June 19 2023 - St. Romuald - Reparation & Evangelization

 On Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a feast day on which we make reparation—through prayer and penance—for the blasphemies and sins committed against God and His Holy Church. And throughout the year, the first Friday of each month is traditionally set aside for this purpose as well—to do penance and offer prayer and make reparation for our sins and those of the world.

Well the saint honored today, made that his life. St. Romuald grew up without the practice of religion in Ravenna, Italy. But after he witnessed his father kill a relative in a duel over and argument about money, he entered monastic life to escape the violence of the world and to perform penance for his father. 

He took penance very seriously, and made some of the less strict monks a bit uncomfortable. But after some time, his father repented of his sins, and entered the monastery as well.

Now, Romuald would later become abbot of the monastery, and would also go on to be sent by the Pope to preach in Hungary, and also founded a new religious order, the Camaldolese hermits, but that initial inspiration to do penance for another shouldn’t be glossed over.

We see a lot of evil in the world right now—sins repugnant to the call to holiness are pridefully celebrated, blasphemies are broadcast, vice is normalized and encouraged. What can I we, the church asks? We can follow the example of St Romuald—if not entering religious life to do penance, we can certainly fast and pray a little bit more assiduously in reparation for the multitude to of sins and for the conversion of sinners. Our Blessed Lord Himself said, some demons are only cast out through prayer and fasting. 

We speak a lot about evangelization these days, the need to spread the Gospel. Monks and hermits like St. Romuald remind us of a powerful way of engaging in evangelization—joining a religious community who take religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the context of a penitential rule of life. The great powerhouses of evangelization throughout history, have often been those monasteries where men and women have sought to conform themselves to Christ and to do penance for sin. Hermits inspire people to turn away from the emptiness and the noise of the world in order to find Christ. That’s evangelization. We become effective instruments of evangelization when we are serious about our personal call to holiness. 

And shouldn’t that be the pursuit about which we are most serious? St. Romuald brought his father to Christ through his humble quiet life of prayer and penance. May his example and heavenly intercession inspire us to similar endeavors for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

To God the Father Almighty, may every prayer of our heart be directed, for it is His will that all humanity should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of all the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them, and deepen in them the virtues of justice and religion.

For an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life—especially to those holy orders of hermits—who inspired us by their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, especially for the sick and victims of war and terror and natural disaster.

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

June 16 2023 - Sacred Heart of Jesus - Reparation for blasphemy and rest for the weary

 While honoring the Sacred Heart has roots stretching back to the early Church, special devotion to Christ’s burning love for mankind is closely associated with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a 17th century Visitation nun at the convent of Paray-le-Monial. It was to this humble nun that our Blessed Lord revealed His desire that a special feast of reparation to His Sacred Heart be established on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi (or the third Friday after Pentecost). 

After Mass today, we will pray to together the Act of Reparation prescribed by Pope Pius XI along with the Litany of the Sacred Heart. A plenary indulgence is granted if it is publicly recited on the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as long as the ordinary requirements for the indulgence are met.

Particularly this year, we have reason to pray the Litany. A few days ago, it was announced Archbishop Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), along with his brother bishops have called on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart, and make this act of reparation with the intention of repairing the spiritual damage inflicted by sin.

Archbishop Broglio writes: “Catholic Christians traditionally recognize June as the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During this time, we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart, and we pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people. This year, on June 16—the day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated. This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy. It has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of good will stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them. We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on June 16th, offering this prayer as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today.”

In the Gospel today, the Lord say "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” There are a lot of people, Christians and non-Christians alike in our world who are getting very tired of the constant bombardment of evil in the media, in politics, in the education system being forced on our young ones. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the answer. We go with our burdens and our fatigue to the Sacred Heart, to refresh us, to strengthen us, to rekindle our fire for the good fight, and to make reparation for all of these evils. The good Lord knows our struggle, he has chosen us to be Christians now in 2023, and in His Heart are the graces and strength we need to be faithful. 

To anyone growing weary of all of the chaos and blasphemy and impurity and evil: go to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We bring our needs to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please respond to each of these petitions, “Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on us”

That the Church may be continually cleansed and sanctified by the blood and water that gave us new birth.

For all who have fallen away from the Church, for those who lack faith, and in reparation to the Sacred Heart for all sin and all blasphemy.

On this World Day for the Sanctification of Priests, may the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the intercession of St. Margaret Mary and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, imbue all priests with his grace, strengthen their hearts, and renew them in their vocation, conforming them to Christ, head and shepherd, servant and spouse.

For all those who are sick or burdened in any way, may come to know and experience the refreshment of Christ’s love. 

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 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

Sacred Heart of Jesus 2021 - The love which surpasses knowledge

 “There is in the Sacred Heart a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another.” So wrote, Pope Leo XIII in his 1899 encyclical, Annum Sacrum, in which the Holy Father consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. 

Pope Leo seemed to echo an important truth found in our second reading today, from the epistle to the Ephesians. St. Paul speaks of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. The love of Christ, in a sense, exceeds the capacity of words to explain. For his love is infinite and our words are finite. So, the image of the Sacred Heart—pierced with the crown of thorns, burning with the fire of divine love—helps us to grasp God’s love for us. The symbol helps us to contemplate a love that is too deep for words

The Greek word Paul uses for love here is “agape”---the love of God which withholds nothing and seeks our highest good. The image of the Sacred Heart is an image of the “agape-love” God has for us. The Lord gave everything, allowing himself to be treated as the lowliest slave, enduring torture and the death of a criminal, to bring about our highest good, our salvation. His love embraces unfathomable suffering and the darkness of death so that sinners may be redeemed.

Light emits from the image of the Sacred Heart because God wants us to know the love that He has for us. 

This day is certainly for reflecting upon, celebrating, and thanking God for his infinite love for us. It is also a day of reparation. A recognition that the stinging thorns embedded in his heart are because of my sins. My actions. My decisions. My failure to love God and love neighbor as a should. As the Lord Himself revealed to St. Margaret Mary, devotees of the sacred heart are to make reparation for the sins which cause His heart “to be wounded by the ingratitude of man.” 

Today is a wonderful day to pray the Litany to the Sacred Heart as we do at our first Friday holy hour every month here at St. Ignatius, for the Lord’s mercy, the mercy of his sacred heart, to cover us, and be more deeply revealed to us, and become more deeply rooted in our own hearts, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We bring our needs to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please respond to each of these petitions, “Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on us”

That the Church may be continually cleansed and sanctified by the blood and water that gave us new birth.

For all who have fallen away from the Church, for those who lack faith, and in reparation for all ingratitude toward God, for all sin and all blasphemy.

For all those who are sick or burdened in any way, may they come to know and experience the refreshment of Christ’s love. 

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 and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Grant, Good Jesus, that we may live in you and for you. Protect us in the midst of danger. Comfort us in our afflictions. Give us health of body, assistance in our temporal needs, your blessing on all that we do, and the grace of a holy death. Through Christ Our Lord.

August 2020 - First Friday - Reparation for sins against the Eucharist

 

This morning at Mass I reflected upon this powerful reading from the prophet Nahum: the prophet speaks of the terrible destruction that will afflict the kingdom of Judah and the holy city of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian invaders. The prophets repeat over and over and over again: sin makes us vulnerable to the powers of evil—sin brings division, destruction and death.

In the midst of this prognostication of corpses, and ruined walls, Nahum offers a beautiful promise: the Lord will restore the vine of Jacob. Restoration will occur, but the effects of sin cannot be avoided. Purification will be precede restoration—and that purification might be painful, like scrubbing the debris out of a wound. 

At Mass on Sunday I extended the invitation to the parish to attend this evening of adoration and reparation, and I mentioned how needed acts of reparation are needed. I mentioned how a priest friend of mine, in this diocese, was distributing holy communion and a very troubled soul approached him, snatched the consecrated host from his hands, and threw the blessed sacrament to the ground and stomped upon it.

Purification, reparation is needed for sins against the Eucharist.

I also mentioned how we have heard stories of many parishes having very strange, irreverent, and even sacrilegious practices in distributing holy communion during this time of social distancing. Purification, reparation is needed for sins against the Eucharist, especially those which occur due to pastors being neglectful of their duties.

But purification, as we see over and over in the scriptures, is rarely, ever easy. Penance and mortification are likely the instruments the Holy Spirit will use to bring about purification within the body of Christ, the Church. Reparation must be done on our knees. 

But, we undertake these penances willingly don’t we, because we love the Eucharist, we love the Church, we yearn for tepid souls and ignorant souls to fall in love with the Lord, don’t we? And we trust, that the prayers and penances and acts of reparation we offer up for the good of souls and the good of the Church are received lovingly by God—the meager loaves and fishes of our sufferings—are taken by the Lord and multiplied—because they are offered up willingly in union with Christ.

We express to the Lord our concern for unbelievers, our prayers for reparation, purification, and restoration, and our adoring love, entrusting our hearts to him and the needs of the world and the Church to Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

22nd Week in OT 2018 - Friday - Fasting is a weapon against evil

Friday, is the traditional day of fasting for Christians. And so how appropriate that our Gospel, this Friday morning speaks of fasting. Jesus said that after His Ascension His followers would surely fast

As we’ve done for centuries, each Lent we engage in fasting in imitation of Jesus' forty-day fast in the desert. But Fasting is not just for Lent. Fasting is to be a sign of our repentance for sin and our desire to find our joy in God alone all-year round.

Before Vatican II, Roman Catholics were to abstain from meat on Fridays, and many fasted also on Wednesdays.  After Vatican II, the Church's laws regarding Friday abstinence and fasting were changed.  Some people thought that the Church was de-emphasizing fasting.  But this is not so, Church law (canon 1250 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law) still requires us to do some sort of penance on Friday, which may include fasting and abstaining from eating meat.

St. John Paul II spoke of the importance of fasting. He stated: "Jesus Himself has shown us by His own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil.”  If we struggle with a particular temptation: gluttony, lust, pride, fasting helps us to overcome these evils. In these dark days of scandal, fasting is no doubt one of the ways the Lord desires to bring light and healing to our wounded Church.

Through fasting we show that the pleasures of this world are not what make us whole and truly fulfilled. It is not cookies and snacking and desserts and television and internet and whiskey and wine in which man is to seek fulfillment.

By fasting we unite ourselves to the heart of Jesus, we share in his cross and win graces for souls, and we share in his love for his Father, to whose Holy Will we are to be totally dedicated. Voluntary fasting from food help us acquire mastery over our impulsiveness, and creates in us a greater openness to God's Spirit and deepens our compassion for those who are forced to go without food. When our souls begin to resemble Old Wine Skins because of our sinful attachments, fasting helps to make them new, to receive the new wine of the spirit.

Whatever our Friday penance, we do well to offer up our voluntary penance for those who suffer involuntarily, for the purification of the Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For willingness to do penance in reparation for sin, for the spread of the Gospel and sanctification of souls.

That our young people may be kept safe from the errors and poison of the world, so to grow in the ways of righteousness and truth.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, abuse, and terrorism, for the sanctification of the clergy, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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.

June 23, 2017 - Sacred Heart of Jesus - Our Most Merciful Redeemer

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is an expression of our faith in God’s love and mercy as made visible in Christ. Through the visible wounds of Christ, we see the invisible love of God.

Pope Pius XI described veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the epitome of our entire religion. In 1928, Pius XI wrote a beautiful encyclical called Miserentissimus Redemptor, On Reparation to the Sacred Heart. The sacred heart he wrote, “the sum of all religion” and “the pattern of perfect life.”

We are called to love like Our Miserentissimus Redemptor, Our Most Merciful Redeemer.

Pius XI says, meditating on Christ, “we see Him laboring for man, sorrowing, suffering the greatest hardships, "for us men and for our salvation," well-nigh worn out with sadness, with anguish, nay "bruised for our sins" and healing us by His bruises (MR 13)”. Love means a willingness to suffer for the Will of God, for the salvation of men.

This is why earlier this week, we heard of the suffering of the martyrs as the highest expression of our faith.

The Church is called to make reparation to the Sacred Heart on behalf of all sinful humanity who continues to turn to sin rather than God. The Church makes reparation for all clerics who preach a false gospel, for all of us who are ungrateful for the gifts God bestows upon us, those who respond to the call to spread the Gospel with negligence, those who are indifferent to the Gospel.

Jesus’ overflowing charity, his call to repentance, is met with so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt. There are attacks against the Church, godless institutions seeking snatch young people, as Pius XI says, from the bosom of their mother the Church.”

Yet, how more lamentable, he says, “among the faithful, washed in Baptism with the blood of the immaculate Lamb, and enriched with grace, there are found so many men of every class, who laboring under an incredible ignorance of Divine things and infected with false doctrines, far from their Father's home, lead a life involved in vices”

What an age we live in! In some parts of the world, Christians die for the faith, in many parts of our own country, many would rather die than practice it!

Love of God certainly impels us to make reparation for our failures to love, and to seek all the more, God’s grace to love as we should, to be faithful to the whole Gospel, not just those parts that suit us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

[below is a link to Pius XI's Encyclical and the Prayer of Reparation with which he ends the encyclical]
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In reparation to the Sacred Heart for all sin and all blasphemy, we pray to the Lord.

For an increase in faith, hope, and love for all Christians, we pray to the Lord.

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel, and that our future bishop of the diocese of Cleveland may be a man of true faith and the Holy Spirit.

That this fortnight of prayer for religious freedom may help people of faith remain vigilant in defending their religious liberty and united in making their voice heard on behalf of the rights of the Church.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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 and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. 

Link to Miserentisimus Redemptor: https://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19280508_miserentissimus-redemptor.html

Here is the Prayer of Reparation which Pius XI ended his encyclical:

O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for me is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Your altar eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Your loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Your pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying for from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow You, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Your Law. We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against You; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holidays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against You and Your Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Your Vicar on earth and Your priest are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Your Divine Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which You have founded. Would, O divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Your divine honor, the satisfaction You once made to Your eternal Father on the cross and which You continue to renews daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Your Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Your grace, for all neglect of Your great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent other from offending You and to bring as many as possible to follow You.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowing gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to You, so that we may one day come to that happy home, where You with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, world without end. Amen.