Since the first century, the Church has always remembered Friday as the day the Lord died and has always practiced Penance on that day. The forms of penance have varied over the ages but always included prayer, works of piety, almsgiving and denying oneself. This day of Penance has helped the faithful devote themselves to living the Christian message and remembering what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross. Many of us living today remember that every Friday we abstained from eating meat. Presently this requirement is only for the Fridays of Lent. HOWEVER, we are all still under the obligation of making Friday a day of Penance and remembrance of Jesus dying on the cross for us.
We are all under obligation to make Friday a day different from all the others. For my wife and I we abstain from meat on Friday, every Friday. We find this a great way to live out the love of Jesus and remembering what He did for us on Friday. We also try to remember the hour that He died. It is said that Jesus died at 3:00pm on a Friday. My wife and I stop what we are doing every day (when possible) and pray together the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. But, many would ask, why do all this and why remember every Friday and also the 3:00pm hour? I would like to take a look at this by examining Psalm 51. To me, this says it all. The Church puts this Psalm in to every Friday morning prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Psalm 51 is also sometimes known as the Misere. It is a Psalm written by King David in response to his calling to mind his sins. Truthfully the prophet Nathan helped him to think about the wrong things he had done (read 2 Samuel 12: 1-13). When David was king he sinned greatly. First of all he was a “peeping Tom” watching Bathsheba take a bath and lusted over her. Secondly he had Bathsheba brought to him and formed an adulterous relationship with her. Thirdly, when Bathsheba became pregnant with David’s child he had Bathsheba’s husband Uriah (one of David’s loyal soldiers) killed. He then took Bathsheba as his wife. To think that God’s beloved David would do all this is hard to believe. God had given him everything, including being a forefather of the Messiah, Jesus. He sinned greatly. The reason that God reinstated David to his position in salvation history is that David deeply repented of his sins. David’s Psalm 51 tells us of God’s love and Mercy and our need to seek forgiveness. Take a look at this Psalm. This is the translation taken right out of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Psalm 51 – The Miserere
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. * In your compassion blot out my offense. O wash me more and more from my guilt * and cleanse me from my sin.
My offenses truly I know them; * my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; * what is evil in your sight I have done.
That you may be justified when you give sentence * and be without reproach when you judge. O see, in guilt I was born, * a sinner was I conceived.
Indeed you love truth in the heart; * then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom. O purify me, then I shall be clean; * O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, * that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away your face * and blot out all my guilt.
A pure heart create for me, O God, * put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, * nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy of your help; * with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways * and sinners may return to you.
O rescue me, God, my helper, * and my tongue shall ring out your goodness. O Lord, open my lips * and my mouth shall declare your praise.
For in sacrifice you take no delight, * burnt offering from me you would refuse, my sacrifice, a contrite spirit. * A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
In your goodness, show favor to Zion: * rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice, * holocausts offered on your altar.
There are many important things to see in this Psalm. First of all, we all sin and God abhors sin. Secondly, God is merciful and when we come to Him with sorrow for our sins, He forgives us. David acknowledged his sin and God forgave him. Thirdly, God sees all things and knows of our sins. We cannot hide them from Him. We may be able to hide them from others, but not from God. Fourthly, we need to have a change of heart. God is able to change our hearts to make them avoid sin. And lastly, even though our sins bring consequences to us and those around us, God does not hold a forgiven sin against us. He allows us to be who He has called us to be.
All of this is because of God’s love and mercy. It is because God loved us so much that He sent His only son Jesus in to the world and allowed Jesus to die for all of our sins. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we too, once we ask forgiveness can rise up from our sins. It is certainly right to remember every Friday as a special day when Jesus died for our sins. It is certainly right to remember the 3:00pm hour as the hour that Jesus died for us so that we might have life.
I would urge you to make Friday a special day, a day of remembrance, a day of Penance. Take some extra time to pray. Take some extra time to help others. Try giving up something, denying yourself to help join Jesus in His gift of giving up Himself. Earlier I mentioned the Chaplet of Divine Mercy that my wife and I pray every day at 3:00pm. If you are not familiar with the devotions of Divine Mercy, I suggest that you make yourself familiar to them and use them. Here is a link on how to pray the Chaplet and has more information about the Divine Mercy: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet
Our God is a merciful and loving and forgiving God. We, as His children are far from perfect. Our sins pull us away from God, but He never gives up on His call to bring us back to him. All we have to do is acknowledge our sins and ask for forgiveness. The Church has given us a real healing Sacrament in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, commonly known as confession. Make use of it. God wants you, His child, to be near to Him. He does not want sin to separate us from Him. Remembering every Friday helps us to acknowledge our sin and see what God has done so we can be free.
Leonardo da Vinci said, “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” It seems to me that the purpose of both art and poetry is to lift us up beyond what we normally can see and feel. They both reach in to our very being, our soul, our essence, to lift us up higher than we can imagine. This book by Annabelle Moseley does all of that. It is filled, literally filled, with art and poetry about our Mother Mary. The poetry by the author and the art work that was chosen by her help us to reach in to the depths of truth and intimacy with Mary, especially through the Rosary. This book brought tears to my eyes several time as it helped me to internalize the love that Mary has for us. I had just previously read Keith Berube’s book on Mary and the Rosary which did pretty much the same thing.
I feel very blessed to have had these two books brought together for me at the same time. I also find it interesting that each of these two authors write in the introductions of each other’s books. Also the Foreword in SACRED BRAILLE is written by Bishop Richard Henning who I first got to know when he worked in my parish many years ago as a young priest. Bishop Henning is a good and holy man and one of the most intelligent men I know. Also much of the art used in the book is taken from the Seminary that I attended for my diaconal training, The Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. It brings back many good memories. More important than that, the artwork stimulates the soul and lifts us up above the ordinariness of everyday life. It helps us to see that we are much more than we appear to be and that our God has reached down to us to help us to better realize that.
I cannot overstate that the original poetry of the author and the amazing art work inside the book are ethereal. The poetry especially fascinated me. It is complex, but understandable. Some of it follows traditional elements of poetry but some of it takes on a unique nature of its own. I was especially moved and impressed by the “Mirror Sonnets” contained throughout the book. I cannot even imagine how difficult it is to write these sonnets where the first section is read and then the second section is read line by line in reverse order of the first and they both make complete sense. You have to read this to believe this and to even understand what I am saying so I will, with the author’s permission, share one Mirror Sonnet with you.
Mirror Sonnet*: Mary Recalls The Prophecy of Simeon
A mother knows her son’s hands like her own.
She studies them from birth—each fingernail
is halo-shaped. Soft skin over strong bone,
each line and dimple forms a Sacred Braille.
While Simeon foretold, I held Christ’s hand.
And that was when the blade first pierced my soul.
I knew that to redeem a broken land,
my child’s palms could not remain smooth, whole.
The earth is punctured, seeded, before sprouts
grow forth. Then fruit is gathered, branches pruned.
There must be something for the soul who doubts
to press their fingers into, like a wound.
The piercing of my soul provides a sieve—
for sifting death from those who long to live.
For sifting death from those who long to live,
the piercing of my soul provides a sieve—
to press their fingers into, like a wound.
There must be something for the soul who doubts.
Grow forth! Then fruit is gathered, branches pruned.
The earth is punctured, seeded, before sprouts.
My child’s palms could not remain smooth, whole.
I knew that—to redeem a broken land…
And that was when the blade first pierced my soul.
While Simeon foretold, I held Christ’s hand.
Each line and dimple formed a Sacred Braille,
was halo-shaped. Soft skin over strong bone,
I’d studied them from birth—each fingernail.
A mother knows her son’s hands like her own.
* a new poetic form created by the author.
Throughout this book, the author’s writing shows me the deep love that she has for Mary and the Rosary. I can’t help but to believe that the Holy Spirit inspired her to write this about the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. The writing is way above the ordinary, and seems quite inspired.
The Preface by Annabelle Moseley sets the stage for what is to follow. It also contains within it some interesting date-coincidences (more like God-incidents) in Annabelle Moseley’s life. She then begins with the Seven Sorrows of Mary before leading then to all four of the Mysteries of the Rosary. The poetry and art reflections on each mystery will bring new life to your own reflections on the mysteries as you say the Rosary. After completing all four mysteries, she has a section with discussion questions for all of the poetry from the Seven Sorrows through the four mysteries. This could be used either by you or in a group.
After the discussion section, Annabelle Moseley gives us a workbook for a three day retreat. This workbook is filled with ideas on how to do the retreat including settings, readings, exercises, activities and even music to play. I am still thinking of ways to put this in to action for myself and for my parish. After this section the author teaches the reader how to pray the Rosary. She then has a section listing the fifteen promises of Mary concerning the Rosary.
As if all of this is not enough, Annabelle Moseley teaches us three different ways to enhance our reflection on the Seven Sorrows and the four mysteries of the Rosary. The first way is the “Visio Divino” where she lists several great works of art pieces to contemplate. The second way is the “Lectio Divino” where she gives us several scripture passages to reflect on. The third way is the “Audio Divino” where Annabelle Moseley gives us various pieces of music to use while contemplating. The book ends with a call to make a Living Rosary and to see the Rosary as a true Masterpiece in itself.
I have always had a deep appreciation of art and poetry and music. The individual pieces within this book are Masterpieces themselves, but taken together this book is a true, and very rare, masterpiece that helps to transform you in to who God calls you to be. Mary gave the perfect YES. We too are called by God to say our YES to Him. What better way is there than to follow the Mother of Jesus as she leads us to her son Jesus. This book helps us to do this with beauty and style. Do yourself a favor, buy this book and keep it out to be used often. You will be glad that you did.
NOTE: I am writing this review at the time of a world-wide pandemic. People are getting sick and dying and most stores and businesses have had to shut down. There is no income coming in for many and everyday living seems to be quite traumatic. People are hurting and in need of healing and consolation. Our mother Mary is the great Consoler who can bring us to her Son, Jesus who is the great healer. Just as Mary consoled Jesus at the foot of the cross, she can console us at the foot of our pandemic cross. The beauty and the message of this book is a great means of receiving consolation from our Mother who loves and cares for us so much. Hopefully this pandemic will be over soon, but all of us know that we are in need of consolation throughout so many stages of our life. This book could be a real spiritual medicine for us.
Books are one of the true treasures of mankind. They entertain us, they move us, they help us to grow and they are so readily available to us today. Keith Berube’s new book (Mar 2020) on Mary is all of that and more. This book is one of the best treasures I have found in a long time. It did something to me that I thought was impossible. It helped me to love the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary more than I ever had; and I am a person who says the Rosary every day and have been doing that for well over 20 years. It has caused me to grow in an intimacy with Mary that I never had before.
There is one thing that you need to understand. I was brought up as a Protestant (Methodist) and converted to the Roman Catholic faith when I was 25 years old. My conversion was based mostly upon my reading of the 6th Chapter of St. John’s Gospel about the Eucharist and my study of the Vatican II documents. One thing that I had trouble accepting was the role of Mary in the Church. Like most Protestants, I thought that the Church overdid devotion to Mary. However, gradually I was drawn to read more about Mary and to start praying the Rosary. This helped me to develop a strong (at least I thought) devotion to her. This book has brought me much closer to her than I ever imagined. I can see her now in so many different ways. She is not only MY Mother, but also my Queen. She is not only an example of faith but she is THE best example of faith. She is the Mother of the Son, the daughter of the Father and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. She is the Immaculate one and the one who loves to spend time with me. She is the one who protects me. She is the one who keeps leading me closer to God. Keith Berube’s book helped me to know all of that with a new enthusiasm.
Keith Berube divides his book in to three parts. The first part is all about the Rosary. After saying the rosary daily for over 20 years, I thought that I knew it well. This book revealed to me so much more about the Rosary that I never knew. It especially helped me to see the Rosary as a time when I was present to a Mother who loved me so much, and earnestly desired to be with me. The book taught me that saying the Rosary was the living out of a love story. It was where I could meet the Mother who always wanted to hear from me. It was where I could tell her I love her, in response to her love of me. It was a way that I could touch her, through the tactile feel of the beads. It was also a time where I could join her in her own mission of praying for others and leading others to her loving Son. The Rosary is life changing to those who pray it and to those who are lifted up in its prayers. The Rosary is something quite mystical in the way it lifts us up in to Spiritual joy. It is also one of the strongest weapons we have to use against the evil one.
The second part of the book is entitled, “The Veiled Dynamics of the Rosary”. In this section we hear more about Mary as woman (or girl as the author often refers to her) and the way her femininity causes not only us, but the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to relate to her. It shows how her being a woman affects our communication with her and her communication with us. This femininity also shows how the Rosary is relational to us and how we in our own sexuality (male or female) relate back to Mary. This part also talks about how we see Mary not only as Mother but also as friend and one who reveals to us the secrets of her heart and also consoles us.
The third part of the book provides a short synthesis of Parts I and II. It helps us see that in praying the Rosary, we are giving flowers to the one who loves us so much. Every Hail Mary that we say is also a way of saying, “I love you” to Mary. The mysteries that we contemplate help us better understand the way God the Father has loved us through the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Rosary itself is very scriptural and helps us to meditate on the stories of our Salvation. It is also a time when we are joined by our guardian angel and the other Angels and Saints in prayer to God.
In the first Appendix Keith Berube includes some beautiful and moving poems. In the second Appendix he lists some other forms of the Rosary. In the third Appendix he talks about the CONSOLATIO MARIAE, a Private Association of the Catholic Faithful.
Throughout the book Keith Berube uses scriptures, stories and quotes from various Saints , and illustrations to enhance his writing. You can most readily see the author’s own love for Mary. As I said earlier, this book taught me to appreciate and form a new INTIMACY with Mary and a new appreciation of the Rosary as both a form of relational prayer and as a true weapon to fight those “dragons” that attack us. There is no way that this short review can tell you of the wonders of this book. You need to experience this yourself. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
Note: A publisher friend of mine sent me a copy of SACRED BRAILLE by Annabelle Mosely and asked me to review that. It is interesting that both books are about the Rosary and really complement each other. I love God’s timing. Annabelle Mosely did the forward to Keith Berube’s book. I really loved her book and will post a review shortly.
The Second Sunday of Easter is DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY and normally thousands of people flock to the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge Massachusetts. Unfortunately, this year that will not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since we cannot go there physically, I thought that I would share some pictures of the Shrine that I took a couple of years ago.
In the year 2000, Pope John Paul IIl canonized Sr. Faustina Kowalska who originally received the Divine Mercy image of Jesus and promulgated Jesus’ message of Divine Mercy. During her canonization he said, “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called “Divine Mercy Sunday”.
Sister Faustina had written in her diary the words of Jesus that came to her, “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My mercy.
I have written three previous articles on the Divine Mercy that you might want to check. Here is a link to each of them:
Welcome to Eden Hill, the home of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts run by the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully you can visit it someday. It is a HOLY place.
The Outdoor mass area.The church used for indoor massThe Church and attached buildingsInside the churchClose up of the altarStatue of John Paul IIIndoor statue of Pope Saint John Paul II From Pope John Paul IISt. Faustina with Our Lady of Guadalupe looking onStatue of St. Faustina right outside the church
The Shrine has beautiful, large and realistic Stations of the Cross. Here are a few examples of them:
The Shrine also has beautiful walking paths and shrines along the way
When you go there, take time for Mass and for praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet
The grounds of the National Shrine consist of 375 acres of land nestled in the beautiful Berkshire hills in western Massachusetts. The name of the property is called “Eden Hill” because of its natural beauty. The Shrine church is normally open 365 days a year, including all holidays and holy days. Go and visit. You will love it. The town that it is in is a beautiful old historical town with great restaurants and inns. The Shrine itself has a fantastic book and gift store. Remember God’s Mercy.
I enjoy writing book
reviews of books that I have read and then posting them on my website. However, I didn’t feel comfortable writing a
book review for this book since I am one of the contributors to it. I did read the book and really enjoyed it and
would recommend it to my readers. For
the review, I turned to my friend, Steven R. McEvoy and obtained his permission
to post the review that he had written and originally appeared on his
website: www.bookreviewsandmore.ca . Steven
does a great job of reviewing books and you should check out his website. Here is his review of Epic Saints.
Epic Saints Wild, Wonderful, and Weird Stories of God’s Heroes
I love books like this one. I love reading about saints and
am currently reading books from 4 different series about saints. But what a
book like this does is introduce me to a few new saints, it gives me some more
information and examples from saints that I am more familiar with. This was an
EPIC READ that I could hardly put down. It is mostly eBook about specific
saints and But there is also a lot of great information about the process of
saint making, and the canon and calendar of saints. But the volume is not just
the work of Shaun McAfee there are several contributors. Those contributors
are:
Alex R. Hey
Sarah Spittler
Jessica Mcafee
Theresa Zoe Williams
Brooke Gregory
Deacon Marty Mcindoe
Shaun Mcafee
Laura Hensley
Mike Panlilio
Maggie Van Sciver
The essays interspersed through the biographies are:
Have Saints Always Been Canonized The Same Way?
What Is The General Roman Calendar?
Can These Stories Be Allegorical?
Are We Really Expected To Believe These Stories?
Why Are Some Saints Not On The Calendar?
What Is The Process For Canonization?
What Should We Do With Saint Narratives That Contain Errors Or Inconsistencies?
Why Are Some Canonized Quickly While Others Have Been In The Process For
Centuries?
Can I Become A Saint?
And on top of that are profiles of 74 saints. Shaun and the other contributors
do an amazing job or highlighting so many saints in such a short space. There
are almost a dozen saints I need to go find further readings on. And my son is
already looking forward to my rereading this book with him.
In this volume there are a few tales about dragons. Saints pulling practical
jokes and pranks. A bilocating death and many, many more stories of saints, of
Martyrs and holy men and women.
Though I will be honest with you, the pieces in this volume are so well written
you might have a hard time picking a favorite. And you will
definitely want to read more on at least some of the saints. An excellent read
that I highly recommend.
Love Is All About Giving – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
During this time around Valentine’s Day most of us are
concentrating on finding just the right gift for the one that we love. I certainly realize that giving to the one we
love is something that should be done constantly in our relationship with
them. But Valentine’s Day sets aside a
special day for us to do that. If we truly love someone, we want to give to
them at Valentine’s Day and throughout the year. It seems naturally built in to us as humans to
want to give. I think that is because we
are made in the image of God, who is the great giver.
We all know John 3:16 which says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is the gift above all gifts. It is also the gift that keeps on giving, as the commercials say. I would like to take a look at this precious gift. To begin with, our very life is a gift given to us by God. It is a precious gift that should be held sacred. Secondly, the scriptures tell us that God formed us in His own image. This too is a precious gift. We, like God, are made to live throughout all eternity. We, like God, are also given the gift of free will. This is also a very precious gift, but one that has gotten us in to trouble. Unlike God we sometimes choose to be selfish and not loving and not giving. In order to remedy this, God decided that He would come to us and bring us the gift of salvation. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He did this for a specific purpose, for our salvation and for our formation.
I have always been interested in Social Anthropology, where
we study the behavior of cultures, both ancient and sometimes
contemporary. I have found it extremely
interesting that almost every culture recognizes that there is a God (or
several gods) and finds it necessary to offer sacrifices to this God. This too seems to be built in to our human
DNA. We have a need to worship God and to
offer sacrifice to God. Jesus came to
the Jewish people who were accustomed to sacrifices and offerings to their
God. Jesus became for us the fullest
sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died a
horrific death so that our sins could be expiated and we could obtain eternal
life. His was the perfect sacrificial
offering. However, that is not the only
reason he came. If it was, he could have
been slaughtered by Herod as an infant, or one of the many times in the Gospels
where the people tried to kill him. Each
time He escaped because His time had not yet come. He had more to do.
I believe that one of the primary things that He wanted to
do was to start His Church. He wanted to
find and train the right men to do the job.
When He chose the twelve apostles He was making new the Jewish Kingdom
of the twelve tribes and starting the new Kingdom, the Church. He chose Peter as the “Rock” upon which He
would build this Church. All twelve
disciples were important, even the one who betrayed Him, but Peter was to be
the Head of them all and the Head of the Church. The scriptures are very clear about
that. Jesus spent three years in
ministry with them to train them and show them what would be called the seven
sacraments. When the time of their
training was completed, Jesus turned towards the means of His death. He wanted His death to be a renewal of the
Jewish Passover so He went to Jerusalem at the time of Passover. He walked right in to the hands of those who wanted
to kill him. He would become the new
Passover.
The death of Jesus on the cross is so much a part of the
Jewish Passover Feast that we cannot separate the two. Dr. Scott Hahn’s book, The Fourth Cup is one
of the best references for us to study this.
In this book he shows us how our redemption followed a plan established
by God from the very beginning of time.
When Jesus celebrated the final Passover (which we call the last supper)
with His disciples it really wasn’t completed until His death on the cross. During that Last Supper Jesus gave us an
extraordinary gift, the gift of His own Body and Blood and Jesus instructed the
disciples to continue to give this gift.
The Church that Jesus formed was to continue to celebrate His sacrifice
and continue to give out His body and His blood to His people. It has been doing that for 2,000 years.
After Jesus died and ascended back to heaven, He gave another
gift to us all. He gave us the gift of
the Holy Spirit. This gift of the Holy
Spirit was given to strengthen us and to continue to help us in all that God
calls us to do. The gift of the Spirit
has been lavished upon us. Though the
Sacrament of Baptism, the gift of the Spirit is placed within us. In the Sacrament of Confirmation the fullness
of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are made manifest. Through the gift of the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist we are given the very body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. We are empowered by Him and called to be
formed in His image. In the gift of the
Sacrament of Marriage and the Sacrament of Holy Orders we are again empowered
in to the Vocation that God calls us to.
When we are sick, the gift of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
brings us healing. And when we turn away
from God and turn to sin, the Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives us and brings
us back to Him
All of the gifts that God gives us continue through the
precious gift of the Church. The Church
gave us the gift of the Bible and helps us to understand it. The Church gives us the gift of Tradition which
was (and still is) so venerated in Jewish life.
Tradition helps fill in what the Bible hasn’t given us. It helps us to understand where we have come
from and helps us to see that we are still the same Church founded by the
Apostles with Peter as the head. The
Church gives us the gift of its hierarchy, which continues (literally) what
Jesus has taught us. The present day
Pope is the 266th man who has sat on the chair of St. Peter. All of our bishops are spiritual descendents of
the twelve disciples. We can trace the
lineage of ordination right back to the early Church. As.000
great as the Church is, we are all still human
with human weaknesses. We have had some “bad”
Popes and Bishops, yet the Church continues on.
No other institution on earth has remained for 2000 years. Jesus was right when He said that the gates
of hell will not prevail against it.
In summary, God is the great giver of gifts that keep on giving. Our salvation is a precious gift that we celebrate every time we celebrate mass. Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity is always present to us in the Eucharist. The Church is always present to us as Jesus’ own body here on earth. The Church is always giving us the gifts of the Sacraments and of God’s grace. The Church is always proclaiming the scriptures and teaching us how to live them out. There is no doubt that God has given us every good gift, and they keep on giving.
I’M CATHOLIC. NOW
WHAT? By Shaun McAfee – a book review
by Deacon Marty McIndoe
Shaun McAfee, founder of EpicPew.com, blogger at National
Catholic Register, contributor to Catholic Answers Magazine and many other
Catholic resources has written a new book published by Our Sunday Visitor. Personally I think that this is the best book
he has written; and I really enjoyed his other books. When I first saw the pre-publication
announcement for this book, I immediately put in an order for it. The title and description led me to believe
that this book would be a great resource for my parish RCIA program. I have been involved in the RCIA (Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults) program for many years and know that those who
have gone through it need a really good resource book to continue their journey
after the time in the program has finished.
After reading this book I not only realized that the book is perfect for
that, but that the book is perfect for all Catholics on their journey of living
out the beauty of the Catholic faith.
The author of this book is a convert and has gone through
the RCIA process to become a Catholic.
How I wish that all of the people who go through RCIA become as good a
Catholic as Shaun and his wife have become.
Shaun’s overall knowledge of the Catholic faith and Catholic Theology (he
has a graduate degree from Holy Apostles College) is amazing. The way he lives out that faith with his wife
and family is even more amazing. Faith
is made to be put in to action and Shaun certainly does that. I have followed Shaun and his family on
Facebook for almost six years and although I have never met him in person, I
see the faith filled life that he leads.
That faith filled life pours over in to this book. Shaun tells us all the things we need to know
to be a good Catholic and he gives us personal examples of how to be a good
Catholic.
This 335 page book consists of 100 chapters that give us a
lot of information on the Catholic Church and why we do the things that we
do. I find it very refreshing that he
takes the times to not only tell us the things that we should be doing to be a
good Catholic, but also tells us why we do those things. He often refers to the Holy Scriptures as
well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
He also uses stories from the early church Fathers and the Saints to
explain. Besides that, he gives us plenty of personal examples
from his own life. He covers just about
everything that you can think of that speaks of Catholicism. He not only covers different topics but also
gives us things to do. For example, not
only do we learn about Baptism, but he also gives us ideas on how to celebrate
our Baptism day. He talks to us about
the priesthood and then encourages us to invite a priest over for dinner.
Shaun’s section on BEING A MODERN CATHOLIC has so much
richness to it when discussing evil, relativism (a must read), marriage,
sexuality, abortion, euthanasia, immigration, gossiping, giving, and
consumerism. His discussion of the
current sex abuse scandal and cover up is enlightening. He deals with all of the current issues in
the Church today. His way of facing
these issues clearly shows the HOPE that we as Catholics are called to
have. Shaun ends his book with a section
on EVANGELIZATION: IT’S FOR EVERYONE. The
chapters in this section remind us of our calling as Catholics to share the
Good News that we have received. He
explains the “New Evangelization” and encourages us to reach out to those
around us, especially to our children.
I highly recommend that ALL Catholics read this book. The book covers serious subjects but is very
easy to read. It is informative as well
as interesting. It is a wealth of
information on the Catholic faith. This
book is not only for those who have just recently come in to the Church,
although it is great for them, but it is for all of us on our journey towards
Jesus in His Church. We can all benefit
from the explanations and the suggestions that Shaun makes in this book. As I write this, we are approaching the
LENTEN season. I highly suggest that
every Catholic get this book and read it and study it and live it out for
Lent. It might be the best thing that
you ever did for Lent.
The spiritual life for the Christian is not a mere
horizontal path, but rather vertical and likened to a ladder— consisting of
different levels of progression. Thus, the spiritual journey for the
Catholic-Christian is composed of three steps being the interior, religious,
and spiritual. In this post, I will
focus on individuals from St. Luke’s Gospel who exhibit each stage.
Stage 1— The Interior Life
First, the “interior life” refers to the initial level of
the spiritual path for Christians. At this stage, a person demonstrates the
ability to be self-aware (self-autonomous) and shows the capacity to utilize
their imagination. This stage is necessary for a Christian to increase and
deepen their spirituality. However, it is possible to have a profound interior
life without being spiritual. A
pragmatic instance of this is a secular artist painting a picture. They
exercise their imagination without contemplating the mysteries of God.
Nevertheless, normally the more powerful the imagination is, the greater
potential a person has to power their “spiritual engine”—the mind.
Example of the Rich Young Man
Two instances of the “interior life” within the Gospel of
Luke include the Rich Young Man 18:18-30 and the centurion at the Crucifixion
23:44-49. Regarding the former, the Revised Standard Edition refers to the Rich
Young Man as a ruler who initiates contact with Jesus by posing a query: “Good
Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”(v. 18). An analysis of this statement shows the ruler
demonstrating the “interior life” on a twofold manner: he knew Jesus was a
good, informative teacher (he probably heard about the previous work and
preaching of Jesus from others) and the question asked was of metaphysical
nature, which thus required imagination and intellect to ponder.
Jesus responds by telling the man to adhere to the
Decalogue. The man then tells Christ that he diligently follows the commandments.
But Jesus required more, he wanted the Rich Ruler to give away his material
goods to the poor. But the man was unable to do so. While he exhibited an “interior life” by
asking the right question, the Rich Young Man was not spiritual due to failure
to move past material wealth (v.23). Augmenting this point the narrator tells
the reader that the man was sad to give up his possessions and thus shows why
he cannot move past the interior level.
Example of the Roman Centurion
A second case of someone having the interior life in Luke
comes at the close of the gospel. After hanging upon the cross for several
hours, darkness came over the land and the veil of the temple split in two and
Jesus uttered his final breath. During this a centurion proclaimed “Certainly
this man was innocent!” (v.47). The centurion saw the curtain torn and perhaps
remembered Jesus’ premonition that the Temple would be destroyed. Such recall
shows intellect and imagination. In fact he had such a powerful imagination,
that the centurion “praised God” in v.47. Because of this, he had a profound
“interior life”.
Stage 2—The Religious Life
Defined as the level where one is focused on concepts of
rituals and/or sacraments, the “religious life” is the next stage in Christian
spirituality. To put it another way, this phase denotes an experience of
contact with the Transcendent deity via religion.
Two prime examples of this are the Pharisees in Luke 6:1-5
and Peter in 9:28-36. With the former, the Pharisees badgered Jesus and his
disciples for gathering grain on the Sabbath. Their query in v. 2 shows that
they are primarily concerned with Jewish ritual practices, which exhibits a
sign of being in the “religious life” phase. The narrator gives a further clue
that this is a case of the “religious life” because Jesus corrected them by
showing that David set a precedent in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. The Pharisees were thus
being nit-picky about the Sabbath law.
Example of the Transfiguration
The second incident of a person existing in the “religious
life” level of spirituality occurs a few chapters later at the Transfiguration.
Upon witnessing Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah, Peter utters a
seemingly perplexing statement, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make
three booths…” (9:33). Knowledge of the main Jewish celebrations is needed to
ascertain Cephas’ point. Peter is referring to the Feast of Booths which
recalls Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their wandering in the desert for 40
years. Although Peter is being an astute Jew by wanting to follow that ritual
custom of erecting a tent, his missed the true purpose of the Transfiguration
and hence he is at the “religious” level of the spiritual life and not yet at
the final stage.
Stage 3—The Spiritual Life
The final phase of the spiritual journey is at the level of
the “spiritual life”. The phrase “the spiritual life” is delineated as the
level where mankind’s spirit and the Holy Spirit connect— it also presupposes
and fulfills the latter two stages in the spiritual excursion.
Example of Mary
At the outset of Luke’s Gospel, Mary’s fiat in 1:26-38 is
the most perfect expression of obedience to God and a person having the
fullness of the “spiritual life”. First
of all, when the angel Gabriel came to her, Mary although initially concerned
did not flee. Rather she listened to the message. After hearing the news of her
future pregnancy, Mary asked “How can this be since I have no husband?” (She
pledged her life to remain a virgin). Gabriel responded by telling her that Jesus
will be conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s reply in v. 38
displays her complete surrender to God’s will and shows why she exhibits the
“spiritual life”.
Example of the Repentant Sinful Woman
The next case of the “spiritual life” in Luke also is of a
woman. In 7:36-50 a sinful woman wept at Jesus’ feet, because of her sins, and
cleansed them with her tears and expensive ointment. Luke juxtaposes this woman
with Simon, Jesus’ Pharisaic host. He scorned the woman due to her sin. Jesus
quips back by saying that the woman washed his feet without him asking. Simon
failed to welcome Jesus with the same hospitality (v.45-47). Verse 48 shows the
climax of this passage, “Your sins are forgiven”. She desired forgiveness and Christ is pleased
to forgive. For this reason, she is an example of having the “spiritual life”.
St. Francis de Sales declared, “All of us can attain to
Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and
no matter what our life work may be.” Our reflection on St. Luke’s Gospel
proves that God meets individuals at various places and times. Whether you are
at the beginning or more advanced path to holiness, the key to “climbing” the
spiritual ladder is to let Christ carry you— cooperate with Divine Providence
this week! I challenge you to plunge yourself into the Scriptures this week and
mediate on how you can better encounter Jesus.
All of us are aware of those things that can kill us. Heart disease, cancer, accidents, chronic respiratory
disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia are listed by
Google (in that order) as the leading causes of death in the United
States. The World Health Organization
lists the world wide death causes that are about the same as the US but with
the addition of diarrheal diseases and Tuberculosis. Neither list mentions THE LEADING cause of
death worldwide in that list. It seems
to be a word that no one wants to mention, a word that everyone wants to
hide. But the Breitbart News Agency did
expose it to the public using statistics from the World Health Agency.
On 31 December 2018, the Breitbart.com website reported
under the headline “Abortion Leading Cause of Death in 2018 with 41 Million
Killed” that “there have been some 41.9 million abortions performed in the
course of the year,” making abortion “the number one cause of death
worldwide in 2018, with more than 41 million children killed before birth.” They also said that the World Health
Organization indicated that between the years 2010 and 2014 WORLDWIDE abortions
averaged 56 million per year. Here in
the United States our abortion rates have dropped from a high of about 1.6
million per year to about 900,000 per year.
Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision, we have had over 60 million
abortions in the United States.
Certainly there are often discrepancies with statistics and who reports
them, but even the CDC reports over 600,000 thousand annual abortions in the
US. These are medically produced and
don’t include chemically induced.
Whatever way you look at it, abortion is killing off a huge amount of
our babies. Here in the United States we
kill about 2,000 babies every day through abortion. Worldwide we kill about 125,000 to 150,000
per day. This is most definitely a
hidden slaughter.
Statistics can help us to better understand what we are
doing. When we read the statistics on
abortion, we have a tendency to be numbed by the figures and really don’t think
about it. We don’t see the abortions
happening (thankfully) and they aren’t real to us. Whenever we are at war the news broadcasters
give us all of the news about the war, often including pictures. We are horrified by the casualties of our
soldiers, as we should be. If you look
at the statistics of war in comparison to abortion, you can start to realize
the horrors that are there. In 18 years
of war in Afghanistan we lost about 2,216 soldiers. That equals the number of deaths in about one
day of abortions in the United States, and 30 minutes worth worldwide. In the 14 years of the Vietnam War we lost
about 58,000 soldiers. It takes only
about one month of US abortions to reach the same number, and one half day
worldwide.
The number of babies that are killed before they are given
the chance to be born is staggering. I
can’t help but to think of that loss to our society. How many geniuses did we kill? How many musical virtuosos did we kill? How many researchers that could help us rid
the world of cancer and disease and hunger did we kill? We will never know because they are gone. Every life, whether it be from a developed
country like the USA, or a developing country, is important. Every unborn baby, whether wanted or unwanted
by his or her parents, is a gift from God who deserves the chance to become the
person that God calls them to be.
Society has the responsibility of protecting its weakest members and
helping them to reach their potential.
We, as a human family, have to protect the unborn and have to help them
grow. Our Declaration of Independence so
rightly says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The first of the listed unalienable right is
LIFE. The government must protect this
right given to us from God.
Unfortunately our government, and many others, has turned
away from being held responsible for preserving the right of Life. They have turned instead to preserving the
right to choice and convenience. This is
not what God intended. The most
important gift given to us is our Life.
The scriptures are so clear about our God being a God of Life and how
precious life is, even in the womb. God
tells us in scripture, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before
you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Yet today in many abortions we reach up in to
that sacred life giving womb and tear apart our own babies limb by limb and
crush their heads to kill them, all because they are an inconvenience. This is a barbaric slaughter often
instituted by those who are called to be protectors. What kind of society do we have where we
allow this, and often encourage this?
As a Catholic deacon, I personally have come in to contact
with several women who have had abortions.
Their life circumstances seemed to dictate to them at the time that they
had to have the abortion. Sadly, even
many years or decades after the abortion they are very troubled by what they
did. The abortion not only killed their
child, but it also put a very dark hole within them that is hard to climb out
of. I really feel for these women. I have also counseled several men who had
this same dark hole because their baby had been aborted by the mother. Some of them were part of the decision and
some of them fought the decision. Either
way, they were troubled for many years by the abortion.
We as a society need to protect the unborn. We need to pass laws that prohibit
abortion. We also need to find ways to
make changes to the life circumstances that cause a mother to even consider an
abortion. We also need to set up
programs to help women raise their children, especially when they live in
poverty. There is no doubt that this is
a costly and difficult thing to do, but it is well worth the cost and the
difficulty. Our society can only
benefit from doing this. We can benefit
from seeing the sacredness of Life and the sacredness of helping children grow
in to what God calls them to be.
I need to add one more factor that leads towards the high
abortion rates. In the USA we have a
very powerful entity called Planned Parenthood.
They have considerable political power and have even been embraced by one
of our major political parties. They
have many wealthy friends and many influential friends in Hollywood and in the
major networks and publications. They
promote abortion. Their 2019 report
(years 2017-2018) shows that abortion is their core mission. Planned Parenthood performed 332,757
abortions during the reported year, the most the abortion giant has reported
since 2011-2012. In contrast,
non-abortion services have declined. The
report also showed record-high numbers in national office and affiliate
financial income for 2018.
Almost
$1.9 billion in net assets, up from $1.6 billion in 2017.
$563.8
million in taxpayer funding, up from $543.7 billion in 2017.
$1.67
billion in total revenue, up from $1.46 billion in 2017.
Almost
$245 million in excess of revenue over expenses, more than double the
$98.5 million reported in 2017.
$630.8
million in private contributions (including grants, individual
contributors, bequests, and corporate contributors), up from $532.7
million in 2017.
In spite of increased income and $245 million dollars in
excess of revenue over expenses, they keep getting our taxpayer money.
The founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a
racist who wanted “the gradual suppression, elimination and eventual
extinction, of defective stock”. She said,
“We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro
population…” ( Letter to Dr. Clarence J. Gamble, December 10, 1939,
p. 2). They are doing a great job of
that. Even though blacks make up about
12 percent of our population, 36 percent of PP abortions are from black women. In NYC this jumps to over 46 per cent. If you want to learn more about Margaret
Sanger, look up “Margaret Sanger Quotes” on google.com. For obvious reasons, Planned Parenthood likes
to distance themselves from their founder.
Pope John Paul II referred to us as being in a “Culture of
Death”. Our sobering statistics tell us
that he was correct. We, no matter what
our religion, should see Life as an important gift to be preserved and
cherished. This means saying no to
abortion but it also means saying yes to social programs that help families to
become the best they can be. It also
means saying no to Euthanasia. Life is
important and precious from conception to Natural Death. We in the United States should work on promoting
Life here, but we also must work on promoting it worldwide. We need to develop a “Culture of Life” and
get rid of this hidden slaughter that plagues our world.
WOMEN AND THE POWER OF GOD – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
In Part 1 of this three part series, we dealt with some of
the women of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and how God used them in
building up His Kingdom. In Part 2 we
looked at some of the women of the New Testament. This third part will look at some of our
women Saints and how God used their strength and courage to continue to build
up His Kingdom. As was the case in both
Parts 1 and 2, this is by no means a complete list, but includes some that I
personally feel should be mentioned.
Part 3 – Powerful Women Saints:
1. St. Helena: Saint Helena was born in to a poor and simple
Roman family in Asia Minor in the mid 200’s.
Somehow she married in to a higher class Roman family when she married
Constantius Chlorus. In 274 she gave
birth to Constantine and in 292 her husband, Constantius became co-regent of
the West. Shortly after that, her
husband divorced her to marry the Emperor’s step daughter. When her husband died in 308, her son
Constantine became Emperor and moved her in to a place of prominence in the
Roman government. She became an Empress.
Constantine’s conversion to Christianity greatly influenced
his mother and she became a good Christian.
Constantine asked his mother to find Christian relics and so in 328 she
traveled to the Holy Lands. Through
contact with the local bishops there she was able to locate many Christian
relics and Holy Places. When she located
the Holy places, she had large Churches built over them. She often replaced earlier Christian
structures. In the year 130 the current
Roman Emperor built a Temple to Venus over the site of Jesus’ crucifixion in
order to keep Christians from worshiping there.
Helena tore down that temple and did excavations to find the original
location. In doing so she uncovered the
three crosses that the early Christians venerated. Not knowing which cross was the one Jesus
died on, she had a woman who was near death brought to all three. When she touched the first cross, nothing happened. The same occurred on the second cross. When she touched the third cross the woman
was miraculously and immediately healed.
She found the true cross of Jesus.
Helena had a large Church, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher built
over that place. She had large columns
brought in from Rome that can still be seen to this day. Helena also had churches built over the other
Holy places including the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of
the Ascension on the Mount of Olives.
Many of the Holy Places we visit today had churches built there by St.
Helena. She brought back to Rome many
relics, including the True Cross. Not
only did she do this, but she is noted for helping the poor and the
destitute. She was a devout servant of
God and true Christian who helped spread the Good News throughout the world. She was a woman born in to a poor family who
rose to be Empress of the Roman Empire.
She also, through a lot of hard work, re-discovered the Holy places of
the Holy Lands. Because she built large
Churches over these, we can still visit these Holy places today.
2. St. Monica: Saint Monica is known most for her
persevering in prayer. For thirty years
she prayed for her wayward son, Augustine to leave his wicked lifestyle and to
become a Christian. Not only did he
become a Christian, he became one of the greatest Saints ever known. Monica was born in 331 in Tagaste (modern
day Algeria). When she was young she was
married off to a Roman pagan, Patricius.
Her husband had a violent temper.
To make things even worse, his mother lived with them and she too had a
violent temper. This caused a great deal
of stress to Monica. Monica was a good
Christian but her husband would not allow their three children to be
baptized. For years she prayed for her
husband and her mother in law to become Christian. Finally about one year before her husband’s
death, both became Christian. Two of
Monica’s children, Perpetua and Navigius entered the religious life, but
Augustine preferred a life of drinking and laziness. Monica sent Augustine off to school in
Carthage. There he became a Manichaean,
a non-Christian religion that saw things as light or darkness. When Augustine shared this with Monica she
became so upset at him that she kicked him out of the house. Sometime later, Monica had a vision that led
her to reconcile with Augustine. She
continued to pray for his conversion but Augustine seemed to enjoy the drinking
and loose life more. Monica did not give
up praying for him or trying to convince him.
She followed him to Rome and then Milan where she found the Bishop
Ambrose. St. Ambrose helped her in
convincing Augustine of the trueness of Christianity. Finally, after many years of prayers,
Augustine became a Christian. He was
baptized in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Milan. After his baptism he and Monica planned to
travel together to Africa to draw more people to Christ. She died before that could be realized. St. Augustine shares that when Monica was
close to death she told him, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me
delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still
here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” Her perseverance had won for the Church one
of the greatest and brightest Saints it has ever known.
3. St. Adelaide of
Burgundy: St. Adelaide was born a
princess in 931 in Burgundy in Italy. Even
though she was a princess, she had a difficult life. Her father died when she was only six. When she was only 15 or 16 she was married to
Lothair, the King of Italy. Her life as
a queen was difficult too. She became a
widow at the age of 18 and her Kingdom was taken over by Berengar of Ivrea and
she was thrown in to prison. Berengar
wanted to have her marry his son, but Adelaide wanted nothing to do with
that. She suffered greatly in prison but
knew that she had to escape. Somehow she
found the strength to escape and when heading north to Germany she found the
Emperor Otho I who the Pope had sent to rescue her. He soon became her second husband and
together they were able to recapture the Kingdom of Italy that she had
lost. Pope John XII crowned them both rulers
of the Holy Roman Empire in 952. In 973
she became widowed again and her son Otto II became regent. At this point in her life Adelaide spent most
of her time in building many monasteries and churches and helping the
poor. This kind heartened and brave
woman is the patron of people with second marriages and widows.
4. St. Clare of
Assisi and 5. St. Agnes of Assisi: St. Clare was born in 1194 to a very wealthy
Italian Count. She was known as a very
beautiful girl. As a young girl Clare
dedicated herself to prayer. When she
was 18 years old she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach and went up to him
asking that he help her to grow closer to God and to become more Christ
like. On Palm Sunday in 1212 she left
her family and went to the chapel of Porziuncula to meet St. Francis. At that chapel her hair was cut off and she
was given a plain robe and veil and sent to the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo
for formation as a nun. Her father was
furious and tried to get her to return home but she refused. She told him that she would have no other
husband than Jesus Christ. She desired
solitude to be with Jesus. In order to
give her even more solitude, Francis moved her to the Benedictine nuns of San
Paulo monastery.
St. Clare had a sister named Catarina. Catarina also wanted a life with Christ and
solitude that she could not find at home.
She joined St. Clare at this new monastery. The two sisters remained there until a home
could be built for them next to the church at San Damiano near Assisi. This made their father even angrier and he
sent a contingent to bring her back home by force. Because of the prayers of St. Clare, miracles
occurred that made it impossible to do that.
When a sword was drawn to strike Catarina, miraculously the man’s arm
went limp and he couldn’t wield the sword.
Then they tried to pick up Catarina (now called Agnes because Francis
named her that due to her being gentle as a lamb) she miraculously became too
heavy for the men to pick up. They then
gave up and left. Francis immediately
welcomed her in and she too was put in to formation.
When the home at San Damiano was completed, both St. Clare
and St. Agnes went there. There they
lived a simple life eating no meat, wearing no shoes and lived in a poor
house. They maintained silence most of
the time. Their lives consisted of
prayer and manual labor. Soon other
women from Assisi joined them there and they lived according to rules of St.
Francis forming the Second Order and were known as Poor Clares but officially
were the “Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano.” St. Francis initially was their director. In 1216 he made St. Clare the abbess. Later, in 1219 St. Francis made St. Agnes an
abbess and sent her to Monticello near Florence.
We have some of the letters that the two sisters sent to
each other. They reflect their love for
each other, for Jesus, for the Poor Clares and St. Francis. It should be noted that Clare and Agnes had
to stand up to the current Church leaders who wanted to impose upon them the
rule of St. Benedict. They stood their
ground and followed St. Francis’ rule.
They also had to stand up against Muslim invaders. In 1240 Muslims were invading the whole area
around Assisi. St. Clare, although quite
sick, prayed hard to repel them and took the Eucharist and with the sisters
behind her commanded them to go away.
Miraculously they obeyed. St.
Clare knew that the power of prayer and the Eucharist could stand up to these
invaders.
Clare had drawn up a rule for her sisters and in 1253 Pope
Innocent IV declared Clare’s rule would serve as the governing rule for Clare’s
Order of Poor Ladies. Two days later
Clare died, with Agnes at her side. She
was declared a Saint two years later.
St. Agnes died three months after St. Clare. These two women went from riches to rags,
but helped to change the face of the Church.
6. St. Joan of
Arc: Joan of Arc was born in 1412 to a
poor farming family. From her earliest
childhood she loved God and was often seen in prayer. She also loved the poor. Around the age of 13 she started hearing
voices accompanied by flashes of light.
Gradually she recognized figures who she described as Michael the
Archangel, St. Margaret, St. Catherine and other Saints and angels. These voices seemed to be leading her to go
to the aid of the King, At first she
doubted these voices, but in May 1428, when she was 16 years old, she knew that
they were real and that she had to do what they said. They directed her to King Charles’ military
commander Robert Baudricourt. He was
quite rude to her and said to the cousin who accompanied her: “Take her
home to her father and give her a good whipping.” The war continued on and King Charles and his
supporters thought that defeat was imminent.
The voices continued to persuade Joan to go but she resisted saying, “I
am a poor girl; I do not know how to ride or fight.” The voices only
reiterated: “It is God who commands it.” At that, she decided that she must go. She went back to Baudricourt who remained
skeptical. However, her perseverance and
her descriptions of battles that were later confirmed caused him to send her to
the King. Joan went to see the king
dressed in male clothes. This was
probably to protect her from the soldiers along the way.
When Joan came in to the King’s presence, something
interesting happened. The King was
wearing a disguise to test her and was among many other men. Immediately, without ever having met the King
before, she went to him and saluted him. The King’s inner court thought Joan was crazy
and advised the King to have nothing to do with her. However, the voices revealed to Joan a secret
that only the King knew about (probably concerning his birth) and when she told
him he started to believe in her mission.
However, to be sure, he had her undergo a trial headed by bishops,
doctors and theologians. Joan’s faith, simplicity and honesty convinced the
trial committee that she was indeed of sound mind and faith and recommended
that she be allowed to continue with further examination of her actions. She returned to King Charles who gave her a
sword as she prepared a campaign for fighting.
However the voices told her to have the King get a sword that was buried
behind the altar in a nearby Church.
That sword was found exactly where the voices said. She also had the King make up a shield with
the name of Jesus and Mary on it as well as a picture of the Father and angels. Interestingly the King received a report,
before the battle saying “that she would save Orléans and would compel the
English to raise the siege, that she herself in a battle before Orléans would
be wounded by a shaft but would not die of it, and that the King, in the course
of the coming summer, would be crowned at Reims, together with other things
which the King keeps secret.”
Before leading the battle, Joan told the King of England to
give up. Of course, he didn’t and battle
ensued. Joan led the battle and even
though many of her commanders scoffed at her and didn’t always do what she
said, the battle was won. Joan was
wounded by an arrow in the battles just as the letter said that was written 8
days prior to the campaign. King Charles
was also crowned at Reims and the English left, as the letter said. In a battle about a year later, Joan was
captured by a follower of John of Luxemburg.
He then sold her to the English for a large amount of money. They couldn’t kill her for winning against
them, so they decided to try her as a witch.
The Bishop of Beauvais was an unscrupulous and ambitious man who was a
tool of the English. The examination
trial seemed quite unfair but Joan continued to show her love of God. She was finally found to be a witch and
heretic and was burned. Her ashes were
thrown in to the Seine River. Twenty
four years later a revision of the trial was made. The appellate court and the Pope found that
injustice was made by the first examination and that it was declared
illegal. Her beatification cause was
begun in 1869 and she was declared a Saint in 1920. This very young holy woman listened to God no
matter what it cost her. She fought
harder that most men could and never gave up, no matter how badly she was
treated.
7. St. Elizabeth Ann
Seaton: Elizabeth Ann Seton was the
first native born American to become a Saint.
She was born just two years before the American Revolution to a wealthy
New York City family. The family was
Episcopalian. Elizabeth was a bright
girl and prolific reader. She especially
found comfort in the reading the bible.
In 1794 she married a wealthy businessman, William Seton. The first couple of years of their marriage
were wonderful but when William’s father
died the couple had to take in William’s seven younger half brothers and
sisters. They also had to take over
running the father’s import business.
William’s health started to fail as did his business. He had to declare bankruptcy. His health was deteriorating so bad that they
felt that a move to Italy would help.
William had business friends there that they stayed with.
Unfortunately William died of tuberculosis while in
Italy. Elizabeth was very moved by the
Catholic faith of the family that she lived with in Italy. She found that their love of the Eucharist
helped her to better understand the true presence of Jesus. Also, since Elizabeth’s mother had died when
she was young, their devotion to Mary helped satisfy her need for a mother. Elizabeth converted to Catholicism and headed
back to the United States. Since she was
a widow with many children to feed, she opened a school to help support
them. The first school was all
Protestants and when the parents had heard that Elizabeth had converted to
Catholicism, they withdrew their children from school. Fortunately, Elizabeth met a priest who
encouraged her to open up a school for Catholic children in Emmetsburg,
Maryland. This is seen as the beginning
of Catholic education in the United States.
Shortly after opening the school, Elizabeth founded an order of Catholic
women to help in educating poor children.
This was the first congregation of religious sisters to be formed in the
United States. They are known as the
Sisters of Charity and have grown tremendously throughout the United States,
Canada and the Philippines.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a hard working woman who
suffered from the deaths of many loved ones.
Her faith continued to allow her to make a tremendous change to the
Catholic faith in the United States. Pope
Paul VI canonized Mother Seton on September 14, 1975, in a ceremony in St.
Peter’s Square. In his words,
“Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American.
All of us say this with special joy, and with the intention of honoring the
land and the nation from which she sprang forth as the first flower in the
calendar of the saints. Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American! Rejoice for
your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful
heritage.” NOTE: if you would like to hear about how Elizabeth
Ann Seton personally changed my family go to:
http://deaconmarty.com/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton-and-how-she-personally-brought-a-miracle-to-my-family-by-deacon-marty-mcindoe/
8. St. Marianne
Cope: St. Marianne was born in Germany
in 1838 but spent most of her life in Hawaii ministering to lepers. She is often known as Saint Marianne of
Moloka’i. One year after she was born
her family moved to the United States.
She attended a Catholic parish school until the eighth grade when her
father became an invalid and she had to leave school to go to work and help support
her family. When her father died, and
her siblings became mature she quit her factory job and became a novitiate of
the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis based in Syracuse, New
York. She became a teacher and later
principal of a school that helped immigrant children. She also helped in setting up the first two
Catholic hospitals in central New York.
In 1883 she became the Superior General of her Congregation. Shortly after, she received a letter from King
Kalakaua of Hawaii asking for aid in treating leper patients who were isolated
on the island of Moloka’i. The King had
already been declined by more than 50 other religious institutes. St. Marianne went with six sisters arriving on
November 8,1883. She originally managed
a hospital on the island of O’ahu, where victims of leprosy were sent for
triage. The next year, Mother Marianne
helped establish the Malulani hospital on the island of Maui. The government had appointed an administrator
for the hospital on O’ahu when Mother Marianne left. However, she heard news of his abuse and
returned to O’ahu and demanded that the government fire him. They did and put her in charge. Mother Marianne continued to help the leper
patients, including clergy who had contracted the disease. She continued working, even when she was in a
wheel chair. Miraculously, the disease
never came to her.
9. St, Katherine
Drexel: St. Katherine is the second
native born American to become a Saint.
She was born in 1858 to a wealthy banker. Her mother died shortly after her birth but
her father remarried and Katherine grew up in a home that was both financially
and spiritually endowed. She received a
private education and travelled throughout the United States and Europe. The family was very devout in their faith and
an excellent example to Katherine. Her
father prayed 30 minutes each evening and on weekends they opened their home to
help care for the poor. After seeing her
step-mother suffer with cancer for three years, Katherine’s life took a
significant turn. She developed a
passionate love for God and for neighbor.
She especially felt called to help black and native Americans.
Katherine’s father passed away about a year after his wife’s
death. He had a substantial estate of
over 15 million dollars and he gave a
considerable amount to charities and left the rest to his three daughters. The daughters worked together to try to help
Indian missions. In 1887 they had an
audience with Pope Leo XIII and asked that missionaries be sent to the
Indians. Pope Leo XIII looked directly
at Katherine and asked her to be a missionary.
When she arrived home she met with her spiritual advisor and decided to
give her life, and her money, to God as a nun and missionary. She started a religious order called “Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians
and Colored” and spent the rest of her life serving blacks and native
Americans. She worked hard to found
schools throughout the west to educate Native Americans. She even founded Xavier University in New
Orleans, the first Catholic University in the United States for
African-Americans. She spent her fortune
on the blacks and Native Americans. She
also gave fully of herself in helping them until she finally had a serious
heart attack at the age of 77. She lived
until the age of 96 praying for her missions and writing. By the time of her death, she had more than
500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country and she established
50 missions for Native Americans in 16 different states. This one woman changed the face of America
for the better.
10. Servant of God
Dorothy Day: Although she isn’t a Saint
yet, she is on her way. Dorothy Day is a
great example of a woman who was a sinner, but turned toward being a
Saint. Her love of the poor, and her
love of God make her an outstanding woman of God’s power. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan calls her “a Saint
for our times”. Dorothy Day started out
being someone quite outside the Catholic faith.
She described herself as having an attraction to the radical life
among anarchists, socialists and
communists. She was arrested on many
occasions and spent time in jail. She
drank heavily and had an abortion and had an illegitimate child. This isn’t what usually makes up a Saints
life. However, all of these ups and
downs helped her to think seriously about where she was headed. The heartache that her abortion caused her
helped her to become staunchly pro-life.
She was very moved by Francis Thompson’s “Hound of Heaven” and its
description of the relentless pursuit of God towards man. One day she found herself in the back of
Saint Joseph’s Church on Sixth Avenue in New York City and found solace in
watching the mass.
Dorothy had a daughter with a man that she lived with. She said that the birth of her daughter
connected her to the beauty of the Divine in a deeply personal way. She wrote, “The final object of this love and
gratitude is God” She was moved to
worship with others and even though the man she loved rejected religion she had
her daughter baptized Catholic. About
six months later she too was baptized. This
ended her common law marriage. About
five years later, Peter Maurin, a French immigrant taught her about Catholic
radicalism. Together they founded the
Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 and began publishing the Catholic Worker to
promote their radical Catholic vision to oppose Communism. They also opened a “House of Hospitality” to
welcome everyone, especially the poor.
They focused on helping the poor.
Dorothy Day said, “The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them
you do for Him. It is the only way of
knowing and believing in our love”.
Dorothy Day was noted for seeing the beauty of God in everything and
every person. She truly was a Saint for our times.
11. St. Faustina
Kowalska: St. Faustina was born in 1905
to a very poor but quite religious family.
She was the third of ten children.
When she was seven years old she attended an Eucharistic Adoration and
immediately felt the call to become a nun.
When she finished her schooling at the age of 16 she wanted to enter a
convent, but her parents wouldn’t allow her to.
Instead she cleaned houses to help support the family. In 1924 she saw her first vision of Jesus who
told her to go to Warsaw and join a convent.
She immediately packed her bags and left. When in Warsaw she tried to enter several
convents but was rejected because of her looks and her poverty. Finally the Mother Superior of the Congregation
of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy told her she could enter if she could pay
for her own habit. St. Faustina worked
cleaning houses and finally had enough to pay for the habit. She entered the convent in 1926 at 20 years
old. She worked primarily as a cook and
traveled to several of the convents. In
1931 she was visited by Jesus who told her that He was the “King of Divine
Mercy”. He asked her to become an
apostle and secretary of God’s Mercy.
She said that she would. Jesus
also instructed her to have painted an image of her vision of him. Since she didn’t paint she had to have a
painter paint it based upon her description.
She was never fully happy with the way the painting came out.
Sister Faustina told her fellow sisters about her visions
but they weren’t initially receptive to her.
She took some harassment because of them. Sister Faustina told the priest spiritual
advisor of her visions and calling. He
had her evaluated by a psychiatrist who found her in perfect mental health. Eventually this priest saw the truth of her
visions and the Divine Mercy apostolate and he was the first to preach about it
at mass. Fortunately Sister Faustina
kept a diary that is still in existence today and makes for a great read. Even though her health kept failing, she
continued to do all that she could to spread the devotion to the Divine
Mercy. Unfortunately, due to several
mistakes in translations and printings, some of her writings were seemed
objectionable to the Church and the Divine Mercy apostolate was quieted for
many years. In 1965, Archbishop of
Krakow, Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) took an interest in the Divine
Mercy and opened up an investigation into Sister Faustina and her writings and
apostolate. The Church formally
approved the apostolate and began procedures for her canonization. The apostolate of Divine Mercy spread and Sr.
Faustina was made a Saint in 2000 and a Feast day for the Divine Mercy became
part of the Church calendar. This poor
and sick little woman was chosen by God to become an Apostle of the Divine
Mercy.
12. Sr. Gianna
Beretta Molla: St. Gianna was born in
Italy in 1922. She was the tenth of
thirteen children in her family. As a
young child Gianna loved her faith and loved learning about it. She saw the need for prayer and she enjoyed
life for all that it was. In 1942 Gianna
began studying to be a medical doctor. She
was a great student and a great practitioner of her faith. In college she
joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and worked with the elderly and the
needy. In 1949 she received her medical
and surgical degree and within two years specialized in pediatrics at Milan
Hospital. She felt a very strong calling
to mothers, babies, the elderly and the poor.
She became involved with Catholic Action and considered her practice of
medicine a mission. She wanted to join
her brother, who was a priest, in Brazil by tending to the health of the poor
women there. Unfortunately, her health
prevented her from doing so. IN 1954,
Gianna met Pietro Molla, an engineer who worked in her office. They were married the following year. Gianna considered marriage a precious gift
and vocation. She considered her
marriage a gift from God and planned dedicated herself to “forming a truly
Christian family.” Gianna wrote to
Pietro, “Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into
the soul of men and women.”
She gave birth to her first child, Pierluigi in 1956. Her second child, Maria was born in
1957. She had the third baby, Laura in
1959. She loved being a mother and wife
and worked hard to keep her family going along with her practice. In 1961 Gianna became pregnant again with her
fourth child. Unfortunately near the end
of her second month she had intense pain in her abdomen and they discovered
that she had a tumor as well as the baby in her uterus. The doctors recommended that she choose from
three possibilities; One, an abortion
that would save her life and allow subsequent pregnancies, but take the life of
the baby. The second was a hysterectomy
which would save her life but take the life of her baby and not allow any
further pregnancies. The third option was
to take out the tumor which would save the life of her baby but might result in
further complications for her. She chose
the third option which saved the baby’s life but put hers in danger. She told the surgeons that her baby’s life
must be saved at all costs, even if it cost her own life. She said that her comfort was in having the
baby and in her prayers and in putting her faith in to action. They did what she asked. She had the operation which removed the tumor
but allowed the baby to continue to grow.
Gianna continued her pregnancy but with many complications. Her faith gave her the strength to continue
on as a mother and as a doctor. Gianna
told the doctors that they must save the life of her baby even if it meant she
died. She kept insisting, “save the baby”. On April 21, 1962, Gianna Emanuela Molla was successfully
delivered by Caesarean section. One week
later Gianna, the mother, died from septic peritonitis.
Gianna was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994,
and officially canonized as a saint on May 16, 2004. Her husband and their
children, including Gianna Emanuela, attended her canonization ceremony, making
this the first time a husband witnessed his wife’s canonization. Pope John Paul II said that Gianna was “a
simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love.” The first pro-life Catholic health center in
New York, the Gianna Center, was named after her. In today’s world where abortion is rampant
and often mothers have abortions because the timing is inconvenient, the story
of Gianna and her love for life and for her children stands out as a beacon of
light.
CONCLUSION: God gave
mankind a precious gift when he created us male and female, in His image. Each sex brings its own flavor towards
helping God in the building up of the Kingdom.
Too often the male has been seen as the strong sex, but looking back at
how God has used women in the Scriptures and as Saints, we can’t help but to
see how strong women are. We are all
called by God to help build up his Kingdom.
Let us answer that call with a resounding, “be it done to me according
to thy will”. Men and women work
together in building God’s Kingdom.
After all, we are His children and brother and sister to each
other. There is so much work to do. We must do it together and celebrate what God
can accomplish through our strengths and our weaknesses. With God all things are possible.
WOMEN AND THE POWER OF GOD – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
This is the second part of my article on Women and the Power
of God. In the first part I looked at
some of the women of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). Today we will look at some of the women of
the Christian Scriptures (the New Testament).
Next week we will look at some women Saints. God consistently uses women to show His power
and to help bring about the Kingdom.
PART II – POWERFUL WOMEN OF THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES (NEW
TESTAMENT)
MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS:
We start our New Testament list of women with the woman who made it all
possible. Because of her resounding YES,
the second person of the Holy Trinity, The Word, became Jesus. We must remember that Mary was just a young
teenage girl when the angel appeared to her.
Try to imagine what it must have been like to be a young teenager,
engaged to be married and have an angel come to her with the revelation that
God was calling her to become the mother of His son. She quickly pointed out that she did not know
man and wondered how this could happen.
The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come over her and she
would be with child. That would be scary
for any woman, but Mary, because of her love of God and her trust in Him, said
yes. Think what it must have been like
to travel to a foreign town and have to give birth in a cave with animals. Imagine having the three Magi come to her
bearing gifts and coming to see the King of Kings, her baby. Her amazement continued with the Shepherds
coming and describing their own visit by an angel announcing Glory to God in
the Highest. When she presented the baby
Jesus in the Temple, Simeon said to her, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many
in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce
through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be
revealed.” How those words must
have cut in to her spirit. Think about
how Joseph told her that Herod was going to kill their baby and that they
needed to flee to Egypt where she would spend a significant time away from her
family and friends in a foreign nation.
Mary had to be a very strong woman to handle all of this and to do it so
graciously. Think of the strength that
she had to have during Jesus’ ministry and especially at the time of his
Passion. Mary continually showed her
strength and trust in God. There is so
much that could be said about her that I really don’t have the space here. Mary is the Theotokos, the Mother of God.
ELIZABETH: When Mary
was pregnant with Jesus, she went to be with her elder cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was probably between 60 and 70
years old and was miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth was the wife of the priest,
Zechariah and was a strong woman of faith.
Scripture tells us “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”. In
a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the
mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the
sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed
is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” This statement of Elizabeth is filled with so
much faith and such recognition of who Jesus was. Elizabeth’s encounter with the pregnant Mary
caused her to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The baby in her womb, John the Baptist, leapt for joy. Those same words were used in the Old
Testament when David leapt and danced before the Ark of the Covenant. Mary, pregnant with Jesus, is the new Ark of
the Covenant and Elizabeth recognizes this immediately. Elizabeth was a strong woman of faith. She was also strong enough to protect her
child, John the Baptist, from being killed by Herod’s soldiers when he ordered
the slaughter of the innocent.
MARTHA AND MARY:
These two women and their brother Lazarus were close friends of
Jesus. Their names often come up in the
scriptures. Martha is seen as the
working servant and Mary as the quiet listener.
They certainly each had their own personalities, but they seemed to put
all that they had into following Jesus and working for the building of His
Kingdom. The important thing about
their relationship to Jesus is that it seems to be on par with the relationship
men would have with their rabbi.
Normally women would not be so close to the rabbi and wouldn’t be seen
as important enough to “sit at their feet” in learning and also wouldn’t be
seen as workers with him. Jesus, in his
relationship with Martha and Mary showed us that gender was not an issue to
Him, even if it was to His culture.
MARY MAGDALENE: Mary
Magdalene is often misunderstood in the scriptures, art and tradition. Her name is so common that she is often
confused with other Mary’s.
Unfortunately, in the Western world, she is also often seen as the
repentant prostitute mentioned in the scriptures. Truth of the matter is that in 1969 the Roman
Church officially said the she was not that sinful prostitute. Enough bible study and study of early Church
writings showed that she wasn’t. In 2016
Pope Francis gave her a feast day, June 22nd, ranking her with the
male Apostles. If you study the early
writings it appears that she supported Jesus both financially and spiritually. Eastern tradition has it that she went with
Mary, the mother of Jesus to Ephesus to live and that she was considered an
early leader in the Church. Mary
Magdalene was a strong disciple of Jesus right until the very end. She was present at His crucifixion and was a
witness of His empty tomb. Whenever
scripture mentions her with other women, her name is always first. The Resurrected Jesus appeared to her at
least twice. Our modern study of
scripture and early writings show that she was a powerful disciple and leader
of the early Church. Cardinal Gianfranco
Ravasi, the Vatican’s culture minister, said Mary Magdalene’s reputation was
sullied by her depiction in art over the centuries. He said, “Art history made her become a
prostitute, which is something that is not present in the Gospels, It is
important to find the real face of Mary Magdalene, who is a woman who
represents the importance of the female aspect on the side of Christ.” Mary was a strong leader and tremendous help
to Jesus during His ministry. She
continued to be a strong help to His Church.
THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN (MARK)/CANAANITE WOMAN
(MATTHEW): Matthew and Mark tell us of
the Pagan woman who comes to Jesus requesting healing for her daughter. The woman’s name is not given. The incident occurs in Tyre (modern day
Lebanon) which has a long history of being an enemy of Israel. The woman is not a Jew, yet she comes to
Jesus asking for help. She more than
asks for help, she screams for help over and over again. Jesus seems to ignore her. She pleads with Jesus who finally says that
he was “sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”.
Matthew tells us that the woman
throws herself at the feet of Jesus and pleads for his help. Jesus tells her, “It is not good to take the
children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
The woman tells Jesus that “even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that
fall from their master’s table”. To
this, Jesus replies to her, “O woman, your faith is great; let it be done as
you have requested.” Jesus emphasizes
the word great. At that moment the
daughter is healed and Jesus tells the woman to go home to her daughter and to
trust. She does. There are several things in this story that
tell us of the strength and cunning of this woman that allows the power of
Jesus to shine through. First of all her
persistence in trying to get Jesus to help is commendable. Secondly her use of the word Lord and Son of
David in addressing Jesus shows us that even though she was not a Jew, she knew
about Jewish thought on the messiah. The
very fact that she went to Jesus, and was persistent shows us of the faith that
she had. When Jesus makes the comment
about feeding the children and not the dogs, she didn’t show anger but was
smart enough to come back with the line that even the dogs eat the scraps that
drop from the table. To this Jesus
remarks about how great her faith was and he healed her daughter. Lastly, when Jesus told her to go home in
trust, she did exactly that. She trusted
that her petitions to Jesus were answered.
We all need to learn from this powerful, faithful, persistent, trusting
woman.
LYDIA: Lydia was an
educated and wealthy woman from Thyatira (modern day Turkey). She did not follow the numerous gods of that
region but instead showed an interest in the one God that the Jewish people
professed. She was a business woman who
sold rare dyes (particularly purple) and had her business centered in Philippi
Greece. There she met the apostle St.
Paul who told her about Jesus. She was
the first person converted by Paul during his trip to Greece. She was so convinced in her conversion that
she immediately shared the good news with her family and they followed her in
to being a convert to Christianity. She
opened the first Christian church in Greece in her large home. Paul and Silas remained with her for several
weeks training her in the faith. Because
of her business connections and trading in many areas she was responsible for
the conversion of many Greeks. Not only
had she started the first Christian church in Greece, but she also helped to
spread that faith to many areas. God
used this strong and successful business woman to help spread the faith. We can’t help but to be thankful for the way
that she turned all that she had made (and it was significant) to be used for
spreading the Good News.
DAMARIS: Damaris was
an intellectual woman in the city of Athens.
When Paul went to Athens he spoke in the streets about Jesus and
although this was scoffed at by many, some of the intellectual Greeks there
found him quite interesting. He was
invited to speak to the Intellectual Council there. One of the members present was a woman named
Damaris who was intrigued by all that Paul taught about Jesus and after many
discussions with Paul, she converted and helped to lead many people to
Jesus. She became a leader in the church
in Athens. God used this intellectually gifted
woman to help build up his Church.
PHOEBE: Phoebe was a successful
business woman from Corinth. Paul spent
a considerable amount of time in Corinth setting up his Church. Phoebe was an integral part of the work that
he did there. In a letter to the Romans
Paul describes Phoebe as a servant leader of the Church there and a benefactor
to the Church. Just like Lydia, Phoebe
used her significant resources to help the Church. She also used her “connections” to help
spread the Word. Paul called her a saint
and a leader in that church.
PRISCILLA: Priscilla
was a Gentile from the Roman aristocracy who married a Turkish Jew named
Aquila. They originally lived in Rome
and helped Peter set up the Church there.
By profession they were tent makers.
In 51 AD they were expelled from Rome (for their Christian work) and
moved to Corinth. There they met Paul
and worked with him in evangelizing Greece.
They were so important to Paul that he brought them both with him to
help spread the Good News in Ephesus.
Even though Priscilla and Aquila worked together, Paul always mentions
Priscilla first indicating her importance.
It seems that her role as an evangelist and a leader in the Church is
something that Paul wished to emphasize.
Later they both returned to Rome and again helped build up the Church there.
CONCLUSION: When we
look at the women of the New Testament we can’t help but to see that they stood
out as being equal to men as evangelizers and leaders in the early Church. What makes this so extraordinary is that in
the culture of the time, women could hardly do anything in public. Their place was in the home. Jesus and the early Church quickly showed the
fallacy of this. These women were strong
leaders and servants that helped to spread the Good News.
WOMEN AND THE POWER OF GOD – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
In Genesis we read, “When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God; he created them male and female.” Even though we call God “Our Father”, and Jesus was a man, I believe that the true likeness of God cannot be seen by just looking at the masculine; nor can it be seen by just looking at the feminine. To truly see the image of God we must look at both the masculine nature and the feminine nature of humankind. Throughout the scriptures there are plenty of examples of both but there does seem to be preponderance of the masculine. Too often the women of scripture are in the background and don’t get the attention that they deserve. This is probably due to social and cultural partiality. I want to bring to the reader’s attention some of the women of Scripture that show God’s power at work. Since there are so many, this article will be in three parts. One, the women of the Hebrew Scriptures; Two, the women of the New Testament; and Three, women Saints of the Church.
PART I – POWERFUL WOMEN OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
EVE: In the creation
account, Eve is seen as the mother of the living. She is also seen as Adam’s companion and
helper. In Christian traditions, Eve is
the one who led Adam astray by sharing the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge with
him. When God confronts Adam about his
disobedience he blames not only Eve for his transgression but also blames God
for giving him Eve. Eve in turn blames
the serpent for tempting her to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. While it is easy to think of Eve as being
weak because of this, we must remember that Eve had to be a strong woman. She, according to the Genesis account, was
the first mother. She had no one else to
be an example of what motherhood was all about.
She had no mother to show her how to take care of her children. She had no other women friends to help
support her. In the Genesis account she
was the only mother. It is in her that
humanity receives life. The Church
traditionally recognizes Eve as a Saint, along with Adam and celebrates their
feast day on December 24th.
SARAH: Sarah was the
wife of Abraham and is the first woman mentioned in scripture after Eve. She had to be a strong woman to accompany
Abraham on his long journey to the Promised Land. She also was a woman with a good sense of
humor. When God told Abraham that he and
Sarah would bare a son, even though they were a century old, Sarah
laughed. However, she also was a woman
of faith because she took God at His Word.
The letter to the Hebrews tells us that, “By faith even Sarah herself
received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she
considered Him faithful who had promised.”
Can you imagine how much strength she would have to have to bring up
children at her age?
SHIPHRAH AND PUAH:
These two women were Hebrew mid-wives in Egypt who were ordered by
Pharaoh to kill the newborn Jewish boys when they were born. Pharaoh felt that the Jewish people were
getting too strong and too powerful so he ordered the midwives to kill the baby
boys. Shiphrah and Puah knew the sanctity of life
and did not do this and lied to Pharaoh about it. They knew that their stand on life could cost
them their own life, but they were strong enough to follow their conscience. They are a great example to us of people who
hold life sacred and of people who can stand up to an evil government through
civil disobedience. Because of them,
many Jewish lives were saved, including Moses.
SOBEKNEFRU: Was the
daughter of the Pharaoh who had ordered the Hebrew children killed. She is the woman who found the baby Moses
floating in a basket. She had the
strength and courage to go against her father and raise Moses as her own
child. Fortunately, she used Moses real
mother, Jochebed as the nursemaid.
Jochebed must have had a lot of strength and love for her son Moses to
disobey Pharaoh and keep her son alive.
MAHLAH, NOAH, HOGLAH, MILCAH AND TIRZAH – THE FIVE DAUGHTER
OF ZELOPHEHAD: Zelophehad was a
descendent of Joseph who left Egypt with Moses and died in the wilderness. He had five daughters and no sons. Under the Jewish law only sons could inherit
the property of their father. The five
daughters of Zelophehad went to Moses and Eleazar and petitioned them to change
the law. Through divine intervention, God
told Moses to give the land to the daughters and to change the law so that if
there were no male offspring, the estate could go to the daughters who would
rightfully own it. Because of the vision
and persistence of these women, Jewish law was changed forever. They had the strength to stand up against the
established leaders and fight for equality.
God honored their fight.
TAMAR: Tamar was
married to Judah’s son, Er. Er was a
wicked man and died and Judah asked his other son Onan to provide offspring for
Tamar (a Levirate union) so that the family line would continue. Onan slept with Tamar but because he didn’t
want her to have a child, he kept “spilling his seed on the ground”. Onan was more interested in a larger share
of Judah’s estate, than continuing the Family line. Tamar knew that it was necessary for the
family line to continue so she disguised herself as a prostitute and slept with
her father-in-law, Judah. He did not
recognize her. From that Union she
brought forth twin sons to continue the family line. The one son, Perez is an ancestor of Jesus. Even though Tamar’s action seems odd in today’s
world, Tamar received a great deal of respect from Judah for the bold thing
that she did. Not only was she strong
and bold to do this, but she was very bright to come up with a way to prove
that Judah was the father (read Genesis 38).
Because of her strength and cunning, the Davidic line continued on.
RAHAB: Rahab, who is
listed in the genealogy of Jesus, is a most unlikely person to be an
ancestor. First of all, she was not a
Jew but was a pagan Canaanite. Secondly,
she was a prostitute. Rahab lived in the
city of Jericho and when the Jewish people were ready to attack that city
Joshua sent in some spies. Rahab, was
quite intelligent, perceptive and well informed. She recognized the two Jewish spies and told
them that she had heard of their God and how He had set His people free from
the Egyptians. She told the spies that
all of the Canaanites were fearful of the Jews and their God. She even spoke a phrase of faith by saying, “For
the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below”. She told the spies that if they could spare
her and her family, she would help them.
Rahab went against her king and and her country and religion and she hid
the spies in her home. Because of this,
they were able to obtain tactical information.
The Jews conquered the city and spared Rahab and her family. Rahab later married a Jewish man and
continued the Davidic line to Jesus.
RUTH: During the time
of the Judges rule of Israel, there was a famine in the land. Elimelech and his wife Naomi left their home
in Bethlehem with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion to go to the land of the
Moabites and escape the famine. They
were there several years and Elimelech died.
Both sons had married Moabite women.
Mahlon married Ruth and Chilion married Orpha. After about ten years both sons died and
Naomi decided to go back to her homeland.
She told both widowed daughters in laws to return to their families and
to remarry. Orpha did return to her
family, but Ruth decided to stay with Naomi and go back to Bethlehem. Ruth said to Naomi, “For wherever you go, I
will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and
your God my God.” Ruth went with Naomi
to Bethlehem. It must have been very
difficult for Ruth to leave her homeland and her family and to travel to an
unknown land. Her relationship to Naomi
and the witness of faith that Naomi provided gave her the strength to do go to
Bethlehem. There Ruth supported herself
and Naomi by gleaning in the fields of a man named Boaz. Boaz had heard of Ruth’s loyalty to her
mother in law and saw her great kindness.
He also saw her as a hard working woman.
Boaz was a close relative of Naomi’s deceased husband Elimelech. He bought the land that Elimelech had owned
and married Naomi. Together they had a
son named Obed and a grandson named Jesse who would be the father of King David.
HULDAH: Most of the
time when we think of Prophets, we think that they are all men. In the book of Kings, there is one female
Prophet named who was most important to the Jewish heritage. She was one of seven women prophets (Sarah,
Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail and Esther) mentioned in scripture. The scriptures tell us that Hidlah was a prophet
who the priests and royal officials would often consult. She could tell them of their fates and the
fates of surrounding nations. She spoke
stern commands to the leaders and was seen as someone who could determine if
writings were from God or not. When they
were rebuilding Solomon’s temple, a script was found and brought to Huldah to
determine if it was God’s Word. Huldah
declared that it was God’s Word and that the temple and people would suffer because
they had failed to follow it. She told
King Josiah that because of his repentance he would be spared. Her prophecies about destruction came
true. Huldah was a woman who could stand
up to anyone, commoner or king. She was
well respected for her gifts of discernment and was a woman who helped turn the
people back to God through repentance.
We can see that God chose these women, and many more
besides, to help continue the Line of David and to help bring people to
Him. Even in the Middle East several
thousand years ago, when women were seen as subservient to men, God used their
strength and their cunning and their faith to help build his Kingdom. This concludes Part I on the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament). In a few
days we will take a look at Part II, Women of the New Testament.
Living in a Gnostic Culture by Father Bill Peckman
A general rule of thumb for me is that if one truly believes something, it changes their behaviors. If I see someone preaching something or becoming an activist for something, but I do not see their behaviors follow suit, I dismiss it as hypocrisy at best and as neo-Gnosticism at worst.
In the USA, we live in an increasingly Gnostic culture.
Gnosticism is a belief that the created order is the result of a malevolent
entity, the height of that disorder is humanity, and that a benevolent entity
has planted within us a spark and a soul that most are too ignorant to act
upon. This spark is a special or secret knowledge. This created an elite group.
Gnosticism sees anything that creates more human beings as
evil. Abortion, suicide, mercy-killing, birth control, homosexuality, and other
forms of sexuality and life issues contrary to Christianity were seen as
positives. As Gnostics are dualists (body bad, soul good), salvation comes not
from renouncing sin, but from being released from ignorance about the created
order. Gnosticism takes a very dim view of organized religion as a whole.
What we see today, I call a neo-Gnosticism. What makes it
different is a two-tiered system of elites who posses the knowledge and the
commoners who don’t. Rules do not apply equally to the two groups. Gnosticism
is certainly the ‘religion’ of the eugenics movement. Gnosticism has found
itself in the man-made climate crisis controversy.
I am a man who is very much in favor of NOT dumping
pollutants into our land, sky, and water. I think we wildly over-consume. I am
in favor of re-usable anything. The personal choices I have made reflect this.
I think that many scare tactics are in use with the debate and that the debate
has taken a near zero sum quasi-religious fervor. Again, since I believe belief
should effect action, when I see celebrities and politicians who champion the
cause but whose lifestyles would give no witness to these beliefs (they fly
private jets, have limos, several homes, etc), it makes me question the
veracity of their beliefs. While I might not agree completely with anyone, I
will respect those who actions are in line with their beliefs in this matter.
My own opinion about so much of the debate in this country
is that is it about control. Elitism in any of its forms is about a general
disdain for the unenlightened. In this worldview, the enlightened are duty
bound to save the ignorant masses from themselves, even if that means culling
the herd. The tools for this are via the government: legislative activism,
judicial activism, and punitive taxation. However, for this to work, division
among the ignorant masses needs to happen. It is like the popular kids getting
unpopular kids to attack other unpopular kids with the promise the attackers
will become part of the elite..which seldom happens and makes useful idiots of
them. The neo-Gnostic mentality allows for this.
Progressive politics are rooted in neo-Gnosticism. So is
progressive Christianity. It is little wonder that progressive Christianity has
adopted Gnostic views on life issues and the use of human sexuality. Certainly
there are forces within the Catholic Church, who believing themselves to be oh
so reasonable, want to follow suit. While they might not say it outright, that
the majority of Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence is of no concern.
For a Gnostic posing as a Catholic, the Incarnation itself would be
problematic, hence all things that flow from the Incarnation, especially that
we consume the Flesh and Blood of the Word made Flesh would seem ridiculous. As
Gnosticism does not see sin in the way Catholics do, the consequences of sin
would also mean little (who needs Confession? No such thing as spiritual
warfare) and means to rectify the consequences would be ignored as irrelevant.
No heresy ever really dies. It morphs and adapts. It goes by
new names while keeping its essential character. We live in a Gnostic culture
in the west and the Americas. Just as Gnosticism wanted to be the orthodoxy of
Christianity from the beginning, so too today. Heresy counts on ignorance of
the truth to spread. 50 years of horrid catechesis within the Catholic Church
is now bearing consequences that are a major contributory factor in the
emptying of our pews and the despoiling of the flock by ravenous wolves.
Demanding the truth, living the truth, and giving witness to the truth is how we have always battled heresies; it will be the way we do now.
Really. So many of us seek God’s will above all–even above
God.
We use him as a Magic 8-Ball, going to prayer only to figure
things out and not to worship. We treat his will like a scavenger hunt set up
by a sadistic leprechaun who sends us signs and then laughs (or rages) when we
miss them. We obsess over ourselves and our skills and our desires and our
future and call it prayer.
Stop seeking God’s will and start seeking God. Because if
you run after the Lord you will find yourself in his will.
I spend a lot of time making decisions–with no home and no
steady employment, there are a lot of decisions to be made. Want to know how I
do it?
I spend serious time in silent prayer every day. Then I live
my life.
I trust that God is either going to form my heart to desire
what he desires, or he’s going to stop me before I do something dumb, or he’s
going to fix it afterward. I try not to lose peace over confusion or
uncertainty, because I know that God delights in me. If I’m earnestly trying to
live in his will, he’s not going to punish me for getting it wrong.
It’s entirely possible that I’m going to go to my judgment
and find God standing baffled before me, wondering why on earth I thought I
ought to be homeless and unemployed for the sake of the kingdom. There’s a
reason people don’t live this way, and perhaps I’ve gotten it totally wrong and
I was really supposed to be an accountant in Idaho or something.
Still, I expect to see pleasure mixed in with the
bafflement. “Oh, but honey, well done! It was a weird life you chose, but you
tried so hard. You got it wrong, but you sure were seeking me.”
I think he delights in my efforts, however ridiculous they
might be, and I find great peace in that. I can’t mess up discernment so badly
that I ruin his plan for me, because ultimately his plan is for my holiness. If
I’m seeking him, he’ll accomplish that, whatever odd paths it might take.
So if you find yourself stressing out about figuring out
God’s will, stop seeking God’s will and start seeking God. Spend serious time
in silent prayer every day and trust that he loves you. He’ll do the rest.
Meg Hunter-Kilmer – Meg is a hobo missionary. After 2 Theology degrees from Notre Dame and 5 years as a high school religion teacher, she quit her job in 2012 to live out of her car and preach the Gospel to anyone who would listen. 50 states and 25 countries later, this seems to have been a less ridiculous decision than it initially seemed. She blogs at www.piercedhands.com
On August 22nd, the eighth day after the
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church celebrates
the feast of the Queenship of Mary. From
the earliest days of the Church, these two events were seen as linked
together. When Mary was given the
special gift of being assumed bodily in to heaven, it was to take her place as
Queen of Heaven. For us today, in a
world where Kings and Queens are part of fairy tales or mostly exist for
ceremonial purposes, it is hard for us to understand why the Church would
recognize Mary as the Queen of Heaven.
In order to understand it better, we must look back in to our Jewish
roots, scriptures and the early Church fathers.
Mary exists as Queen only because Jesus exists as “King of
the Jews”. The first time we hear Jesus
referred to as King is in the Gospel of St. Matthew in his nativity
accounts. St. Matthew writes with a
great knowledge of Judaism and its history.
His nativity account is flowing with references to Jesus as King of the
Jews as related to the Davidic Kingdom.
He has the Magi, the eastern kings, come and worship the new King of
Kings. This is set in David’s city,
Bethlehem. It is the Magi who kneel
down before the baby Jesus, and before Mary and call Jesus the King of the
Jews. Joseph isn’t even mentioned when
the Magi adore the new babe. The
emphasis is placed upon Jesus and Mary.
To understand this we need to look at the Jewish role of the Queen
Mother.
The Jews, like most of the other people of the Middle East,
gave special emphasis to the mother of the King as the Queen Mother. This was quite practical as most of the Kings
had numerous wives, but only one mother.
Scripture tells us that King Solomon, David’s son, had 700 wives and 300
concubines. In Jewish history the Queen
Mother had her throne right next to her son, the King. She helped him in caring for the
Kingdom. She was always especially
known as an advocate for her people. She
very often interceded for her people. In
1 Kings 2: 13-21 we hear the story of Adonijah who comes to see the Queen
Mother saying, “I have something to ask to you.” She replied, “Say
it.” So he said, “There is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse
me.” And she said, “Speak on.” He said, “Please ask King
Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my
wife.” “Very well,” replied Bathsheba, “I will speak to the
king for you.” Then Bathsheba went
to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her
and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was
provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right. “There is one small
favor l would ask of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.”
“Ask it, my mother,” the king said to her, “for I will not
refuse you. So she said, “Let
Abishag the Shunamite be given to your brother Adonijah for his wife.” Of course, the King did what his mother
asked. This was the common practice for
Queen Mothers; to sit on a throne next to their son and bring him
intercessions. This is what our Queen
Mother, Mary does today for us.
There is no doubt that the Kingship of Jesus differs from
the Kingship of David or Solomon or any of the Jewish Kings. His Kingship is founded on his death and
resurrection. It is at the cross that we
read “Jesus, the Nazorean, King of the Jews.
It was on the cross, with Mary at his foot, that Jesus shows us that His
Kingdom is based upon Mercy and pure Love.
The Queenship of Mary follows this same example, Love and Mercy. Now Jesus is enthroned in Heaven with Mary,
the Queen Mother, at His side. Together
they are dispensers of God’s Mercy and Love.
Mary, the Immaculate daughter of the Father and spouse of the Holy
Spirit sits with her son and her God, Jesus.
The book of Revelation, Chapter 12 verses 1 though 5 gives
us an apocalyptic vision of Mary as Queen of Heaven. It says, “And a great sign appeared in
heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on
her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, she cried
travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen
another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and
ten horns: and on his head seven diadems: And his tail drew the third part of
the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before
the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he
might devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all
nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne.” I find it interesting that she has a crown
with twelve stars. Those twelve stars
remind us of both the twelve tribes of Israel who relied upon the Queen Mother
as their intercessor before the King and of the twelve Apostles who regarded
her as the mother of Jesus and their mother.
The red dragon reminds us of how Mary, our mother and our Queen, has
always resisted the attacks of the devil and is the promise of the New Eve who
stamps her foot upon the devil’s head.
When we see Mary as the Queen of Heaven we honor her place
in God’s plan as being the mother of His son Jesus, who is fully human and
fully God. Her resounding YES and her
flesh gave flesh to the Word. She was
the new Ark of the Covenant in which the very presence of God resided. It was
because of her that our Lord and Savior were brought in to this world. She is, most definitely, BLESSED among women.
St. Pope John Paul II in his letter, Rosarium Virginis
Mariae, tells us, “Christ was raised in glory to the right hand of the Father,
while Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege,
the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead. Crowned
in glory – as she appears in the last glorious mystery – Mary shines forth
as Queen of the Angels and Saints, the anticipation and the supreme
realization of the eschatological state of the Church.”
Hopefully, some day we too, like Mary, will receive our
glorified bodies and worship God and honor Mary in heaven. Until we do, we can honor her as Queen of
Heaven and bring before her our cares and concerns so that she can intercede
for us before her son, Jesus, the King of Kings.
August 4th is the Memorial day of St. John Vianney the Cure of Ars. He was a great priest who serves as the patron Saint of all priest. In view of that, I would like to share an article from my friend Apologist Luke Haskell about the priesthood. Check it out below – Deacon Marty McIndoe
If there is a New Testament priesthood established by God, then this is one of the most important aspects of faith in our world. It would mean that there is a sacrifice that is needed for the world. This affects every human who has ever lived and all who will live in the future. The main purpose for a priest is to offer sacrifice. This may sound archaic but we must consider the fact that God does not change. If people come to the awareness that God established a New Testament priesthood, then this should have a profound effect on their faith.
As far back as you go, even to the beginning of Christianity, there is a priesthood and the Holy Mass. The early Christians were adamant about keeping a true understanding of faith. If the priesthood were a later invention, then you would see the pages of history scream out over the heresy. The Arian heresy that almost destroyed the church would have paled in comparison. The pages of history are silent because from the beginning, there was a priesthood and a Holy Mass as there still is today, 2000 years later. That in itself is a sustained miracle. “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations.” (Eph 3:21)
It is an interesting fact that the reformer Tyndale’s translation of the Bible was condemned in England and it was burned by other Protestants. Thomas More charged Tyndale with falsely translating scripture in order to remove references to the priestly office. He was calling Tyndale out as a heretic for doing so. In Tyndale’s Bible, the word priest became senior and was changed to elder in his revised 1534 edition. The word “church” became congregation. The word “penance” became repent and the word “charity” became love. Words are powerful. Changes in words have a huge impact over time. This is the main reason why the church outlawed many protestant Bibles. There appears to have been an active process to manipulate history in order to remove the image of the priesthood God established.
The New Testament priesthood developed out of the bishopric during apostolic times. When it comes to the structure of the church, everything was not put in place as soon as Pentecost. The church had to grow in knowledge of itself and of its purpose; a mustard seed that would grow into the biggest tree. The apostles at different times, were Bishop, Deacon, and Priest. “For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take.” (Acts 1:20)
“Diakonos” means “servant” or “minister”. “Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) In the beginning, these terms were fluid. The New Testament was the Holy Mass for 360 years before it was a book. The apostles were ministers of the sacraments and the Holy Mass. Paul tells us, “Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ, and dispensers of the mysteries of God.” (1 Cor 4:1) From the word mystery we get the word mysterion, sacramentum, sacrament. Paul being a priest is a minister of the sacraments of God.
Paul tells us, ‘For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.” (Hb 7:12) There was both a change in priesthood that occurred in the New Covenant between God and man, and there was a change in law.
The New Testament, scripture contains both an image of a universal priesthood and the priesthood of the ordained. The universal priesthood consists of all who enter the church through a Trinitarian baptism. This is understood as the mystical body. The mystical body of Christ as a royal priesthood, is shown in scripture to be called in the Greek text, hiereus. Christ is the head of the body. “And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy:” (Colossians 1:18) Those who have past on in a state of grace have not left the mystical body, but celebrate the Holy Mass with the hosts of heaven on the other side of the veil.
From Strong’s Greek concordance we define hiereús (from word 2413 /hierós, “sacred because belonging to the Temple”) – a priest. Word 2409 /hiereús(“priest”) is used in the NT: Christ is the true Temple. Those belonging to the Temple are sacred. The New Covenant sees the hiereus sacred, and belonging to the Temple.
“Priest is defined as Old English preost probably shortened from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon and Old High German prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin *prester “priest,” from Late Latin presbyter “presbyter, elder,” from Greek presbyteros (see Presbyterian). An alternative theory (to account for the -eo- of the Old English word) makes it cognate with Old High German priast, prest, from Vulgar Latin *prevost “one put over others,” from Latin praepositus “person placed in charge,” from past participle of praeponere (see provost). In Old Testament sense, a translation of Hebrew kohen, Greek hiereus, Latin sacerdos.”
Hiereus is priest, presbyter is priest. The English word priest is different from hiereus. It is not derived phonetically nor etymologically from the word hiereus. It is derived from “Presbyteros”. From the beginning the elders, or presbyters in the church structure, were the respected and ordained leaders within the royal hiereus, or, within the body priest. The apostles assigned the leaders of the church to the presbytery. They were the ordained through the process of laying on of the hands of the bishop, starting with those who received the spirit in the upper room at Pentecost. This is the process of apostolic succession. This image fulfilled what the priesthood of Aaron and Moses did before. “Impose not hands lightly upon any man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins. Keep thyself chaste.” (1Timothy 5:22) “Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.” (Numbers 27:23) There is no true atonement for sins in the sacrificing of bulls and goats in the Old Testament. The images are to show us the mystery of sacrament and how the priesthood of Christ is fulfilled in the New Testament. The types in the old, become the truth in the new. The New Testament priests are those that administer the sacraments.
Timothy was an elder in the church of one doctrine, yet he was very young. Historical documentation tells us he was a bishop of Ephesus in Turkey. Bishops are both bishops and priests who perform the sacramental office. When one is ordained, his ministry becomes sacramental. It is ordained by God through the laying on of hands of the bishop, and given special graces by the Holy Spirit.
John in Revelation tells us, “He has made us a Kingdom of priests.” Priest as in Hiereus. This is the entire mystical body inside the high Priest Jesus Christ. Peter says, “You are a chosen people a Holy Nation a Royal Priesthood.” Paul says: “That I should be the minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles; sanctifying the gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:16) In Paul writing to the Romans, he is writing as a priest of the church who in the sacramental office, through the Holy Spirit, sanctifies the oblation of bread and wine. Paul is describing his own ministry which he was called to by God. In the Greek, he is using a variant of the word “hiereus”.
He explains, “of the grace from God that makes him a “minister of Christ to the Gentiles in a priestly service (hierougounta=priestly work.) The bread that becomes the Eucharist through the Holy Spirit is sanctified. Paul tells us, “Is not the bread that we break, participation in the body of Christ?
Webster’s defines the word “sanctify” as to, set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use consecrate, to free from sin : purify to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, or respect to… to make productive of holiness or piety.
An oblation is an unbloody sacrifice. In the Old Testament the unbloody sacrifices are of bread and wine. Paul offers a consecrated, holy, unbloody, oblation through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, for the Gentiles. Through the Holy Spirit, the priest of the mystical body, sanctified bread and wine, therefore setting it apart, consecrating it, making it holy for a holy purpose. An offering to God through Jesus Christ our high priest and mediator in the Holy of Holies, for the sins of the entire world. The holy of holies in the meeting tent represents heaven. The holies is the church. This is a prophecy of Malachy fulfilled.
“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 1:11)
The Gentiles were not baptized into the church until after the cross, so this clean oblation is offered from where the sun rises to where it sets, after the cross. The Old Covenant is fulfilled in the new. In the old, God told Moses that the bread of the presence must always be placed before Him. This bread was to be eaten every Sabbath by the priests in a holy place. Three times a year the sacred bread along with consecrated wine, was brought out of the holies to the Jews. The table containing the bread and wine was raised and the priests would say, “behold God’s love for you.”
The types are fulfilled in the heavenly realities. “This is my body”. Behold Gods love for you. Christ raised this image to the covenant memorial of the cross where His glorified essence that does not conform to time, space, and matter, in the Eucharist, is present before the Father before the Father sees the sins of the world. This is called a covenant memorial. It is a covenant memorial of the crucifixion of Christ. Christ at the last supper told the first priests of His church to, “do this in memory of me.” He was saying, keep the covenant memorial of the cross before the Father for the sins of the world, like the bread of the presence was in type. Without the Holy Mass, the crucifixion is only an execution. This priesthood that was established by the apostles through God, was passed on to their disciples, and continues into our present day.
The word covenant comes from the Semitic word “berit”. It means to cut a covenant. It means an oath secured by a shedding of blood. “This is my blood of the New Covenant”…
We can see the priesthood in scripture and we can confirm it with history. St. Hegesippus (A.D. 180) records that the Apostle, St. James the Less, wore Temple vestments; and St. Polycrates of Ephesus ( A.D. 196) records that St. John the Beloved Apostle, wore a primitive Bishop’s mitre, in which he was buried. The Holy Mass is indigenous to Christianity. There is no Holy Mass without apostolic succession of the priesthood.
“The oriental liturgy, or mass, which bears the name of this apostle (James the just) is mentioned by Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, and by the council in Trullo, and is of venerable antiquity. St Basil, indeed, testifies that the words of the sacred invocation, in the consecration of the bread and the cup, were not committed to writing, but learned and preserved by tradition, down to the fourth century.” (Butlers Lives of The Fathers, Martyrs and Other Saints.” )
Irenaeus (died about 202) a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of John the apostle tells us, “For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually.” (Irenaeus Against Heresies Book IV, Chapter 8)
From the book titled Clement of Rome Recognitions book 6 ch 15. The author is talking about Peter and his priestly office. “and baptized them; and celebrating the Eucharist with them, he appointed, as bishop over them, Maro, who had entertained him in his house, and who was now perfect in all things; and with him he ordained twelve presbyters and deacons at the same time. He also instituted the order of widows, and arranged all the services of the Church; and charged them all to obey their bishop in all things that he should command them.”
Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235 AD) When a deacon is to be ordained, he is chosen after the fashion of those things said above, the bishop alone in like manner imposing his hands upon him as we have prescribed. In the ordaining of a deacon, this is the reason why the bishop alone is to impose his hands upon him: he is not ordained to the priesthood, but to serve the bishop and to fulfill the bishop’s command. He has no part in the council of the clergy, but is to attend to his own duties and is to acquaint the bishop with such matters as are needful. . . .On a presbyter, however, let the presbyters impose their hands because of the common and like Spirit of the clergy. Even so, the presbyter has only the power to receive [the Spirit], and not the power to give [the Spirit]. That is why a presbyter does not ordain the clergy; for at the ordaining of a presbyter, he but seals while the bishop ordains (The Apostolic Tradition 9 [A.D. 215]).
We must not deny facts. We must build on facts in order to establish a clearer image of truth that has been lost to most of our world. Scripture through proper exegesis shows us a Priesthood established by God through the apostles. If there is a priesthood established by God then there is a sacrifice that is worthy of God that the priesthood has been ordained to offer. The early history of the church confirms this priesthood and shows us the growth of the priesthood established. All those who have been given a Trinitarian baptism are part of the Royal Priesthood who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb in the Holy Mass. Many modern Christians have received a valid Trinitarian baptism, but do not participate in what that baptism calls us to. It will always come down to faith though. The great doctor of the church Thomas Aquinas said, “with faith, no explanation is necessary. Without faith, no explanation is possible.”
“Christ our true pasch (Passover Lamb) has been sacrificed. Let us keep the feast. (1 Cor 5:7)
Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know…It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!” St. Padre Pio
Luke Haskell is a Catholic Apologist and can be found on Facebook and LinkedIn
1969: WITH GOD ALL
THINGS ARE POSSIBLE – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
1969 was a very special year of great accomplishments. Today, July 20th, we celebrate the
50th anniversary of man walking on the moon. That same year the New York Mets won the
World Series and Casey Stengel began calling them the “Miracle Mets”. In 1969 the huge Boeing 747 was first
introduced. The extremely fast French Concorde jet also debuted then. In 1969 the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the
epitome of the American muscle car was introduced. The Woodstock Rock festival brought in an
estimated 350,000 to 500,000 people. In
October 1969 the first communication was sent over the ARPANET, the predecessor
to our INTERNET. And most
miraculously, the average cost of a house was under $5,000.00 and a brand new
Toyota Corona cost $1,950.00 and a gallon of gasoline was 35 cents. I personally had a lot of great achievements
that year. In 1969 I graduated from
college with a Bachelors degree in Scientific Management – Computer Science and
ten days later I married my beautiful wife Martha. Within three months of my marriage I enlisted
in the U.S. Army. All three of those
events changed my life for the better and I still reap the fruits of those
events.
1969 also had a lot of sad events. Members of a Cult let by Charles Manson
brutally killed five innocent people.
Senator Edward Kennedy had his Chappaquiddick Affair in 1969. That year an accidental explosion on the US
Enterprise killed 27 people. Abbey Road
would be the last album the Beatles would do together and 1969 became the last
year they toured together. During 1969
the Vietnam War continued to grow and the US began the Draft. In 1969 Richard Nixon became President of the
United States. The “Troubles” in
Northern Ireland escalated as British Troops used extreme force. In Mississippi, Hurricane Camille hit hard
killing 248 people. Australian light
aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne sliced the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half
killing 82 of her crew. !969 became a
year of rising inflation worldwide.
Throughout the years good things happen as well as bad. It is just a fact of life. There is one good thing in 1969 that I would
like to look at. For the first time in
history, man was able to walk on the moon.
Apollo 11 was certainly a remarkable task. Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins and Neil Armstrong
took off in a ten foot by 12 foot 913 pound capsule made out of aluminum, steel
and titanium that was attached to a 363 foot tall Saturn V rocket. That rocket weighed over 6.5 million pounds
and had three stages. It was 58 feet
taller than the Statue of Liberty. The
Rocket carried the capsule as well as the Lunar Module. The Lunar Module could hold two people. Once they reached the moon, Mike Collins
remained in the capsule while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong went to the
surface of the moon in the Lunar Module.
Neil Armstrong was the first man to set his foot upon the moon. He said, ”That’s one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.”
Just before the Lunar Module landed, there was some serious
concern. First the computers that were
to do the landing began acting up so they shut them down and decided to land
with manual controls. All of this used
up extra fuel and the low fuel light came on.
They were able to successfully land the Module. Many years later, when Armstrong was visiting
troops, one of the troops asked, “Mr. Armstrong, weren’t you nervous flying
over the moon with all those rocks and craters, knowing that you only had a few
seconds of fuel left?’ Armstrong
grinned at the young soldier. “Well,
young man, Everyone knows that when the fuel gauge says empty, there’s always a
gallon or two left at the bottom of the tank.”
I love to see the human spirit respond to such difficult tasks. The moon landing was a cooperative effort
that included over 400,000 people. Neil
Armstrong was right in saying that his step was small but mankind’s step was
huge. The whole world cheered the event
and the common cry was, “WE did it!”
What is really amazing is that we accomplished this mission
over 50 years ago. The on board
computer, which was state of the art at the time, is weaker than the computers
that we carry around in our pockets on our smart phones. I truly believe that man can accomplish great
things, through the help of God. Many
people in the Space program had a deep relationship to God and I am sure that
there were a lot of prayers for the mission.
The mission commander, Buzz Aldrin, described the mission as “part of
God’s eternal plan for man”. Aldrin
was an ordained Presbyterian elder and decided that he wanted to take communion
to the moon. When he first spoke to NASA
about this they were reluctant to allow it because Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the
famous Atheist, had brought a lawsuit against NASA for reading from the bible
during Apollo 8. But Aldrin insisted and
was given permission, but he was told to keep it quiet. He brought with him bread, wine and a small
chalice. He pulled out the Chalice and
bread and wine and announced over the radio, “This is the LM pilot. I would
like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and
wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the
past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.” He then silently read John 15:5, “I am the
vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much
fruit; for you can do nothing without me.”
After that he performed the Presbyterian ritual over the bread and wine.
It is interesting that Pope Paul VI was watching the lunar
landing from the Vatican Observatory going between the televised version and
the Observatory Telescope. He greeted
and blessed the astronauts in English: “Here,
from His Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Pope Paul the Sixth is
speaking to you astronauts. Honour,
greetings and blessings to you, conquerors of the Moon, pale lamp of our nights
and (our) dreams! Bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the
spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father. We are close to you, with our good wishes and
with our prayers. Together with the whole Catholic Church, Pope (Paul) the
Sixth salutes you.” The pope later met
the Apollo 11 astronauts and their wives at the Vatican.
Buzz Aldrin took a small part of the bible with him to the
moon. Later, in Apollo 12, the full
bible was brought there. Many people are
unaware of the faith of the people in this program. I personally feel that it is their faith and
prayers that made the mission successful.
As Buzz Aldrin read (from John 15:5), “I am the vine, you are the
branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you
can do nothing without me.”
We are a child of God and He calls us to live out that call,
to be his son or daughter. We should be
different from those who don’t know or follow God. We should be empowered by our relationship
with God. So often we are not. We, as mere humans, seem to want to settle
for less than God has given us. We are
often anxious and afraid and weak and seem to lack direction in our lives. We claim to be “saved” but more often than
not, we are lost. While writing these
words I can’t help but to think about the Apostles right after Jesus ascended
to heaven, leaving them on their own for the first time in three years. They too were lost and afraid and weak and
lacked direction. But, they did what
Jesus told them. They went up in to the
Upper Room and prayed. Perhaps their
going in to the Upper Room was a way of hiding from the authorities that they
were afraid of. But it was in the Upper
Room that they came together as a community, along with the Blessed Virgin
Mary, and prayed. They prayed for nine
days (our first novena) and something very powerful, something very
life-changing happened. The Holy Spirit
fell upon them. They received what Jesus
had promised them. It changed them
permanently. It empowered them. It gave them strength and power and
direction.
That same Holy Spirit has been given to us to so that we
might be empowered and strengthened and given direction. It is what can help us to live fully as a son
or daughter of God. That same Holy
Spirit gives us so many gifts and fruits to make our lives empowered by God so
that we can be the person that God has called us to be. We just need to be open to that Spirit and
ASK it to empower us and to work within us.
The Spirit has been given to us in Baptism and Confirmation but so often
it just lies dormant within us waiting for us to learn about its power and ask
to be open to and to be filled with its power.
One of the best ways to learn about the Spirit and to really desire the
Spirit to be at work in our lives is by going to a Life in the Spirit
Seminar. These are offered in many
parishes around the world. Another great
way is to experience the video series, The Wild Goose by Father Dave
Pavonka. This is available for purchase
as DVD or Blueray. You can also watch it
on Youtube. Both of these are great
tools to opening ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures and our Catechism also tell us
a great deal about the Holy Spirit. I
would like to share a few scriptures with you to hopefully make you desire a
better openness to the Holy Spirit.
In John 14: 16 Jesus tells us, “I will ask the Father, and
he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. That
helper is the Spirit of Truth.”. In verse
26 Jesus says, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.”
St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians (1:17-20) says, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the
riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power
for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…”
St. Paul also adds in Ephesians 3: 16-20, “I
pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may
have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now
to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Besides POWER, the Spirit gives us many fruits. Catholic
tradition follows the Vulgate version of Galatians in listing 12 fruits: charity, joy, peace, patience,
benignity (kindness), goodness, longanimity (generosity), mildness
(gentleness), faith, modesty, continency (self-control), and chastity.
The Spirit also gives us many gifts. We traditionally talk about the seven gifts
of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of
Isaiah 11:2-3, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are described. In the passage the
gifts are considered ones that the Messiah would have possessed. Through Jesus,
we also receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Wisdom helps us recognize the importance of others
and the importance of keeping God central in our lives.
Understanding is the ability to comprehend the
meaning of God’s message.
Knowledge is the ability to think about and explore
God’s revelation, and also to recognize there are mysteries of faith beyond us.
Counsel is the ability to see the best way to follow
God’s plan when we have choices that relate to him.
Fortitude is the courage to do what one knows is
right.
Piety helps us pray to God in true devotion.
Fear of the Lord is the feeling of amazement before
God, who is all-present, and whose friendship we do not want to lose.
The Spirit also gives us other gifts, sometimes known as
Charisms which St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, tells us are
given for the building up of the whole Church.
These include, the word gifts
of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, preaching and teaching. There also are Gifts of powerincluding healing, miracles and exorcism. There are also service gifts such as pastoral care, alms giving, leadership and
administration. Further gifts included the
prayer gifts like intercessory
prayer, singing in tongues, being filled and guided by the Spirit, and to
contemplate and worship God.
These lists of gifts and fruits and charisms are only some
of the things that the Holy Spirit can do for us and through us. His power is amazing. Looking at what the Spirit can do for us
helps us to see how the Spirit can and will empower us to be God’s
children. Be open to God’s Holy
Spirit. Learn about the Spirit. Invoke the Holy Spirit in all that you
do. Become alive in the Holy Spirit. It is God’s precious gift to us. It empowers us to be His children.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit for Universal Renewal
Holy Spirit,
fulfill in us the work begun by Jesus.
Let our prayer on behalf of the whole world
be fruitful and unwavering.
Hasten the time when each of us
will attain a genuine spiritual life.
Enliven our work that it may reach all human beings,
all who have been redeemed
by the Blood of Christ and all His inheritance.
Take away our natural presumption
and uplift us with a holy humility,
with reverence for God and selfless courage.
Let no vain attachment impede the work of our state in life,
nor personal interest divert us from the demands of justice.
May no scheming on our part reduce love
to our own petty dimensions.
May all be noble in us; the quest and the respect for truth,
and the willingness to sacrifice even to the cross and death.
And may all be accomplished
in accord with the final prayer
of the Son to His heavenly Father
and in accord with the grace
that Father and Son give
through You, the Spirit of love,
to the Church and to her institutions,
to every soul and to all peoples.
Amen.
On this 75th anniversary of D-Day I felt I should
write about it. I have shared some of
this before, but I think that it is needed now.
War is a terrible thing. It
brings out the worst in humanity. It
also brings out the best. World War II
was a terrible and destructive war but it also showed that humanity can, and
will, stand up against tyranny and evil.
Jesus told us that “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down
his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
This was lived out every day of World War II and one of the greatest
examples of this is the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France beginning on June 6,
1944. The Allied forces lost almost
10,000 soldiers during that invasion. It
was the beginning of the end of the Nazi terrorism and the pure evil that they
had spread. If any war could be
considered necessary, this one certainly could.
Freedom fought back against tyranny and goodness fought back against
evil. The darkness of the Nazi regime
was overcome by the light of the Allied forces.
Proudly, the United States stood tall in bringing forth the light.
D- Day has affected us all in many ways. I realized how much it affected me when my
wife and I traveled to France and visited the beaches of Normandy where D-Day
happened. My birth father was one of the
many soldiers who landed at the beaches of Normandy and lived through that to
continue to fight the Nazis in Europe. I
certainly am proud of him for that.
While standing on the beach there and hearing our guide tell us of the
large loss of so many soldiers there, my wife turned to me and said, “Just
think about this; if your father had been killed here that day, you would never
had been born”. It was a most sobering
experience. I thought about those almost
ten thousand men who lost their lives on those beaches and mourned for them and
then mourned for all those children that they were never able to bring forth. My father had two brothers in that war. One of them, Carl was killed while trying to
free Italy from the Nazis. He was only
eighteen years old. He is still buried
in Italy. His other brother, Milo, lost
his leg while fighting the Nazis. My
father suffered from “Shell shock” which is what we now call Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). War is terrible and does terrible things to
people, yet our soldiers go out in to the midst of this hell, willing to give
all for the sake of freedom.
Europe is free today because of the fighting of the Allied
Forces. When we were in Normandy we saw
the honor and respect and gratitude the French people have for Americans. There are so many memorials there showing
this. We also saw it in Rome where there
are a number of plaques and monuments honoring American forces for setting them
free. We, as Americans, should be very
proud of what our soldiers did in WWII.
We should continue to be proud of them for all of the many wars and
conflicts that have occurred since then and before then. I pray that someday war may cease, but until
then a strong military is needed. We
need to support our soldiers. I am a
Vietnam War Era veteran. It was a hard
time to be an Army soldier then. The
Vietnam War was very unpopular and unfortunately people took it out on the
soldiers. Fortunately, this no longer
seems to be the case.
As I said, we need to support our soldiers. We can do this in so many ways. We can always thank them for their service
when we see them. We can pick up their
food or bar tab. I have done this so
many times and find it so uplifting, some of the best money I ever spent. We can work with and support soldier and
veteran’s groups. I work with and
support a local group, Boots on the Ground of Long Island. It is definitely one of the best around. Since I am a Roman Catholic deacon, I also
offer spiritual counseling to some veterans who are suffering from PTSD. They have seen and done things in the war
that no one should ever see or do. They
carry this home with them and it affects them tremendously. Sometimes all they need (besides professional
counseling) is a friend to share lunch or a beer with and to lend an ear and
caring mind. Our soldiers do so much for
us; we need to do for them.
Lastly, as strange as it might sound, we need to celebrate our soldiers. Going to Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades is one way of doing this. Recognizing their accomplishments is also so important. Take time to visit a soldier’s museum or monument. Say a prayer for them. Just today I saw a video from CBS News showing a 97 year old veteran of D-Day, who parachutes out of plane to the field where he landed on D-Day. Check it out here (short commercial before) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-rice-d-day-anniversary-97-year-old-paratrooper-jump-2019-06-05/ . This is quite a way to celebrate. Remember, we are called to thank and celebrate the men and women who did so much for us. God bless America.
War is an absolutely terrible thing and should be avoided
whenever possible. Unfortunately it
isn’t always possible to avoid. Freedom
is a very special gift that needs to be upheld.
Often the only way to do this is to fight for it and to have a strong
military to defend it. The United States
has been so instrumental in winning freedom and protecting freedom, not only
within its own boundaries, but also in foreign lands. It has been a strong military that allows
that. Technology certainly plays an
important role in a strong military but at the heart of our strength is the
individual soldier. Armed Forces Day is
a day for us to stop and honor those who are serving our country in the five
different branches of the Armed Forces.
We are honoring our own brothers and sisters, sons and daughters and
neighbors. These are people who have
volunteered to serve their country (us) and to fight and even perhaps to die
for us. They most certainly follow Jesus’
words where He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down
his life for his friends.”
We have three special days every year to celebrate our
soldiers. This Saturday, May 18th
is Armed Forces Day. On this day we
honor all who presently serve our country within the five branches of the
Military; The Army, The Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corp and the Coast
Guard. At the end of this month we will
have Memorial Day when we honor all those soldiers who have given their life
for their country. In November we have
Veteran’s Day. That is the day that we
honor all who have served their country.
I am very proud to be a United States Vietnam War Era Veteran. I enlisted back in 1969, right after
finishing college. For me, it was a way
for me to show my love for the country that has given me so much. It was an honor to serve, even though it was
an unpopular war. I work with a number
of young war veterans (from the Middle Eastern wars) who suffer from PTSD, but
all of them tell me that it was an honor for them to serve their country. This week we should honor all those who
currently serve.
Armed Forces Day was first announced on August 21, 1949 to
declare one day to celebrate all of the five branches of the military. This stemmed from the unification of all
military branches under one agency, the Department of Defense. In a speech announcing the creation of the
day, President Truman “praised the work of the military services at home
and across the seas.” He said, “It is vital to the security of the
nation and to the establishment of a desirable peace.” The first official Armed Forces Day took
place on May 20, 1950, and was themed “Teamed for Defense.” In honor of the
special day, B-36 Bombers flew over state capitals, a march was led by more
than 10,000 veterans and troops in Washington, D.C., and over 33,000 people
participated in a New York City parade. In
1961, John F. Kennedy declared Armed Forces Day a national holiday. It’s
celebrated on the third Saturday of every May.
An excerpt taken from an article written in the New York
Post on May 17, 1952, sums up Armed Forces Day’s utmost importance, “It is our
most earnest hope that those who are in positions of peril, that those who have
made exceptional sacrifices, yes, and those who are afflicted with plain
drudgery and boredom, may somehow know that we hold them in exceptional esteem.
Perhaps if we are a little more conscious of our debt of honored affection they
may be a little more aware of how much we think of them.” In 1963 President John F. Kennedy said, “Our
Servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of
peace–many of them away from their homes, their friends and their families.
They are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace
with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but
inescapable truth–that the survival of freedom requires great cost and
commitment, and great personal sacrifice.”
On Armed Forces Day 2018, President Donald Trump said, “On
Armed Forces Day, we pay tribute to the extraordinary men and women who serve
our Nation with valor and distinction in all branches of the military.
This annual observance honors their steadfast service in preserving our
Nation’s peace, preserving our freedom, and defending our founding principles. Throughout our history, in times of war and
peace, our service members have served with bravery, skill, and unwavering
devotion to duty. There is no fighting force that rivals that of the
United States military. The precious liberties all Americans enjoy are
possible because, every day and without exception, our Armed Forces
relentlessly and tirelessly carry out the critical mission of protecting our
country, our freedoms, and our way of life.”
He continued, “On this day, and every day, we owe a debt of gratitude to
our service members stationed at home and those deployed around the
world. All across America, we enjoy the blessings of liberty because our
Nation’s finest men and women willingly accept the call to service. We
proudly salute our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen, and
recognize the families who serve alongside them for their courage and
commitment.”
What is a good way to honor them? That certainly varies from individual to
individual. For me, whenever I see a
soldier in uniform I thank them for their service. Whenever possible I try to do little things
like pick up their check in a restaurant or offer to sit down with them and
have a coffee or a beer together. I go
out of my way (it took a while for my wife to get used to this) to go and try
to talk to a soldier. All of this
usually brings a smile from the soldier, and certainly makes me feel good. I also try to go to our local airport to
welcome home soldiers when I know one is scheduled to come in. I support and work with a local Long Island
group called Boots on the Ground who sends out care packages oversees to the
soldiers. One of my ministries is to
meet with soldiers who are suffering from PTSD. I make sure that they go to a trained
therapist, but I also meet with them for coffee and breakfast and lunch and
spend time talking with them. There are
so many out there who are hurting and even contemplating suicide. You would be surprised how just spending a
little time with them, can help them (and it makes me feel good). I also pray every day for our soldiers. I believe strongly in the power of
prayer. This is something everyone can
do.
So this Saturday and all next week (and basically every day
after), let us honor our soldiers and thank God for them and ask Him to protect
them. God is good.
Catholic Prayers for our soldiers:
Priest (or leader): Let us pray for our brothers and
sisters as they go forth with courage and determination to face the forces of
violence, weapons of destruction and hearts filled with hate.
RESPONSE: THROUGH THE DARKNESS BRING US TO THE
LIGHT.
Deacon or Reader:
For our Commander-In-Chief, President N.N., and our political and military
leaders that they may tirelessly seek peaceful settlements to international
disputes; we pray to the Lord:
That the Lord may preserve the members of our Army, Navy,
Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force from all harm; we pray to the Lord:
That even in war, we may keep clearly before us the defense
of all human rights, especially the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; we pray to the Lord:
That the families, relatives and friends of our military
members may be strengthened in this time of concern and anxiety; we pray to the
Lord:
That the Lord may help families with men and women in the
armed forces to cope with daily challenges in the absence of their loved ones;
we pray to the Lord:
That our homeland will be preserved from violence and
terrorism; we pray to the Lord:
That the nations of the world will seek to work together in
harmony and peace; we pray to the Lord:
That the hearts of all men and women will be moved to pursue
true peace and justice; we pray to the Lord:
That violence may be overcome by peace; that weapons of
destruction be transformed into tools of justice, and hate give way to true
charity; we pray to the Lord:
That grateful for and inspired by those veterans who have
given their lives for our country we may bravely face the challenges ahead; we
pray to the Lord:
Priest (or leader): Lord God, Almighty Father,
creator of mankind and author of peace,
as we are ever mindful of the cost paid for the liberty we possess,
we ask you to bless the members of our armed forces.
Give them courage, hope and strength.
May they ever experience your firm support, gentle love and compassionate
healing.
Be their power and protector, leading them from darkness to light.
To you be all glory, honor and praise, now and forever.