November 11 2024 - St. Martin of Tours & Veteran's Day

 Today we celebrate two things: Veteran's Day, honoring the men and women who have served in the military, and the feast of St. Martin of Tours—a soldier, a bishop, and a saint.

The story of St. Martin is simple yet profound. Martin was a young soldier when one cold day, he encountered a beggar shivering in the street. Moved with compassion, he took his sword, cut his own cloak in half, and gave it to the man. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus dressed in the half-cloak, saying to the angels, “See, Martin, though he is but a catechumen, has clothed me with his own cloak.”

This story reflects directly on today’s Gospel, where Jesus describes the final judgment, separating those who acted with compassion from those who did not. He tells his disciples that when they show love, mercy, and kindness to others—feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked—they are serving Him.

In giving his cloak to the poor, cold, destitute beggar, Martin was clothing Christ, and Martin’s dream that night confirms it.

Veteran’s Day adds another dimension to our reflection. St. Martin was a veteran. And we are grateful today for those veterans, who like Martin, sacrificed and served others, often enduring hardship and risk to protect those they loved, and even strangers they would never meet. Their courage and their sacrifices are acts of service, and on this day, we honor them with gratitude. 

Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel urge us to live this spirit of service and compassion every day. They invite us to consider: Do we see Christ in the people around us? Do we act on His call to serve the “least” among us—the poor, the sick, the lonely, the stranger?

Let us pray today for the grace to serve others with the same humility and love as St. Martin, and may we honor those who serve by following in their footsteps, bringing compassion and dignity to all, recognizing in each face the face of Christ our Lord for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That the nations of the world will seek to work together in harmony and peace; we pray to the Lord:

That our homeland will be preserved from violence and terrorism; we pray to the Lord

In gratitude for the service of our veterans; for blessings upon them, and for all veterans who suffer the physical and psychological effects of war. May we prudently and wisely use and guard the freedoms for which our veterans labored and suffered.

For all veterans experiencing physical or psychological, that they may know God’s healing and strength, and that all veterans may be blessed for their self-sacrifice.

For all veterans who gave their life for our liberty, and for the repose of the souls of all of our beloved dead, family, friends, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, deceased priests and religious, for all the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

God, Almighty Father, creator of mankind and author of peace, as we are ever mindful of the cost paid for the liberty we possess, help us to use that liberty to promote peace and justice and spread saving Gospel of Christ. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

Easter Thursday 2017: He opened their minds to understand

Even though the disciples had the testimony of Mary, the testimony of Peter and John, the testimony of the disciples who had met the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus, even though their very topic of conversation had been the resurrection, when the risen Jesus appears in the Gospel today, the disciples are panicked, fear-stricken, and confused.

Why? Because they did not understand. So, Jesus offers them peace, he meets them in their ignorance, and then helps them understand what has happened by opening the scriptures for them.
Here is a perfect model for evangelization. We are to go out into the very confused world, a world which denies Christ, which is really afraid of embracing Christ, offering peace to them, and helping them to understand.

It is one of the Act of Mercy to instruct the ignorant. Not only are we to proclaim THAT Jesus rose from the dead, but we must help them understand it, help them realize how that changes everything.
Instructing the ignorant is listed as first among the spiritual acts of mercy. We see Jesus instructing his disciples throughout the Gospels, and he even commands the apostles very clearly: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

While much of the world has heard about Jesus Christ, most are ignorant of what Jesus actually taught, the truths which are passed on faithfully and taught clearly by the Holy Catholic Church.
To Communicate the truth of our faith is certainly more than memorizing a lecture and entries from the catechism. We are to witness to the resurrection in our way of life: what we buy, when and where we work, how we talk, how we dress, why types of entertainment we engage in, are engagement in politics and volunteer work, all this must point to the our belief that Jesus is risen.

But still, to be able to communicate clearly the Catholic faith, to be able to open the scriptures and help people understand, we must prepare ourselves for this work through study—the constant “renewal of our minds” as St. Paul says. To not only explain what we believe but why we believe it.
Many people know that the Church teaches that abortion, contraception, homosexual activity, IVF, are sinful, but not really why she teaches these things—the biblical foundations and also the natural law and the science behind them.

The Spiritual gift of understanding is given to every Catholic in their baptism—He’s “opened our minds to understand” and we are to cultivate that gift to the best of our ability, through prayer and study, that we may give ever clearer and faithful witness to the resurrection of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with paschal joy, let us pray more earnestly to God that he, who graciously listened to the prayers and supplications of his beloved Son, may now be pleased to look upon us in our lowliness.
1. For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely, the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.
2. For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace given by Christ.
3. For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness which no one can take from them.
4. For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.
O God, who 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.