October 20 2023 - St. Paul of the Cross - The Cross is the School of Love

 The saint we honor today was born the son of a wealthy merchant near Genoa Italy, in 1694.  He received his early education from the Capuchin Franciscans.  As a young boy he was marked with great sanctity.  Not only did he excel in his studies, but he was deeply reverent, and devoted to prayer, especially the Holy Mass.  Shortly before his confirmation, he had a miraculous vision: the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Him wearing an all-black habit.  This became the habit of the religious order he found later in life, called the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, known today as the Passionists.  

When he was 26 years old, Paul had a series of prayer-experiences which made it clear to him that God was inviting him to form a community who would live an evangelical life and promote the love of God revealed in the Passion of Jesus. It was his life-long conviction that God is most easily found in the Passion of Christ.

“It is very good and holy,” today’s saint said, “to consider the passion of our Lord and to meditate on it, for by this sacred path we reach union with God. In this most holy school we learn true wisdom…love is a unifying virtue which takes upon itself the torments of its beloved Lord. It is a fire reaching through to the inmost soul.”

The Cross is the school of love—how much God loves us, and how our lives are to be redeemed, transformed, and transfigured by imitating that love and growing in that love. Love requires self-donation, love requires daily sacrifice, love requires forgetting ourselves in order to give ourselves more fully to others—there is no greater love than for one to lay down his life for a friend. 

In our moments of weakness and failure, it is easy to grow discouraged and to lose hope. That’s why in our sinfulness it is so important to meditate on how much we are loved by God. He didn’t die for the perfect, he died for us. He embraced us in our most unlovable state. Meditating on the cross of Christ, then, is to be a key which opens up and transforms our hearts and makes them more like the one who embraced the cross for our salvation. 

The love Christ showed on the cross is, as the first St. Paul—St. Paul of Tarsus—wrote in our first reading this morning, is a love which surpasses all knowledge. God’s love surpasses our human understanding, if you think you understand God’s love—his love is greater still. But also, seeking to grasp and experience God’s love is more valuable than any other knowledge we can gain in this earthly life. “More precious than gold, than fire-refined gold” is the law of God’s love. The psalmist is not just speaking poetically here, but rather, calling us to realign our priorities—to seek to truly value God’s love over everything else. 

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be ever in our hearts. May we meditate often on the cross of the Savior, and encounter “the breadth and length and height and depth” of God’s love for us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

For unity in the Church, faithfulness to right teaching, detachment from worldly vices, generosity in the works of charity, and courage in the Church’s evangelizing mission. 

Through the intercession of St. Paul of the Cross, we pray for the spiritual good of the Passionist Orders—and that all members of the Church may be more deeply conformed to the Cross of Christ.

For all victims of war, for peace in the Holy Land, an end to the violence and suffering, and healing for those whose lives have been tragically disrupted. May God come to the assistance of the communities and families devastated by the horrors of terrorism and war; and may world leaders work together for peace. 

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know God’s consolation, healing, and grace.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

Graciously grant our petitions, we beseech thee, O Lord; may your grace sustain us always in your service, through Christ Our Lord.

 

 

4th Week of Lent 2023 - Wednesday - Miracles and Teachings

 

Throughout Lent we read often from St. John’s Gospel. And unlike the other Gospels that are filled with stories of the many miracles Jesus performed, John records only seven. Now, St. John knew that the Lord performed many more miracles than he recorded. In fact, the very last verse of John’s Gospel attests to this: St. John writes, “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”

So, in John there are seven miracles. Why seven? It’s a pretty good number. A divine number. It’s the number of the days of creation, and isn’t that what Jesus was here to do, to begin something new. In fact, just like the first day of creation involved water, Jesus’ first miracle narrated by St. John is the turning of water into wine. And then John tells us of the miraculous Healing of the Royal Official’s son, which we would have heard on Monday, had it not been for the feast of St. Joseph, then another healing involving water, the healing of the blind man at the pool of Bethesda. The fourth miracle is the feeding of the 5000, then another miracle having to do with water, Jesus walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee. Sixth is the healing of the man born blind, which we heard last Sunday, and lastly, the raising of Lazarus, which we’ll hear this Sunday.

Often following the miracles in John’s Gospel, the Lord gives a length teaching. He gets peoples attention with the miraculous sign, now, then he teaches. He clarifies who he is and the mission he is about: He is the Son of God, he is here to do His Father’s work.  

These teachings, also deepen the antagonism between Jesus and his persecutors.  Especially as we get closer to Holy Week, the more he shows his goodness and divinity, the more the Word preaches the Truth, the more the world conspires to silence Him. 

The lengthy teaching we hear today follows the third miracle, the miracle of the healing at Bethesda. St. John reports this growing antagonism: The Lord says "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work." For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.”  

Christians are invited to take the opposite approach. During Lent, as we read this stories, we are to draw near to him. We are to lay our heads on his breast, like John the Evangelist, the beloved disciple, to remain close to the sound of his voice.  Jesus reveals the Father. Jesus is God and leads us into deeper experience of God, who is full of mercy, compassion, self-sacrifice, and love. 

These lengthy teachings are packed full of truth and spiritual insight. We do well to meditate upon them in the quiet of our rooms. To go to our inner room, to shut the door, and meditate upon them in secret. Slowly, thoughtfully, prayerfully. And who knows, if we stick around to listen to his teachings, we might be around to see him perform another miracle, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity. 

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

May 25 2022 - St. Bede - Frequent Meditation on the Scriptures

 

The Collect prayer spoke of how God brings light to the Church through the learning of the Priest Saint Bede, also known as Bede the Venerable. 

St. Bede is a doctor of the Church born around 672 AD a time in history often called the dark ages. But St. Bede’s Benedictine monastery was anything but dark, it was infused with the light of learning. Bede was a historian who wrote biographies, martyrologies, works of science, numerous commentaries on the bible and sacred chant. 

As a historian, his Ecclesiastical History of the English People has remained one of the most authoritative historical sources of that time period, so he is even venerated by secular historians. But that is not the extent of his impact. He is credited for beginning the custom of marking the dates of history from the Incarnation with the term anno domini. So we mark the year as 2022 AD, anno domini, because of St. Bede. 

Here was an extremely active soul, who put his intellectual gifts and his learning in service of the Church, and that changed the world. And, he encouraged all souls to do same, encouraging Christians to avoid idleness. He said, “Because we cannot totally avoid idleness, we should put it to flight, as far as we can, by stirring up good thoughts, and especially by frequent meditation on the scriptures, according to the example of the psalmist who said, “Oh, how I have loved your Law, O Lord; it is my meditation all the day.” 

So to meditate on the scriptures throughout the day is a powerful way of sanctifying time, making Christ more and more the center of our life, but also stirring up inspiration. The scriptures bring us into contact with the fount of life, to meditate on them is to drink of life-giving waters, and those waters refresh us, they give us spiritual energy for doing God’s will. 

St. Bede exemplified the Benedictine principal of Ora et Labora—work and prayer. His prayer infused his work, gave him strength for his work, and his work glorified God and has left a lasting impact on the world. 

So throughout the day, sanctify the time you’ve been given by meditating on the scriptures, praying the liturgy of the hours. You will be inspired, refreshed, challenged out of complacency, awakened out of idleness, comforted in weariness, and united to Christ.

May we, like St. Bede, make Christ the center of our history by making him the center of every day, meditating on his words, imitating his love for the Father for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the Saints may inspire us and continue to help us put Christ at the center of our life. 

That the Saints may inspire us to works of charity and caring for the needy.

That the Saints may inspire us to confess our sins, strengthen in virtue, and be devoted to the spread of the Gospel.

That the Saints may inspire us to bear our sufferings in union with Christ, and may help the suffering to know the comforting presence of God, especially the sick, the elderly, those in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice care, addicts and those imprisoned, those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

In the wake of the horrific school shooting yesterday, we pray for the victims of this shooting and their families, for all the public safety responders and for the southwest Texas communities stunned by this unthinkable incident.

For our beloved dead…

O God, who 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.

27th Sunday in OT 2019 - Increase our Faith

Have you ever cried out to God in words similar to those of the prophet Habakkuk in our first reading, “How long, O LORD?  I cry for help but you do not listen!” How long must I suffer? I many times must I go through this particular trial?

What trial was Habakkuk lamenting? Well, scholars continue to debate this topic. Some think Habakkuk lived just prior to the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem. If that’s the case, the holy prophet would be lamenting the evil and iniquity of so many of his fellow Jews who were forsaking the covenant, and that God would likely allow the Jews to be conquered by some foreign power as he had in the past.

Some scholars think that Habakkuk lived right after the Babylonian attack, and was crying out to God because of the devastation of Jerusalem wrought by the Babylonian invaders.

And some scholars think that Habakkuk may have lived several centuries later, during Alexander the Great’s conquest of the near East. Again Habakkuk's words would be interpreted as a chastisement upon Israel for abandoning the faith.

Whoever Habakkuk was, and whenever he lived are ultimately ancillary to the profound message of this book, the heart-wrenching longing for God to intervene in the experience of suffering: “How long, O LORD?  I cry for help but you do not listen!” How long must I suffer?

The good news is that God does not abandon Habakkuk in his suffering. He receives a word of hope from God: Don’t give up. Be patient. Persevere in faith. God’s justice will ultimately prevail. If you were to read on in the book of Habakkuk, which is only three short chapters long, God gives Habakkuk a vision of a series of punishments for the wicked, robbers, embezzlers, deceivers, exploiters and extortionists, tyrants, deviants and idolaters. The book is pretty doom-filled, but it speaks to our very deep desire, a desire that each of us experience at our core, for justice, for God to rescue those who suffer, vindication for the innocent, and an end of oppression and pain, and bolsters our faith in the promises of God.

Our second reading addresses the need for perseverance as well. St. Paul urges the bishop Timothy to stir into flame the gift of faith. That amidst all of the difficulties the Church was experiencing Timothy needed to stir up the faith of his people and in his own soul that God’s power may fill them. To stir up the faith, that’s an important task for each of us. For we know, all too well, how many for baptized Catholics that flame has been virtually extinguished. They do not attend Mass. They do not pray. They do not engage in the works of mercy. Sin seems to have taken sway in their lives.

Now I’ve known many people where a nearly extinguished faith has become rekindled. They’ve seen the power of God at work through a vibrant Christian community. They’ve experienced the love of God in the compassion shown them by Christians. Sometimes, it was a traumatic event in their life that led to a sort of spiritual awakening, a death of a loved one, the reality of grief, that helped them discover the need for God.

In those delicate times though of spiritual reawakening, much prayer and involvement in a community of fellow Christians is needed, lest the flame of faith dies out again.

So what about us, what’s the temperature of the flame of faith in your life. Lukewarm or blazing?
During my seminary studies, I remember visiting the seminary library one day, and a book on St. Theresa jumped out at me. I opened the book to a random page, and I’ll never forget the quote. St. Theresa writes, “Comparison is death to the spiritual life.” And what she meant by that is when you compare your life to others, that can lead to real spiritual danger. For on the one hand, if I compare myself to someone that isn’t living the faith at all, whose faith has been extinguished, then I won’t grow spiritually, because I’ll think to myself, I’m holier than that guy, so I must be okay. But then on the other hand, you compare yourself to a saint, like St. Francis, and you think, I’ll never become that holy, so I might as well not do anything.

So for Theresa, this unhealthy spiritual comparison leads to a real spiritual mediocrity, faith, instead of being stirred-up is stifled. Rather, the truth is in the middle. Not comparing myself to the wicked, not comparing myself to the saints, I am personally challenged to consider what do I need to do personally to grow in holiness in the concrete details of my life.

In order to fan the flame, St. Paul tells Timothy to take as his norm the sound words that he heard, the Gospel, the Scriptures. To reflect upon and take as your standard, not the philosophies of the world, not the politics of the day, not the excuses of the spiritually lazy, but soundness of the Gospel.
Here is the injunction for every Christian to familiarize ourselves, to study and ponder and meditate upon the Scriptures. When we read the Scriptures, and when we allow them to speak to us, God stirs up our faith. An unopened bible serves no one. A bible collecting dust on a coffee table sets no spiritual fires. So open your bibles daily—read, reflect, and put into practice what you discover there.

Perhaps, take the daily mass readings which are published in our bulletin, and use them as your daily meditation. Ask God when they mean for the concrete details of your life? For example, using our second reading, ask, What does it mean for me to stir into flame the gifts God has given me. What does it mean for me to have a courageous faith, what does it mean to guard the riches of God that dwell within me? What have I considered as impossible that God wants to make possible in my life?
In the midst of death, the Word of God gives us life. In the midst of injustice, the Word of God gives us patience and the strength to work for change. In the midst of spiritual dryness or confusion, the Word of God is a lamp that grants light unto our path.

The apostles say to the Lord in the Gospel, “increase our faith”, is that a request you are willing to make? What would it mean, practically, if your faith were greater?

The apostles made this request of our Lord immediately after his teaching that if their brother sins against them seven times in a day, they need to forgive him seven times a day. They knew that that level of mercy, the ability to love and forgive with the heart of God, required great faith.  So they prayed, “increase our faith”. Is there someone who you would be able to forgive if your faith was greater?

Faith enables us to persevere amidst great trials, it helps us to see God working in the great moments of darkness and suffering, it helps us to perform great works for God which we deemed impossible, it enables us to forgive the greatest of insults, it makes possible tremendous growth in holiness and the working of miracles. Lord, increase our faith, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

1st Week of Lent 2019 - Tuesday - Gentle Rain in the Lenten Desert

With the Gospel of Jesus going out into the desert to pray and fast for forty days this Sunday, I reflected upon Lent as the Desert season of the Church year. We enter the desert, free of the distractions of modern civilization, in order to listen to the voice of God who desires to speak to our hearts, to enter into conversation with God that we miss out on when we are busy about the things of the world.

The paradox is, there is water out here in the desert, there is a gentle rain that will nourish our thirsty souls if we let it. Not a single moment of Lenten prayer is wasted time, listening to God's voice is never wasted, for God’s word, as we heard in our first reading, comes down from heaven and does not return to God void, “it does God’s will achieving the end for which he sent it”.

There is a joy in this penitential Lenten season, joy in simply soaking up the word of God in silent prayer, Lenten prayer brings joyful refreshment and new life. The watering of our souls through prayer in this desert season will make our souls fertile ground to produce good fruit for the next season of our life, but for now, it is good, simply to be watered.

Our Gospel helps us to recall the prayer that Jesus teaches us to pray, the Lord’s prayer. A powerful Lenten practice is to meditate upon the Lord’s prayer very slowly. Take the Lord’s prayer, line by line, word by word, and ponder over its meaning: the meaning the Lord wants you to understand at this point in your life, in the concrete details of your life.

What does it mean that you share in the relationship with Jesus that enables us to call upon God as “Our Father”? What does it mean that he gives you “daily bread” in all of your needs? “What does it mean that he wishes to deliver you from evil”?

We are to return to the Lord’s prayer over and over, for it is a never-ending stream of water flowing from the very heart of Jesus, and the Lord wants us to drink deeply of this water.

In your Lenten prayer, do not simply babble, like the pagans, but allow Jesus to teach you to pray, to lead you into the conversation He is having eternally with the Father, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring purification from sin and selfishness to all people.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy.

Holy family 2018 - 3 Holy Family Lessons

The Solemnity of Holy Family gives us the opportunity to reflect on God’s plan for the family.  We could spend time today considering advice about making your family psychologically healthier, more functional, happier, etc.  In fact, our first reading from the book of Sirach gives a fair amount of advice on this topic: “he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother; take care of your father when he is old even if his mind fails, be considerate of him.” Sirach is filled with such good practical bits of advice, and all of us would do very well to sit down with this wonderful book and consider how its advice could be applied to the concrete details of our life. 

St. Paul, too, in the second reading, gives some wonderful advice: Put on, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.” Again, good advice for families, especially that last part.  Sometimes family members are the hardest to love; we come face to face with each other’s faults and vices; but when we fail to forgive one another and be patient with one another, our families fall apart.

These readings offer, sound advice; if you are a Christian or not, a member of Christ’s faithful or a person of no faith, you would be hard-up to disagree with any of that advice. 

But today, on this Holy Family Sunday, we need to go a little deeper than psychological advice. We need to consider what it means for the family to be holy, to be a place where family members can grow in sanctity.  So let’s look to the Gospel to the members of the Holy Family to learn how our families may become holy like theirs.

First, it’s easy to forget, that the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, was a real family. We have all seen paintings and holy cards that depict them in a super-pious, unrealistic way. But they were real human beings, just like us, and they lived in the real world, the fallen world, just like us. The fact that Mary and Jesus were unaffected by original sin and that Joseph was a saint doesn't change the reality of their family life and their struggles.

In today's Gospel, we hear how Mary and Joseph were filled with “great anxiety”—they were worried sick—over the loss of Jesus.   We have all experienced “great anxiety” in relation to our families and relationships.  So being holy doesn’t mean we don’t have anxiety, challenges, struggles, or trials. 

Here’s the first lesson we can learn from the Holy family—HOW they endured their anxiety.  Mary and Joseph were filled with anxiety over the losing Jesus, but they did not lose faith or curse God.  Notice how Mary and Joseph don’t stand around blaming each other for losing Jesus.  They endured the anxiety together, and they went to look for the Christ, together. 

Husbands and wives, families, the lesson is clear isn’t it: in times of anxiety, fear, anger, uncertainty, sadness, frustration, helplessness, stick together and don’t lose faith.

In a way, God used their anxiety over losing Jesus for three days in Jerusalem in order to prepare them for a bigger trial.  About 20 years after this incident, Mary would have to undergo a greater trial of faith, she would have to witness her Son undergoing his Passion and Death. 
So again, A mark of holiness is the ability to undergo suffering with faith.  God allows sufferings to cross our paths, not because he likes torturing us, but because he wants to purify us, to help us grow in wisdom, to strengthen us for greater trials to come, to draw us closer and closer to his own suffering heart. A priest friend of mine often says, “everything prepares us for something else.” The suffering of yesterday and the suffering of today prepares us for the greater inevitable suffering of tomorrow. 
A second lesson. Notice, how Jesus responded to Mary.  He doesn't apologize for having gone off on his own without telling them. Instead, he simply says that they should have known that they could find him in the Temple, which he calls "his Father's house."
Jesus was not guilty of breaking the Fourth Commandment to honor your father and mother by going to His Father’s House.  Jesus was twelve-years-old, the age of adulthood in the Jewish Community.  And he made a choice to seek out His Heavenly Father’s House to attend to his heavenly Father’s business.
The second mark of holiness Jesus shows us is that our primary responsibility in life, our primary mission, is to find and follow God's call. Nothing, not even the strong, deep ties of family affection and loyalty, should interfere with doing God’s will. We sometimes experience a tug-of-war for our loyalty—God or family, God or country, God or place of employment.  Our primary loyalty is to God.

Prioritizing faith over worldly concerns is rarely easy. During the holidays, we know how easy it is to become overly concerned with the secular dimensions of Christmas, and the struggle of keeping Christ at the center of our celebrations. And throughout the year, there is the struggle of putting faith first. Sometimes the kids or one’s spouse aren’t always enthusiastic about coming to Mass or praying together throughout the week.  Sometimes one’s spouse might pressure you to disobey Church teaching concerning the use of artificial contraception.  But remaining faithful to our Heavenly Father is of the greatest importance.  In a sense, we are each members of two families, aren’t we? Born as children to biological families and born in baptism as children of God.  I know this is hard, but our greatest loyalty is to God. 

I’ve known several priests whose parents kicked them out of the house for entering seminary. Recall the story of St. Francis of Assis.  His father wished him to take over the family business.  Francis’ father publically disowned his son for turning away from the family business in order to follow God’s call. Sometimes children face tremendous pressure from parents wanting their children to be successful in the eyes of the world instead of the eyes of God.  But, Christian parents have as their vocation not just ensuring their children become psychologically well-adjusted, athletically competitive, or financially successful, but that their children know and follow Jesus Christ.

Finally, after discovering Jesus in the temple, St. Luke tells us that Mary “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She examined the events of her life, the trials of her family, her experience of anxiety, her fervent searching for Christ, and pondered them in her heart.

Here a third mark of holiness: Meditating on God’s will, examining our life in the light of Scripture and the teachings of the Church.  Even the pagan philosopher Socrates knew that the unexamined life is not worth living.  We like Mary are to examine how God is working in our life.

Every day, we do well, to set aside time for this sort of prayerful reflection.  Without this sort of reflection and meditation we will never achieve the emotional or spiritual growth God wants for us. Without prayerful reflection we miss the life lessons God wants for us, and we fail to appreciate and give thanks for the blessings of God and seek forgiveness for our failings. You might consider in the new year to begin a spiritual journal, in which you reflect on your life in light of the Scriptures or the life of the saints. A family does well too, to discuss scripture throughout the week.

On this Holy Family Sunday let us commit to making our families holy by assisting each other in discerning and following God’s will for our lives, in bearing our anxieties, trials, and sufferings with faith, and encouraging each other in engaging in those life-giving practices of mind and soul for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

1st Week of Lent 2018 - Tuesday - Interiorizing the Word

When tempted by the devil to forego his desert fasting, Our Lord responded, “It is written, 'man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God'".
And really, the temptation wasn’t simply to break his fast. The devil was tempting Jesus to turn away from the difficult road that the Father willed for His Son.

Here Jesus reminds us of one of the Christian life’s most important lessons: that God’s priorities are more important than our own, that our physical needs are not our greatest needs. The Word of God is more essential than bread.

Our Lenten fasting, fasting from chocolate, or video games, or social media, or snacking certainly helps us to build up self-discipline towards these earthly pleasures. Yet, more essential our fasting reminds us that we don’t need these things to survive, and we certainly don’t need them to thrive spiritually.

Jesus responded to the devil’s temptation by quoting a passage from Deuteronomy. Throughout the Gospels Jesus quotes directly from the Old Testament about 80 times, and the logic of the former scriptures permeates his teachings. Jesus overcame temptation by drawing upon the truth, the words of the Scriptures.

And as we prayed on the first Sunday of Lent, his “forty long days” in the desert set “the pattern of our own Lenten observance.” The word of God is meant to permeate our Lent, and our life. Pope Benedict wrote, “In the trials of life and in every temptation, the secret of victory lies in listening to the word of truth and rejecting with determination falsehood and evil.”

Our reading from Isaiah, speaks of how God’s word is meant to permeate us like the rain permeates the soil and makes the soil fertile.

So, if we are to be able to draw on the word of God in times of temptation, if the word of God is meant to fertilize our souls to bear new life, we must expose ourselves to it, we must meditate on it, we must take it into our hearts and let it live there. Many people can quote baseball statistics, movie lines, or a catchy new song, but barely a line from scripture.

Daily throughout Lent, we do well to sit down with the scriptures open upon our laps, to speak the words allowed, to allow them to echo in our minds and hearts.

Again to quote Pope Benedict, “It is therefore urgently necessary in these forty days to listen anew to the gospel, the word of the Lord, the word of truth, so that in every Christian, in every one of us, the understanding of the truth given to him…may be strengthened, so that we may live it and witness to it. Lent encourages us to let the word of God penetrate our life and thus to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, which road to take in life.”

May our Lenten fasting clear out and make room for the prayerful encounter and interiorization of the word of God in us, that we might live it out in lives of Christian purity and charity, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring purification from sin and selfishness to all people.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy.

May 25 2017 - St. Bede the Venerable - Putting Christ at the Center

40 days ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus on Easter Sunday.  And 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended to the right hand of his Father in heaven.  Traditionally, the Feast of the Ascension, a holy day of obligation, was celebrated today.  It still is in several dioceses throughout the world.

In the rest of the dioceses of the United States, the celebration of the Ascension has been transferred to the following Sunday.
 
The Church honors three of her Saints today: St. Bede the Venerable, St. Gregory VII, and St. Magdalene de Pazzi.  Two of them, the Venerable Bede, and Pope Saint Gregory were Benedictine Monks.

The Collect prayer spoke of how God brings light to the Church through the learning of the Priest Saint Bede”. St. Bede is a learned doctor of the Church born around 672. He was a historian who wrote biographies, martyrologies, works of science, numerous commentaries on the bible and sacred chant. As a historian, his Ecclesiastical History of the English People has remained one of the most authoritative source of that time period, so he is even venerated by secular historians. But that is not the extent of his impact. He is credited for beginning the custom of marking the dates of history from the Incarnation with the term anno domini.

So we mark the year as 2017 AD, anno domini, because of St. Bede. His love for Christ has changed history and the way we view history. Civilization, Christian or not, marks its years by the birth of Christ because this saint allowed his faith to permeate his life. He did so by frequent and ponderous meditation on the scriptures and the life of Jesus.

And he encouraged us to do the same; St. Bede said, “Because we cannot totally avoid idle thoughts, we should put them to flight, as far as we can, by stirring up good thoughts, and especially by frequent meditation on the scriptures, according to the example of the psalmist who said, “Oh, how I have loved your Law, O Lord; it is my meditation all the day.”

So to meditate on the scriptures throughout the day is a powerful way of sanctifying time and making Christ more and more the center of our life. The words of Scripture are living words and become a source of wisdom and inspiration as we ponder them.

As a Benedictine monk, St. Vede would have practiced lectio divina, divine reading of scripture, reading that lifts the mind and heart and soul to the Divine One.

May we, like St. Bede, make Christ the center of our history by making him the center of every day, meditating on his words, imitating his love for the Father for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Saints may inspire us and continue to help us put Christ at the center of our life.

That the Saints may inspire us to works of charity and caring for the needy.

That the Saints may inspire us to confess our sins, strengthen in virtue, and be devoted to the spread of the Gospel.

That the Saints may inspire us to bear our sufferings in union with Christ, and may help the suffering to know the comforting presence of God, especially the sick, the elderly, those in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice care, addicts and those imprisoned, those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For our beloved dead…

O God, who 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.