? ...
III. Examine and resolve: What shall I do this month of June to reap more abundant fruit from the devotion to the Sacred Heart in my ministry:
"Those who shall promote this devotion, shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be blotted out."?
________________________
Adapted from Alter Christus, Meditations for Priests
by F.X. L'Hoir, S.J. (1958)
Meditation 30.
###
Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood.
There are many helps to the priest in his ministry; zeal to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of them. If he neglects it, he leaves idle a great capital wherewith he might trade most successfully...
How many priests are saddened by their powerlessness to achieve the good they dream of; they complain of, and lament over, the barrenness of their apostolate, the difficulty of bringing souls to Christ, and of making Him truly reign in those that are His.
To feel such regrets, and feel them keenly, is a grace. Unhappy the priest who remains untouched by what wrung the Heart of Jesus with sorrow... But a sign of the sincerity of our regret is the keenness not to leave untried any means to remedy the evil. The efficacy of this devotion has been experienced by many holy priests.
Indeed, it expresses the essence of Christianity under its deepest, most appealing and most powerful aspect: God is love, and He wants our love.
"Sic Deus dilexit mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret."In the Sacred Heart we find the concrete, telling, human sign of God's love and a moving appeal for love.
"Dilexit me et tradidit semetipsum pro me."
"Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo..."
"Ama et fac quod vis."
Thus, while constituting a special devotion, it has at the same time a universal character: it is the whole of religion, and, in a sense, it is in all other devotions, since all the mysteries of our faith are but particular expressions of the love of God... "This most blessed sign (the Sacred Heart) and the devotion inspired by it contain the sum total of all religion and the norm of perfect life" (Pius XI, in the encyclical Miserentissimus Deus).
Let us remember the powerful help Our Lord has promised to those devoted to His Sacred Heart:
For the priest himself: there is the first promise that applies to him as to everybody: "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life". And the tenth promise, explicitly to him: "The gift of touching the most hardened hearts".II. Am I a fervent apostle of the Sacred Heart? Is my zeal a burning one: one that fills me with an habitual longing for the reign of the Sacred Heart, and makes me seize every opportunity to spread it? ... For, surely, the measure of my zeal will be one of the determining factors that will settle the measure of the Sacred Heart's blessings.
For the faithful: we know the promises, for the sinner, for the tepid, for the fervent, for the families and houses, in afflictions, in trials and in death: truly magnificent promises. And if we are tempted to fear exaggerations in the way St Margaret Mary has recorded her revelations, let us call to mind the words in which the sacred liturgy unfolds for us the designs of Christ when His Heart was pierced on the Cross; "Ut apertum Cor divinae largitatis sacrarium torrentes nobis funderet miserationis et gratiae" (Preface of the Mass of the Sacred Heart).
A point of comparison; many of us have seen, in our midst, a priestly soul truly consumed with such a zeal: Fr Matheo Crawley. Well, let us ask ourselves: What is my zeal for the Sacred Heart, compared to his? ...
It may be objected: his case is quite a special one: he was at Paray-le-Monial in the Chapel of the Apparition - he was cured, there, miraculously - he felt, there, a distinct call to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Granted the extraordinary degree in which it all happened; granted also the peculiarity of his mission, to which we are not called. But as to the sources of his burning zeal: are we so far from enjoying like privileges?
Have we not our own Paray-le-Monial, in our church or chapel, where Jesus truly present is ever ready to reveal Himself to souls that long for Him? Have we not seen, with the eyes of the soul, at times, something of the Apparition of the Sacred Heart, when we looked with faith at the tabernacle, when we recalled to mind (while reciting slowly the Litany of the Sacred Heart) all His titles to our adoration and love and confidence and generosity, above all when we held Him in our hands and lifted Him up for the adoration of men in the Mysterium Fidei?
As to being cured by the Sacred Heart, like Fr Matheo: barring the miracle of a sudden bodily cure, each one of us surely has experienced in his soul the healing power of the Sacred Heart, "pax et reconciliatio nostra", "vita et resurrectio nostra",... in his soul, and in the souls of penitents and sinners.
And the secret inspirations urging us to be apostles of the Sacred Heart? Let each one scan the history of Christ's dealings with his soul, in moments of special fervour and devotion: who is the priest who has not again and again heard the voice of the Master, asking him to be a messenger of His Love, and to spread that Fire which He came to cast on earth and yearns to see enkindled? ...
III. Examine and resolve: What shall I do this month of June to reap more abundant fruit from the devotion to the Sacred Heart in my ministry:
For my flock:Do I feel confident that the last promise of the Sacred Heart applies to me:Can I not put new life in the practices already established in my parish or school;For myself:
Can I perhaps add something, with due prudence and everything considered;
In my sermons and catechisms, in private direction (confessional, conversations) am I on the look-out for chances to draw souls to the Sacred Heart? ...Am I doing, as far as circumstances permit, what I recommend to others;
Have I remained faithful to what were my practices of devotion in times of fervour; if not, why not?
"Those who shall promote this devotion, shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be blotted out."?
________________________
Adapted from Alter Christus, Meditations for Priests
by F.X. L'Hoir, S.J. (1958)
Meditation 30.
###
Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood.
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