Monday, August 28, 2017

Aug 28 - St. Augustine

+ St. Augustine of Hippo, was born in Tagaste (modern Algeria, Northern Africa) in 354, of a pagan father named Patricius, who converted on his deathbed, thanks to the prayers of his literally sainted wife, Monica, who was the mother of three sons: one of which was Augustine.

While raised a Christian, Augustine lost his faith in youth and led a wild life, living with a Carthaginian woman from age 15 through 30. With her he fathered a son whom he named Adeotadus, which means the gift of God. Augustine taught rhetoric at Carthage and Milan, Italy.

After investigating and experimenting with several philosophies, Augustine  became a Manichaean for several years; it taught of a great struggle between good and evil, and featured a lax moral code (since it seemed that the evil outweighed the good, one might as well give in to it – this of course, is not only illogical but theologically inaccurate, and heretical). A summation of his thinking of this time comes from his Confessions: “God, give me chastity and continence – but not just yet.”

Augustine finally broke with the Mainchaens and was converted by the prayer of his mother and the help of Saint Ambrose of Milan, who baptized him. On the death of his mother he returned to Africa, sold his property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and founded a monastery. He then journeyed in his vocation from monk to priest, preacher, and then Bishop of Hippo in 396. He founded religious communities, fought Manichaeism, Donatism, Pelagianism and other heresies. He oversaw his see during the fall of the Roman Empire to the Vandals.

For all of his many writings, especially in the area of moral theology and theology in general he was soon named Doctor of the Church after his death in 430. His later thinking can also be summed up in a line from his writings: Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you!

The gospel passage today speaks of humility. Once Augustine experienced the heights of false exaltation in his earlier years of carousing and rabble rousing, he understood clearly the difference between gaining the whole world of insight and understanding and true, unadulterated humility; and once he learned the great lesson, he was eloquent enough to make the lesson palatable to everyone, everywhere, and for all times – by writing it down.

The first reading talks about experiencing the exhilaration and confidence of existing in the love of God, which is a voluntary cooperative venture on both our parts: God, constantly offering his life-sustaining love; us, needing to constantly offer our cooperation with graces given for our good, for our salvation, for the satisfaction of our desire!

St. Augustine, pray for us today; help us to know that it is normal for our hearts to experience a certain kind of persistent restlessness, otherwise we would not want to join you in heaven!

With all our hearts, we seek you, Lord; let us find you in the perfect way, and in the perfect time you have in mind for us!


Sunday, August 27, 2017

Aug 27 - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 27, 2017

I –I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulders.
R –Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of our hands.
II – From God and through him and for him are all things.
A – You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
G –You are Peter, and to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

+The keys of the kingdom of heaven have everything to do with the application of the merits of the Death of Christ on the Cross. The power of “binding and loosing;” the power of saying “this is so,” “this is not so”; “the power to forgive sins, and the power to say ‘no forgiveness, not just yet,’”; “the power to confect all seven sacraments” are the keys that Jesus gave to Peter. The very life of the Church in its entirety comes from the Cross of Christ Crucified. It is our life: we are the Church.

It seems as though Jesus was waiting for a signal from his Father before he appointed Peter as head of the Church: it was not until Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God the Father, replied to Jesus question as to his identity: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

That was all Jesus needed to hear! Jesus needed to hear this act of faith in his divinity and it was upon this faith that he appoints Peter the rock on which the Church would be built, a rock so secure that the gates of the netherworld would not prevail against it! Jesus then felt free to give Peter the keys of the new spiritual treasure!

Yes, the Church will be around until the end of time, and it will always be stronger than evil, stronger than any opposition from within or without, it will be all that God intends for it to be!

The authority of Christ, then, to preach, teach, rule and guide the flock of Christ is entrusted to all of the bishops and the Pope (successors of St. Peter) and their helpers. It is their awesome task to work for Christ, to be his instruments in the gathering of God’s family from the four winds! May we pray that all who work in ministry, including those in religious life who have dedicated their lives to the manifestation of God’s Kingdom on earth, before it exists perfectly in heaven, be fruitful, authentic, genuine, brave and courageous to the end.


You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Aug 22 - The Queenship of Mary

+ Today we celebrate the memorial of the Queenship of Mary, one week after the Feast of her Assumption into heaven. Mary has been considered “queen of heaven” since the fourth century, in art and in poetry. She was portrayed in royal attire, enthroned with her child Jesus who was himself given “the throne of David to rule over the house of Jacob forever,” a kingdom of which there will be no end.

This feast was established by Pope Pius XII in 1954 after it was initially promoted by Catholic Mariological congresses in Lyon, France, Freiburg, Germany, and Einsiedeln, Switzerland and Pro Regalitate Mariae, an international society to promote the Queenship of Mary, in Rome.

It is only fitting that after Mary took her place near Jesus, her Son the King, that she should be crowned by the heavenly Church as their queen and ours. With such a radiant regent interceding for us, how could our confidence in her motherly prayers ever fail? She is mother of God because of her willingness to empty herself of herself; she is queen of heaven (and earth) because she faithfully kept that posture her entire earthly life. May we imitate her poverty and her humility this day, and experience the great depth of her joy at being raised up by her Son, and his Body, the Church, of which she is the fullness and exemplar of membership!

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us always, until we see you face to face in our eternal home with you!


Amen.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Aug 21 - St. Pius X

+On June 2, 1835 Guiseppe Melchiorre Sarto saw the light of earth at Riesi, in the Province of Treviso, in Venice, Italy; on August 20, 1914, he saw the light of heaven; and on May 29, 1954, he who had become to 259th pope was canonized St. Pius X. Two of the most outstanding accomplishments of this saintly Pope were the inauguration of the liturgical renewal and restoration of frequent communion from childhood. He also waged an unwavering war against the heresy and evils of Modernism (the predecessor to our own overarching pandemic of godless secularism), gave great impetus to biblical studies, and brought about the codification of Canon Law. His overriding concern was to renew all things in Christ.

Above all, his holiness shone forth conspicuously. From St. Pius X we learn again that “the folly of the Cross,” simplicity of life, and humility of heart are still the highest wisdom and the indispensable conditions of a perfect Christian life, for they are the very source of all apostolic fruitfulness. His last will and testament bears the striking sentence: “I was born poor. I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor,” and so he did deeply engulfed in the poverty of the great Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount!

Jesus certainly handpicked Pius X to feed the lambs of his flock with a shepherd’s care, and as Paul did among the Thessalonians, so did Pius not only share the Gospel with others, but he also gave his life with apostolic zeal. May the Church today remain open to liturgical renewal and sensible further penetration of the Gospel message of her Lord and Master, Jesus Christ; and may she fight bravely the great war of the ever-present cancerous evil infecting society that is called “secularism.”


Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Aug 20 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

+Our readings this Sunday again are timely, and easily adaptable to the situation we find ourselves in as Americans.  The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah tells us of a kernel of truth that is far, wide, deep and irreplaceable: have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity will be manifest.

As summer begins to wind down now, we turn our thoughts to our goal and the means that we are going to use to get there. The goal is “the holy mountain of God,” or in other words, heaven. In this passage, the Lord is telling us that for those who think and act justly, with integrity will have no reason to fear on that day of passage, that day of Judgment: that is surely coming – sooner or later!

On that day God’s justice and salvation, God’s integrity will be manifest: and it is a fair justice, a generous salvation, and integrity supreme: and God will reward those who offer holocausts and sacrifices: he will hear their prayers and will rejoice that they gather in his house of prayer!

It seems that many of our governmental leaders are tuned into a different kind of justice, a strange kind of integrity, and a quite baffling kind of vision of what is actually going on in the country and in the world. You might say that it is “an alternative kind of reality” – and they are doing their best to draw us into their fantasy world.

We must resist: or our prayers will not be heard, and we will have no recourse then, to fight this final battle to the end.

What St. Paul tells the Romans and us in the second reading is important for us to hear now: God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice. Even disobedience does not entirely separate us from his providence and care. And so even the pagans – who have also been saved by Christ – can have access to his resurrected life: if they begin to turn away from their “idols of silver and gold” and to the Person of the Risen Lord: who offers peace, reconciliation, truth, justice and life!

So very many these days are turning to God, and crying out to him literally, asking him to do something about the apparently hopeless situation in D.C. – and today, he in many ways remains silent: silent like he was with the woman he compared to a house-dog. But it was her persistence, and calm response that won his helping hand. He waited purposely for her to persist, and offer her petition more than once. He waits for us to do the same.

He has every intention of granting our requests: but our faith in him, must be accompanied by humble, listening/obedient trust: and a willingness to keep on doing the right thing until our prayers are indeed answered.

May Jesus say of us: YOU HAVE GREAT FAITH! Let your wish be granted as you have made it!



Saturday, August 19, 2017

Aug 19 - 19th Week in OT - Saturday

­+ Our readings today seem to hit the nail squarely on the head.  The dynamic involved in the first reading from the Book of Joshua is a familiar one. The people of Israel are quite human, and quite in need of constant reminders and life-lessons as they at least try to remain faithful and grateful to the God of the Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Today, addressing the flock of God who is now free and establishing themselves in the land of Promise, Joshua thinks out loud and says in effect: as I look back and see the marvels and wonders that have occurred in our finally arriving at this place, and sensing that only the Divine Finger of God could have led them there, safely, he states that: while some still wish to follow the pagan gods we left behind ages ago, I and my family will serve, love, worship and adore the one God, the Father God who assuredly has blessed us so.

Then in a parrotical – i.e.. parrot-like fashion the people pipe up: “Far be it from us to turn our backs on the God who saves us, we will serve him completely and wholeheartedly too!”

Then, Joshua pulls them up short: “O really! Are you sure you can serve such a holy God, a jealous God who will not forgive your transgressions or your sins – if you can’t stay on a straight and narrow path?”

But they insisted: “O yes! We can! And we so commit ourselves today!”

Joshua, probably hesitantly declares: “OK, you say so! And I will build a shrine on the spot to mark your resolve! a large stone set under the oak that was in the sanctuary! ‘This shall witness against you, should you wish to deny your God.” [Hmmm Joshua knew his audience thoroughly!]

In the gospel passage, Jesus embraces and places his hands on the children: reminding us that we must always remain childlike – but at some decisive point we must leave our selfish, bullyish, self-gratifying childish selves behind, or we will not qualify for life in the Father’s Mansion in Heaven.

We pray in thanksgiving for those who model childlike behavior. We pray to the God of justice and mercy to convert and heal those childish, self-possessed bullies of any age – lest they wreak damage and even disaster in the lives of others: this goes a thousand-fold for Donald Trump, President of the United States – who apparently is stuck in his early formative years – and just refuses to get past it, and into a mature, grown up manner of living and dealing with other people!

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom – the child-like! the child-LIKE!



Friday, August 18, 2017

Aug 18 - 19th Week in OT - Friday

­+ Our readings today are again timely, and thought-provoking.  In the first reading, we have a recap of the activity of God on behalf of the people, the family, the nation He is trying to form. And like unruly children, the people just don’t seem to “get it” – to get what is actually happening here.

Everything that they received, is a gift from God. All of the “work of their evolution as a people, was not their doing: but it was a response to God’s invitation. Nothing that they built, planted or created was their own – their hands worked on behalf of the God who dwelt within them. Having nothing, then to call “their own” – the proper posture would be to kneel before God, bow the head, and open the hands and pray: “Abba, Father, you will take care of us, not just the way you have, but in newer more magnificent ways” – but we must “let go of the steering wheel of our lives” – we must humbly and with a listening heart move forward at God’s will and pace and not our own.

Of course, the people of Israel, just never seem to get it entirely, and to this day, they do not grasp the entire reality!

The gospel passage has to do with commitment and covenant! Marriage is meant to be an unbreakable bond between two mature and responsible people: able to put the other first in all circumstances: to be willing to lay down your life for the other – in many ways great and small. Such a dynamic is an ever flowing energy that is out-reaching and out-giving and generous. Warm, fuzzy feelings are only meant to be a by-product of such a bond, and not the main attraction.

When a President of the United States is sworn in, he, in a sense, enters into a God-given covenant relationship with all of the people of the country! He marries them! He begins then to think entirely of them, and not at all of himself; he is to selflessly “lay down his life, his will and his interests,” for the good of the whole; he is to defend and uphold the covenant documents and laws that hold the republic together; he is to represent the country and be a champion in striving for world peace and harmony among nations.

He is to be everything that our current president Donald Trump is not.

Donald is immature to the extreme, mentally deficient and handicapped, and completely unfit for office. He fails miserably the test of moral rectitude and ability to be compassionate, to lead and to heal.

A “divorce,” a calling for removal of office, and recommendation for him to be placed in an institution that could help him, in time, is certainly in order. Only mature, self-sacrificial, self-forgetting individuals ought to marry, or be president of our republic. It is time to annul this travesty!  

And most emphatically of all, let the cowardly silence of American bishops and Religious Superiors end, let them stand up for what is right – for who they have vowed to protect and defend on their ordination days. THE SHEEP!  The sheep are being bludgeoned by this president – STAND UP, DEAR BISHOPS, DEAR ABBOTS, DEAR SUPERIORS – and SHOUT OUT YOUR ALARM, YOUR CONCERN, AND YOUR TRUTH. For this you have been commissioned by Jesus Christ: HIGH PRIEST who will hold you accountable for not doing so on the Final Day!


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Aug 17 - 19th Week in OT - Thursday

+ Our readings today are timely, and thought-provoking.  In the first reading, the people of Israel, led by Joshua, toting the physical Ark of the Covenant – the symbolic and real “heart of express Judaism” – with the intent of “finding it a home” – search earnestly now for a place to plant their hearts, and the Ark, in the Land of Promise.

We too, in our own bodies carry around the Holy Spirit who is our GPS – our navigation system through life – and rather than trying to find a static place to lock into – we commit ourselves to letting it guide us to the known destination: the Grand Palace of the Father – in the Kingdom beyond imagining. We must let go of the steering wheel – because this is the one and only true “self-driving” vehicle – if we cooperate as we are meant to.

The gospel passage hit the nail right on the head, with the events of the potential mortally wounding of the democratic system of our government – in these United States of America – with the lying, deceptive and outright diabolic bigotry spewing forth from the mouth of the President himself.

When Trump lies, when Trump sins, when Trump shakes the very foundations of our entire fabric and structure of the nation – must we forgive him – seventy-times seven? really? truly?

Well the answer is “yes” and then again it is “no”!

We must be willing to forgive – WILLING is the key phrase here. But the forgiveness must come as a response to the other party who has had a conversion of heart, and a change of mind.

Until Donald Trump shows true contrition – then we have a moral obligation to “parent him” – to take him aside – to an institution that can help him – try to reason with him – and to elicit his resignation from office – for the good of the nation, for the good of families, for the good of the economy, for the good world peace.

For this we pray, intensely, and from the bottom of our hearts, this day!

Amen.


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Aug 16 - 19th Week in OT - Wednesday

+ We have a couple of heartening readings today. In the first reading, we recount the events of Moses passing into eternity just shy of the promised land. He saw the line in the sand, but was justifiably denied entrance because of a sin of disobedience – that the Lord God forgave – but the restitution that had to be made was to forfeit actually crossing over into the new land of promise and prosperity:

[this was God’s justice, and mercy played out in what we might think a harsh way, but with faith we can see that the image of disobedience to God’s will always has consequences – what he actually did was strike a rock with his staff twice, instead of once as the Lord told him to do when the people of Israel demanded water to drink – why he did it twice, only he knows, but it was objective disobedience and that is why he could not Passover physically into the Promised Land – but of course he already had, mentally and spiritually]

And so it was up to Joshua – one whom Moses laid hands on to convey God’s own Spirit – who had the task of leading the people to what they would consider, for a while, Paradise.

Note that the name Joshua is a derivative of “Jesus” – we can see prefigured here Jesus leading us into a much-Promised Land of a real Paradise the like of while we cannot even fathom with our tiny, finite minds.

Lesson here for us: obey the voice of God speaking, instantaneously, and precisely as he dictates it to us; or pay the price of consequent punishment. And follow Jesus into the Promised Paradise – he in fact IS THE WAY to it!
This means: study and absorb everything about him – all the truth he has to offer, and we will be filled with HIS life, starting now, and lasting into Kingdom come.

In the gospel passage Jesus shows us how to deal with apparent errant brothers and sisters: try to reason with them privately, and then in some kind of kindly way bring in the outside world, another person or persons, still gently and patiently and try to show how his/her behavior does not quite fit into the public arena – where we are all called to get along with one another peacefully.

And lastly today, we have the blessed assurance that – for those who love God try their best to live uprightly, and to help others – their prayers will be heard and answered every time: if they are asked humbly, patiently and ultimately aligning our will with God’s: he will delight in answer them every time.


Yes, blessed be God, who gives life to our bodies, our minds and our spirits! Amen.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Aug 15 - The Assumption of Mary

+ Today we celebrate a great feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The wording of the Dogma of the Assumption made by Pope Pius XII on this date in 1950 proclaiming this fact is this: “when the course of her earthly life was finished,” the Blessed Virgin Mary “was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven.” This definition does not take a position on the long-disputed question of whether Mary actually died.  There are sound arguments on both sides of this debate, with the opinion favoring the fact that she did die, if only momentarily, or for a short while, being by far the stronger: this is supported not only by Scripture, but also the writings of the early Fathers of the Church.

Mary experiences this assumption into heaven to be the first to fully participate in her Son’s redemption; to be our hope and our model of right Christian living that will lead to where she and her Son have gone; and to become the True Mother of the Church – the tender, consoling, loving mother of all who yearn for salvation and need a mother’s helping hand to guide them.

The feast began in the East in the fifth century and in the west by the seventh.

O blessed Lady, clothed with the sun, with the moon under your feet, and on your head a crown of twelve stars – pray for us this day! Pray for us as we, along with all generations, call you blessed and see you as our life, our sweetness and our hope!


All you angels of heaven: exult, as the Mother of the King takes her place at his side – to intercede for us – to pray for the sanctification of the Church and the world!

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Aug 13 - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 13, 2017

I –Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord.
R –Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
II – I could wish that I were accursed for the sake of my own people.
A – I wait for the Lord.
G –Command me to come to you on the water.

 There is an interesting statement that St Paul makes in the second reading today: “for I could wish that myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.” What is Paul saying? Can he really mean what he is saying: “accursed and cut off from Christ”?

Now Paul, we must remember was a very energetic, passionate and yes dramatic young man – and sometimes the drama shows, like in this passage. In Rome, Paul is trying to get the attention of the Jewish people – all his efforts seem to be in vain, and so out of exasperation he says: “if this would bring you to the love of Christ, then I will gladly sacrifice even my own relationship with Christ – which is dearer to him than anything at all in this world or in the next.

And, this was really a rhetorical statement: a dramatic oratorical joust: he knew he would never abandon Christ, but he also knew that this statement would have a tremendous effect on at least some of the mind-wandering, worldly minded Romans. Yes, sometimes drama is the best way to go in proclaiming the Kingdom.

What we have in the first reading however is the exact opposite of lights, action and drama – Elijah found that he could only hear the voice of the Lord speaking to his heart not in the strong and heavy wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire – but rather in a tiny whispering sound. “Then Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.” We must seek the inner recesses of the caves of our hearts often – many times a day - so that we can hear the still small voice of God’s Spirit whispering the love of God there – for it is our destiny to hear that wondrous voice forever in heaven.

The gospel passage is a repeat from earlier in the week. Jesus walks on water – because the confidence that he could do it was absolute – it was a gift from God and he wholeheartedly used it. Peter wanted to try it too – but quickly found out that his faith and confidence was far too centered on himself and his weakness in the face of the storm and the wind, rather than on God and his strength, and so he faltered. Jesus quickly took him by the hand and raised him up – but chastises him for his little faith.

It is comforting for us to know that Jesus raises us up when our faith is weak – but we can also expect a firm word or two from him afterwards on the necessity of praying daily for an increase of faith. Faith, faith and more faith is the true key to life with God, and life with one another – until we reach heaven where it will no longer be needed: we will possess the object of our faith and it will simply fade into the memory of our long and oft-times arduous journey to get there!


Be still – and with great faith - know that I am God – and I am your Brother, and I am your Friend.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Aug 11 - St Clare of Assisi

+ St. Clare of Assisi was born, July 16, 1194. Her father was a count and her mother the countess Blessed Orsolana. Her father died when she was very young. After hearing St. Francis of Assisi preach in the streets, Clare confided to him her desire to live for God, and the two became close friends. On Palm Sunday in 1212 her bishop presented Clare with a palm, which she apparently took as a sign. With her cousin Pacifica, Clare ran away from her mother’s palace during the night to enter religious life. She eventually took the veil from St. Francis at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi.

Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) at San Damiano and led it (also never leaving it) for 40 years. Everywhere the Franciscans established themselves throughout Europe, there also went the Poor Clares, depending solely on alms, forced to have complete faith in God to provide for their needs, through people’s kind hearts and generosity; this lack of land-based revenues was a new idea at the time. Clare’s mother and sisters later joined the order, and there are still thousands of members living lives of silence and prayer, throughout the world and in our own United States.

Clare loved music and well-composed sermons. She was humble, merciful, charming, optimistic, chivalrous, and every day she meditated on the Passion of Jesus. She would get up late at night to tuck in her sisters who’d kicked off their blankets. When she learned of the Franciscan martyrs in Morocco in 1221, she tried to go there to give her own life for God, but was restrained. Once when her convent was about to be attacked, she displayed the Sacrament in a monstrance at the convent gates, and prayed before it; the attackers fled in fear, the house was saved, and the image of her holding a monstrance became one of her emblems. Her patronage of eyes and against their problems may have developed from her name which has overtones from clearness, brightness, brilliance – like healthy eyes.

Toward the end of her life, when she was too ill to attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the wall of her cell; thus her patronage of television. She was ever the close friend and spiritual student of Francis, who apparently led her soul into the light at her death! Clare died on August 11, 1253 of natural causes.

In the gospel passage today, which no doubt St. Clare was very familiar with, Jesus tells St. Peter that those who give up everything to live for God, will receive a hundred times more – even in this life – and will inherit eternal life: the grandest inheritance and prize of them all!


Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Aug 6 - St. Lawrence, Martyr

+ St. Lawrence was a third-century archdeacon of Rome, distributor of alms, and “keeper of the treasures of the church” in a time when Christianity was outlawed. On August 6, 285, by decree of Emperor Valerian, Pope Saint Sixtus II and six deacons were beheaded, leaving Lawrence, a deacon as the ranking Church official in Rome.

While in prison awaiting execution Sixtus reassured Lawrence that he was not being left behind; they would be reunited in four days. Lawrence saw this time as an opportunity to disperse the material wealth of the church before the Roman authorities could lay their hands on it.

On August 10 Lawrence was commanded to appear for his execution, and to bring along the treasure with which he had been entrusted by the pope. When he arrived, the archdeacon was accompanied by a multitude of Rome’s crippled, blind, sick and indigent. He announced that these were the true treasures of the Church. He was then led to execution. A colorful legend has it that he was burned on a gridiron where he instructed his executioners to turn him over in time because he was already done on one side; but another more reliable source tells us that Lawrence was simply beheaded like the seven who had gone before him.

Either way: Lawrence has always been known as one of the greatest and most renowned martyrs in all of Church history and a true inspiration for all to spend their lives and to give their selves entirely and completely to the Lord Jesus as his instrument in sanctification and salvation: even if it means death.

The first reading today finds St. Paul, who gave his all, telling the Corinthians that God is able to make every grace abundant for those who have decided to cooperate with him in doing his will and work; and in the gospel passage Jesus assures those whose cooperation involves the ultimate gift of giving one’s life – to any degree – but especially by the sacrifice of physical death – much fruit will result in the world, and for the giver of the gift in heaven.


Blessed Lawrence cried out: I worship my God and serve only him. So I do not fear your torture. God is my rock, I take refuge in him, so I do not fear your torture.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Aug 9 - St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

+ St Teresa Benedicta, Edit Stein, was the youngest of seven children in a Jewish family. She was born October 12, 1891 at Breslaw, Germany (which is now Wroclaw, Poland). Losing her interest and faith in Judaism by age 13, Edith being a brilliant student and philosopher with an interest in phenomenology, studied at the Universities of Gottingen and Breisgau, Germany.

She earned her doctorate in philosophy in 1916 at the age of 25. Witnessing the strength of faith of Catholic friends, Teresa was led to an interest in Catholicism, which led to studying a catechism on her own, which led to “reading herself into” the Catholic Faith. She converted to Catholicism in Cologne, Germany, and was baptized in St. Martin’s Church, on January 1, 1922.

From there Edith’s God-initiated vocation to the fullness of faith continued, and she entered the Carmelite Order in 1934, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She became a teacher in the Dominican school in Speyer, Germany and lecturer at the Educational Institute in Munich, Germany. However, anti-Jewish pressure from the Nazis forced her to resign both positions.

Teresa Benedicta was a profound spiritual writer, her major work being The Knowledge of the Cross. Being both Jewish and Catholic, she was smuggled out of Germany and assigned to Echt, Netherlands in 1938. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, she and her sister Rose, also a convert to Catholicism, were captured and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where they died in the ovens like so many others of their own people. As they left the convent, Teresa took Rosa’s hand and said, “Come, Rosa, we are going for our people!” They died on August 9, 1942. Teresa was beatified May 1, 1987 by Pope John Paul II at the Cologne Cathedral, and canonized by him October 11, 1998 in Rome.

Our gospel passage today reminds us to not be afraid of those who can kill the body, but only those who can kill the soul. God our Father knows all our comings and goings and he knows the kind of life that we each can glorify him by living – even if it includes much suffering, and even the death of the body. But what endures is the life of the soul – and the spiritual good health and prosperity of this aspect of us must be our primary objective in life, so that we are ever ready to use our spiritual faculties at their maximum capacity to serve our bodily needs, even if it is to embrace martyrdom! And

St. Paul reminds us in the first reading that apparent sorrowing, chastisement and even death are really opportunities for rejoicing, freedom and life – if we unite ourselves to the Cross of Christ and embrace the day as it comes!

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.


Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Aug 8 - St. Dominic

+ St. Dominic was born in Calaruega, Spain, in 1170.  While pregnant with him, his pious mother Joan had a vision that her unborn child was “a dog who would set the world on fire with a torch it carried in its mouth;” a dog with a torch in its mouth became a symbol for the Order which he founded, the Dominicans. At Dominic’s baptism, his mother saw a star shining from his chest, which became another of his symbols in art, and led to his patronage of astronomy.

Dominic studied philosophy and theology at the University of Palencia; then became a priest canon of the cathedral of Osma, Spain. This was run by the Augustinians. Dominic worked for clerical reform; and had a life-long apostolate among heretics, especially the Albigensians (Cathars) the “perfect ones” who saw matter as evil and that perfection required almost impossible- to-live-by spiritual austerities. His Order, the Dominicans were founded to convert the Albigensians. Their motto was “to praise, to bless, to preach!” At one point the Crusades were established by the Dominicans to keep the teachings of the Holy Church pure and true.

After a while, Dominic became discouraged at the progress of his mission: no matter how hard he worked, heresies remained. Then he received a vision from Our Lady who showed him a wreath of roses – the prefigurement of the rosary. She told him to pray this prayer daily for an increase of faith, and the victory over its enemies. The actual “invention” of the rosary most likely happened before this time, but Dominic certainly spread devotion to it. The same rosary today still has the same power of intensification of faith, and ought to be used for that purpose.

 Legend has it that St. Dominic received a vision of a beggar who, like Dominic, would do great things for the faith. Dominic met this very man the next day. He embraced him and said, “You are my companion and must walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can withstand us.” The beggar was St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Dominic died at noon on August 6, 1221 at age 51, mostly from exhaustion from his spiritual labors. He was canonized just 13 years later in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX.

Yes, the Dominicans are great preachers. But the word of God cannot be preached unless it is first proclaimed. Unless the word of God is heard it cannot stir the heart and the soul – it cannot lead to conversion and increase of faith – it cannot bear fruit unto eternal life. May we be both proclaimers and hearers of the word of God, that it might be an agent of transforming others, as well as ourselves!


Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations!

Monday, August 7, 2017

Aug 7 - 18th Week in OT - Monday

+ Our first reading from the book of Numbers finds Moses at his wits end. He is very frustrated at the rag-tag group of people that the Lord has put him in charge of, trying to lead them to a new life, a new start, a whole new avenue of adventure and surprising happenings!

They keep losing their focus, they have very short memories, they follow shiny objects: they are putting their eternal salvation in jeopardy! “Give us water!” they demanded of the Lord (can you imagine: “DEMANDING” anything from God – let alone what we in our sophistries and machinations think we even know what we need).

The amazing thing is that God always “gives in” and lets them have what they want and “demand” – he is a model of humility and patience: and most of all, Fatherly love!

Today we see them asking for something more than the manna that had provided for their extreme hunger when they first crossed the Red Sea miraculously, and entered the desert. They have not much gratitude for the gifts given, and they “demand” now meat: “Give us meat to eat, we are tired of this manna… we want more, always more!

Does this ring a bell in our own lives? Do we demand from God what we think we need – demand and plead and bargain? and drive the “leader of the pack” the Moses figure to distraction?

Perhaps we need to let go of our own wills, and let God be God, let him be Father, let him be provider.

In the gospel passage Jesus, indeed does provide bread for the hungry – manna if you will. This time they don’t complain about it, but they don’t get the full meaning of what he is doing in multiplying the loaves. They don’t yet see the connection of the Eucharistic Bread that will become his own Body – to heal us, to soothe us, to comfort us, to nurture us, and to strengthen us! This will come later at the Last Supper he has with his Apostles.

Are we slow to learn too, we who have been instructed in the nature of God’s greatest gift: his own self, in person, in the flesh concealed under the appearance of bread and wine!

Yes, God still provides, but now he insists on give what we need, not what we think we need! Perhaps it’s time for us to trust in his ways, his words, his actions for our greater good – rather than our own very narrow and limited concept of supply and demand.

Perhaps another lesson can be this: God wants to give us so much more than we can possibly imagine: let’s not cut ourselves short: let us “go for the gold”, let him dote over us as the loving children that we really are: let us receive the overabundance that he wants to give us at every moment of the day!

Let us ring out our joy to God, our strength, our delight and our happiness! – and let us thank him profoundly – this, and all the days of our life.


Sunday, August 6, 2017

Aug 6 - Transfiguration of the Lord

+ Since historically this event took place about a week before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, it was thought of mostly in terms of a Lenten placement. Jesus would soon be going to the Cross – which was his one chief goal and mission in life – he looked forward to it, for it would be for us and for our salvation!

But before he would do that he thought it necessary to do three things: reinforce his teaching about who he really was: his true identity; bolster the faith of those who would be leaders of his new Church that would be launched later on; and lastly to give all members of his Church from then on the blessed and amazing assurance that His glory would also be ours, his resurrection would be ours, his radiant glorified body would be ours one day in the Kingdom.

This is also the second time that God the Father is actually heard using human words: from a cloud, during those moments when Jesus revealed his radiant glory in the presence of Peter, James and John, and also Moses and Elijah, the Father proclaimed: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased! Listen to him!” O yes, we must listen to everything Jesus says in his words and actions! For he is the One True Way, the Truth and Life for which we all yearn! Then our words and actions must resemble his more and more every day.

This feast was celebrated for almost the entire first thousand years in the Eastern Church; it was not until much later, almost the middle of the next millennia that the feast was made part of the General Roman Calendar, by Pope Callistus III in 1457. And now, though it is celebrated in August, it is always the right time to reflect on “the splendor of Mount Tabor” – for it reveals God our Lord, and our future!

The Lord is King, the Most High over all the earth!



Friday, August 4, 2017

Aug 4 - St. John Vianney

+ St. John Vianney is a saint of God par excellence. This poor French priest was declared by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 the patron saint of all priests because of the absolute clarity in the saint’s mind of what the mission and life of a priest of Jesus Christ is all about. An amazingly short summary that he gave is this: “The priesthood (the priest) is the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” This means that that when you see or hear a priest, you see and hear the sacramentally transformed image and icon of Christ’s own self-sacrificially loving heart.

This puts the priest and the people exactly in their proper place in regard to one another. The priest is not superior to them because of this sacramental imaging and focusing: he is rather made humble, kneeling at their feet to wash them, and to serve their spiritual needs: to attend to their sanctification. When he first arrived at Ars, a tiny village near Lyons, the new Cure stopped to ask a young lad the way to Ars: the boy pointed and said: “Why, it is that way, Father.” Fr. John Vianney then immediately responded, “now you come, and I will show you the way to heaven.” This is the ultimate servant duty of the priest to “show all God’s people the way to heaven.”

John Vianney’s entire theology was based on the Cross of Christ on Calvary. He saw the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Sacrament of Penance as inseparable, and ordered one to the other. Both apply the enormous merits of Christ’s agony, and suffering and death. And both actually re-present the events of that day on Calvary. The chief sacrament is Eucharist in which we actually eat and drink the Body and Blood of the Lord unto our salvation and future glory; but the Sacrament of Penance clears the way of grave sin, which inhibits the flow of any grace at all in the Eucharistic celebration. Going to communion with grave sin on the soul is not only pointless but it is also sacrilegious and sinful in its own right. This only makes spiritual and sacramental sense. Vianney invited all men and women to examine their consciences and then following the grace of God’s lead to come to confession.

St. John Vianney was the Confessor extraordinaire: he could read hearts and was the St. Francis of the Confessional: a true instrument of restoring the peace of God to tormented souls: all within a matter of minutes. And it had to be so: as his reputation grew as not only preacher and teacher, but also gentle yet firm confessor, people by the hundreds and then thousands came to him to unburden their lives and confess their sins. By the end of his 40-year ministry in Ars 20,000 pilgrims a year would come to be ministered to by this saintly priest of God: the living icon of the love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart.

We thank John Vianney for being but a simple, humble channel of God’s wondrous sacramental grace: not only in the confessional, but also at his most favorite place, at the altar of God, making present the true and real Body and Blood of his Lord and ours, his healer and ours, his God and ours.

We pray today for priests – all of them – that they may come home to the fact that their lives are meant to image the love of Christ’s Sacred and Pierced Heart. What an astounding vocation, to be God’s-love-for-others-in-the-flesh!


St. John Vianney, pray for us.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Wow! It has been since July 16th that I have posted a homily! I will begin anew, at our new location in Glen Allen, VA tomorrow, the feast of St. John Vianney! A fitting day to inaugurated our amazing new "oratory" of prayer and worship! Our "church," our "chapel"! Pictures to follow! You remain in our hearts and in our prayers!

Happy New Year 202

  A Happy New Year to you all! I hope and pray I am able to keep this blog up to date now that we are entering into the New Year! I would li...