Today, March 19, 2021 is the Solemnity of St. Joseph occurring within the Year of St. Joseph as proclaimed by Pope Francis. This is such a special gift to the Church. For me, it is a real gift since I today completed my 33 day Consecration to St. Joseph as detailed in Father Don Colloway’s book Consecration to Saint Joseph – The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father. A few years ago I did a 33 day Consecration to Jesus through Mary and was so happy with what it did for my Spiritual Life. When Pope Francis declared this year as the Year of St. Joseph, I decided to do a consecration to St. Joseph. I am so very glad that I did. My wife and I have been doing this together using Fr. Colloway’s book and listening to his video every day on YouTube.
Father Colloway’s book has been fantastic. It is probably the best $14.95 that I have ever spent. After I fully complete the book, I plan on doing a review. His 33 day daily video series has also been amazing. Putting the two together has been wonderful. This has been one of my best Lents because of this 33 day consecration exercise. I have learned so much about St. Joseph and have come to really appreciate the gift that he is to the Church and to me personally.
St. Joseph has been in the background for so many years of the Church’s history. Many of the Saints have sung his praises, but, in general, the Church has kept him in the background. It wasn’t until a few years ago that Pope Francis added the name of St. Joseph to the Eucharistic liturgy. I still remember seeing my pastor write in the name of St. Joseph in to the book (we are a poor parish and wouldn’t order a new book just because of one insert). St. Joseph is known as the protector of the Church, but even that didn’t start until about 150 years ago. This year has been named the Year of St. Joseph by Pope Francis and the Church is celebrating it world wide. There have been a number of books, such as previously mentioned, and it would appear that St. Joseph is finally getting the attention that he should have. The timing is perfect.
2020 and 2021 have been difficult years due to the COVID pandemic. Other political changes have made life more difficult for the Church and I think that bringing out the riches of St. Joseph at this time is very appropriate. There is no doubt that the more we learn about this “silent” Saint, the more we can learn what he can do for us. Through these 33 days of consecration I have learned so much about St. Joseph and now appreciate him so much. I definitely see him as my Spiritual Father. It makes so much sense that not only would Jesus share with us His Mother, but would also share with us His earthly father. In today’s mass we read the Gospel about finding the 12 year old lost Jesus in the Temple. As I was reading it I was really “hit” by the verse where Mary said to Jesus, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” and Jesus said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” What hit me was when Mary referred to Joseph she said your father (small f) and when Jesus replied He referred to God His Father (large F). Jesus had two Fathers, one in heaven and one on the earth.
Joseph was Jesus’s father here on earth. Joseph took care of Jesus and protected Him, even moving to Egypt to avoid Herod trying to kill Jesus. St. Joseph nurtured Him and taught Him and loved Him probably better than any father cares for his own flesh and blood son. Jesus called him daddy, abba, and I can only imagine the great relationship that the two of them had. Jesus must have admired Joseph tremendously, especially for his love and devotion to Jesus’s mother, Mary. I can only believe that God chose Joseph as the “father” of Jesus because of what a great man that he was. I can only believe that Jesus and Joseph were closer than probably any other father and son. It is so important to honor a man who was given such a great honor as caring for the God-Man, Jesus.
In his book, Father Calloway is continually giving quotes from the many Saints who have had a great devotion to Joseph. They honored him as well as sought his aid in the many difficulties in their lives. Everyone needs a good father to look up to as well as to receive help from. Saint Joseph has been given to us by Jesus and it is important for us to see the gift that Saint Joseph truly is. We can most definitely use this precious gift. I would like to share with you just a few of the numerous quotes so that perhaps you will see how precious this gift is.
“This flower of Israel (St. Joseph) had the faith of Abraham, the piety of David his ancestor, the wisdom of the prophets, a patience more heroic than that of Job and Tobias, and a zeal greater than that of Elizah for the glory of God.” – Blessed Gabriele Allegra
“The holy example of Jesus Christ who, while upon earth, honored St. Joseph so highly and was obedient to him during his life should be sufficient to inflame the hearts of all with devotion to this saint.” – St. Alphonsus Liguori
“If you want to know St. Joseph’s obedience, look at how he rose at night at the angel’s voice and, giving no care to hunger, hardships, or cold, went to Egypt where he led a hard life until the next command of God” – St. Joseph Sebastian Pelzcar
“Truly, I doubt not that the angels, wondering and adoring, came thronging in countless multitudes to that poor workshop to admire the humility of him who guarded that dear and divine child, and labored at his carpenter’s trade to support the Son and the mother who were committed to his care.” – St. Francis de Sales
“Those who are devoted to prayer should, in a special manner, cherish devotion to St. Joseph. I know not how anyone can ponder on the sufferings, trials, and tribulations the Queen of the Angels endured whilst caring for Jesus in his childhood, without at the same time thanking St. Joseph for the services he rendered the Divine Child and his Blessed Mother.” – St. Teresa of Avila
“To be faithful as humble collaborators with the divine plan over our lives, we need, along with the protection of the Virgin Mary, that of St. Joseph, a most powerful intercessor.” – St. Pope John XXIII
“The Church invokes St. Joseph as her Patron and Protector through her unshakable trust that he to whom Christ willed to confide the care and protection of His own frail human childhood, will continue from heaven to perform His protective task in order to guide and defend the Mystical Body of Christ himself, which is always weak, always under attack, always in a state of peril.” St. Pope Paul VI
Fifteen years ago, Today, the Love of my Life died of cancer.
On the evening of Sharon’s death, I was all alone except a friend who came over, probably for suicide watch. We were in my shop when I had my first experience of the odor of Sanctity. The shop completely and instantly filled up with the scent of the most beautiful, Heavenly perfume I’ve ever smelled. I kept asking my friend if he could smell it but he couldn’t. I even went outside and walked all around the shop to see if I could discover it’s source. It was several months later I gave my Life to the Lord and He delivered me from an 18 year meth addiction. I had not yet even heard of the phenomenon of the Odor of Sanctity but I had a conviction I had a Heavenly visitor that night.
About six months later I wept all over a mountain side that was covered with wildflowers. It was like a botanical garden. I was picking wildflowers with the intention of covering Sharon’s grave with them when I came out of the mountains the following day. As I was picking them I kept saying ”These are for You Baby.” I would instantly collapse into a weeping sobbing heap remembering all the lies I told her about my drug use and whereabouts. I was begging Sharon and begging God to forgive me for who and what I had become. I would recover and resume picking flowers again only to say “These are for you Baby” and Thud… I would collapse into a weeping, sobbing mess again… and again… and again. I finally had a feeling come over me that I was supposed to write something to or for Sharon so I gathered up my wildflowers and returned to my camp and started writing this letter to her. When I wrote the first line I looked up and saw what I call an angel. Honestly, I don’t know what it… He… She was but it was glowing and it looked like it had arms outstretched toward me. It just drifted away until it was out of sight. What I do know is that something Supernatural happened to me that day.
On the anniversary of Sharon’s Death I published what I started writing that day as a Tribute to her in local Obituaries.
“Baby, As long as I live, I will never forget your innocence of a child’s glee smile. It was Christmas time, several years ago and you were watching the Santa Clause you had just bought. I was setting behind you watching this five foot Santa articulating and singing thinking to myself: “I wonder how much this stupid contraption cost?” When you suddenly turned around and looked at me with that smile. That smile of enraptured delight just emanating from your expression. In my lifetime I have never seen such innocence and transparent childlike glee before. Not even close! It was like someone had opened up the window of your soul and right then and right there I saw your heart. That your heart was a true heart. A pure and simple and innocent heart and of more value than anything in this world.
I’m sorry I was a fool. I am so very sorry Baby. Seldom. Very seldom does a day go by that I dont break down and cry when I think of you. The way you were/are. I will never forgive myself for the things I did that hurt such a gentle soul. You were always so kind and generous and loving. It was something that just came so natural to you, like water flowing, like the sun shining, like clouds drifting. Even now I feel your love affecting and influencing my life, my health, my everything. I ALWAYS feel your gentle nudge in my heart. I will NEVER forget your kindness to me. Like the way you took your “storage” room and made it into a “Kevin” room. You made every little detail to the way you thought it would bring a “feel at home” and “make Kevin feel welcome here” essence about it and it did. I want you to know this. Like every endeavor you started you finished with a loving and caring touch. Like Jake’s “dog cabin” you built. With a front porch, breezeway, insulated with an electric heater and two double pane windows so Jake could look out. It was complete with a cedar shake roof and a weather vane on top. Not that Jake ever even once slept in it because you would say: “Tobyyyy Kitty, Jakeyyy, time go bed.” And Jake would instantly climb off the couch and head for the waterbed. I will NEVER forget all the love you showered on me, Jake and Kitty Toby. On EVERYONE Who’s life you touched you imparted a gracious essence of “you”. Like all the help you gave your Mom and Dad, Windy, Barb, Izzy, Jean and everyone else. Like the way you had Christmas and Birthday presents bought and made two and three years ahead of time for many of us. If a person or any creature was Sharon McCarthy Sterling’s Friend, they truly had a friend. A friend in deed. A friend in truth. I love you Baby. I know that God took you because one such as you has an intrinsic value and you will apply yourself to good works in God’s Kingdom, for His Eternal Purpose and for His Glory. I Miss you Baby. I will never forget you Sharon and I will never stop loving you. I long for the day I see you again, and I know I will, and when I do, if you don’t have a hammer or a saw or a paintbrush or a gardening trowel in your hand, I KNOW you will have that same smile of innocent childlike delight glowing on your face.
Luv, Me
“Jesus said unto her “I Am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and he who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25 -26
There is a lot more to this that words just get in the way of expressing. How in living and in dying, Sharon has helped turn and continues to turn my life around. “Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone. But if it falls into the ground and dies it brings forth much fruit. It’s a debt I cannot repay. It’s about how “the blinding light of God’s Grace can come breaking through with a sweetness that’s only tasted by the forgiven and redeemed.” If you or someone you love is traveling along that same dark and desperate path of drug addiction and sin that I once travelled, perhaps I can point you to Someone Who can and will help you. Someone doesn’t have to die to deliver you from Satan’s hand. Someone already has. I would feel and truly be blessed if I could humbly point you to that Someone. His Name is Jesus.”
On Memorial Day, two years ago I stood by Sharon’s grave and I asked God if it was wrong of me to have my conviction that she gave up her life for mine. Several minutes later a friend in Mississippi texted me a Bible verse “No greater love has anyone than this, to give up their life for their friend.”
On August 2018 While on a Pilgrimage to the Sharon Camp where I encountered God in 2006 I recorded this event:
“At sunset yesterday I picked a bunch of wildflowers and took them to the Sharon tree. I spent some time there praying and talking to Sharon and God.
Earlier, I asked God something I don’t recall ever asking Him before. If I could have some sort of a special visit with Sharon. I wondered if such a request was proper or even admissible, or perhaps what it even meant and why I was asking it? I didn’t know it would play out quite like this.
I told Sharon that largely because of her story I’ve pleaded for the lives of thousands of children. That every time I plead for a child not to be aborted, her child that was aborted did not die in vain. That every time I point post abortive women to God’s mercy, forgiveness and healing that it honors her and that her broken heart was not in vain. I didn’t understand why, but I found myself asking her if she greets these aborted children in heaven and if they are now her friends there? I then had the clearest visual of Sharon, surrounded by beautiful children, full of joy, walking through a beautiful meadow, she was beaming, looking down at them and they were all skipping and dancing looking up at her.
A few minutes later I remembered something that happened a couple years back. It was first thing in the morning and I picked up my Bible to start reading it. Normally I do my prayer time first so I laid my Bible aside. As I did I sensed the Holy Spirit say very clearly. “When you get done with your prayers I have a special Word from the Scriptures for you.” When I finished my prayer time and picked up my Bible the first Verse I laid eyes on was Isaiah 65:10 “Sharon shall be a fold of flocks”
I will never forget the way Sharon was sobbing the day she told me about her abortion. She was crying uncontrollably when she told me that she had always just wanted to be a mother.
I feel that we are somehow “In this Together!”
“Sharon shall be a fold of flocks.” Isaiah 65:10
We have a Strange and Merciful and Magnificent and Beautiful God!!!!
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Twenty four years ago today, April 19th, the
nation suffered a horrendous loss as 168 men, women and children (19) were
killed by a domestic terrorist bombing brought about by Timothy J. McVeigh and
Terry L. Nichols. The bombing destroyed
or damaged 324 buildings within a 16 block radius of Oklahoma City. The
blast shattered glass in 258 other buildings and destroyed 86 cars. Besides the 168 people killed about 680 people
suffered injuries from the blast. The emotional
damages caused by the blast are immeasurable.
Truly our nation suffered greatly
and families are still suffering from their loss.
Five years after the bombing, on April 19th, 2000
the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated at the site. The memorial consists of 168 stone and glass
chairs representing each life lost. It
is very sad to see them all, especially the 19 smaller chairs representing the
children that were killed. Remembrance services are held every year on
April 19th. Certainly this large tragedy can never be
forgotten.
Directly across from the site of the bombing is the oldest parish church in Oklahoma City, St. Joseph Old Cathedral. The Cathedral was badly damaged but has been rebuilt. The parish rectory was destroyed by the explosion. At the site of the demolished rectory, the parish has placed their own memorial. It is an Italian marble statue of Jesus with His back towards the site of the bombing. Jesus has His head down and His hand over His face in sorrow. Around the statue are pillars representing the children and unborn babies who were killed by the blast. The name of the sculpture is “And Jesus Wept” (See picture on top). It was dedicated in 1998.
This year the anniversary of the bombing falls on Good
Friday. I can’t help but to see a
message for all of us in this. First of
all, acts of terror such as these really show the depravity of those who plan
them. They have no concern for the
people who are so horrendously affected.
To call this sin would be an understatement. It reflects the pure evil, the pure darkness
that Jesus came to shed His light upon.
It shows why Jesus endured so much suffering for the sin that permeates
humankind.
Secondly, it shows how our knowledge of how Jesus suffered
can help us in our own suffering. The
Catholic Church has always placed redemptive value upon the sufferings that we
find in our own lives. Somehow, our own
sufferings are united with the sufferings of Jesus. Somehow His sufferings can help us in our
sufferings. When we experience our own
crosses, His cross helps us to endure.
Thirdly, we know that the sufferings and death of Jesus upon
the cross led to the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning. People of faith know that even though we miss
our loved ones when they die, some day we will all be back together in the
precious gift of heaven. Jesus suffered
and died and rose from the dead so that we might have life forever in the
presence of our Heavenly Father.
We as Christians must do everything that we can to fight the
evil within the world. We must fight it
with hope and with love. The statue of
Jesus weeping reminds us how Jesus joins in with us in mourning our losses and
in mourning the sin and evil that can be so destructive to life. Everything about God is about LIFE. Everything about evil is about death. When we work with God, we work on the side of
life. When we are caught up in sin and
evil, we work on the side of death. God
calls us to choose life, not death.
I Know of a Cure for Everything: Salt Water – by Deacon
Marty McIndoe
I have lived almost
all of my life on an island, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Long
Island Sound. I feel very blessed by
that. I almost feel as if the sea is so
much a part of me that I can’t fully live without being near it. Every year my wife and I usually try to
escape to warm weather for the months of January and February. Two years ago we spent the time in the
southwest traveling around Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and inland Southern
California. We absolutely loved it and
appreciated the beauty of the southwest.
However, I really felt like I was out of place. I was no where near any large body of salt
water. It just didn’t seem right to
me. I was out of place, literally. This year we did our winter getaway in the
south and in Florida and stayed almost all of the time in timeshares that were
on the beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. I felt so much more at home than I did on our
desert trip. There is a real comfort and
awe when we look out on the ocean. For
me, I see and feel God in the beauty and immensity of the ocean.
I came across a
quote from Isak Dinesen (also known as Tania Blixen author of “Out of Africa”)
from her “Seven Gothic Tales” which consisted of the following dialogue:
An old seaman says
to his unhappy foster-son, “I know of a cure for everything: Salt water.”
“Salt water?” I
asked him.
“Yes,” he said, “in
one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.”
I couldn’t help but
to see the truth in that statement. The
cure for everything is Sweat or Tears or the Salt Sea. I would like to share some thoughts about
that with you. First of all, it is
interesting to see the history of man’s use of salt. The Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament)
value salt so much that it was considered to be able to be used as a gift to
God as a “covenant of salt” (Lev. 2: 13; II Chron. 13:5; Num. 18:19). It was
also used in sacrifices by the Israelites (Ezek. 43:24 and Gen. 31:54). Belief in its preservative and healing
properties led to its use to dry and harden the skin of newborns (Ezek.
16:4) and to prevent umbilical cord infection. The Egyptians and the Persians
considered it such a special commodity that it could only be handled by their
royalty. The ancient Romans paid their
soldiers their wages in salt (Latin word is “sal”) from which we today get the
word “salary” and the expression, “worth his weight in salt”. Salt had been used for over 3500 years as a
preservative for meats and a flavoring for food. It is still seen as a sign of hospitality and
friendship in the Middle East. In Mark
Chapter 9, verse 50 Jesus says, “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace
with each other.” St. Paul’s tells us in Col. 4:6:”Let your
conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone.” Jesus also
called His followers to be the “salt of the earth”. Salt is
all about preservation and healing and peace.
The Church has a
special prayer for the blessing of salt.
After the blessing, the salt is often placed in Holy Water, or sometimes
used by itself. This prayer, from the
Roman Ritual says, “Almighty God, we ask you to bless this salt, as once you
blessed the salt scattered over the water by the prophet Elisha. Wherever
this salt (and water) is sprinkled, drive away the power of evil, and
protect us always by the presence of your Holy Spirit. Grant this through
Christ our Lord. Amen.” Salt
is also seen as a means of driving away evil or preserving one from evil
corruption.
Salt is found
naturally in the sea, in our tears, and in our sweat. All three of these can help to heal us. As motivational speaker Rita Schiano tell us,
“Tears are God’s gift to us. Our holy water. They heal us as they flow”. Tears come to us from our very being. They are responses to hurt and loss as well
as happiness and gain. Tears can be shed
from earthy stimuli such as movies and can also be shed from spiritual stimuli
such as God’s Word or the touch of Christian love. They are an expression that sometimes can
speak louder and clearer than words.
They bring us healing in so many ways.
Sweat is a result of
our hard work. The Catholic Church has
always stressed the importance of work in our lives. The Protestant Churches are also known for
their work ethic. Work is not only
necessary for civilization to flourish, but it brings a sense of purpose and
often healing to the individual. It also
helps us to accomplish our dreams. Colin
Powell tells us, “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes
sweat, determination and hard work.”
We find our happiness in working hard for our dreams whether it be as
simple (yet profound) as a man or woman working hard to support their family,
or a researcher finding the cure for cancer.
Work, and sweat, are part of who we are called to be.
The Sea is a special
gift to us from God. Our scientists tell
us that life itself originated there.
For us, it is a place to enjoy in so many different ways whether it is
swimming and fishing or simply gazing out towards its majesty. As John F. Kennedy told us, “We are tied
to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch
– we are going back from whence we came.”
The Sea can truly be a healing influence in our lives.
In writing this
article, I hope to make you think and pray about the healing influence of the
Sea, Sweat and Tears. I am including
some quotes for you to think about and pray about and see how the Lord may be
speaking to you. I hope that you find
some quiet time to pray and think about these quotes. May our good Lord bless you and bring you His
healing love. May you come to better
realize the healing gifts given to us in Salt Water: the Sea, Tears or Sweat.
QUOTES TO PONDER AND
PRAY ABOUT:
THE SEA:
“The sea does not
reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for
treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience,
patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie
empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.” ― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
“I felt once more
how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut,
a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.” ― Nikos
Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
“The sea always
filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.” ― Cornelia Funke,
Inkheart
“My soul is full of
longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“We are like islands
in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” ― William
James
“Hark, now hear the
sailors cry,
Smell the sea, and feel the sky,
Let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic.
– Into the Mystic” ― Van Morrison
“How foolish to
believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky.” ― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to
the Sea
“The sea, the sea,
the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.” ―
Sharon Creech, The Wanderer
“In still moments by
the sea life seems large-drawn and simple. It is there we can see into
ourselves.”
― Rolf Edberg
At sea, I feel
comfortable and I come to rest. Laura Dekker
He that will learn
to pray, let him go to sea. George Herbert
SWEAT:
“It’s easier to
bleed than sweat, Mr. Motes.” ― Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood
“When people tell me
they can’t afford to join a gym, I tell them to go outside; planet Earth is a
gym and we’re already members. Run, climb, sweat, and enjoy all of the natural
wonder that is available to you.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections
on Life and the Human Experience
“Most times, the
leader’s ornament isn’t the smiles you see on their faces during the time of
victory. It is the sweats we don’t see when they were struggling behind the
scenes.” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Leaders’ Frontpage: Leadership Insights from 21
Martin Luther King Jr. Thoughts
“The sweet smell of
success comes on the back of the stench of hard earned sweat.” ― Anthony
T.Hincks
“Success is
continually a relative of sweat.” ― Bharath Mamidoju
“The pain in your muscles
and the sweat in your brow after doing a work the hard and honest way make you
feel proud of yourself!” ― Avijeet Das
“And Sir, it is no
little thing to make mine eyes to sweat compassion.” ― William Shakespeare,
Coriolanus
“In the sweat of thy
brow shalt thou earn thy daily bread: it was not a curse upon mankind, but the
balm which reconciled it to existence.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
“True blessing comes
in the dress of sweats, never delaying to wave bye to the excuses and procrastination.
True blessing lies in hard work!” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365
“The thickest sweats
produce the sweetest life. A hard work surely brings unheard happiness. Dig up
your gold.” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Mine Your Gold: How to Dig Up and Optimize
Your Hidden Greatness
TEARS:
“Tears shed for
another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart.” ―
José N. Harris, MI VIDA: A Story of Faith, Hope and Love
“Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the
seeds of your future happiness.” ― Steve Maraboli
“Heaven knows we
need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of
earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than
before–more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.” ― Charles
Dickens, Great Expectations
“Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the
doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.” ― Criss
Jami
“The sea is nothing but a library of all the tears in
history.” ― Lemony Snicket
“Beauty of whatever
kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to
tears.”
― Edgar Allan Poe
“Tears are words the
mouth can’t say nor can the heart bear.” ― Joshua Wisenbaker
“My eyes were glued
on life and they were full of tears.” ― Jack Kerouac, Atop an Underwood: Early
Stories and Other Writings
“Tears are the noble
language of eyes, and when true love of words is destitute. The eye by tears
speak, while the tongue is mute.” ― Robert Herrick
Ever since we started hearing about the film on how Abby
Johnson left the abortion industry, my wife and I have been talking about
seeing it. I wasn’t completely positive what the theatre release was going to
be for the film, but over the last week, my wife kept seeing that it was going
to be in a theatre close to our home. At the beginning of the week, we decided
to go see the film on Thursday night. Not knowing what to expect, we entered
the theatre, watched the previews, and then, as the film began…our senses
were shocked.
Without giving away too much of the film, one of the first
scenes in the movie is a pivotal scene. It’s a scene that stays in your mind
throughout the film, and it rocks you again as the storyline of the film
catches back up with that scene. As I reflect on what we witnessed last night,
I can see very clearly the scene and still feel the raw emotions that came
pouring forth from my eyes and my heart. The last time I had tears in my eyes
in the film this much was when I watched the Passion of the Christ.
Tears poured from my eyes and down my cheeks for nearly ¾ of this film.
I found this film difficult at times to watch, but also
realized that it must be seen by as many people as possible on both sides of
this debated subject. The film is truly a testimony of love, mercy and
forgiveness. Although I could put into words exactly what I mean by those three
points, it would be better if you went and saw the film yourself. I can tell
you that my wife and I held hands nearly the entire film, especially in the
scenes that are truly hard to endure. Thoughts of my unborn child growing in my
wife’s womb flooded my mind different times in the film and I often looked over
at my wife and her bump/belly.
As a Catholic man, who is now a husband, and soon-to-be
father, one point that kept coming back to me (and my wife and I talked about
it in the car on the way home) was the unshakable support and love that Abby’s
husband gave to her, even loving her and marrying her when they had opposing
views on Abortion. I personally know Doug, and although I don’t know him
incredibly well, what I do know of him was reflected in this film perfectly. He
is the unshakable foundation of his family and rock that always has Abby’s
back.
I highly encourage
you to see the film this weekend. Opening weekends and the first week for
films are important because it will determine if the film will remain in the
theaters on a long-term basis. If you have children that are 17 years of age
and under and you are hesitant to bring them to this film, let me say that the
“R-Rating” this film was given is a farce. I have seen more graphic images in
PG-13 films than what is in this one. Furthermore, there are more graphic
images of aborted babies online than in this film.
If you have the means to do so, I would also encourage you
to support 40 Days For Life and Abby’s
organization, And Then There Were None.
Get involved with your local Pro-Life activities and pray, pray, pray for end
to Abortion.
I actually purchased this book about a year and a half ago
but due to selling one home, putting things in storage for 17 months and then
moving in to a new home, I “lost” it and recently found it and read it. What an interesting book! I am so glad that I finally found it. I believe you will be glad too when you find
one and read it.
THE TABLE is a book that jumps back and forth from biblical times
to modern times. The link is a very
special table that the grandfather of Jesus made as a result of a miracle. It seems that blessings and miracles and
peace seem to follow the table and those who own it. I really don’t want to give you a complete
synopsis of the book because there are a number of surprises in the book that I
don’t want to spoil for you. Suffice it
to say that the table that Jesus’ grandfather made was not only a miracle in
its time, but continued to bring miracles to people who struggled with everyday
life.
I found the book to be difficult to put down. It was intriguing on so many levels. Deacon Lambert is a great writer who knows how
to weave a great story. The characters,
whether they are from the biblical time, or from the modern time, are
interesting, very human, and very likeable.
I especially liked how he portrayed Jesus and His family. Some of the writing made me feel like I was
reading an expanded Gospel that was written to fill in some of the details left
out by the scriptures. He did the same
in writing about the early Church figures.
When reading about the biblical times, you actually felt like you were
there.
The figures in the modern time were wonderful. They were people that you could most definitely
relate to. Their fears and hurts and
successes were ones that we too could have experienced. In the midst of both tragedy and elation, the
characters were so very human and believable.
I found myself rooting for them at the various parts of their life and
tearing up for them at their difficult times.
This book certainly brought out many emotions for me.
This historical fiction provides not only great
entertainment, but also serves as a way to grow spiritually. It is a book for all people, but most
certainly will speak very loudly to Catholics with its description of the mass
and sacraments. You cannot help but to
read this book and see God at work in the lives of the characters and transfer
that in to your own life. God is very
much alive and at work in this book. I
see it as a great gift for those who have fallen away from the faith. They will find the book so interesting that
they can’t put it down, and at the same time have their own spirituality
awakened. I believe that this is the
first published book by Deacon Dennis Lambert.
I am anxiously awaiting another one by him.
First of all I must apologize to my readers. I haven’t written or added to my blog in quite a while. This is because I had a bad cold, closed on a new house and moved in to the new house in the midst of celebrating Christmas.
We start off our New Year with a Holy Day celebrating the Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of Jesus (God). It is such a great way to start. The readings of this mass are filled with blessings. The first reading gives the Blessing of Aaron found in Numbers 6: 22-27. In this we hear, “The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!” What a beautiful blessing for the New Year. In the responsorial psalm we hear, “May the Lord bless you in His mercy”. Again, such a wonderful blessing. In the second reading St. Paul tells us that Jesus came to us, born of a woman, to ransom us so that we might receive adoption as sons of the Father. We can now call our God, Abba, Father. What a blessing it is to know that we are God’s children. In the Gospel we hear of the shepherds rejoicing at the site of the new born King. We also hear a phrase that is almost identical to one we heard last Sunday (finding of the 12 year old Jesus in the temple) about Mary where it tells us that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. We also hear of the naming of Jesus.
Personally, I cannot think of a better way to start the New Year than to hear these readings and receive the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. God richly blesses us, over and over again. He has blessed us so much in sharing His mother with us. The love that Mary has for us is amazing. She cares so much for us and wants us to grow closer to her son. She wants to bring us His healing love and forgiveness. Starting the New Year knowing that God calls us His children and blesses us and gives us His own mother is the most important way to start anything. This year I pray that we all grow in our knowledge of God. I pray that we all grow in our knowledge of how God continues to work through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother. I pray that we all grow in the knowledge of our call to be children of God, for so indeed we are. I pray that we can be like Mary and ponder all of the wonderful gifts, and even the difficulties, that God has chosen to give us. May this be a New Year that we all grow closer to God.
So many of our Saints have had a close devotion to Mary. One of the most loving is Saint Louis de Montfort. I would like to end with a prayer that he gave us:
My powerful Queen,
you are all mine through your mercy,
and I am all yours.
Take away from me all that may displease God
and cultivate in me all that is pleasing to him.
May the light of your faith
dispel the darkness of my mind,
your deep humility
take the place of my pride,
your continual sight of God
fill my memory with his presence.
May the first of the love of your heart
inflame the lukewarmness of my own heart.
May your virtues take the place of my sins.
May your merits be my enrichment
and make up for all
that is wanting in me before God.
My beloved Mother,
grant that I may have no other spirit but your spirit, to know Jesus Christ and His divine will and to praise and glorify the Lord, that I may love God with burning love like yours.
Amen. St. Louis de Montfort
On the back of my car I have a sticker that says, “Proud to be Catholic”. With all that has happened in the recent sex abuse scandal some people might wonder how I could be proud to be Catholic and continue to publically acknowledge that. Nonetheless, I am proud to be Catholic and I am also ashamed at what some of our Catholic priests and bishops have done or even failed to do. It is so sad that those Catholic priests, who performed all sorts of atrocious acts on Children, failed to live by their calling. They are very sick men. I think that it is even sadder that some of our Bishops hid what had been happening thus perpetuating more abuse. St. Luke, in Acts 20:28 talks to the bishops of the early Church saying “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Some day these bishops will be held accountable before the Lord. But even though these priests and bishops are a big part of the Catholic Church, they do not account for the whole of the Catholic Church. The Church itself is Holy. St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 20 through 22 says “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” The Church is Holy, but these men are human and are sinners.
We have to remember that for 2,000 years, the Church has been the presence of Jesus to the world. The Catholic Church put together the bible that we use. It is God’s word and we deliver it to a world that needs it so badly. Every day, in just about every area in the world, the Church brings forth the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and continually offers to the sick (and dying) the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick as well as the other Sacraments. Besides all those things that you would expect the Church to do, it “has been the means of reducing more languages to writing than have all other factors combined. It has created more schools, more theories of education, and more systems than has any other one force. More than any other power in history it has impelled men to fight suffering, whether that suffering has come from disease, war or natural disasters. It has built thousands of hospitals, inspired the emergence of the nursing and medical professions, and furthered movement for public health and the relief and prevention of famine.” – Kenneth Scott Latourette, Sterling Professor at Yale University: A History of Christianity, Vol. II, originally published by HarperCollins Publishers 1953, revised 1975, pp.1470,14.
In Saint John’s Gospel (13:35) we read, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.” For me, the Catholic Church excels at showing the love of Jesus to all people (not just its own). Matthew Kelly tells us, “Every day the Catholic Church feeds more people, clothes more people, houses more people, and educates more people than any other organization in the world…” That is something to really be proud of. Statistics provided by both Forbes Magazine and Business Week confirm this statement. They state that, “The Catholic Church is indeed the largest charitable organization on the planet BY FAR.” Some of the statistics are quite interesting. Charity and healthcare centers run in the world by the Church include: 5,391 hospitals, most of them in America (1,627) and Africa (1,295); 16,610 dispensaries, mainly in Africa (5,181); America (4,731) and Asia (3,520); 604 Care Homes for people with Leprosy, mainly in Asia (296) and Africa (187); 16,270 Homes for the elderly, or the chronically ill or people with a disability, mainly in Europe (8,348) and America (4,086); 9,924 orphanages, mainly in Asia (3,934); 12,376 nurseries, mainly in Asia (3,247) and America (3,435); 14,551 marriage counseling centers, mainly in America (5,546) and Europe (5,666); 3,776 social rehabilitation centers and 38,484 other kinds of institutions.
To me the Catholic Church is the very presence of Jesus in the world. It continues to bring His healing and compassion and teaching and presence to those who need it so badly. It is made of human beings who often fail at being what God calls them to be, but it is empowered by the Holy Spirit and will continue the mission God has given it. I have no doubt that Satan loves to try to pull apart the Church. Satan knows how to use human weakness to harm the Church, but, as Jesus says, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). I am proud to be a Catholic. I will continue to love my Church and do whatever I can to build it up. I will support all those many good priests and bishops that we have who have been so hurt by this scandal. I will also pray for all of the victims of the abuse and for all who have been affected by it. I will be vigilant in fighting the evils that are attacking and are within the Church. St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Our Church is the Body of Christ, the Victor!
Do you ever wonder why God allows bad things to happen to us?
I mean, what are you to think when you’ve lost your job through no fault of your own? What if someone you love dearly dies?
Don’t you, like Job, sometimes want to beg God for an answer? Why, God, Why? How could you let this happen to me?
I admit sometimes I want an answer.
It’s unusual for a person to have one rare medical condition (hence the term rare). I have three. In fact, my primary care physician refers to me as “his special patient.” Sometimes when he enters the examination room to see me, I can almost hear him thinking Good grief, what weird thing is wrong with her now?
Anyway, one day I was down at my local HMO for yet another appointment—and of course feeling more than a little sorry for myself. But as I was crossing the parking lot, I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw across the street.
It was a woman in a wheelchair, the automated kind. She was operating it with one hand. Now, that’s not such an unusual sight.
It was what she was doing with the other hand that had me rooted to the spot.
The other hand held a cane. Not just any cane, mind you, but a cane with a red tip. And she was sweeping it back and forth on the sidewalk in front of her.
What was truly amazing to me was that this woman was all by herself. She was both blind and lame, and she was out and about all by herself.
Perhaps it was just as well that she couldn’t see me staring at her like an idiot, mouth agape. I was flooded with emotions, all of them vying for my attention.
One was pity. Having one handicap is hard. Having two must make every day so difficult.
Another was admiration. What that woman was doing took guts, more guts than I’ll ever have.
But I think the emotion that won out was shame. Okay, I have three rare medical conditions. But it’s possible to live with the three of them. As long as I take my medication, my lifestyle isn’t all that badly affected.
No medication in the world was going to help that woman. That’s how it’s going to be for her the rest of her life.
I don’t know what happened to that woman to put her in that wheelchair with that cane. But, unlike me, she didn’t look like she felt sorry for herself.
Perhaps instead of complaining to God about my problems, I should be thanking Him for not giving me that ones I don’t have. Perhaps, like Job, I should learn to be content with God’s will.
After reading this book, I now have a new hero: Fr. Gereon Goldmann. Fr. Goldman was an ordinary yet exceptional man who was filled with love for his God and for all of God’s people. He continually put this love in to action in the midst of one of the darkest times in human history. Father Goldmann was a proud German man who quite early in his life felt the call to the priesthood. In 1939, while he was a seminarian, he was drafted in to the German Army under the Nazi Regime. He despised the Nazis but served his country the best way that he could while still keeping his faith. His draft brought him in to the dreaded Nazi SS headed by Heinrich Himmler, but even in the midst of this darkness he was able to bring forth the light of God. The darkness continued even after his capture when he was taken to a French prisoner of war camp in North Africa. The French hated the Germans and treated them very poorly. In spite of all of this, Goldmann kept his faith and stood up to the darkness and prevailed.
I really do not want to give a further synopsis of this book. My hope is that you will read it yourself. This is a book that should be read by every Christian, especially Catholics. It is filled with suspense and harrowing war stories. It certainly shows the evil of war and most certainly shows the evil of the Nazis. What really shines out through this book is the faith of this one man and the faith of many associated with him. Faith can give us the strength to not only handle the difficulties thrown at us, but to rise above these difficulties and to shine. Fr. Goldmann certainly does this. I quite literally had a hard time putting this book down. This book surprises you over and over again and you can’t help but to want more.
The book deals not only with the experiences that Fr. Goldmann had during the war and during his imprisonment, it also shows those civilians left behind and how they dealt with the horrors of war. Over and over again a common thread of Faith and Prayer weaves together to form a blanket of protection over Fr. Goldmann. He should have been killed so many times, but wasn’t. He was also able to maintain his desire of not hurting or killing anyone during the war. As a matter of fact, the only time he seemed to use his gun was while threatening a Bishop and a Priest on two separate occasions. You need to read the book to learn about that. The Lord, often against apparently resolute Nazi orders, seems to take Fr. Goldmann all over Europe (even to meet the Pope) and Northern Africa. The Epilogue and Appendix show his post war work in Japan and in India. It is absolutely amazing how God has used this man in so many different places.
Fr. Goldmann had so many miracles happen around him that you will be totally astonished. To say that God worked through Fr. Goldmann would be an understatement. God empowered Fr. Goldmann to be able to do what would normally be impossible. There is no doubt that the angels were with him. This is true not only during the war and prisoner sections of this book but also in what happened after the war. Fr. Goldmann dreamt of being a missionary to Japan and his dream came true. He was so much more than a missionary. He was a beacon of light within the darkness of evil.
Central to Fr. Goldmann’s ministry was to bring physical healing (he was eventually a medic) and spiritual healing. His love of the Eucharist and Confession brought so much spiritual healing to those around him. Through this work he became quite an evangelist causing large numbers of people to come back to the Church or to be welcomed anew in to the Church. He stood up to the Nazi propaganda against the Church and people saw through its falsehood because of him.
This book has challenged me to be more of the man that Fr. Goldmann was. It challenged me to deeper prayer and deeper appreciation of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession. It opened my eyes to see how God works through any situation, even those that seem so dark. The book challenged me to deeper trust in God and His call to me no matter where I am. It challenged me to believe more in the power of intercessory prayer. My challenge to you is to read this book. I am certain that you will be glad that you did. The book was originally published in 1964 and later in 2000 and then 2008 by IGNATIUS PRESS. I purchased it on Amazon. Go for it, you will be happy you did. What are you waiting for?
There’s a show on television called Air Disasters, and some time ago they ran a segment on the September 25, 1978 PSA crash in San Diego.
I remember that day very well. Like everybody else, I saw the news coverage on television. On approach to the airport, the PSA jet had collided with a Cessna flying in the area. The jet’s right wing caught on fire, and both planes crashed. Everyone on the planes, along with seven people on the ground, perished.
[SIDENOTE: The photo above is of the actual plane going down. The collision was so loud it was heard on the ground, and a photographer aimed his camera upward and took that picture.]
But what I didn’t know, until my sister phoned me, was that a friend of mine had been on board the PSA jet. He was only 26 and was on his way to San Diego to open a photography studio.
I debated whether or not to record the Air Disasters show. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what my friend went through those last terrifying seconds of his life. After I did record it, it sat in my DVR a couple of days before I got up the courage to watch it.
A lot of things, I saw, went wrong that day. I discovered several factors had contributed to the crash. For example, an imminent collision alarm had gone off in the control tower but was ignored because the alarm had been sounding when there was no problem. The PSA pilot had seen the Cessna but then had lowered his seat, which took it out of his line of vision. The Cessna was flown by a student pilot who was learning to operate by instruments only, and so he was wearing a helmet that allowed him to see nothing but the control panel. And for some inexplicable reason, he had changed course. The radio transmission from the PSA pilot was a bit garbled, but it sounded to the air traffic controller like the pilot had said he had already flown past the Cessna. The combination of these incidents led to a terrible disaster.
Something else went wrong that day, horribly wrong. It wasn’t something that caused the crash. It was something that happened after the crash, or rather, something that didn’t happen after the crash. As ashamed as I am to admit it, not once did it occur to me to pray for the soul of my friend.
I had been raised Catholic, attended Catholic elementary school, and in fact was teaching in a Catholic high school at the time. I knew about Purgatory. I knew how important it is to pray for our deceased friends and relatives.
Why, oh why did it not occur to me to pray for my friend? You’d think all the news coverage, including a photo of the plane going down, wing afire, on the cover of Life magazine, (yes, that picture above is the one) would be enough to kick-start me into a rosary, at least. Yet somehow, it wasn’t. Why not?
Well, I’ll tell you why. That is what happens when you become a tepid Catholic.
If you’d asked me back then, I would have told you I was a great Catholic. I put in my hour at Mass every Sunday. I put money into the collection basket. Hey, I even taught in a Catholic school!
Yet the rest of the time I pretty much ignored God, except, of course, when I wanted a personal favor. My rosary was packed away in a drawer. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to Confession.
In Luke 17:10 Jesus has some harsh words for those who do the bare minimum, calling them unworthy servants. In Revelation 3:16, He even states that He spits lukewarm souls out of his mouth. (The Douay-Rheims version uses the word “vomits” instead of “spits.”)
I thank God that He eventually wacked me over the head with a spiritual 2 x 4, and I finally came to my senses. Prayers and Masses were offered for my friend and other souls for whom I should have pleaded.
I don’t know if such things work retroactively. But, if my prayers were too late for my friend, I am certain they were applied to other members of the Church Suffering.
Let’s not forget those who have passed on before us. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) And let’s be useful, not worthless, servants who live our faith daily through prayer and sacrifice.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the RIVERS OF LIVING WATER 2017 Catholic Charismatic Renewal Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh last month. This conference was designed to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Since it was the Catholic Charismatic Renewal that led me in to the Church back in 1972 and has fed me so well with its Spiritual Fruits, my wife and I decided we had to go celebrate. I am so glad that we did. The Conference ran from Thursday July 29th through Sunday July 23rd. Many thousands of people filled the Pittsburgh convention center with songs of praise and witness to the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church today. Pittsburgh was chosen as the place to have the conference because the Renewal started near there.
From February 17th through the 19th in 1967, several Duquesne University students gathered at the ARK AND THE DOVE Retreat House (see picture) to experience more fully their Baptism and Confirmation. After considerable prayer, the Holy Spirit came down upon them there as in a New Pentecost. They experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This changed their lives dramatically and empowered them to go out and tell others and the Charismatic Renewal began, initially at Catholic Colleges and in local parishes. It quickly spread throughout the world so that today there are over 120 million Catholic Charismatics in the Church today. There were bus trips out to the Ark and the Dove Retreat house. My wife and I went and were so glad that we did. It is definitely a Holy Place (see pictures).
Top: Retreat House chapel where the students gathered to receive the Baptism in the Spirit. Bottom: Cross and Spirit placed on Retreat grounds to celebrate the 50th anniversary. In the back you can see the DOVE house. The large blue house is the ARK.
The Conference had large gatherings and masses for all those in attendance and included song groups that sung in English, Spanish and Haitian. There were workshops for all three languages to supplement the General Sessions. Msgr. Joseph Malagreca, from Brooklyn emceed the event. Msgr. is fluent in many languages and went back and forth in all the General Sessions. Msrg. Is a good friend of mine who actually prayed over my wife and I for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit while he was a seminarian. Bishop Sam Jacobs, and two other Bishops, were celebrants at the masses. The music and prayers of praise were outstanding.
Three bishops and many priests and deacons celebrated mass.
Another good friend of mine, Eileen Benthal, is a member of the English music group, Living Praise (see picture) that sang at the Conference. Being at the general sessions was like being in Heaven on Earth. Each general session had a keynote speaker. They included, Patti Masfield, Esther Garzon, Ralph Martin, Mario Castaneda, David Mangon and more. Father Dave Pivoka moved so many people with his homilies. Damian Stayne led a healing service where hundreds of people received miraculous healings. In the midst of so many things to do, the Conference planners took time to present a slide show featuring many of the early leaders of the Renewal. They also included, and honored, those who have died. Throughout all of the sessions, the power of God was continually being manifest. God was certainly at work.
Living Praise song group
The breakout sessions included many notable teachers and speakers such as my good friends, John and Theresa Boucher, Mary Healy, Sr. Nancy Kellar, Mary Beth McLanski Green, Vinson Synan, Michelle Moran, Fr. Bob Hogan, Dave Van Vickle, Alan Schreck, Dan and Caroline Dirkes and others. There was something for everyone. I attended a priest and deacon workshop by Bishop Sam Jacobs. He was fantastic.
On Saturday evening we had Eucharistic Adoration and then a Eucharistic procession out of the Conference, through the city streets to a park about a mile and a half away. Thousands of us went in the procession carrying lit candles. We started out of the Conference center going through their wall of water, which reminded me of Moses parting the Red sea (see pictures). It was a very moving experience and a sign of witness to the city.
We started our evening candlelit Eucharistic procession by passing through the walls of water at the Conference Center. It reminded me of Moses dividing the Red Sea.
The Eucharis was carried under a canopy as we all sang songs of praise.
We closed the conference on Sunday by celebrating the Mass of Pentecost with Bishop Sam Jacobs presiding. The whole weekend was a witness to the Power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church. I know that it invigorated me. God is so good.
The streets were alive with the sound of music. This is outside our hotel. The spirit of joy and praise carried on throughout the hotels and restaurants and city streets.
Several times, Popes have addressed the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Below you will find some of the most important quotations that have given the Renewal light and strength. ICCRS has published a book with all the messages and addresses which the Popes have given to the CCR: The book, “Then Peter stood up…” – Collection of the Popes’ Addresses to the CCR from its origin to the year 2012.
Pope Paul VI
“How then could this “spiritual renewal” not be “a chance” for the church and for the world? And how, in this case, could one not take all the means to ensure that it remains so? […] Nothing is more necessary for such a world, more and more secularized, than the testimony of this “spiritual renewal”, which we see the Holy Spirit bring about today in the most diverse regions and environments. Its manifestations are varied: deep communion of souls, close contact with God in faithfulness to the commitments undertaken at Baptism, in prayer that is often community prayer, in which each one, expressing himself freely, helps, supports and nourishes the prayer of others, and, at the basis of everything, a personal conviction. This conviction has its source not only in instruction received by faith but also in a certain experience of real life, namely, that without God, man can do nothing, that with him, on the contrary, everything becomes possible.”
Saint John Paul II, Pope
“The Catholic charismatic movement is one of the many fruits of the Second Vatican Council, which, like a new Pentecost, led to an extraordinary flourishing in the Church’s life of groups and movements particularly sensitive to the action of the Spirit. How can we not give thanks for the precious spirituals fruits that the Renewal has produced in the life of the Church and in the lives of so many people? How many lay faithful—men, women, young people, adults and elderly—have been able to experience in their own lives the amazing power of the Spirit and his gifts! How many people have rediscovered faith, the joy of prayer, the power and beauty of the Word of God, translating all this into generous service in the Church’s mission! How many lives have been profoundly changed! For all this today, together with you, I wish to praise and thank the Holy Spirit.”
Pope Benedict XVI
“What we learn in the New Testament on charism, which appeared as visible signs of the coming of the Holy Spirit, is not a historical event of the past, but a reality ever alive. It is the same divine Spirit, soul of the Church, that acts in every age and those mysterious and effective interventions of the Spirit are manifest in our time in a providential way. The Movements and New Communities are like an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in contemporary society. We can, therefore, rightly say that one of the positive elements and aspects of the Community of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is precisely their emphasis on the charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit and their merit lies in having recalled their topicality in the Church.”
Pope Francis
“You, the charismatic Renewal, have received a great gift from the Lord. Your movement’s birth was willed by the Holy Spirit to be ‘a current of grace in the Church and for the Church’. This is your identity: to be a current of grace. […] You have received the great gift of diversity of charisms, the diversity which becomes harmony in the Holy Spirit, and in service to the Church. […] The Charismatic Renewal is a great force meant to serve the preaching of the Gospel in the joy of the Holy Spirit. […] You, the people of God, the people of the Charismatic Renewal, must be careful not to lose the freedom which the Holy Spirit has given you! […] I expect you to share with everyone in the Church the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit (a phrase we find in the Acts of the Apostles).