October 14 2024 - St. Callistus and Christopher Columbus - God chooses the weak and makes them strong

 Often times, the Collect Prayers for the saints reflect something of their lives.  Today’s collect contained a prayer asking God to rescue us from the “slavery of corruption.” This is a reference to the fact that Pope Callistus, honored by the Church today, was once a slave.

Pope Callistus was originally born a slave in Rome in the late 2nd century.  Seeing natural intelligence in him, his slave-master appointed him to oversee a bank, but after a while the bank failed. Callistus, fearing that he would be killed due to the bank’s failure, fled Rome.  He was caught and sentenced to hard labor in the mines of Sardinia. But, as providence would have it, Callistus wasn’t in Sardinia long, thanks to the Pope, who bargained with the emperor to free many of the prisoners.

After his release, Callistus studied theology and became a deacon.  10 years later, Pope Zephyrinus summoned Callistus, to serve as his theological advisor. Callistus proved himself to be reliable and competent, and was himself elected Pope in 217. In 223, an anti-Christian riot swept through Rome, and Pope Callistus was martyred.

From slave to Pope; God works in mysterious ways. As St. Paul says, “God chooses the weak and makes them strong in bearing witness to Christ.”

We do not get to choose the details of our birth and status, but we do get to choose what we do with the gifts God has given us—our intellectual gifts, our creativity, the spiritual gifts we receive in our baptism. 

Our nation today celebrates Columbus Day. Columbus, a Catholic, utilized his genius, his curiosity and energy, to bravely venture into the unknown to explore this world. He was not motivated by greed or violence, but the desire for knowledge and to spread the Gospel. 

Christopher Columbus was not racist or imperialist or sexist or genocidal for wishing to spread Christianity to an unknown land and foreign people. And neither are we. For Christianity professes our belief in the fundamental value of every human life and a commitment to human flourishing by utilizing our God given gifts.  

We pray that the Lord may raise up countless Pope Callistus's and Christopher Columbus's, men and women of great faith, who are committed to using their gifts for the good of others, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That Catholics around the world will be ever more zealous in their preaching of the Gospel and manifesting the mercy of Christ for others.

For wisdom and mercy to guide the life of the Church, the decisions of government leaders, and the ordering of our personal lives.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

During this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, may Catholics take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession.

For the Knights of Columbus and all who look to the inspiration of Christopher Columbus, may they continue in good works and be examples of virtue and faith.

For all victims of war, for hurricane victims and for all affected by flooding and severe weather conditions, and for those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know God’s sustaining grace.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

October 11 2021 - Columbus Day - To the farthest Reaches

 Today we celebrate Columbus Day, remembering when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas on October 12, 1492. It is fitting that on this day, we celebrate a Mass for the Evangelization of Peoples, that the true faith may be spread across the earth and embraced by all. 

For Columbus, his voyage of discovery was a work of evangelization. On board his ships were missionaries; his first act upon landing in the New World was to plant the cross, claim the new lands for Christ and His Church, and ask the missionaries to offer Mass. In fact, upon first sighting land, he and his crew prayed together the Salve Regina.

On this Columbus Day, we began to read a new letter from St. Paul, who no doubt, Columbus modeled himself after. We’ll continue to read from Paul’s letter to the Romans until almost the middle of November. Samual Taylor Coleridge called Romans “the most profound book in existence.” It was not the first of Paul’s epistles to be written, though it is placed in most bibles first, only because it is the longest, but also because of its tremendous import. It was not however the first of Paul’s epistles to be written.  

We heard today how Paul was called by God to be an apostle—one who would carry the message of Christ and proclaim the Good News beyond Jerusalem into the far reaches of the Roman world.  

Like St. Paul and the Apostles who braved great dangers in fidelity to Christ’s great commission, to spread salvation to the ends of the earth, Columbus willingly endured the violent storms of the Atlantic to bring the Gospel to an unknown land.

Columbus utilized his Italian genius, his masculinity, his excitement and energy, to bravely venture into the unknown to fulfill the will of God. How dangerous, and yet, how authentic! How inspiring. In 2021, we need more Christopher Columbus’ don’t we? 

Despite what our popular culture says, or what lies are spread about this great man by modernists in journalism and college campuses, Christopher Columbus was not racist or imperialist or sexist or genocidal for wishing to spread Christianity to an unknown land and foreign people. And neither are we. We do not need to apologize for believing that Christianity should be spread to all corners of the globe and to all people. Rather, we must allow great figures like Columbus, and St. Paul and the apostles to rouse us out of complacency and lend us courage to ensure we are doing everything we can to spread the gospel, to live the gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Catholics around the world will be ever more zealous in their preaching of the Gospel.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

For those whose love for Christ has grown cold, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for those with unrepentant hearts, for their conversion and the deeper conversion of all people.

For the Knights of Columbus and all who look to the inspiration of Christopher Columbus, may they continue in good works and be examples of virtue and faith.

For the sick and the suffering, and all persecuted Christians, that they may come to experience Christ’s healing and peace amidst their illnesses and needs.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Columbus Day 2020 - Voyaging to spread the saving faith

 

Today our nation celebrates Columbus Day, remembering when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Sadly, to celebrate and extol this man’s great feats has become controversial. Even in our own state of Ohio, his statues or defaced or replaced, and there are petitions to rename our capital, named after this great Italian Catholic and explorer. 

Likely, the reason modern history is so jaded and biased toward Columbus, is that  he was Catholic Christian who desired to spread Catholic Christianity—he was motivated not by greed or violence, but by faith.

Upon landing on American shores, his very first act was to plant a cross, claiming these lands for Christ and his Church, and then his missionary priests offered the holy sacrifice of the Mass. In fact, upon first sighting land, he and his crew prayed together the Hail Holy Queen. 

In less jaded times, Columbus was rightly celebrated as a national hero because he embodies something great—the courage and willingness to plunge into the unknown for the sake of human knowledge and flourishing. And yet, Columbus also rightly models for Catholics something of the missionary spirit. 

Like St. Paul and the Apostles who braved great dangers in fidelity to Christ’s great commission, to spread salvation to the ends of the earth, Columbus willingly endured the violent storms of the Atlantic to bring the Gospel to an unknown land.

Columbus utilized his Italian genius, his masculinity, his excitement and energy, to bravely venture into the unknown to fulfill the will of God. How dangerous, and yet, how authentic! How inspiring. In 2020, we need more Christopher Columbus’ don’t we? 

And he certainly challenges a number of current cultural beliefs. Christopher Columbus was not racist or imperialist or sexist or genocidal for wishing to spread Christianity to an unknown land and foreign people. And neither are we. Just like the vice-president said the other day, “we should not apologize for being pro-life”, well, we should also not apologize for believing that Christianity should be spread to all corners of the globe and to all people. Rather, we must allow great figures like Columbus, and St. Paul and the apostles to rouse us out of complacency and lend us courage to ensure we are doing everything we can to spread the gospel, to live the gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Catholics around the world will be ever more zealous in their preaching of the Gospel.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

For those whose love for Christ has grown cold, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for those with unrepentant hearts, for their conversion and the deeper conversion of all people.

For the Knights of Columbus and all who look to the inspiration of Christopher Columbus, may they continue in good works and be examples of virtue and faith.

For the sick and the suffering, and all persecuted Christians, that they may come to experience Christ’s healing and peace amidst their illnesses and needs.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Columbus Day 2018 - Bringing Christ to the Unknown (School Mass)

Today our nation celebrates Columbus Day, remembering when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas on October 12, 1492.

For Columbus, his voyage of discovery was a work of evangelization. On board his ships were Catholic missionaries; his first act upon landing in the New World was to plant the cross, claim the new lands for Christ and His Church.
Missionary priests then offered mass. In fact, upon first sighting land, he and his crew prayed together the Hail Holy Queen.

Columbus is celebrated as a national hero and also an example for Christians because he plunged willingly into the unknown in order to spread the saving faith. He willingly endured the violent storms of the Atlantic, as St. Paul and the Apostles did, braving great dangers in fidelity to Christ’s great commission, to spread salvation to the ends of the earth.

Columbus used his Italian genius, his excitement and energy, to bravely venture into the unknown to fulfill the will of God. We challenged to ask ourselves if we are doing the same: not to be lukewarm about our faith, or treat the spread of the Gospel as someone else’s job. God wants to use all of us as his instruments to spread the kingdom of his goodness, love, and truth. All Christians need to be willing to go beyond our comfort zones, go into the unknown to share God’s goodness. Just like in the Gospel today…the good Samaritan reached out to someone he didn’t know, someone who likely had no way of paying him back. When we are very young, our parents tell us not to talk to strangers, but as we grow up, and grow mature in the faith, I think today’s Gospel challenges us to reach out more and more to the stranger, the foreigner, the weirdo, the neglected, to befriend them, to go into the unknown to be instruments of God.

Christopher Columbus is celebrated not simply because of his great navigational accomplishment. He is celebrated for his Catholic faith, an act flowing from what he believed to be the purpose of life, the purpose of all life, to make God known, to make God’s mercy known through Jesus Christ.

On what fantastic voyage of discovery, faith, and evangelization does God wish to lead you? Pray every day, that you may love the Lord enough, to be open to the voice of God enough, to be willing to go where God wishes to send you, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Columbus Day 2017 - Claiming new lands for Christ

Today we celebrate Columbus Day, remembering when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas on October 12, 1492. It is fitting that on this day, we celebrate a Mass for the Evangelization of Peoples, that the true faith may be spread across the earth and embraced by all.

For Columbus, his voyage of discovery was a work of evangelization. On board his ships were missionaries; his first act upon landing in the New World was to plant the cross, claim the new lands for Christ and His Church, and ask the missionaries to offer Mass. In fact, upon first sighting land, he and his crew prayed together the Salve Regina.

It is rather a humorous irony that our reading today is the story of Jonah being shipwrecked. Jonah had been chosen by God to preach repentance, the conversion of hearts, to the Ninevites. The story detailed these strange events due to Jonah resisting the vocation God had for him.

Columbus on the other hand, plunged willingly into the unknown in order to spread the saving faith. He willingly endured the violent storms of the Atlantic, as St. Paul and the Apostles did, in fidelity to Christ’s great commission, to spread salvation to the ends of the earth.

We are of course challenged to ask ourselves if we are doing everything in our power for the same purpose. Columbus used his Italian genius, daring, excitement, energy, to bravely venture into the unknown to fulfill the will of God. His piety, his love for Christ spurned him on.

Columbus is celebrated not simply because of his great navigational feat, with its geographical, economic and political implications, which continue to effect history. He is celebrated for his faith, an act flowing from what he believed to be the purpose of life, the purpose of all life, to make God known, to make God’s mercy known through Jesus Christ.

It is likely that this is the reason modern history is so jaded and biased toward Columbus: he was a Catholic Christian who desired to spread Catholic Christianity, and he was motivated not by greed or violence, but by faith.

On what fantastic voyage of discovery, faith, and evangelization does God wish to lead us? In what ways like Jonah are we resisting God? Into what unknown waters is God calling us to explore, what unknown lands is he calling us to claim for Christ and his Bride the Church, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Catholics around the world will be ever more zealous in their preaching of the Gospel.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

For those whose love for Christ has grown cold, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for those with unrepentant hearts, for their conversion and the deeper conversion of all people.

For the Knights of Columbus and all who look to the inspiration of Christopher Columbus, may they continue in good works and be examples of virtue and faith.

For the sick and the suffering, and all persecuted Christians, that they may come to experience Christ’s healing and peace amidst their illnesses and needs.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.