Sunday, September 19, 2021

Sep 19 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 IT  is important for members of the human society of persons of any age or generation, to understand as fully as wisdom will allow, the true nature of the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity: the taking flesh  of the Divine Word Himself. This task itself takes a special gift from God called Divine Wisdom; but once employed, Divine Wisdom can unlock the secrets of the universe. In the gospel passage today Jesus uses a little child placed in the midst of the Apostles to teach them that it is those who are trustingly and innocently open, curious and able to wonder, who not only will “get the message” of love and reconciliation that he is here to deliver, but they will also be the ones who will be considered “great” in the coming Kingdom of God his Father.

 

For in this Kingdom things are basically the opposite from the way we perceive things to be now: the poor will be rich, the last will be first, and the servant will be the master! And that it would be necessary to follow the Master in his act of suffering and death, so to attain the promise and life that are awaiting those who do so willingly and lovingly.

 

The Book of Wisdom tells us in the first reading that it was essential for the Son of Man to suffer – willingly, lovingly, silently – so that God truly could “take care of him,” – in his way and in his time – as he suffered the most dreadful and painful of all abandonments. And this he most certainly did – but in ways that are to this day still not fully embraced or understood by a great many people.

 

But for those who “listen and hear” the Good News through which God makes his voice ever fresh and ever new, ever inviting and ever true – the possession of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is not far away at all – it is as far away as the next act of poverty, humility and obedience: this is how children live their lives; this is how Christ lived his, this is how we are encouraged to live ours!

 

Amen! Amen!

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Sep 16 - Sts Cornelius and Cyprian

These two third century bishops and martyrs were very important in the survival of the Church in the time of the persecutions. Cornelius became reluctant 21st pope during this very dangerous time in church history. He worked very hard to maintain unity of believers in a time of schism and apostasy. He had the support of St. Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage. He welcomed back those who had apostatized during the persecution of Decius. He was exiled in 252 by Roman authorities, and later martyred. [A document from Cornelius, incidentally, shows the size of the Church in Rome in his papacy:  46 priests, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons and approximately 50,000 Christians].

 

Cyprian was born to wealthy pagan parents, and had a formal education in his youth, but converted to the faith in 246. He was ordained a priest in 247, and then named Bishop of Carthage in 249. During the persecution of Decius, beginning in 250, he lived in hiding, covertly ministering to his flock (but his enemies condemned his for being a coward and not standing up for his faith). He became a great writer, with influence, and agreed with Pope Cornelius that apostates should be received warmly back into the church when they saw the error of their ways. During the persecution of Valerian he was exiled in 257 and then brought back to Carthage and martyred in 258.

 

The gospel passage today shows us how Jesus foresaw all of the brave and heroic things his future apostles would endure – and he prays not that they be spared, but that they be given the strength to endure in his Name – to give credibility to the Power of that Name – and the very truths of the faith that we profess. The Mystical Body of Christ is real; it operates on spiritual principles; and it will see us through anything and everything we do for love, for God, and for his people! Amen!

 

 

[Those who sow in tears, shall reap rejoicing.]

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Sep 9 - St Peter Claver

 + St Peter Claver was born in 1581 at Verdu in Catalonia, Spain. He was a farmer’s son, but later studied at the University of Barcelona. He was attracted to the Jesuit Order and joined them at the age of 20. He became a priest, and influenced by fellow Jesuit St Alphonsus Rodrigues he wanted to become a missionary in America. In the meanwhile, he ministered physically and spiritually to slaves when they arrived in Cartegena, converting a reported 300,000 and working for humane treatment on the plantations for 40 years. He organized charitable societies among the Spanish in American similar to those organized in Europe by St. Vincent de Paul.

 

Peter’s apostolate extended beyond his care for slaves. He became a moral force, indeed, the apostle of Cartagena. He preached in the city square, gave missions to sailors and traders, as well as to parishes in the countryside. After four years of sickness which forced the saint to remain inactive and largely neglected, he died on September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his solicitude for the black outcasts, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with great pomp. He was canonized in 1888, and Pope Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among black slaves.

 

In the gospel passage today we see Jesus doing good deeds for the poor, the sick and the needy when and where it needed to be done, on any day of the week – this is very much a Jesuit philosophy – and St. Peter Claver practiced it daily. Let us follow this philosophy and this theological principle of life: the more we give to others, the fuller our lives will be and we will both share in the joys of the Lord forever!

 

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Sep 8 - The Nativity of Mary

 + Today we celebrate the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast originating somewhere between the fourth and the seventh centuries. We know next to nothing about the events surrounding this noteworthy event. It is only through the apocryphal Gospel of James that we know something about Sts. Joachim and Anne, her parents and about the fact that they had a girl-child whom they named Mary, whom they presented to the Lord in the Temple, thus dedicating her to God for life. And so even though the details are sketchy, this only adds to the mystique that we have about Mary as a pure, humble, out-of-the-limelight maiden of Nazareth. She is not the key figure in all of human history: her future son would be that: Jesus Christ, who would be Son of God and Son of Man through her own humanity.

 

The first reading today talks of those who are predestined to experience the fullness of God’s grace: Mary certainly was that, from the first moment of her existence she was full of grace: the grace that was to be reestablished by Christ her son; and so Mary, then, was the first to “resemble Jesus her son” to the point that God delighted in her as a true daughter, in Christ.

 

We rejoice with Mary on her birthday today and ask her to pray for us constantly so that we may resemble not only Jesus her son (to the delight of God the Father) in his gentle, patient, compassionate nature; but also her, in her humility, poverty and obedience.

 

Mary, you are the Dawn, and Christ your Son is the Perfect Day!

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...