April 28 2018 - St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen - Disgust with the world's corruption

Have you ever become so fed up with the corruption in the world, that you just wanted to leave everything to become a monk? Well, that’s kind of what our saint today did.

His birth name was Mark, like the evangelist, whom we celebrate tomorrow, and he was born in the southern German town of Sigmaringen. Mark studied law and philosophy at the University of Freiburg, earning his Doctorate in Law. During his time at university, he was already known for his modesty, meekness, sobriety, chastity, and for wearing a hair-shirt a
s a penance.

After achieving his law degree, he traveled throughout Europe, where his piety became more evident. He visited the hospitals and churches, he spent hours in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and was generous to the poor, even giving away the clothes his was wearing.

At the end of six years of travel, he came to Alsace, France, where he came to be known as the ‘poor man’s lawyer’. But he became so disenchanted with the evils associated with his profession that he became determined to enter the religious life. I think many good pious young people today, experience a similar disgust with our modern culture, and find in the priesthood or religious life the fulfillment they long for.

He entered the Capuchin Franciscans where he was given the religious name, Fidelis, which in Latin means, “faithful one”. He was ordained a priest, and in addition to his Sacramental work, he cared much for the weak and needy.

A bishop in Switzerland invited the Capuchins to come preach to the people who had abandoned Catholicism for Protestantism. Father Fidelis was asked to head this dangerous mission—dangerous, because religious tensions were high.

Initially, Fidelis and the other preachers were met with success, which the people attributed the prayers and penances of Fidelis.

In the spring of 1622, Father Fidelis was approached by a group of Calvinists. They called for him to renounce Catholicism to which he responded: "I am the one who made every effort to fight against your errors; I am he who has proclaimed to you the Catholic faith, to which I adhere with utter conviction and affection, I have come to you to root your sad heresies, but not to adopt them myself; see to it that you will not regret this act." The Calvinists then stabbed and bludgeoned the holy friar to death.

What a model of Easter faith for us! Devotion to charity, evangelization, and courage. He was truly Fidelis, faithful unto death. May his heroic faith and heavenly intercession increase our faith, hope, and love for the building up of the body of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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God the Father was glorified in the death and resurrection of his Son. Let us pray to him with confidence.

God the Father bathed the world in splendor when Christ rose again in glory, may our minds be filled with the light of faith.

Through the resurrection of His Son, the Father opened for us the way to eternal life, may we be sustained today in our work with the hope of glory.

Through His risen Son, the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world, may our hearts be set on fire with spiritual love.

May Jesus Christ, who was crucified to set us free, be the salvation of all those who suffer, particularly those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction, and grief.

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.

Annunciation 2018 - Mary, Co-Redemptrix

The Feast of the Annunciation is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church. Earlier names for the Feast were Festum Incarnationis—The Feast of the Incarnation, and Conceptio Christi—the Conception of Christ. Though the name has varied, the date of the Feast is is placed exactly nine months before Christmas: nine months, the term of a pregnancy, except when it is displaced by Holy Week or the Octave of Easter, as it was this year.

We just celebrated Easter, and this feast gets us thinking about Christmas already. But this feast is so important, because without the Annunciation there wouldn’t have been an easter, without Mary’s yes, there would be no incarnation, and with no incarnation, there would be no saving sacrifice, no resurrection, no hope.

This is why Mary is often given the title of “Co-Redemptrix”. Mary participates in the redemption of man through her fiat. She cooperates with God’s plan for human redemption when she humbly accepts the Will of God, saying “Be it done unto me according to your word.” She accepts the labor and sufferings that the will of God entails. The devotion of the Seven Sorrows of Mary help us to contemplate all she suffered in union with Christ her Son to bring about—to deliver—our salvation.

Since Jesus Christ is the Mercy of God incarnate, Mary can rightly be called the “Mother of Mercy”, as she is in the Salve Regina. Since Jesus Christ is the salvation of the world, Mary can rightly be called the “Cause of our Salvation”, cause, in the Aristotelian sense, as she was called by St. Irenaeus in the 3rd century. Since Christ is Our Joy, Mary is rightly called the “Cause of our Joy”

Mary’s role in our salvation is not to be overvalued—as many protestants claim we do, nor is it to be undervalued, as most protestants end up doing. The Catholic position is not too hot, not too cold, but just right. To rightly love the Son, we rightly love the mother who brought him into the world through a consent of the will so humble it made the angels rejoice.

May we rightly enshrine Mary in our hearts by imitating her humility, by humbly submitting our minds, our wills, our whole lives to the Lord. May the Blessed Mother bring about in us a flowering, a new birth, of God’s grace within each of us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That through the teaching, preaching, and pastoral care of the Church all Christians will grow in their devotion to and imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We pray to the Lord.

That through Immaculate Mary, Queen of Peace, hatred, violence, and cruelty will cease in the world.  We pray to the Lord.

For those trapped in the downward spiral of sin, that the hope offered through the Incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin will bring them new life in the Spirit.  We pray to the Lord.

That Mary’s maternal care and heavenly intercession will raise us to the moral greatness befitting true children of God.  We pray to the Lord.

For blessings on all expectant mothers, newborn infants, and young families.  We pray to the Lord.
That from the moment of conception all children will be preserved from bodily harm; for the overturning of unjust laws that permit the destruction of innocent life; and that the minds of all may be enlightened to know the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.