14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - My grace is sufficient

 In the lives of the saints, we find records of extraordinary mystical phenomena, special visions,  and  revelations from heaven.

For example, St. Faustina, the little polish nun from the beginning of the 20th century had visions of the Lord Himself, who tasked her with making known the message of His Divine Mercy. 

The holy children of Fatima, St. Bernadette and St. Juan Diego were visited by Our Lady.

St. Theresa of Avila, as well as St. Francis of Assisi, Alphonsus Ligouri, and St. Padre Pio are said to have sometimes levitated, they began to hover above the earth, as they became enraptured in mystical prayer.

St. Catherine of Siena’s life was filled with mystical phenomena: such as ecstatic raptures, and her mystical marriage to the Lord Himself.

The mystics experienced both mystical ecstasies as well as mystical sufferings: St. Francis, Padre Pio, St. Catherine, suffered the mystical stigmata, the wounds from Our Lord’s passion and crucifixion appeared in their flesh. St. John Vianney would be harassed and physically assaulted by the devil, often when a long-time sinner would be making a good confession to Fr. Vianney.

The New Testament describes several mystical experiences of the Apostle Paul: we know Paul had a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw the Lord, spoke with Him, and gave his life over to Him. In II Corinthians, Paul writes about being mystically brought up to the third heaven: I do not know what that means, perhaps he experienced levels of closeness to God in heaven like Dante in the Divine Comedy.

And, in the second reading today, Paul writes about an “abundance of revelations” he received from the Lord. But then, Paul writes of this very strange phenomenon,  “a thorn in the flesh was given to me,” he writes, “an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.”

Perhaps this “thorn in the flesh” referred to the stigmata, a wound from the Lord’s Crown of Thorns? But, we honestly don’t know exactly what Paul means. Some wonder if it was embarrassing skin affliction. Or it may have referred to a reoccurring sensual temptation, an unwanted attraction to something he knew was bad for his soul that he had to remain vigilant against. Or maybe he was referring  to a particularly difficult challenge in his ministry, a certain group of people that simply would not convert. But we really don’t know exactly what he’s talking about. We can surmise that Paul is clearly not talking about some little passing problem. It was a thorny circumstance that wouldn’t go away.

What we do know is what Paul tells us: he prayed to be delivered of this “thorn in the flesh”.  “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me.” In other words, over and over and over Paul begged God to be relieved of this suffering. I think we can all relate to Paul here. Who here hasn’t had some challenge, some hurdle, some temptation, some suffering, that no matter how often we prayed, we couldn’t be rid of it?

I think many people who struggle with addiction relate to Paul here. Many addicts will even use the same language, “my addiction is like a demon that I can’t be free of.”

But no doubt, every one of us has some thorn, something physical or psychological, emotional or spiritual, some problem that won’t go away, even when we pray for deliverance, for help. 

So why won’t the Lord deliver us, why won’t he free us from our thorns? Likely, to teach us the same lesson he taught Paul. “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.” God wants to teach us that his grace is sufficient for us.

What do we mean by grace? The unmerited love of God, the strength and help and power that God gives…is enough. No matter what our suffering consists of—an illness, a loss, a temptation, God’s grace is sufficient for us…to what?…to flourish!…to become the people God made us to be! When the Christian is reliant on God’s grace we have everything we need to overcome temptation, to get through difficulty, to carry our cross, and to remain on the road to heaven. 

Every illness, every loss, every temptation, can become an opportunity to grow in grace. For the Christian, behind every curse there is a blessing, behind every suffering, there is joy, in knowing God’s grace sustains us.

St. Paul, St. Catherine, St. Padre Pio had these amazing mystical experiences, but they also had their thorns—they had great ecstasies but also great afflictions. And they teach us that the Christian life will always be filled with both: joys and sorrows. We will never be free from thorns during our earthly journey, but we are also never abandoned. 

The thorns are proof that God wants something great from all of us: he wants great trust in His grace, he wants not mediocre Christian faith, but great sanctity. He wants us to be the Francis’ and Paul’s and Catherine’s of this age.

The thorns are reminders that none of us are finished products: we never reach such a point of sanctity that we become independent of God. In fact, as the saint grows in holiness, they recognize their utter dependence on God.

In the Gospel today, Jesus Himself is rejected by his neighbors. What a thorn that must have been: to be rejected by the people you grew up with! So too the Christian, if we are living our faith authentically, it’s likely we’ll face similar rejection. You might be mocked for being a Christian, you might be mocked for going to Church every week, your children and grandchildren might laugh at your faith. But in those times, we need to trust that our task isn’t to be liked by everybody, but to share the Christian Gospel and to live the Christian Gospel faithfully. Being rejected for the Gospel isn’t proof that we are doing something wrong, but doing something right.

Similarly, remaining faithful to the Church’s moral teaching might feel like this painful thorn in the flesh. But we don’t just practice Christianity when it’s easy. We discover, like Paul, that our weaknesses are made strong by God’s grace, and what we endure for His sake brings about powerful conversions and transformation in our world and in our souls.

So pray for each other and pray with each other, to remain faithful when we suffer the thorns of this world. May we all come to really trust that amidst all the thorns and challenges and rejections and illnesses and setbacks and great sufferings of our lives, that Lord’s grace is sufficient. That through them, the Lord works to transform us into saints, into the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

September 23 2020 (Ember Day) - St. Padre Pio - Mystical Phenomena (Padre Pio Academy EF Mass)

I like to wish you all a very happy feast day of the patron of your school, St. Padre Pio. I have to be honest, I do not know why, in fact, your school is under the patronage of St. Pio, and you all have probably studied his life, and know that he did have a truly remarkable life filled with many amazing mystical phenomena.

He could bilocate, that is, he could appear at two places at once, hundreds of miles apart, in order to deliver a message, or a word of comfort or challenge to someone. He could heal people like Our Lord, in the Gospels. Laying his hands on the sick, they would be immediately healed. He could even heal with his prayers. He would get a letter, and pray for that person, and they would be healed, even if they were on the other side of the globe.

Padre Pio, like St. John Vianney, often heard confessions for ten or twelve hours a day. He could read the hearts of the penitents, knowing their sins before they confessed them, or if they had forgotten a particular sin, or was too ashamed to confess a particular sin. Sometimes when he absolved the sins of a great sinner, he would experience great agony, the pains of Jesus’ crucifixion very deeply, a reminder that we are only able to be absolved because of what Jesus suffered for us.

And of course, Padre Pio had the mystical stigmata, the wounds of the Lord’s crucifixion in his hands. And he suffered greatly from them. When asked if the stigmata were painful, Padre Pio replied, "Do you think that the Lord gave them to me for a decoration?"

Why did God give Padre Pio these strange and marvelous mystical phenomena? One reason was for Padre Pio’s own sanctification. God chose him to bear a share of the cross in a unique way, to merit grace for his own soul and the souls of others.

This is certainly a reminder that every Christian is to embrace the suffering given to him from God, as a share in the cross of Jesus for the salvation of the world.

Also, those amazing mystical phenemona—the bilocation, reading of hearts, and miraculous healing—are a reminder of the amazing things God can do in our lives when we love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. The Lord Jesus even said that not only would we do the miraculous works he did in his ministry, but even other things, greater things, he said. We need to be open to God doing amazing things through us, by surrendering to God and uniting our lives with God to the best of our ability.

Thirdly, Padre Pio’s mystical phenomena are to help the world know that God is real and that God loves us and invites us to a share in his own life through faith and communion with His Son.

And really, that’s the mission of Padre Pio Academy isn’t it? To form disciples to share in the sufferings and mission of Christ, to help you young people to love God with your whole hearts, so that you can help the world know that God is real and calls humanity to believe in His Son.

In the old liturgical calendar today is an Ember Day. One of the special days of penance that occur four times a year around the changing of the seasons. Ember days are penitential in character: the priest wears penitential purple, the gloria is omitted, there is an extra scripture reading, which are all a little longer than a normal ferial day, there was no alleluia. We are kneeling for a little longer throughout the mass. What a fitting day to share with Padre Pio. For on this ember day we get to engage that activity that made him holy, a little extra penance, a little extra prayer.

Growth in holiness, making God’s goodness and love known to the world involves real effort. To quote Padre Pio himself, "The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain". 

The flowering in Padre Pio’s soul which blossomed into such tremendous holiness, came because he willingly accepted those sufferings which came from God, he turned away from all selfishness, and embraced God’s Divine Will. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

September 23 2019 - St. Padre Pio - The perpetual struggle against self

Padre Pio was one of eight children from a poor peasant family in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina. His parents named him Francesco in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. Francesco was very devout even as a child, and at an early age felt drawn to the priesthood. He became a Capuchin novice at the age of sixteen, and took the name Pio in honor of Pope Saint Pius V, the patron Saint of Pietrelcina. and after seven years of study was ordained a priest.

On September 20, 1918 Padre Pio was kneeling in front of a large crucifix when he, like his namesake, St. Francis, received the marks of the crucifixion on his hands. The doctor who examined Padre Pio could not find any natural cause for the wounds—they neither healed nor became infected, but would ooze blood continually until his death fifty years later.

The wounds of the stigmata were not the only mystical phenomenon experienced by Padre Pio. The blood of his stigmata had an odor described by many as similar to that of perfume or flowers, he could read people’s souls, people would come to him in confession, and he would know their sins before they confessed them, he was capable of bilocating—on several instances he appeared in the United States while he was also still in Italy.

Yet, when Pope Paul VI visited Padre Pio’s tomb about five months after he died, he said the greatness of Padre Pio was not in these extraordinary mystical phenomena. The greatness of Padre Pio was in the fact that he was a humble friar, who humbly celebrated Mass, heard confessions from dawn to dusk; he was a man of suffering and prayer.

When asked if the wounds of his holy stigmata caused him suffering, he said, “well, the Lord didn’t give them to me for decoration.” 

And speaking of the suffering involved in the spiritual life, he said, "The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain". Many are called to spiritual greatness, but few are willing to accept the suffering involved, the effort involved, and the surrender to God.

May the example and intercession of Padre Pio help us to seek that spiritual greatness the Lord wants for each of us for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
For perseverance in holiness, especially for our Pope, Bishops, and Priests, and that the lives of all Christians may shine with the light of good and holy works for God.

In thanksgiving for the many miraculous healings experienced through Padre Pio’s intercession, and for continued healing of those who seek his aid.

That all the sick and suffering may know the aid of heaven.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

April 29, 2019 - St. Catherine of Siena - Speak the Word of God with Boldness

The Saints give us a special glimpse into what it looks like when Easter Faith permeates one’s life. Some of the saints of course become great evangelists, like St. Paul, St. Dominic, and St. Francis. Some lives are filled with abundant charity like St. Vincent de Paul, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Mother Theresa. Some were filled with mystical phenomena, like St. Padre Pio, St Margaret Mary, St. Bernadette. Some, were filled with all these things and more. Such was the life of the Saint we honor today, St. Catherine of Siena.

As a member of the Order of Preachers, Catherine was prolific in her evangelizing efforts, writing 382 letters, prayers, and a treatise entitled the Dialogue of Divine Providence.

Her life was filled with extraordinary mystical phenomena such as visions and revelations, raptures, mystical marriage, and the stigmata, and also great works of charity: nursing the sick and comforting prisoners in jail. She received the holy stigmata on her hands, feet and heart.  Catherine, also lived many years, eating nothing, save the flesh and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  Catherine also had the gift of tears, as the Lord wept at the death of Lazarus, those with the gift of tears weep in union with the sorrowful Christ for the souls of sinners.

St. Catherine’s body is also totally incorrupt, and is preserved in the beautiful gothic basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.  I visited her a few times in that amazing basilica.  I also had the honor of attending Mass on, this, her feast day, in the small chapel behind the sacristy of the basilica. 

During her life, the Pope, instead of residing in Rome, resided in Avignon, France.  Rightly, St. Catherine prayed for the return of the Pope to Rome. She wrote him letters pleading with Him to return to the Holy See.  She would attend Mass make a daily pilgrimage from that small chapel to St. Peter Basilica in the Vatican.  Catherine lived to see Pope Gregory XI move the See of Peter back to Rome, in 1377.

This great saint died in Rome in 1380. Even though she barely reached the age of thirty-three her accomplishments place her among the great women of the Middle Ages.  She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius II in 1461. In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared St. Catherine a Doctor of the Church.

“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices,” she said. “It is silence that kills the world.” What an important message as we contemplate our Easter mission to preach the risen Christ. The love of God, Catherine cultivated in prayer enabled her, Like Peter and John in the first reading today, to “speak the word of God with boldness”. May we imitate her example and know the benefit of her heavenly intercession, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.
For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ, especially for all victims of religious violence.

For our parish, that we may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.
O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

14th Sunday in OT 2018 - Thorns in the flesh

In the lives of the saints, we find records of extraordinary mystical phenomena, special visions,  and  revelations from heaven.

For example, St. Faustina, the little polish nun from the beginning of the 20th century had visions of the Lord Himself, who tasked her with making known the message of His Divine Mercy.

The holy children of Fatima, St. Bernadette and St. Juan Diego were visited by Our Lady.
St. Theresa of Avila, as well as St. Francis of Assisi, Alphonsus Ligouri, and St. Padre Pio are said to have sometimes levitated, they began to hover above the earth, as they became enraptured in mystical prayer.

St. Catherine of Siena’s life was filled with mystical phenomena: such as ecstatic raptures, and her mystical marriage to the Lord Himself.

The mystics experienced both mystical ecstasies as well as mystical sufferings: St. Francis, Padre Pio, St. Catherine, suffered the mystical stigmata, the wounds from Our Lord’s passion and crucifixion appeared in their flesh. St. John Vianney would be harassed and physically assaulted by the devil, often when a long-time sinner would be making a good confession to Fr. Vianney.

The New Testament describes several mystical experiences of the Apostle Paul: we know well that Paul had a life-changing mystical encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw the Lord, spoke with Him, and gave his life over to Him. In II Corinthians, Paul writes about being mystically brought up to the third heaven, whatever that means.

And, in the second reading today, Paul writes about an “abundance of revelations” he received from the Lord. But then, Paul writes of this very strange phenomenon,  “a thorn in the flesh was given to me,” he writes, “an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.”

Perhaps this “thorn in the flesh” referred to the stigmata, a wound from the Lord’s Crown of Thorns? But, we honestly don’t know exactly what Paul means. Some wonder if it was embarrassing skin affliction. Or it may have referred to a reoccurring sensual temptation, an unwanted attraction to something he knew was bad for his soul that he had to remain vigilant against. Or maybe he was speaking figuratively—referring to a particularly difficult challenge in his ministry, a certain group of people that simply would not convert. We don’t know. He’s clearly not talking about some little passing problem.

We do know, that Paul prayed to be delivered of this “thorn in the flesh”.  “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me.” In other words, over and over and over Paul begged God to be relieved of this suffering. I think we can all relate to Paul here. Who here hasn’t had some challenge, some hurdle, some temptation, some suffering, that no matter how often we prayed, we couldn’t be rid of it?

I think many people who struggle with addiction relate to Paul here. Many addicts will even use the same language, “my addiction is like an angel of satan, a demon, that I can’t be free of.”

But no doubt, every one of us, has some thorn, something physical or psychological, emotional or spiritual, some problem that won’t go away, even when we pray for deliverance, for help.

So why won’t the Lord deliver us, why won’t he free us from our thorns? Likely, to teach us the same lesson he taught Paul. “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.” God wants to teach us that his grace is sufficient for us.

What do we mean by grace? The unmerited love of God, the strength and help and power that God gives…is enough. No matter what our suffering consists of—an illness, a loss, a temptation, God’s grace is sufficient for us…to what?…to flourish!…to become the people God made us to be! When the Christian is connected to God’s grace, we become instruments of God’s will, even when we suffer, through what we suffer!

In other words, you can endure anything when you live by God’s grace. In fact, every illness, every loss, every temptation, can become an opportunity to grow in grace. For the Christian, Behind every curse, there is a blessing, behind every suffering, there is joy, in knowing God’s grace sustains us and accomplishes miracles through us.

St. Paul, St. Catherine, St. Padre Pio had these amazing mystical experiences, but they also had their thorns—they had great ecstasies but also great afflictions. And they teach us that the Christian life will always be filled with both: joys and sorrows. We will never be free from thorns during our earthly journey, but we are also never abandoned..

The thorns are proof that God wants something great from all of us: he wants great trust in His grace, he wants not mediocre Christian faith, but great sanctity. He wants us to be the Francis’ and Paul’s and Catherine’s of this age, by deflating our inflated egos and infusing them with grace.

The thorns are reminders, that none of us are finished products: we never reach such a point of sanctity that we become independent of God. In fact, as the saint grows in holiness they recognize their utter dependence on god

In the Gospel today, Jesus Himself is rejected by his neighbors, his townsfolk. What a thorn that must have been, to be rejected by the people you grew up with! So too the Christian, if we are living our faith authentically, it’s likely we’ll face similar rejection. You might be mocked for being a Christian, you might be mocked for going to Church every week, your children and grandchildren might laugh at your faith. But in those times, we need to trust that our task isn’t to be liked by everybody, but to share the Christian Gospel and to live the Christian Gospel faithfully. Being rejected for the Gospel isn’t proof that we are doing something wrong, but doing something right.

Similarly, remaining faithful to the Church’s moral teaching might feel like this painful thorn in the flesh. But we don’t just practice Christianity when it’s easy.

We discover, like Paul, that our weaknesses are made strong by God’s grace, and what we endure for His sake, brings about powerful conversions and transformation in our world and in our souls.
So pray for each other and pray with each other, to remain faithful when we suffer the thorns of this world.

May we all come to really trust that amidst all the thorns and challenges and rejections and illnesses and setbacks and great sufferings of our lives, that Lord’s grace is sufficient. That through them, the Lord works to transform us into saints, into the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.