From: Matthew 7:1-5
Various Precepts: Do Not Judge
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [1] "Judge not, that you be not judged. [2] For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. [3] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? [4] Or how can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
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Commentary:
1. Jesus is condemning any rash judgments we make maliciously or carelessly about our brothers' behavior or feelings or motives. "Think badly and you will not be far wrong" is completely at odds with Jesus' teaching.
In speaking of Christian charity St. Paul lists its main features: "Love is patient and kind [...]. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5, 7). Therefore, "Never think badly of anyone, not even if the words or conduct of the person in question give you good grounds for doing so" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 442).
"Let us be slow to judge.--Each one sees things from his own point of view, as his mind, with all its limitations, tells him, and through eyes that are often dimmed and clouded by passion" ("ibid"., 451).
1-2. As elsewhere, the verbs in the passive voice ("you will be judged", "the measure you will be given") have God as their subject, even though He is not explicitly mentioned: "Do not judge OTHERS, that you be not judged BY GOD". Clearly the judgment referred to here is always a condemnatory judgment; therefore, if we do not want to be condemned by God, we should never condemn our neighbor. "God measures out according as we measure out and forgives as we forgive, and comes to our rescue with the same tenderness as He sees us having towards others" (Fray Luis de Leon, "Exposicion Del Libro De Job", chapter 29).
3-5. A person whose sight is distorted sees things as deformed, even though in fact they are not deformed. St. Augustine gives this advice: "Try to acquire those virtues which you think your brothers lack, and you will no longer see their defects, because you will not have them yourselves" ("Enarrationes In Psalmos", 30, 2, 7). In this connection, the saying, "A thief thinks that everyone else is a thief" is in line with this teaching of Jesus.
Besides: "To criticize, to destroy, is not difficult; any unskilled laborer knows how to drive his pick into the noble and finely-hewn stone of a cathedral. To construct: that is what requires the skill of a master" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 456).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Gospel for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 4:35-41
The Calming of the Storm
[35] On that day, when evening had come, He (Jesus) said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." [36] And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. [37] And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already filling. [38] But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care if we perish?" [39] And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" [41] And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?"
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Commentary:
35-41. The episode of the calming of the storm, the memory of which must have often helped the Apostles regain their serenity in the midst of struggles and difficulties, also helps us never lose the supernatural way of looking at things: a Christian's life is like a ship: "As a vessel on the sea is exposed to a thousand dangers--pirates, quicksands, hidden rocks, tempests--so man in this life, is encompassed with perils, arising from the temptations of Hell, from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and, above all from the passions of corrupt nature [...]. This should not cause him to lose confidence. Rather [...] when you find yourself assaulted by a violent passion [...] take whatever steps you can to avoid the occasions [of sin] and place your reliance on God [...]: when the tempest is violent, the pilot never takes his eyes from the light which guides him to port. In like manner, we should keep our eyes always turned to God, who alone can deliver us from the many dangers to which we are exposed" (St. Augustine, "Sermon 51; for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany).
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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 Calming of the Storm
[35] On that day, when evening had come, He (Jesus) said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." [36] And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. [37] And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already filling. [38] But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care if we perish?" [39] And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" [41] And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?"
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Commentary:
35-41. The episode of the calming of the storm, the memory of which must have often helped the Apostles regain their serenity in the midst of struggles and difficulties, also helps us never lose the supernatural way of looking at things: a Christian's life is like a ship: "As a vessel on the sea is exposed to a thousand dangers--pirates, quicksands, hidden rocks, tempests--so man in this life, is encompassed with perils, arising from the temptations of Hell, from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and, above all from the passions of corrupt nature [...]. This should not cause him to lose confidence. Rather [...] when you find yourself assaulted by a violent passion [...] take whatever steps you can to avoid the occasions [of sin] and place your reliance on God [...]: when the tempest is violent, the pilot never takes his eyes from the light which guides him to port. In like manner, we should keep our eyes always turned to God, who alone can deliver us from the many dangers to which we are exposed" (St. Augustine, "Sermon 51; for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany).
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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 24, 2006
Gospel for June 24, Solemnity: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
From: Luke 1:57-66, 80
The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, [60] but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled. [64] And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
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Commentary:
59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of the child.
With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.
St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and Colossians 2:11ff.
60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).
64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zechariah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20). St. Ambrose observes: `With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith untied what had been tied by disbelief" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.").
Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His working any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him, and why He reproached Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).
80. "Wilderness": this must surely refer to the "Judean wilderness" which stretches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea. It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegetation which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves which can provide shelter.
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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 Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, [60] but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled. [64] And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
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Commentary:
59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of the child.
With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.
St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and Colossians 2:11ff.
60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).
64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zechariah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20). St. Ambrose observes: `With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith untied what had been tied by disbelief" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.").
Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His working any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him, and why He reproached Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).
80. "Wilderness": this must surely refer to the "Judean wilderness" which stretches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea. It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegetation which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves which can provide shelter.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Friday, June 23, 2006
CDW Secretary Supports Reform of Negative Results of Liturgial Changes
Vatican, Jun. 23 (CWNews.com) - The secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship has conceded some "negative results" of liturgical changes since Vatican II, and voiced his support for reform of the post-conciliar liturgy, in an interview with the I Media news agency.And it is none too soon after decades of impoverishment (what an understatement)...
Archbishop Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don told I Media that the Council fathers had hoped to reinvigorate the sense of an active encounter with God through the liturgy. "But unfortunately," he said, "after the Council, certain changes were made rapidly, without reflection, in a burst of enthusiasm, in a rejection of some exaggerations of the past." The result, the archbishop said, was quite different from the Council's intent.
Court: San Diego Veteran Memorial Cross Must Come Down
ANN ARBOR, MI, June 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A three–judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to stay Federal District Judge Gordon Thompson’s order to remove San Diego’s Mt. Soledad Cross pending an appeal.
According to a court order, the City of San Diego must remove the Cross by August 1, 2006, or face fines of $5,000 per day thereafter. In its decision, however, the Ninth Circuit scheduled oral arguments on the matter for the week of October 16, 2006, weeks after the Cross is to be removed.
Washington Welcomes Donald Wuerl as Archbishop
Three thousand people, many of them Pittsburghers, filled a huge basilica yesterday to witness the Most Rev. Donald Wuerl become archbishop of the nation's capitalVery high, indeed...so high that even those who advocate, promote, or defend the murder of innocent unborn children - even that of Partial Birth Abortion - are always welcomed to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord...Something which "far right" Catholics find abhorrent and repulsive. Such will be McCarrick's legacy, I predict.
...
"In an age that so desperately needs to hear the gospel of life, to witness the splendor of truth, and to live the challenge of faith and reason, the church -- you and I -- gathered around the successors to the apostles, one with Peter, must lovingly, persuasively and fearlessly reflect the light of Christ," Archbishop Wuerl said.
...
He turned to face his predecessor and offered praise to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was often a target of criticism by the far Catholic right for refusing to publicly condemn Catholic legislators who supported abortion rights, and for his bold stands in favor of justice for the poor worldwide.
"Cardinal McCarrick, you have set the bar very high -- very high -- as spiritual leader and pastor of souls and also as an archbishop engaged in the wider community, so that the work and voice of the gospel is always a part of whatever discussion occupies our community and our country," he said.
The symbolic highlight was when Archbishop Sambi and Cardinal McCarrick escorted him to his throne in the basilica. Archbishop Wuerl took his seat, Archbishop Sambi handed him the crozier, or shepherd's staff, of the archbishop, and Cardinal McCarrick moved back out of sight, to take his seat with the other cardinals.We should keep Archbishop Wuerl in our prayers as he assumes his new assignment. May he, with God's help and blessing, lead those in Washington to the fullness of the faith.
Archbishop Burke on the New Translations for Mass
. . .Before commenting on the changes, I note that they are not yet final. The text which the conference of bishops approved June 16 must now be reviewed by the Holy See for final approval.
Why the new translation?
The translation of the Order of the Mass, which we are presently using, was prepared in the early 1970s, according to principles of translation which have, in recent years, been carefully and thoroughly reviewed and revised. Here, it is helpful to remind ourselves that Latin is the language of the original text from which all of the translations of the liturgical texts into the various languages of the Church are made. Latin, the official or mother tongue of the Church, provides an important service to the unity of belief and practice throughout the world. The Latin text is the standard by which the accuracy and beauty of a translation are measured.
The key principle of our present translation, known as "dynamic equivalence," permitted the translator to interpret the content of a text, apart from the actual content of the words. As a result, texts which were very rich in scriptural and theological meaning were often rendered in an English version which stripped them of their richness. "Dynamic equivalence" is an inadequate tool for all translations and especially for texts of the Sacred Liturgy. The revision of the principles of translation of liturgical texts can be found in the document of the Holy Father’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Liturgiam authenticam, "Fifth Instruction on the Use of Vernacular Languages in the Publication of the Books of the Roman Liturgy," issued on March 28, 2001.
Some examples
One translation which has struck me as particularly impoverished is our response when the priest holds up the Sacred Host before Holy Communion. Presently, we respond: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." From the time of my childhood, I was impressed by the scriptural allusion to our Lord’s cure of the Roman Centurion’s servant (Luke 7:6-7) in the Latin text, which, of course, I knew through my St. Joseph Missal: "Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur anima mea." In the new translation, the richness of the Latin text is restored, with the beautiful reference to the healing presence of our Lord: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."
Other changes reflect important realities of our participation in the Holy Mass. For instance, the word Credo, at the beginning of the Profession of Faith after the Gospel and Homily, is now accurately translated as "I believe" instead of "We believe," to make the Profession of Faith a proper personal and individual act, done in communion with our brothers and sisters present.
It is not possible for me to comment on all of the changes, but, when they are finally approved by the Holy See, care will be taken to explain each change. The changes are not that numerous and, I can assure you, no change was made for the sake of change. All of the changes have a sound foundation in our greatest treasure, the Catholic faith, and its most perfect expression, the Sacred Liturgy.
Change as a time of grace
The changes in the responses of the faithful are not numerous, nor are they difficult. While some have expressed frustration at having to learn a new version of their responses, I believe that the new translations, because of their greater fidelity to the original text, will actually assist us to enter more fully into the profound reality which is the Eucharistic Sacrifice. For my part, I have been inspired by studying the new translations. They reflect much more the great beauty of the Sacred Liturgy and invite us to a deeper participation in the action of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Some experts and commentators on the matter have suggested that the "rank and file" faithful will not understand the changes in translations or will resist them. I do not share their opinion in any way. From my pastoral experience, I can only imagine that the new translations will be welcomed with gratitude and attention, and that any initial awkwardness in adapting to the changes will be rapidly overcome. At the same time, if I as archbishop and our good priests provide a careful explanation of the changes, they will be more than understandable and, in fact, will be an occasion for our growing in eucharistic faith.
Conclusion
A month or so before the meeting of the conference of bishops, I received a letter from a young Catholic who was received into the full communion of the Church some three years ago. He has literally fallen in love with the Catholic faith and, above all, with the Holy Eucharist. He is now a daily participant in Holy Mass. Reading about the proposed new translations, he wrote to assure me that he welcomes the prospect of a more faithful and, therefore, richer translation of the liturgical texts into English: "I only write this letter because I thought it would be good for you to have on record the thoughts of at least one lay Catholic, unworthy as he is to receive Our Lord’s Body and Blood every day, about what he thinks of the new proposed translation. I love the liturgy, and I feel particularly blessed to be in such a fine Archdiocese as St. Louis where both the old and new rites are celebrated with reverence."
May we all accept the new translation of the Order of the Mass, when it is finally approved, with a deep faith in the Holy Eucharist and a deep love of our eucharistic Lord. May the changes in the translations be the occasion for us to deepen our eucharistic faith and practice.
Source.
Archbishop Burke's Homily for the Solemn Mass of St. Josemaria Escriva
Giving Thanks to God for 50 years of the Apostolate of Opus Dei in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis
This is the Archbishop's homily from the Mass at the Basilica on June 19. (This is a PDF file).
This is the Archbishop's homily from the Mass at the Basilica on June 19. (This is a PDF file).
Gospel for June 23, Solemnity: The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
From: John 19:31-37
Jesus' Side Is Pierced
[31] Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross of the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. [32] So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; [33] but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. [34] But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. [35] He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth--that you also may believe. [36] For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of him shall be broken." [37] And again another scripture says, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced."
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Commentary:
31-33. Jesus dies on the Preparation day of the Passover--the Parasceve--that is, the eve, when the paschal lambs were officially sacrificed in the Temple. By stressing this, the evangelist implies that Christ's sacrifice took the place of the sacrifices of the Old Law and inaugurated the New Alliance in his blood (cf. Heb 9:12).
The Law of Moses required that the bodies should be taken down before nightfall (Deut 21:22-23); this is why Pilate is asked to have their legs broken, to bring on death and allow them to be buried before it gets dark, particularly since the next day is the feast of the Passover.
On the date of Jesus' death see "The Dates of the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ" in the "The Navarre Bible: St. Mark", pp. 48ff.
34. The outflow of blood and water has a natural explanation. Probably the water was an accumulation of liquid in the lungs due to Jesus' intense sufferings.
As on other occasions, the historical events narrated in the fourth Gospel are laden with meaning. St. Augustine and Christian tradition see the sacraments and the Church itself flowing from Jesus' open side: "Here was opened wide the door of life, from which the sacraments of the Church have flowed out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is true life. [...] Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon the cross, that thence a wife might be formed of him, flowing from his side while he slept. O death, by which the dead come back to life! is there anything purer than this blood, any wound more healing!" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang., 120, 2).
The Second Vatican Council, for its part, teaches: "The Church--that is, the kingdom of Christ--already present in mystery, grows visibly through the power of God in the world. The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 3).
"Jesus on the cross, with his heart overflowing with love for men, is such an eloquent commentary on the value of people and things that words only get in the way. People, their happiness and their life, are so important that the very Son of God gave himself to redeem and cleanse and raise them up" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 165).
35. St John's Gospel presents itself as a truthful witness of the events of our Lord's life and of their spiritual and doctrinal significance. From the words of John the Baptist at the outset of Jesus' public ministry (1:19) to the final paragraph of the Gospel (21:24-25), everything forms part of a testimony to the sublime phenomenon of the Word of Life made Man. Here the evangelist explicitly states that he was an eyewitness (cf. also Jn 20:30-31; 1 Jn 1:1-3).
36. This question refers to the precept of the Law that no bone of the paschal lamb should be broken (cf. Ex 12:46): again St John's Gospel is telling us that Jesus is the true paschal Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (cf. Jn 1:29).
37. The account of the Passion concludes with quotation from Zechariah (12:10) foretelling the salvation resulting from the mysterious suffering and death of a redeemer. The evangelist thereby evokes the salvation wrought by Jesus Christ who, nailed to the Cross, has fulfilled God's promise of redemption (cf. Jn 12:32). Everyone who looks upon him with faith receives the effects of his Passion. Thus, the good thief, looking at Christ on the cross, recognized his kingship, placed his truth in him and received the promise of heaven (cf. Lk 23:42-43).
In the liturgy of Good Friday the Church invites us to contemplate and adore the cross: "Behold the wood of the Cross, on which was nailed the salvation of the world", and from the earliest times of the Church the Crucifix has been the sign reminding Christians of the supreme point of Christ's love, when he died on the Cross and freed us from eternal death.
"Your Crucifix.--As a Christian, you should always carry your Crucifix with you. And place it on your desk. And kiss it before going to bed and when you wake up: and when your poor body rebels against your soul, kiss it again" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 302).
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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.
Jesus' Side Is Pierced
[31] Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross of the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. [32] So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; [33] but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. [34] But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. [35] He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth--that you also may believe. [36] For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of him shall be broken." [37] And again another scripture says, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced."
_____________________________
Commentary:
31-33. Jesus dies on the Preparation day of the Passover--the Parasceve--that is, the eve, when the paschal lambs were officially sacrificed in the Temple. By stressing this, the evangelist implies that Christ's sacrifice took the place of the sacrifices of the Old Law and inaugurated the New Alliance in his blood (cf. Heb 9:12).
The Law of Moses required that the bodies should be taken down before nightfall (Deut 21:22-23); this is why Pilate is asked to have their legs broken, to bring on death and allow them to be buried before it gets dark, particularly since the next day is the feast of the Passover.
On the date of Jesus' death see "The Dates of the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ" in the "The Navarre Bible: St. Mark", pp. 48ff.
34. The outflow of blood and water has a natural explanation. Probably the water was an accumulation of liquid in the lungs due to Jesus' intense sufferings.
As on other occasions, the historical events narrated in the fourth Gospel are laden with meaning. St. Augustine and Christian tradition see the sacraments and the Church itself flowing from Jesus' open side: "Here was opened wide the door of life, from which the sacraments of the Church have flowed out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is true life. [...] Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon the cross, that thence a wife might be formed of him, flowing from his side while he slept. O death, by which the dead come back to life! is there anything purer than this blood, any wound more healing!" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang., 120, 2).
The Second Vatican Council, for its part, teaches: "The Church--that is, the kingdom of Christ--already present in mystery, grows visibly through the power of God in the world. The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 3).
"Jesus on the cross, with his heart overflowing with love for men, is such an eloquent commentary on the value of people and things that words only get in the way. People, their happiness and their life, are so important that the very Son of God gave himself to redeem and cleanse and raise them up" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 165).
35. St John's Gospel presents itself as a truthful witness of the events of our Lord's life and of their spiritual and doctrinal significance. From the words of John the Baptist at the outset of Jesus' public ministry (1:19) to the final paragraph of the Gospel (21:24-25), everything forms part of a testimony to the sublime phenomenon of the Word of Life made Man. Here the evangelist explicitly states that he was an eyewitness (cf. also Jn 20:30-31; 1 Jn 1:1-3).
36. This question refers to the precept of the Law that no bone of the paschal lamb should be broken (cf. Ex 12:46): again St John's Gospel is telling us that Jesus is the true paschal Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (cf. Jn 1:29).
37. The account of the Passion concludes with quotation from Zechariah (12:10) foretelling the salvation resulting from the mysterious suffering and death of a redeemer. The evangelist thereby evokes the salvation wrought by Jesus Christ who, nailed to the Cross, has fulfilled God's promise of redemption (cf. Jn 12:32). Everyone who looks upon him with faith receives the effects of his Passion. Thus, the good thief, looking at Christ on the cross, recognized his kingship, placed his truth in him and received the promise of heaven (cf. Lk 23:42-43).
In the liturgy of Good Friday the Church invites us to contemplate and adore the cross: "Behold the wood of the Cross, on which was nailed the salvation of the world", and from the earliest times of the Church the Crucifix has been the sign reminding Christians of the supreme point of Christ's love, when he died on the Cross and freed us from eternal death.
"Your Crucifix.--As a Christian, you should always carry your Crucifix with you. And place it on your desk. And kiss it before going to bed and when you wake up: and when your poor body rebels against your soul, kiss it again" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 302).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
The Lumberjack and the Sacred Heart
The Lumberjack and the Sacred Heart
From: "Trésor d'Histoires sur le Sacré-Coeur"
by Father Millot, 1914
EVERYONE in the area knew Jean-Marie Duclos the lumberjack. An old soldier, a sapper, he had taken part in every campaign during the Second Empire: Mexico, Crimea, Italy, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Finally he had returned to his native mountains with decorations on his chest and a Prussian bullet in his right thigh. Jean-Marie had taken up his ax again at once, but he had never married.
When anyone asked him why he had not, he would mumble between his teeth, "I wouldn't want to see any woman in such poverty!"
He was not a bad fellow, and he was certainly no enemy of priests. True, he didn't go to Mass on Sunday, having abandoned that habit on the battlefield, but he had a well-founded respect for priests. No one was going to make him believe that the priests had paid the Germans to come in and shed French blood and steal Alsace. He had seen too many good priests risking their lives to help soldiers die, or not die at all. It was something you just never forget. That very memory had been haunting him like a reprimand for the past two days. But why?
First of all, the previous Monday, after he had just finished felling an old oak tree, the three little Brothers from the Catholic school had come walking by the edge of the forest. Seeing the sweat streaming from his brow and his old hand trembling a little from fatigue, one of the Brothers, the oldest one, had said to him, "Here, Jean-Marie, let me have your ax," and picked it up without waiting for a reply. The second one picked up his hatchet and the third his saw, and in no time at all they had trimmed all the branches off that big oak. Oh, the strapping fellows had worked heartily and struck true! Surely they were the sons of lumberjacks!
Then, that very evening the parish priest had come to his cabin to call on him with a Capuchin Father. That Capuchin, a magnificent man with a sapper officer's beard, had asked him straight on, holding out his hand like a friend, "So, Jean-Marie, will you be coming to the mission this evening?"
Instead of answering, he looked for a moment at the gray robe, the bare feet, the manly face, the bright, clear eyes, and asked in his turn, "You were a soldier, right?"
"Yes, my friend, I was with the Western Volunteers. I was at Patay and Le Mans."
"I was at Patay and Le Mans, too. What time is the mission?"
"Eight o'clock every evening, all week long."
"I'll be there."
He had gone that evening and every other. But what was he to do after that? It wouldn't be very nice to stop going to church again. That wouldn't be very logical. This problem kept churning around in his old lumberjack's head. At the men's meeting on the third day of the mission, Jean-Marie took a place up against the big pillar in the nave facing the pulpit, for he was very proud to be listening to an old comrade in arms who spoke so well. That evening the Capuchin Father surpassed himself: his warm words - even clearer, more vibrant, more incisive than usual - penetrated the souls of those mountain folk like an ax biting into the core of a tree. He spoke about fidelity to religious duties:
"What would you think about a son who abandoned and denied his father? A servant who betrayed his master's interests? A soldier who deserted the battlefield and passed over to the enemy?
"Jesus is here in the Tabernacle, hidden but alive. He is our God and consequently the Father of us all, our sovereign Master and King. We owe Him love, obedience and fidelity. We must fight for Him against Hell, and against ourselves and our vices. What would you say about someone who falls back in such a battle?"
"That man's a coward!" a voice replied, hammering out the syllables with savage energy.
It was Jean-Marie Duclos the lumberjack. With pale face and trembling lips he stood up, his hand stretched out towards the altar in an almost tragic gesture, and continued, "Yes, that man's a coward. And that coward is me. But all of that is finished!"
You can imagine the rest. Ten minutes later he followed the missionary into the sacristy - grace had done its work.
Now, the next time New Year's came around, Jean-Marie the lumberjack went to pay his respects to his parish priest and wish him a Happy New Year. Actually, he had been coming often to the rectory ever since the unforgettable mission that had turned him into the most faithful man in the parish, the one with the deepest conviction. He even came every Sunday after High Mass to pick up "La Croix" (a religious newspaper) that he brought to his cabin. He read it from one end to the other, starting with the Sunday Gospel and turning to the news from Morocco. It was certainly a better way to pass the time than going to the cafe.
So then, as we were saying, on New Year's Day he came to pay his respects to his pastor and to the priest's sister Mariette.
"It's very good of you to come, Jean-Marie, even though the weather's not very good up on the Wolf Trail, is it?"
"No, by thunder, it's not, Father! There's a North wind blowing..."
"Mariette, please bring us a bottle of rum."
With this request the lumberjack gave a start: "Rum? Oh no, Father, not for me! I promised the Lord I would never drink again. I did too much drinking in the past."
"Good for you! Now, tell me what you'd like. A cup of coffee or some tea?"
"Not really, Father. But there is something (as he said this, Jean-Marie started tugging at his ear), there is something . .. but you'll probably think it's sort of..."
"No, not at all! What is it?"
"Well, I would like it if you gave me a beautiful picture."
The priest was certainly not expecting such a request, and he could not help but laugh.
The old sapper went on:
"I knew you'd think it was childish. Even so, Father, a picture of the Lord or Our Lady, His Mother, would be a lot better than wood shavings for marking the pages of the Mass in my missal! Besides, Jesus says that we have to be like little children."
The good shepherd was no longer laughing. Admiring the man's faith - simple and naive, but strong and active, too - he was deeply moved. The priest stood, went to his breviary, took out some beautiful pictures and laid them on the table in front of the lumberjack, inviting him to choose one of them. The man took a magnificent Sacred Heart of Jesus.
When he got home, the old soldier lit his candle, put on his thick glasses and read all that was printed on his picture. These words in particular impressed him: "Promise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Blessed Margaret Mary: I promise you, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who go to Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance. They shall not die in My disfavor, nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their secure refuge at that last hour."
He thought about it all night long. The next day, Sunday, he had a little conversation with the priest on the subject, the practical conclusion being that as of the next Friday, which was the First Friday of January, Jean-Marie would receive Communion every First Friday of the month, no matter what. To do otherwise would be imprudent: there had been too many escapades in his life!
And have no fear, he did not forget! Besides, his heart was so content that he even began to look younger, and his hand had never been so steady with the ax. February, March, April, May, June, July, August went by like a dream. It was now the day before the ninth Communion, and that morning he said to himself as he got up, "Tomorrow, Jean-Marie, victory is yours. Oh, what a great day!"
All day long he chopped and cut and sawed so energetically and so well that by evening time he was chopping down his sixth oak, a colossal tree that would have given more than one young man quite a battle.
The iron of his stout ax bit deep into the thick roots; one by one they gave way, and already the enormous head was beginning to tremble and sway. Four more blows and the mountain giant would fall.
Before dealing them, since the tree was close to the road, the old man stopped and looked to see if anyone would be passing by. No one was coming, so there was no danger. Again, the heavy ax rose and fell, and suddenly the mighty oak fell to the ground with a tremendous crash. But unfortunately, the terrific sound of its fall was answered by a horrible cry of pain. Stepping back rapidly, the old lumberjack had slipped: both his legs were pinned to the ground, crushed beneath the enormous trunk.
Was he going to die like this, all alone in the approaching night without help, without a priest, before making his ninth Communion? He called out for help a long time, but the only reply was his answering echo. He felt his life ebbing away; his suffering was atrocious. For a moment he despaired. No, God had not been able to forgive him for all his sins, they were too great. That was why He had permitted this accident before he had made his last Communion of the nine First Fridays. He was damned. The thought of it tortured him far more cruelly than his injuries.
But as the moon rose slowly in the sky, calm and radiant, escorted by thousands of stars, the dying man began to hope again. Wasn't the Heart of Jesus infinitely good? Wasn't He almighty? Wasn't He the One who had sent that Capuchin Father last year and who had inspired him to ask the priest for a holy picture?
Suddenly the injured man gave a start, lifted his head, looked down the road and listened... Yes, there it was: someone was coming! The sound of steps came closer. Gathering his fading strength, he called out with unspeakable anguish in his voice: "Help! Help! I need a priest!"
Finally - thank You, O Lord! - a shadow materialized and made its way straight for him. The poor lumberjack thought he was dreaming when he recognized his pastor.
"Oh, Father, is it really you? God is so good!"
"I just gave the Last Sacraments to old monsieur Hugon."
"Father, it's the Sacred Heart Who sent you!"
As he spoke, the priest attempted to move the tremendous trunk and free the lumberjack's legs.
"Let it be, Father. It's too heavy, you won't be able to move it. Besides, I can feel it: I'm finished. I don't have more than two hours left. Please hear my confession."
The priest knelt down, heard his last accusations, gave him absolution and followed it with Extreme Unction, for he had the holy oils on his person.
Then the dying man murmured:
"Tomorrow is my last First Friday. I would be so happy if..."
Yes, of course. I understand. I'll be back in three quarters of an hour."
"Thank you, Father."
And the priest dashed off down the road that led to the village. As he passed the sacristan's house, he woke him with a cry:
"Quick, Mr. Lucas! Send your boy to church for me, and go tell the doctor that Jean-Marie the lumberjack is injured in the hills, up at the bend near Great Rocks!"
Then he went to get Holy Viaticum. His altar boy arrived and they climbed quickly back up to Great Rocks. It was half past midnight when he arrived. The lumberjack was still alive and praying. When he heard the little silver bell, he raised himself painfully and made the Sign of the Cross, a big tear running down his pale cheek. He received Holy Communion, and a few minutes later he passed away gently in the peace of the Lord.
In his sermon on Sunday, the pastor told the people of the man's predestined death. The entire parish turned out for his funeral. And on the little cross over his grave, they inscribed the following words:
HERE LIES JEAN-MARIE DUCLOS
THE LUMBERJACK Of THE SACRED HEART
From: "Trésor d'Histoires sur le Sacré-Coeur"
by Father Millot, 1914
EVERYONE in the area knew Jean-Marie Duclos the lumberjack. An old soldier, a sapper, he had taken part in every campaign during the Second Empire: Mexico, Crimea, Italy, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Finally he had returned to his native mountains with decorations on his chest and a Prussian bullet in his right thigh. Jean-Marie had taken up his ax again at once, but he had never married.
When anyone asked him why he had not, he would mumble between his teeth, "I wouldn't want to see any woman in such poverty!"
He was not a bad fellow, and he was certainly no enemy of priests. True, he didn't go to Mass on Sunday, having abandoned that habit on the battlefield, but he had a well-founded respect for priests. No one was going to make him believe that the priests had paid the Germans to come in and shed French blood and steal Alsace. He had seen too many good priests risking their lives to help soldiers die, or not die at all. It was something you just never forget. That very memory had been haunting him like a reprimand for the past two days. But why?
First of all, the previous Monday, after he had just finished felling an old oak tree, the three little Brothers from the Catholic school had come walking by the edge of the forest. Seeing the sweat streaming from his brow and his old hand trembling a little from fatigue, one of the Brothers, the oldest one, had said to him, "Here, Jean-Marie, let me have your ax," and picked it up without waiting for a reply. The second one picked up his hatchet and the third his saw, and in no time at all they had trimmed all the branches off that big oak. Oh, the strapping fellows had worked heartily and struck true! Surely they were the sons of lumberjacks!
Then, that very evening the parish priest had come to his cabin to call on him with a Capuchin Father. That Capuchin, a magnificent man with a sapper officer's beard, had asked him straight on, holding out his hand like a friend, "So, Jean-Marie, will you be coming to the mission this evening?"
Instead of answering, he looked for a moment at the gray robe, the bare feet, the manly face, the bright, clear eyes, and asked in his turn, "You were a soldier, right?"
"Yes, my friend, I was with the Western Volunteers. I was at Patay and Le Mans."
"I was at Patay and Le Mans, too. What time is the mission?"
"Eight o'clock every evening, all week long."
"I'll be there."
He had gone that evening and every other. But what was he to do after that? It wouldn't be very nice to stop going to church again. That wouldn't be very logical. This problem kept churning around in his old lumberjack's head. At the men's meeting on the third day of the mission, Jean-Marie took a place up against the big pillar in the nave facing the pulpit, for he was very proud to be listening to an old comrade in arms who spoke so well. That evening the Capuchin Father surpassed himself: his warm words - even clearer, more vibrant, more incisive than usual - penetrated the souls of those mountain folk like an ax biting into the core of a tree. He spoke about fidelity to religious duties:
"What would you think about a son who abandoned and denied his father? A servant who betrayed his master's interests? A soldier who deserted the battlefield and passed over to the enemy?
"Jesus is here in the Tabernacle, hidden but alive. He is our God and consequently the Father of us all, our sovereign Master and King. We owe Him love, obedience and fidelity. We must fight for Him against Hell, and against ourselves and our vices. What would you say about someone who falls back in such a battle?"
"That man's a coward!" a voice replied, hammering out the syllables with savage energy.
It was Jean-Marie Duclos the lumberjack. With pale face and trembling lips he stood up, his hand stretched out towards the altar in an almost tragic gesture, and continued, "Yes, that man's a coward. And that coward is me. But all of that is finished!"
You can imagine the rest. Ten minutes later he followed the missionary into the sacristy - grace had done its work.
Now, the next time New Year's came around, Jean-Marie the lumberjack went to pay his respects to his parish priest and wish him a Happy New Year. Actually, he had been coming often to the rectory ever since the unforgettable mission that had turned him into the most faithful man in the parish, the one with the deepest conviction. He even came every Sunday after High Mass to pick up "La Croix" (a religious newspaper) that he brought to his cabin. He read it from one end to the other, starting with the Sunday Gospel and turning to the news from Morocco. It was certainly a better way to pass the time than going to the cafe.
So then, as we were saying, on New Year's Day he came to pay his respects to his pastor and to the priest's sister Mariette.
"It's very good of you to come, Jean-Marie, even though the weather's not very good up on the Wolf Trail, is it?"
"No, by thunder, it's not, Father! There's a North wind blowing..."
"Mariette, please bring us a bottle of rum."
With this request the lumberjack gave a start: "Rum? Oh no, Father, not for me! I promised the Lord I would never drink again. I did too much drinking in the past."
"Good for you! Now, tell me what you'd like. A cup of coffee or some tea?"
"Not really, Father. But there is something (as he said this, Jean-Marie started tugging at his ear), there is something . .. but you'll probably think it's sort of..."
"No, not at all! What is it?"
"Well, I would like it if you gave me a beautiful picture."
The priest was certainly not expecting such a request, and he could not help but laugh.
The old sapper went on:
"I knew you'd think it was childish. Even so, Father, a picture of the Lord or Our Lady, His Mother, would be a lot better than wood shavings for marking the pages of the Mass in my missal! Besides, Jesus says that we have to be like little children."
The good shepherd was no longer laughing. Admiring the man's faith - simple and naive, but strong and active, too - he was deeply moved. The priest stood, went to his breviary, took out some beautiful pictures and laid them on the table in front of the lumberjack, inviting him to choose one of them. The man took a magnificent Sacred Heart of Jesus.
When he got home, the old soldier lit his candle, put on his thick glasses and read all that was printed on his picture. These words in particular impressed him: "Promise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Blessed Margaret Mary: I promise you, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who go to Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance. They shall not die in My disfavor, nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their secure refuge at that last hour."
He thought about it all night long. The next day, Sunday, he had a little conversation with the priest on the subject, the practical conclusion being that as of the next Friday, which was the First Friday of January, Jean-Marie would receive Communion every First Friday of the month, no matter what. To do otherwise would be imprudent: there had been too many escapades in his life!
And have no fear, he did not forget! Besides, his heart was so content that he even began to look younger, and his hand had never been so steady with the ax. February, March, April, May, June, July, August went by like a dream. It was now the day before the ninth Communion, and that morning he said to himself as he got up, "Tomorrow, Jean-Marie, victory is yours. Oh, what a great day!"
All day long he chopped and cut and sawed so energetically and so well that by evening time he was chopping down his sixth oak, a colossal tree that would have given more than one young man quite a battle.
The iron of his stout ax bit deep into the thick roots; one by one they gave way, and already the enormous head was beginning to tremble and sway. Four more blows and the mountain giant would fall.
Before dealing them, since the tree was close to the road, the old man stopped and looked to see if anyone would be passing by. No one was coming, so there was no danger. Again, the heavy ax rose and fell, and suddenly the mighty oak fell to the ground with a tremendous crash. But unfortunately, the terrific sound of its fall was answered by a horrible cry of pain. Stepping back rapidly, the old lumberjack had slipped: both his legs were pinned to the ground, crushed beneath the enormous trunk.
Was he going to die like this, all alone in the approaching night without help, without a priest, before making his ninth Communion? He called out for help a long time, but the only reply was his answering echo. He felt his life ebbing away; his suffering was atrocious. For a moment he despaired. No, God had not been able to forgive him for all his sins, they were too great. That was why He had permitted this accident before he had made his last Communion of the nine First Fridays. He was damned. The thought of it tortured him far more cruelly than his injuries.
But as the moon rose slowly in the sky, calm and radiant, escorted by thousands of stars, the dying man began to hope again. Wasn't the Heart of Jesus infinitely good? Wasn't He almighty? Wasn't He the One who had sent that Capuchin Father last year and who had inspired him to ask the priest for a holy picture?
Suddenly the injured man gave a start, lifted his head, looked down the road and listened... Yes, there it was: someone was coming! The sound of steps came closer. Gathering his fading strength, he called out with unspeakable anguish in his voice: "Help! Help! I need a priest!"
Finally - thank You, O Lord! - a shadow materialized and made its way straight for him. The poor lumberjack thought he was dreaming when he recognized his pastor.
"Oh, Father, is it really you? God is so good!"
"I just gave the Last Sacraments to old monsieur Hugon."
"Father, it's the Sacred Heart Who sent you!"
As he spoke, the priest attempted to move the tremendous trunk and free the lumberjack's legs.
"Let it be, Father. It's too heavy, you won't be able to move it. Besides, I can feel it: I'm finished. I don't have more than two hours left. Please hear my confession."
The priest knelt down, heard his last accusations, gave him absolution and followed it with Extreme Unction, for he had the holy oils on his person.
Then the dying man murmured:
"Tomorrow is my last First Friday. I would be so happy if..."
Yes, of course. I understand. I'll be back in three quarters of an hour."
"Thank you, Father."
And the priest dashed off down the road that led to the village. As he passed the sacristan's house, he woke him with a cry:
"Quick, Mr. Lucas! Send your boy to church for me, and go tell the doctor that Jean-Marie the lumberjack is injured in the hills, up at the bend near Great Rocks!"
Then he went to get Holy Viaticum. His altar boy arrived and they climbed quickly back up to Great Rocks. It was half past midnight when he arrived. The lumberjack was still alive and praying. When he heard the little silver bell, he raised himself painfully and made the Sign of the Cross, a big tear running down his pale cheek. He received Holy Communion, and a few minutes later he passed away gently in the peace of the Lord.
In his sermon on Sunday, the pastor told the people of the man's predestined death. The entire parish turned out for his funeral. And on the little cross over his grave, they inscribed the following words:
THE LUMBERJACK Of THE SACRED HEART
Devotion to the Sacred Heart
INVOCATION
O Heart of love, I put all my trust in Thee; for I fear all things from my own weakness, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness.
PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART
Devotion to the Sacred Heart was the characteristic note of the piety of Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302), Benedictine nun and renowned mystic. She was, in fact, the first great exponent of devotion to the Sacred Heart. In our efforts to honor the Heart of Jesus we have this prayer as a model for our own:
Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, 0 my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.
FOR THE CHURCH
O most holy Heart of Jesus, shower Thy blessings in abundant measure upon Thy holy Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff and upon all the clergy; to the just grant perseverance; convert sinners; enlighten unbelievers; bless our relations, friends and benefactors; assist the dying; deliver the holy souls in purgatory; and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. Amen.
A PRAYER OF TRUST
O God, who didst in wondrous manner reveal to the virgin, Margaret Mary, the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart, grant that loving Thee, after her example, in all things and above all things, we may in Thy Heart find our abiding home.
ACT OF LOVE
Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus, and show me Its attractions. Unite me to It for ever. Grant that all my aspirations and all the beats of my heart, which cease not even while I sleep, may be a testimonial to Thee of my love for Thee and may say to Thee: Yes, Lord, I am all Thine;
pledge of my allegiance to Thee rests ever in my heart will never cease to be there. Do Thou accept the slight amount of good that I do and be graciously pleased to repair all m] wrong-doing; so that I may be able to bless Thee in time and in eternity. Amen.
MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART
Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought it mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushes beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Hear. of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests.
___________________
Prayer Source: The Prayer Book
by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A.,
The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
O Heart of love, I put all my trust in Thee; for I fear all things from my own weakness, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART
Devotion to the Sacred Heart was the characteristic note of the piety of Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302), Benedictine nun and renowned mystic. She was, in fact, the first great exponent of devotion to the Sacred Heart. In our efforts to honor the Heart of Jesus we have this prayer as a model for our own:
Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, 0 my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.
Saint Gertrude
FOR THE CHURCH
O most holy Heart of Jesus, shower Thy blessings in abundant measure upon Thy holy Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff and upon all the clergy; to the just grant perseverance; convert sinners; enlighten unbelievers; bless our relations, friends and benefactors; assist the dying; deliver the holy souls in purgatory; and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. Amen.
A PRAYER OF TRUST
O God, who didst in wondrous manner reveal to the virgin, Margaret Mary, the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart, grant that loving Thee, after her example, in all things and above all things, we may in Thy Heart find our abiding home.
Roman Missal
ACT OF LOVE
Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus, and show me Its attractions. Unite me to It for ever. Grant that all my aspirations and all the beats of my heart, which cease not even while I sleep, may be a testimonial to Thee of my love for Thee and may say to Thee: Yes, Lord, I am all Thine;
pledge of my allegiance to Thee rests ever in my heart will never cease to be there. Do Thou accept the slight amount of good that I do and be graciously pleased to repair all m] wrong-doing; so that I may be able to bless Thee in time and in eternity. Amen.
Cardinal Merry del Val
MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART
Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought it mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushes beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Hear. of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests.
___________________
Prayer Source: The Prayer Book
by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A.,
The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
Mental Prayer for June 23 - Christ's Joyfulness
Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: To be filled with Christ's joyful spirit.
The Idea: To hear some people talk, you would think Christ never smiled or joked. Actually He was the most joyous of men. His life opened with the singing of angels. He grew up loving everything thing about life: the blue skies, the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, the scarlet sunsets. He liked weddings and parties - and people loved to have Him come. He was slandered as a glutton and wine drinker - because He enjoyed the food and table talk! How good-natured He must have been for children to clamber about Him!
Christ came to bring men the good news of salvation, of eternal joy in heaven. What a smile of pleasure the faith of the centurion brought Him! Christ forbade fretting over future needs: if the Father cares for the lilies, how much more for you! He wanted men to know God as a father, loving and merciful. Even though He had to promise suffering to His followers, He assured them of the eternal joy to come and even of the present joy that love would bring.
At the Last Supper, Jesus summed up His mission as "that they may have joy."
My Personal Application: Have I caught something of Christ's joy, His sincere love of all men and all things? I don't know the real Christ unless I catch this spirit and understand why it animated Him.
I Speak to Christ: Lord, give me your joyous outlook on life, your ability to marvel at the wondrous beauty of nature, to see the good in all men, to keep the unequaled joy of heaven ever before me. Help me to love as you did, and to infect others with the joy of Christianity - which finds God's world so good.
Thought for Today: "That your joy may be full."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: To be filled with Christ's joyful spirit.
The Idea: To hear some people talk, you would think Christ never smiled or joked. Actually He was the most joyous of men. His life opened with the singing of angels. He grew up loving everything thing about life: the blue skies, the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, the scarlet sunsets. He liked weddings and parties - and people loved to have Him come. He was slandered as a glutton and wine drinker - because He enjoyed the food and table talk! How good-natured He must have been for children to clamber about Him!
Christ came to bring men the good news of salvation, of eternal joy in heaven. What a smile of pleasure the faith of the centurion brought Him! Christ forbade fretting over future needs: if the Father cares for the lilies, how much more for you! He wanted men to know God as a father, loving and merciful. Even though He had to promise suffering to His followers, He assured them of the eternal joy to come and even of the present joy that love would bring.
At the Last Supper, Jesus summed up His mission as "that they may have joy."
My Personal Application: Have I caught something of Christ's joy, His sincere love of all men and all things? I don't know the real Christ unless I catch this spirit and understand why it animated Him.
I Speak to Christ: Lord, give me your joyous outlook on life, your ability to marvel at the wondrous beauty of nature, to see the good in all men, to keep the unequaled joy of heaven ever before me. Help me to love as you did, and to infect others with the joy of Christianity - which finds God's world so good.
Thought for Today: "That your joy may be full."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
I have to agree with SNAP in this case...
Southern Kalifornia dioceses are backing away from background checks and fingerprinting to avoid losing volunteers who are illegal immigrants. In an unbelievable display of insanity and foolishness, they resort to implementing senseless and potentially dangerous double standards which could place children and others at risk.
Of course, church officials state that these volunteers will be supervised when working with children. What a relief! Everyone should be able to rest easier now...Let's just hope that perverted criminals don't get wind of this. What, after all, prevents such a reprobate from voluteering, claiming to have no papers?
Of course, church officials state that these volunteers will be supervised when working with children. What a relief! Everyone should be able to rest easier now...Let's just hope that perverted criminals don't get wind of this. What, after all, prevents such a reprobate from voluteering, claiming to have no papers?
LOS ANGELES - The Roman Catholic dioceses of Los Angeles and Orange have backed away from pledges to prevent pedophiles from working with children by subjecting volunteers to fingerprint background checks, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.Does a sworn affidavit really mean anything to a criminal?
Church leaders said they didn't want to lose illegal immigrant volunteers, who lack the legitimate government-issued photo IDs that are required for the checks.
Volunteer candidates without photo IDs in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can give a sworn affidavit stating that they have not been convicted of any crime, officials said. In Orange, they can provide a sworn affidavit and two character reference letters.
"They are just trying to be too politically correct, even though it means putting the kids at risk," said Rita Milla, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-area Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "If someone can't prove who they are, they shouldn't be volunteering."As I said, this is one of the few times I agree with SNAP.
Local Teachers Storm Chancery....
...Not really but it sounds catchy and grabs one's attention, and they did show up unannounced - with reporters. They apparently did not tell the archdiocese but did tell the media - go figure! It really does not serve one very well if one notifies everyone but the party with whom one wishes to meet. Didn't they learn basic common courtesy somewhere in their lives?
ST. LOUIS - A couple dozen elementary school teachers in the Archdiocese of St. Louis tried to meet with Archbishop Raymond Burke Thursday to present a book of grievances alleging job insecurity and poor treatment by school administrators.ACEE (which is supported by Catholic Action Network, BTW) has been up to their 'antics' for years. Archbishop Rigali did not agree to their demands so now they keep trying their tactics on Archbishop Burke.
But they got no guarantees that Burke himself would receive their book of concerns and were asked to leave the premises. Archdiocesan spokesman Tony Huenneke, clearly bothered by their unexpected appearance, told reporters who accompanied the teachers that the archdiocese had no comment.
[The Archdiocese] doesn't recognize, nor will it negotiate with, the Association of Catholic Elementary Educators [ACEE], which formed a dozen years ago, president Mary Chubb said. An attempt in the 1970s to have union representation also failed.
I know this is short notice, but...
CATHOLIC Action Network has announced that:
The Holy Families group of CAN will be at PrideFest June 24th and 25th, Tower Grove Park.And if this "Catholic" action is not enough, CAN is planning a protest, (a nonviolent vigil) at St Louis University in the the opening day of The Courage National Conference on Thursday, July 27th.
These people really do need our prayers. They fight against purity and chastity and the will of God while proclaiming that living in a homosexual "relationship" is loving and wonderful - the bottom line is that they reject God's moral law and the teachings of the Church.
Let us not forget to pray for them.
NEA Removes Endorsement of Gay "Marriage "
The National Education Association (NEA) has pulled a resolution in support of gay marriage after it was highlighted by a pro-family group. The national teachers union posted the following on its Web site:Of course, the NEA backs away from this because it was exposed - have no doubt that this group will be back again with the same or similar proposal. This, and other moraly bankrupt ideas, are apparently what drives the NEA - not the proper education of children form whom they seem to have little concern."The Association believes that legal rights and responsibilities with regard to medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, legal immigration, domestic partnerships and civil unions and/or marriage belong to all these diverse groups and individuals."
HT to Darla M. for the update!
Is there something in the water?
Today, no smiley faces or peace signs...What's for tomorrow? Who knows for certain - maybe a ban on necklaces or earrings with crosses?
Some suggested that it might be time to shop somewhere else where company policy makers aren't the result of inbreeding.
Some suggested that it might be time to shop somewhere else where company policy makers aren't the result of inbreeding.
Gospel for Thursday, 11th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Matthew 6:7-15
An Upright Intention in Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples:) [7] "And in praying do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for
their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what
you need before you ask Him. [9] Pray then like this: Our Father who
art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. [10] Thy kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily
bread; [12] And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors; [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. [14] For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly
Father also will forgive you; [15] but if you do not forgive men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
______________________
Commentary:
7-8. Jesus condemns the superstitious notion that long prayers are
needed to attract God's attention. True piety is not so much a matter
of the amount of words as of the frequency and the love with which the
Christian turns towards God in all the events, great or small, of his
day. Vocal prayer is good, and necessary; but the words count only if
they express our inner feelings.
9-13. The "Our Father" is, without any doubt, the most commented-on
passage in all Sacred Scripture. Numerous great Church writers have
left us commentaries full of poetry and wisdom. The early Christians,
taught by the precepts of salvation, and following the divine
commandment, centered their prayer on this sublime and simple form of
words given them by Jesus. And the last Christians, too, will raise
their hearts to say the "Our Father" for the last time when they are on
the point of being taken to Heaven. In the meantime, from childhood to
death, the "Our Father" is a prayer which fills us with hope and
consolation. Jesus fully realized how helpful this prayer would be to
us. We are grateful to Him for giving it to us, to the Apostles for
passing it on to us and, in the case of most Christians, to our mothers
for teaching it to us in our infancy. So important is the Lord's
Prayer that from apostolic times it has been used, along with the
Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Sacraments, as the basis of
Christian catechesis. Catechumens were introduced to the life of
prayer by the "Our Father", and our catechisms today use it for that
purpose.
St. Augustine says that the Lord's Prayer is so perfect that it sums up
in a few words everything man needs to ask God for (cf. "Sermon", 56).
It is usually seen as being made up of an invocation and seven
petitions--three to do with praise of God and four with the needs of
men.
9. It is a source of great consolation to be able to call God "our
Father"; Jesus, the Son of God, teaches men to invoke God as Father
because we are indeed His children, and should feel towards Him in that
way.
"The Lord [...] is not a tyrannical master or a rigid and implacable
judge; He is our Father. He speaks to us about our lack of generosity,
our sins, our mistakes; but He also does so in order to free us from
them, to promise us His friendship and His love [...]. A child of God
treats the Lord as his Father. He is not obsequious and servile, he is
not merely formal and well-mannered; he is completely sincere and
trusting" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 64).
"Hallowed by Thy name": in the Bible a person's "name" means the same
as the person himself. Here the name of God means God Himself. Why
pray that His name be hallowed, sanctified? We do not mean
sanctification in the human sense--leaving evil behind and drawing
closer to God--for God is Holiness Itself. God, rather, is sanctified
when His holiness is acknowledged and honored by His creatures--which
is what this first petition of the "Our Father" means (cf. "St. Pius
Catechism", IV, 10).
10. "Thy Kingdom come": this brings up again the central idea of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ--the coming of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God
is so identical with the life and work of Jesus Christ that the Gospel
is referred to now as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, now as the Gospel of
the Kingdom (Matthew 9:35). On the notion of the Kingdom of God see
the commentary on Matthew 3:2 and 4:17. The coming of the Kingdom of
God is the realization of God's plan of salvation in the world. The
Kingdom establishes itself in the first place in the core of man's
being, raising him up to share in God's own inner life. This elevation
has, as it were, two stages--the first, in this life, where it is
brought about by grace; the second, definitive stage in eternal life,
where man's elevation to the supernatural level is fully completed. We
for our part need to respond to God spontaneously, lovingly and
trustingly.
"Thy will be done": this third petition expresses two desires. The
first is that man identify humbly and unconditionally with God's
will--abandonment in the arms of his Father God. The second that the
will of God be fulfilled, that man cooperate with it in full freedom.
For example, God's will is to be found in the moral aspect of the
divine law--but this law is not forced on man. One of the signs of the
coming of the Kingdom is man's loving fulfillment of God's will. The
second part of the petition, "on earth as it is in Heaven", means that,
just as the angels and saints in Heaven are fully at one with God's
will, so--we desire--should the same thing obtain on earth.
Our effort to do God's will proves that we are sincere when we say the
words, "Thy will be done." For our Lord says, "Not every one who says
to Me, `Lord, Lord' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father who is in Heaven." (Matthew 7:21). "Anyone,
then, who sincerely repeats this petition, `Fiat voluntas tua', must,
at least in intention, have done this already" (St. Teresa of Avila,
"Way of Perfection", chapter 36).
11. In making this fourth petition, we are thinking primarily of our
needs in this present life. The importance of this petition is that it
declares that the material things we need in our lives are good and
lawful. It gives a deep religious dimension to the support of life:
what Christ's disciple obtains through his own work is also something
for which he should implore God--and he should receive it gratefully as
a gift from God. God is our support in life: by asking God to support
him and by realizing that it is God who is providing this support, the
Christian avoids being worried about material needs. Jesus does not
want us to pray for wealth or to be attached to material things, but to
seek and make sober use of what meets our needs. Hence, in Matthew as
well as in Luke (Luke 11:2), there is reference to having enough food
for every day. This fourth petition, then, has to do with moderate use
of food and material things--far from the extremes of opulence and
misery, as God already taught in the Old Testament "Give me neither
poverty nor riches; feed me with the food which is needful for me, lest
I be full, and deny Thee, and say, `Who is the Lord?' or lest I be
poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8).
The Fathers of the Church interpreted the bread asked for here not only
as material food but also as referring to the Blessed Eucharist,
without which our spirit cannot stay alive.
According to the "St. Pius V Catechism" (cf. IV, 13, 21) the Eucharist
is called our daily bread because it is offered daily to God in the
Holy Mass and because we should worthily receive it, every day if
possible, as St. Ambrose advises: "If the bread is daily, why do you
take it only once a year [...]? Receive daily what is of benefit to
you daily! So live that you may deserve to receive it daily!" ("De
Sacramentis", V, 4).
12. "Debts": clearly, here, in the sense of sin. In the Aramaic of
Jesus' time the same word was used for offense and debt. In this fifth
petition, then, we admit that we are debtors because we have offended
God. The Old Testament is full of references to man's sinful
condition. Even the "righteous" are sinners. Recognizing our sins is
the first step in every conversion to God. It is not a question of
recognizing that we have sinned in the past but of confessing our
present sinful condition. Awareness of our sinfulness makes us realize
our religious need to have recourse to the only One who can cure it.
Hence the advantage of praying insistently, using the Lord's Prayer to
obtain God's forgiveness time and again.
The second part of this petition is a serious call to forgive our
fellow-men, for we cannot dare to ask God to forgive us if we are not
ready to forgive others. The Christian needs to realize what this
prayer implies: unwillingness to forgive others means that one is
condemning oneself (see the notes on Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:21:21-35).
13. "And lead us not into temptation": "We do not ask to be totally
exempt from temptation, for human life is one continuous temptation
(cf. Job 7:1). What, then, do we pray for in this petition? We pray
that the divine assistance may not forsake us, lest having been
deceived, or worsted, we should yield to temptation; and that the grace
of God may be at hand to succor us when our strength fails, to refresh
and invigorate us in our trials" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 15, 14).
In this petition of the "Our Father" we recognize that our human
efforts alone do not take us very far in trying to cope with
temptation, and that we need to have humble recourse to God, to get the
strength we need. For, "God is strong enough to free you from
everything and can do you more good than all the devils can do you
harm. All that God decrees is that you confide in Him, that you draw
near Him, that you trust Him and distrust yourself, and so be helped;
and with this help you will defeat whatever hell brings against you.
Never lose hold of this firm hope [...] even if the demons are legion
and all kinds of severe temptations harass you. Lean upon Him, because
if the Lord is not your support and your strength, then you will fall
and you will be afraid of everything" (St. John of Avila, "Sermons, 9,
First Sunday of Lent").
"But deliver us from evil": in this petition, which, in a way, sums up
the previous petitions, we ask the Lord to free us from everything our
enemy does to bring us down; we cannot be free of him unless God
Himself free us, in response to our prayers.
This sentence can also be translated as "Deliver us from the Evil One",
that is to say, the devil, who is in the last analysis the author of
all evils to which we are prone.
In making this request we can be sure that our prayer will be heard
because Jesus Christ, when He was on the point of leaving this world,
prayed to the Father for the salvation of all men: "I do not pray that
Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep
them from the evil one" (John 17:15).
14-15. In verses 14 and 15 St. Matthew gives us a sort of commentary of
our Lord on the fifth petition of the "Our Father".
A God who forgives is a wonderful God. But if God, who is thrice-holy,
has mercy on the sinner, how much more ought we to forgive others--we
sinners, who know from our own experience the wretchedness of sin. No
one on earth is perfect. Just as God loves us, even though we have
defects, and forgives us, we should love others, even though they have
defects, and forgive them. If we wait to love people who have no
defects, we shall never love anyone. If we wait until others mend
their ways or apologize, we will scarcely ever forgive them. But then
we ourselves will never be forgiven. "All right: that person has
behaved badly towards you. But, haven't you behaved worse towards
God?" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 686).
Thus, forgiving those who have offended us makes us like our Father,
God: "In loving our enemies there shines forth in us some likeness to
God our Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting
perdition and reconciled to Himself the human race, which before was
most unfriendly and hostile to Him" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 14,
19).
___________________________
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.
An Upright Intention in Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples:) [7] "And in praying do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for
their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what
you need before you ask Him. [9] Pray then like this: Our Father who
art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. [10] Thy kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily
bread; [12] And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors; [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. [14] For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly
Father also will forgive you; [15] but if you do not forgive men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
______________________
Commentary:
7-8. Jesus condemns the superstitious notion that long prayers are
needed to attract God's attention. True piety is not so much a matter
of the amount of words as of the frequency and the love with which the
Christian turns towards God in all the events, great or small, of his
day. Vocal prayer is good, and necessary; but the words count only if
they express our inner feelings.
9-13. The "Our Father" is, without any doubt, the most commented-on
passage in all Sacred Scripture. Numerous great Church writers have
left us commentaries full of poetry and wisdom. The early Christians,
taught by the precepts of salvation, and following the divine
commandment, centered their prayer on this sublime and simple form of
words given them by Jesus. And the last Christians, too, will raise
their hearts to say the "Our Father" for the last time when they are on
the point of being taken to Heaven. In the meantime, from childhood to
death, the "Our Father" is a prayer which fills us with hope and
consolation. Jesus fully realized how helpful this prayer would be to
us. We are grateful to Him for giving it to us, to the Apostles for
passing it on to us and, in the case of most Christians, to our mothers
for teaching it to us in our infancy. So important is the Lord's
Prayer that from apostolic times it has been used, along with the
Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Sacraments, as the basis of
Christian catechesis. Catechumens were introduced to the life of
prayer by the "Our Father", and our catechisms today use it for that
purpose.
St. Augustine says that the Lord's Prayer is so perfect that it sums up
in a few words everything man needs to ask God for (cf. "Sermon", 56).
It is usually seen as being made up of an invocation and seven
petitions--three to do with praise of God and four with the needs of
men.
9. It is a source of great consolation to be able to call God "our
Father"; Jesus, the Son of God, teaches men to invoke God as Father
because we are indeed His children, and should feel towards Him in that
way.
"The Lord [...] is not a tyrannical master or a rigid and implacable
judge; He is our Father. He speaks to us about our lack of generosity,
our sins, our mistakes; but He also does so in order to free us from
them, to promise us His friendship and His love [...]. A child of God
treats the Lord as his Father. He is not obsequious and servile, he is
not merely formal and well-mannered; he is completely sincere and
trusting" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 64).
"Hallowed by Thy name": in the Bible a person's "name" means the same
as the person himself. Here the name of God means God Himself. Why
pray that His name be hallowed, sanctified? We do not mean
sanctification in the human sense--leaving evil behind and drawing
closer to God--for God is Holiness Itself. God, rather, is sanctified
when His holiness is acknowledged and honored by His creatures--which
is what this first petition of the "Our Father" means (cf. "St. Pius
Catechism", IV, 10).
10. "Thy Kingdom come": this brings up again the central idea of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ--the coming of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God
is so identical with the life and work of Jesus Christ that the Gospel
is referred to now as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, now as the Gospel of
the Kingdom (Matthew 9:35). On the notion of the Kingdom of God see
the commentary on Matthew 3:2 and 4:17. The coming of the Kingdom of
God is the realization of God's plan of salvation in the world. The
Kingdom establishes itself in the first place in the core of man's
being, raising him up to share in God's own inner life. This elevation
has, as it were, two stages--the first, in this life, where it is
brought about by grace; the second, definitive stage in eternal life,
where man's elevation to the supernatural level is fully completed. We
for our part need to respond to God spontaneously, lovingly and
trustingly.
"Thy will be done": this third petition expresses two desires. The
first is that man identify humbly and unconditionally with God's
will--abandonment in the arms of his Father God. The second that the
will of God be fulfilled, that man cooperate with it in full freedom.
For example, God's will is to be found in the moral aspect of the
divine law--but this law is not forced on man. One of the signs of the
coming of the Kingdom is man's loving fulfillment of God's will. The
second part of the petition, "on earth as it is in Heaven", means that,
just as the angels and saints in Heaven are fully at one with God's
will, so--we desire--should the same thing obtain on earth.
Our effort to do God's will proves that we are sincere when we say the
words, "Thy will be done." For our Lord says, "Not every one who says
to Me, `Lord, Lord' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father who is in Heaven." (Matthew 7:21). "Anyone,
then, who sincerely repeats this petition, `Fiat voluntas tua', must,
at least in intention, have done this already" (St. Teresa of Avila,
"Way of Perfection", chapter 36).
11. In making this fourth petition, we are thinking primarily of our
needs in this present life. The importance of this petition is that it
declares that the material things we need in our lives are good and
lawful. It gives a deep religious dimension to the support of life:
what Christ's disciple obtains through his own work is also something
for which he should implore God--and he should receive it gratefully as
a gift from God. God is our support in life: by asking God to support
him and by realizing that it is God who is providing this support, the
Christian avoids being worried about material needs. Jesus does not
want us to pray for wealth or to be attached to material things, but to
seek and make sober use of what meets our needs. Hence, in Matthew as
well as in Luke (Luke 11:2), there is reference to having enough food
for every day. This fourth petition, then, has to do with moderate use
of food and material things--far from the extremes of opulence and
misery, as God already taught in the Old Testament "Give me neither
poverty nor riches; feed me with the food which is needful for me, lest
I be full, and deny Thee, and say, `Who is the Lord?' or lest I be
poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8).
The Fathers of the Church interpreted the bread asked for here not only
as material food but also as referring to the Blessed Eucharist,
without which our spirit cannot stay alive.
According to the "St. Pius V Catechism" (cf. IV, 13, 21) the Eucharist
is called our daily bread because it is offered daily to God in the
Holy Mass and because we should worthily receive it, every day if
possible, as St. Ambrose advises: "If the bread is daily, why do you
take it only once a year [...]? Receive daily what is of benefit to
you daily! So live that you may deserve to receive it daily!" ("De
Sacramentis", V, 4).
12. "Debts": clearly, here, in the sense of sin. In the Aramaic of
Jesus' time the same word was used for offense and debt. In this fifth
petition, then, we admit that we are debtors because we have offended
God. The Old Testament is full of references to man's sinful
condition. Even the "righteous" are sinners. Recognizing our sins is
the first step in every conversion to God. It is not a question of
recognizing that we have sinned in the past but of confessing our
present sinful condition. Awareness of our sinfulness makes us realize
our religious need to have recourse to the only One who can cure it.
Hence the advantage of praying insistently, using the Lord's Prayer to
obtain God's forgiveness time and again.
The second part of this petition is a serious call to forgive our
fellow-men, for we cannot dare to ask God to forgive us if we are not
ready to forgive others. The Christian needs to realize what this
prayer implies: unwillingness to forgive others means that one is
condemning oneself (see the notes on Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:21:21-35).
13. "And lead us not into temptation": "We do not ask to be totally
exempt from temptation, for human life is one continuous temptation
(cf. Job 7:1). What, then, do we pray for in this petition? We pray
that the divine assistance may not forsake us, lest having been
deceived, or worsted, we should yield to temptation; and that the grace
of God may be at hand to succor us when our strength fails, to refresh
and invigorate us in our trials" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 15, 14).
In this petition of the "Our Father" we recognize that our human
efforts alone do not take us very far in trying to cope with
temptation, and that we need to have humble recourse to God, to get the
strength we need. For, "God is strong enough to free you from
everything and can do you more good than all the devils can do you
harm. All that God decrees is that you confide in Him, that you draw
near Him, that you trust Him and distrust yourself, and so be helped;
and with this help you will defeat whatever hell brings against you.
Never lose hold of this firm hope [...] even if the demons are legion
and all kinds of severe temptations harass you. Lean upon Him, because
if the Lord is not your support and your strength, then you will fall
and you will be afraid of everything" (St. John of Avila, "Sermons, 9,
First Sunday of Lent").
"But deliver us from evil": in this petition, which, in a way, sums up
the previous petitions, we ask the Lord to free us from everything our
enemy does to bring us down; we cannot be free of him unless God
Himself free us, in response to our prayers.
This sentence can also be translated as "Deliver us from the Evil One",
that is to say, the devil, who is in the last analysis the author of
all evils to which we are prone.
In making this request we can be sure that our prayer will be heard
because Jesus Christ, when He was on the point of leaving this world,
prayed to the Father for the salvation of all men: "I do not pray that
Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep
them from the evil one" (John 17:15).
14-15. In verses 14 and 15 St. Matthew gives us a sort of commentary of
our Lord on the fifth petition of the "Our Father".
A God who forgives is a wonderful God. But if God, who is thrice-holy,
has mercy on the sinner, how much more ought we to forgive others--we
sinners, who know from our own experience the wretchedness of sin. No
one on earth is perfect. Just as God loves us, even though we have
defects, and forgives us, we should love others, even though they have
defects, and forgive them. If we wait to love people who have no
defects, we shall never love anyone. If we wait until others mend
their ways or apologize, we will scarcely ever forgive them. But then
we ourselves will never be forgiven. "All right: that person has
behaved badly towards you. But, haven't you behaved worse towards
God?" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 686).
Thus, forgiving those who have offended us makes us like our Father,
God: "In loving our enemies there shines forth in us some likeness to
God our Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting
perdition and reconciled to Himself the human race, which before was
most unfriendly and hostile to Him" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 14,
19).
___________________________
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.
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