17th Sunday - Blessed Stanley Rother & Stewardship

 

Today’s Gospel is the parable of the net. The fishermen throw the good fish into buckets and the bad fish are discarded. The net thrown into the sea is an image of the Church which holds both the just and the sinners.

At the judgment, there will be a separation from the good and the bad. The bad will go into the fiery furnace (hell). The just (who are saints) will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Catholic Church contains saints as well as sinners. The Church never ceases to open Her motherly arms to sinners, and welcome them back through the sacrament of Confession. Anyone, can become a saint. We are all called to holiness.

The Church produced many saints down through the centuries. First there were the martyrs who gave their lives for the faith.

Through every generation, countless parents have led heroic lives of silent sacrifice while faithfully fulfilling the demands of their divine vocation. Similarly, there are many men and women who strive to achieve holiness in the midst of the world, such as religious brothers and sisters, and priests who live celibacy and chastity and are models of holiness for us, like Blessed Father Stanley Rother.

We are all called to be holy, because holiness is needed to enter heaven. But, the unholy, who live unrepentant sinful lives, cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.

How are we to live a holy life? Practicing Stewardship, by opening our hearts to the needs of others-- guarantees a life of holiness, borne from the sacraments of receiving the Holy Eucharist and Confession regularly.

As a disciple of Christ, we give our time, talent, and treasure to God and neighbor in appreciation for the gifts He has given us.

All things – our wealth and possessions, our family and relationships, our degrees and achievements – are only the means to reach the goal in life: To be one with God forever.

This life of holiness begins now! It is already here! All we have to do is live our life, as a disciple of Christ, following the Stewardship way of life, and we will reach our goal of heaven. Stewardship is using the gifts God has given you, for the love of God and neighbor.

In heaven there are canonized and non-canonized saints. We should choose this day to become a fish that will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, rather than a fish to be discarded. Therefore, “Set your hearts on his kingdom first… and all these other things will be given you as well”

A shepherd is one who guides the sheep, to help the sheep to know what is right and true. Shepherds are stewards of the sacred mysteries, and they are to help the sheep to live by those mysteries.

Stanley Francis Rother born on March 27, 1935, in Okarche, Oklahoma was as one of four children from a farm family. His sister, Betty Mae, became a religious sister Adorer of the Blood of Christ in Wichita. He had two brothers.

Stanley was strong and adept at farm tasks. After completing his high school studies at the Holy Trinity school in Okarche he declared his calling to the priesthood to his parents. His father whimsically asked him: "Why didn't you take Latin instead of working so hard as a Future Farmer of America?"

He was sent to Assumption Seminary in San Antonio Texas. Most of his classes were all in Latin, and had great difficulty with Latin, and his grades suffered. After almost six years, the seminary told him he couldn't continue.

Despite being dismissed from seminary, he continued to believe he had a call to the priesthood. His bishop also believed he had a call, and sent him to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. He made great progress at his new seminary and Bishop Reed ordained him May 25, 1963. Fr. Rother served as an associate pastor in various parishes around Oklahoma.

When he learned a priest was needed in Guatemala, he asked Bishop Reed for permission, which he granted. In 1968, he was assigned to the mission of the archdiocese to the Tz’utujil people located in Santiago Atitlan in southwest Guatemala.

To be closer to his congregation, he set out to learn Spanish and the Tz’utujil language which was an unwritten language. Fr. Rother lived with a native family for a while to get a better grasp of practical conversation, and worked with the locals to show them how to read and write. He supported a radio station located on the mission property which transmitted daily lessons in both languages.

Despite his difficulties with Latin, he translated the New Testament into Tz'utujil and began the regular celebration of the Mass in Tz'utujil and could preach in their language. In the late 1960s, Fr. Rother founded a small hospital.

He put his farming skills to good use in Guatemala, including operating a bulldozer to clear land on local farms. His door was open to all people. He feed some poor each day for lunch, and others came for advice on personal or financial affairs. Some even came to him to have their teeth extracted. He took a boy and his parents to Guatemala City to be treated for lip cancer.

After a major earthquake in 1976, it was said, “With courage he climbed the ravines in order to help the very poor, pulling the wounded out of the ruins and carrying them to safety on his shoulders.”, just as a shepherd would carry his sheep.

We can see all the ways, Fr. Rother used his gifts for God and neighbor. To learn a new language and teach others to read and write. To translate the bible into a new language. To build a new hospital to care for the sick. To help those suffering from an earthquake. To give courage to a persecuted people. To use the gift of his farming background to help grow crops. To use his priesthood to be an instrument of grace and mercy through the sacraments. To be a spiritual father to the people and to even lay down his life for them as a martyr.

From 1971 to 1981, there were numerous killings of journalists, farmers, catechists and priests, all accused falsely of communism. Within the last year of his life, Fr. Rother saw the radio station smashed and its director murdered. His catechists and parishioners would disappear and later found dead. Their bodies showed signs of being beaten and tortured. Realizing they were seeking to kill him, he briefly went back to the United States, and traveled to Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary to pray and figure out whether or not to return to Guatemala in May 1981. In December 1980, he addressed a letter to the faithful in Oklahoma saying: "This is one of the reasons I have for staying in the face of physical harm. The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger."

On the morning of July 28, the killers forced the teenager Francisco Bocel (who was in the church at the time) to lead them to the bedroom of the priest. The men threatened to kill Francisco if he did not show them Fr. Rother, and so Francisco led them downstairs and knocked on a door near the staircase saying: "Father. They are looking for you."

Fr. Rother opened the door and a struggle ensued as Francisco ran upstairs hearing Fr. Rother yell: "Kill me here!" One shot pierced his jaw and the second fatal shot struck the left temple; there were bruises on both hands.

Fr. Rother was one of 10 priests murdered in Guatemala that year. His remains were flown back to Oklahoma and buried in his hometown on August 3, 1981, in Holy Trinity Cemetery. At the request of his parishioners, his heart was removed and buried under the altar of the church where he had served in Guatemala. His body was transferred again to Oklahoma City in the cemetery Mausoleum next to the Cathedral and then transferred to the new basilica dedicated in his honor.

In the presence of 20,000 people, Fr. Stanley Rother was beatified, Sept. 23^rd, in 2017. His feast day is July 28^th.

So what is the goal or our life? St Ignatius of Loyola writes, “The goal of our life is to live with God forever. God, who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God’s life to flow into us without limit. All the things in this world are gifts of God, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily. As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us develop as loving persons. But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives, they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.”

What gifts and talents do you have that you can become a more fervent disciple of Christ as you practice the stewardship way of life?

We should all priests that they may follow in the footsteps of Blessed Stanley Rother, a shepherd, who does not run at the first sign of danger. And may our only desire and our one choice be this:

“I want, and I choose what better leads me to my final goal of heaven. We should therefore be a good steward of our gifts like Father Stanley Rother and which help each other reach our final goal in heaven.”

And at the end of Mass, you are invited to come forward to venerate a relic of Blessed Father Rother. When you venerate the relic, ask Jesus for a specific healing. A miracle is needed for his canonization. 

Before the summer is over, I encourage you to take a day trip to Oklahoma City. You can go to Confession, attend daily Mass. They have a Holy Hour every day at 3pm and pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. They have a museum with a tour guide and a gift shop. There is pathway up the hill to the Grotto of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The basilica is beautiful. Daily Mass is offered in the smaller chapel, where the body of Fr. Stanley Rother is located under the altar. In the chapel is a stunning mural of Blessed Stanely Rother and other martyrs. Then you can go out for dinner and return to home, the same day.

Blessed Stanley Rother, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.

16th Sunday - Weeds with Wheat

 

“The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.”

Our Lord taught the parable of the wheat and weeds to explain what the final judgment will be like. He wanted us to know that we have an enemy who wants to ruin our judgment by sowing weeds. The wheat is the true teachings, and are those who attempt to follow the way of the Lord. The weeds represent false doctrine, sown by the devil and those who follow the way of the devil. The devil wants to ruin the harvest, so the children of God do not inherit the kingdom of God.

“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.” The world is a field, where God is continually sowing the seeds of His grace. This divine seed takes root in the soul, and produces fruits of holiness. God has prepared us like soil, and bestowed upon us His saving doctrine.

“The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.”

While men are sleeping, the enemy, who is the devil came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. The weeds sown in the midst of the wheat is called cockle-seed.

Cockle is a plant that is often found in crops in the Middle East. It resembles wheat so closely that even an experienced farmer can’t tell the two plants apart until the stalks begin to mature. Cockle is toxic to humans. If this kind of weed is mixed with flour it will ruin the bread.

The Fathers of the Church understood the weeds of cockle, to be a metaphor for false doctrine, not easy to distinguish from the truth. The devil mixes falsehood with the truth causing error. And if allowed to continue, it always has catastrophic affects in people’s lives.

The devil is extremely intelligent and very clever. He mixes false doctrines with true doctrine knowing it will cause people to be confused and doubt true doctrine given to us by the Church.

I would like to give you some examples of how the devil attempts to confuse people with false doctrine mixed with true doctrine.

Some years back ABC News Night Line aired a program about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Within the program they expressed some true teachings. For example, the program said Catholics believe Mary is the Mother of God. But they interviewed a non-Catholic from the Holy Land, who casts a shadow on the teachings of the Church on Mary. The person, who was a supposed expert, planted weeds of doubt to those who watched the program. He made it sound like Mary wasn’t a perpetual virgin and wasn’t assumed into heaven. Yet, the program explained (the wheat)—that Catholics pray to Mary and seek Her motherly intercession. There was good mixed with false teachings. There were lies mixed with truth—this comes from the devil.

Here are some other examples with regard to morality.

For example contraception. It is true parents should limit children for serious reasons and not be forced to live in poverty. It is also true without spacing children, couples won’t have the living standard they desire. But, God provides Natural Family Planning to space children. It’s morally acceptable. 99% effective. Although it may be true, the family will not have the standard of living they desire, God will provide all that is needed. The family learns to love and sacrifice for each other, and will follow God’s plan for marriage.

Abortion (It is true women have a right to choose how to live their life). But no one has a right to kill an innocent human being, especially their own child.

Cohabitation (It is true, when a couple lived together before marriage, they can save money, and learn more about each other). But we don’t try people out like used cars. When living together without a permanent commitment, it opens the door to unfaithfulness. To live together in love, means to live together avoiding sin. Sin is the opposite of love. Having relations before marriage causes each to mutually seriously harm each other’s soul.

Homosexual marriage. (It is true everyone has a right to marry whoever they want, and it’s good to live with someone you love and care about). However, God is the author of marriage, who declared marriage is only between a man and woman. Homosexual marriage is unnatural. Perverse actions are not loving, but harm the souls and bodies of each other. All sexual activity outside of marriage is seriously sinful.

Euthanasia. (It is true, that it is compassionate to alleviate and minimize suffering). But to avoid suffering at the expense of disrespecting the dignity of human life, by suicide or murder, breaks the commandment of “Thou shall not kill.” God is the author of life, and only He has the right and authority to take it.

There is direct and indirect euthanasia. Direct euthanasia is an action taken for the purpose of hastening death. These measures may include lethal injection, poisoning, and suffocation. There is also passive euthanasia, when an action is withheld for the purpose of hastening death. These measures would include the withholding or withdrawal of non-heroic measures, to include food, hydration, and oxygen. Death should not be hastened to alleviate the suffering of the family.

Whereas, natural death means to allow a person to die in comfort and peace by withholding aggressive treatment that would only cause pain and lengthen the person's lifespan by a very modest or insignificant amount. But yet provides food, hydration and oxygen when its beneficial to the dying person.

Transgenderism (It’s true we should be able to choose how to live our life). But, we do not have the right to change our God given gender. The truth is the Church recognizes every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female (Gen. 1:26-27). And so we should help people discover their true identities as children of God, not support them in the disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological identity.

There are many false doctrines which the devil sows within the Church. In Austria for example, a group of 250 priests launched an outright rebellion against the Church. They are openly rejecting the doctrine, discipline and practice which are at the heart of the Catholic Christian faith. They are seeking to lead others to join them in their errors. 

This group of openly dissident priests has gone public with their rebellion launching a website listing their points of dissent in a document entitled "A Call to Disobedience". Some members of the dissenting group say: -  to pray for Church reform at every liturgy, since "in the presence of God there is freedom of speech". - not to deny the Holy Eucharist to "believers of good will," including non-Catholic Christians and those who have remarried outside the Church. - to "ignore" canonical norms that restrict the preaching of the homily to clergy, so that lay people can preach during Mass,-- to "use every opportunity to speak out openly in favor of the admission of the married to the priesthood and of ordaining women to the priesthood."

The Argentinean Bishops stated people who are divorced and remarried civilly, and not attempting to live chastely, can receive Holy Communion. The German bishops voted in favor of giving blessings to same-sex couples. But this is contrary to Church teaching.

There are some who say God wills the diversity of religions, which means that God wills there be Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptist etc.. religions as though one is not any better than another. But this idea contradicts what Catholics have long believed, that Jesus founded only one Church, the Catholic Church, and God wills all to come to know the truth found in the Catholic Church. The truth is many religions have some truths revealed by God, but only the Catholic Church has ALL divinely revealed truths.

“Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.” Jesus gave the parable of the wheat and weeds as an example of the Last Judgment, when Our Lord will come to judge the world at the end of time. He will separate the good from the wicked. Those who have sown weeds (false doctrine) will be harvested and burned, which represents souls who will go to hell. But those who have held fast to the teachings of the Church—will be like the wheat, when they are harvested they will be taken up into heaven.

Whatever the Catholic Church teaches, we trust will help us to get to heaven. The Church is sort of like the land. Her teachings are like the wheat, which once harvested will provide food to help sustain us on our journey toward heaven. The devil attempts to mix weeds in the midst of the wheat. The weeds that he sows-- appear to be wheat and grows like wheat, but in fact are weeds. These weeds, which the devil sows, are toxic and deadly and will cause those who eat it to die, by losing one’s salvation. The devil is the enemy of the Church and our enemy. He hates us and wants to kill and destroy our souls, so we will go to hell and be lost forever.

Jesus wants everyone to be with Him in heaven. He wants to help us in our struggles of life. He wants to be part of our decisions and to walk with us. Jesus is God and can do anything for us. We pray that all Catholics will to turn to Him, to trust Him and to love Him enough to follow the true teachings of His Church. We turn to His Mother Mary as we pray:

“O Blessed Mother, Mother of God, Perpetual Virgin, You who were Assumed body and soul into heaven. Grant all Catholics and especially priests, the grace to follow Jesus, Your Son, and His Church’s teachings. As you are our Mother, so the Church is our Mother. She wants to guard and protect Her children against the weeds of the devil. When it comes harvest time, at the Last Judgment, which may come sooner than we think, may all of us be counted among the righteous, who will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Amen.”

15th Wednesday - Moses Remove Sandals - Jesus in the Eucharist

 

In the first reading, Moses came before the presence of the burning bush and God asked him to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground.

About 8 years ago, when I was pastor of Sacred Heart in Halstead, a young boy about the age of 12, had an alleged vision during Eucharistic Adoration.

As he was doing a Holy Hour with his sisters and grandmother, he said, Jesus came out of the Host and stood before the altar. Our Lord told him to remove his shoes and ask the others to do the same. Jesus said, “You are standing on holy ground.” The boy said, Jesus was wearing a white garment with a gold sash. On his head was golden crown and had a scepter in his hand.

When questioning the boy, I discovered he had never heard of the story of the burning bush, where God asked Moses to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground.

While this story has never been investigated by the Church, the event at least reminds us, that Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist and when we come before Him in adoration, as a King, He gives us His love and can grant the desires of every heart.

May we come to Jesus in adoration, with great expectations, that our loving King and God wants to give us whatever we need, especially the graces we need to grow in love of Him and our neighbor. And may we also humble our self in reverence and in awe before His Eucharistic throne.

15th Tuesday, Abortion - Moses

  

In the first reading today, Pharaoh orders all newborn boys to be killed. The Hebrew mother of one the children put her child in a basket and watched as the child goes downstream. Pharaoh’s daughter sees the basket and hears the child crying and orders the child to be taken out of the water and so it happens the child’s sister saved her little brother and the child’s mother was asked to nurse it.

The child, as we know is Moses, who would be called by God to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt.

Some doctors today, act like Pharaoh today, who desire to kill children. There were two children, whose mothers were told to kill their children, but they decided to keep them. Both of these children would later become ordained priests. One of them would become an archbishop and the other a cardinal. The Archbishop Nauman of Kansas City, could have been killed by abortion, because the doctor of his mother told her to abort him.

The same is true with Cardinal Burke. His mother’s doctor told her to abort her baby, but she chose to have it. Today, both of these clergymen are very strong supporters of the right to life.

Does it make you wonder, how many other children, whose mothers were also carrying future priests, and bishops, had abortions?

There was a woman who went to confession to Padre Pio. This was in the mid 1940s. The lady knelt in Pio's confessional and when she had given him an account of her sins which she thought was complete, Pio invited her, "Try to remember the other sin." She responded, "Padre, I think I gave you all the sins I know and I think this is it." Padre Pio was not satisfied, and he gave her a harsh penitential exercise; "Go to the cross and say 15 Ave Marias and 15 Our Fathers". The cross was at the top of the mountain, it was reached by going up a very bad road and was considered by all to be a dangerous expedition. But the lady did as Pio asked, and when she went back to him, hoping to get absolution, he said to her, "Do you remember all your sins?" Again she was adamant that she had previously confessed all of them, "Padre Pio, I've confessed everything." Pio was patient and blamed it on her memory, "No, you still don't remember all." Then he assigned the same penance as last time, "You've got to go to the cross at the top of the mountain again." 

When she returned from her perilous climb up the mountain, she still claimed not to remember the other sin, and Pio asked her to go to the cross for a third time. When she returned to his confessional, she was resolute that she did not remember anything else, but Pio questioned her, "What do you mean, you don't remember anything? Don't you know he could have been a good priest, a bishop, even a cardinal?" The woman was thrown into deep thought and as she remembered her abortion, tears welled up in her eyes and she defended herself, "Padre, I never knew abortion was a sin." Pio was not moved to soften his stance, said, "What do you mean, you didn't know this was a sin? That's killing." The lady said, "Nobody knows about this, only me and my mother, how could you say it could have been a priest or a cardinal?" But Pio knew. He could read her soul.

Today, let us pray for all young women, who are tempted to have an abortion, may the Lord touch their hearts and change their minds, to keep their children. And let us pray for all doctors, may they be advocates for all life, especially the unborn.

 

15th Sunday, Year A - Trust in God's Providence

  

During the drought at the beginning of the year, did you pray for rain? Today’s readings reveal how God is in control of not only providing for our food and water, but especially how He causes the Kingdom of Heaven to grow through His eternal Word.

In the first reading Isaiah compares, the rain and snow watering the seeds to make them grow, to the word of God, that grows and spreads, it is by God’s power that His word will spread and nothing prevents it.

The psalm for today, talks about seed falling on good ground and yielding a fruitful harvest and God is the one who makes it happen, causing the meadows and hills, and fields to be filled with flocks and grain.

The second reading speaks about creation and how it was set free by the redemption of Jesus. God is the creator, but especially He is also the redeemer. By His death and resurrection, He makes all creation new.

In the Gospel Our Lord spoke about the sower sowing seeds and the obstacles for the newly sprouted seeds to grow, which represents the spreading of the Kingdom of God.

Many people today take for granted and don’t even think that God is in control of everything including weather and crops. Some act as though they are solely responsible for his farming success. So many today think man is the center of the universe and can do everything himself. But this is not so. God wants us to depend upon Him and His divine providence. Just as the Lord provided manna and quail in the desert for the Hebrews, so He can and does provide for our food and water. If our words and actions give witness to others, that we depend upon God for everything, we will help Him to spread the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here are some scriptures and an example in the lives of saints, how we should depend upon God and by doing so, we also learn how the kingdom of God grows when the eternal Word is planted in the hearts of people and begins to spread silently through the world by our words and actions, especially by trusting in God’s providence.

Here is just a few of the many scripture verses that refer to the weather:

In the Gospel of Matthew it states, “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:24-27)

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45).

In the book of Daniel, the word of God states, “All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. Every shower and dew, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. All you winds, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. Cold and chill, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. Dew and rain, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. Frost and chill, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever.” (cf Daniel 3:60-73).

In St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, God said, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people..” (2 Corinthians 7:13)

The Act of Apostles says, “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:17)

The book of Exodus: “Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.” (Exodus 9:33)

In the Book of Genesis, it states, “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” (Genesis 7:4)

Isaiah, the prophet, states, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isiah 55:10-11)

The book of Job: “He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.” (Job 5:10) “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone he has made may know his work… He brings the clouds … to water his earth and show his love.” (Job 37:5-7, 13)

In the letter of St. James it says, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:17-18).”

My friends it’s very obvious, that God is the one who makes the sun shine and the clouds roll and the lightning flash and rains and snow fall upon the earth to provide for our needs. In fact, through animals and through people, God helps us to know when the weather will change. Cattle gather in the corner of a pasture. Flies begin to bite. Horses act finicky. Some of us older folks feel it in our bones, because the day before the weather changes, our arthritis flares us. God gives man the wisdom and technology to forecast the weather through instruments and gauges.

Here is true story about how a saint’s prayer can affect the weather. One day, Saint Benedict, the founder of the Benedict order, went to visit his blood sister, Saint Scholastica, a Benedictine nun, in her cloistered monastery. They talked till evening about Jesus and spiritual things. When it was getting dark, as he was about to return to his monastery of monks, she asked him to stay and talk. But, he insisted on leaving. So, she joined her hands together on the table in prayer, and laid her head upon her hands, and began to pray. Suddenly there were brilliant flashes of lightening and thunder, and it began to rain very hard. It rained so hard, her brother was unable to leave. He said, “May God forgive you sister. What have you done?” She answered, “Well, I asked you, and you would not listen; so I asked my God, and He did listen.” “So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to the place where you stay.” When the storm passed in the early morning, he went home. Later that same day, he came to know his sister had died. God answered her prayer for rain, because it was His will the two should talk all night the day before her death.

The Lord God provides everything for us, and He wants us to depend upon Him. Lest we think, we are god and the master of our own living, God desires we turn to Him to acknowledge His sovereignty, and thank Him for His providing for us. We should humbly ask Him for rain for our crops and our livelihood. We can ask God to change the weather, so that an event can happen that would be beneficial for souls, or to protect us from harmful weather.

Today, let us resolve to open our eyes to see the wonders of God’s creation and how He moves the stars, the planets, the sun, and the weather for the purpose of helping mankind to know and love Him, so they can serve Him and be with Him in the next life. And may our prayers, words, and actions silently spread the truth of the Gospel, through our trusting in God’s providential care for us. Let us pray:

“O God, in Whom we live and move, and have our being, grant us rain, in due abundance, that, being sufficiently helped with our temporal needs, we may more confidently seek after eternal gifts. We humbly request that by our trusting in your Divine Providence, You give us the grace to be a witness to the kingdom of Heaven. We thank you for providing rain in the past and the rain you will provide in the future. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

14th Wednesday - Duties of Bishops

  

In the Gospel today, Jesus summons His 12 apostles and gave them authority over unclean spirits and to cure every disease and illness. After He instructed them, and sent out the 12 to go after the lost sheep of Israel and to make the proclamation the kingdom of God is at hand.

The apostles were the first bishops. The bishops today are the successors of the apostles. Just as Jesus told the Apostles they had authority over unclean spirits, so today, every Bishop is an exorcist and had power and authority to deliver people from demons.

The first bishops, the apostles were weak men, but the Lord chose them to be shepherds. One bishop, Judas, betrayed Him and ended up committing suicide. All of them abandoned Jesus during His arrest in the garden, Peter denied Jesus three times and only one apostle faithfully stood at the foot of the Cross. But in the end, 10 would be martyred and one they attempted to kill, but would survive.

What are the duties of a bishop? St. Paul in his letter to 1 Timothy, Chapter 3, describes their duties. “Now a bishop must be above reproach, …..temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well,… He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.”

In Paul’s letter to Titus, he said, “For a bishop, as God’s servant, must be blameless, a lover of goodness, a master of himself, upright, holy and self-controlled.” “He must hold firm to the sure word, as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction, to sound doctrine and also confute those who contradict it.”

Therefore, he must be virtuous, responsible, highly respected, have self-control and stand firm in the truth.

St. Paul also said, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully."

Bishop Carlson describes the duties of bishops. He said, “To the successors of the Apostles is entrusted the entire People of God: with the assistance of their priests, Bishops thus have the responsibility of preaching the Gospel, administering the sacraments, and guiding Christ’s flock. The Bishop is the principal teacher in the faith community. As such, he must be devoted to preaching the Gospel constantly. That preaching aims at illuminating to the faithful what they must believe and put into practice, while steering them away from every error that is life-threatening to the spirit. The Bishop’s teaching is called to embody a powerful proclamation of the reasons for hope. His responsibility must be taken up courageously, proclaiming Jesus Christ as the encompassing center of Christian life and of all history, expounding the moral life as the unique pathway responsive to the sublime vocation of those who believe in Christ. Preaching the message of salvation, the Bishop must make it his first concern to lead others to knowledge of the truth of salvation in Christ and to that "obedience of faith" which welcomes God’s saving Word and opens man to the transformation of grace. Indifferent to human popularity, the Bishop must boldly preach the Cross for the sake of the souls entrusted to him. The unity of truth and love can never be compromised under the pretext of retaining believers or of maintaining the harmony and good disposition of church-going members. In essence, the Bishop must be committed to freeing the faithful from every form of superficiality and to feeding his flock with the lasting substance of sound doctrine. Indeed, the aim of episcopal teaching is none other than the sanctification of souls. Specifically, the Bishop must seek to awaken Christian consciences and call every citizen to a responsible moral life and freedom in Jesus Christ.

The Bishop is the primary minister of the sacred liturgy and principal dispenser of all of the sacraments.

Here are some words by Pope Gregory the Great, in his document Pastoral Care, that describes how bishops are to act. He said, “Although those who have no knowledge of the powers of drugs shrink from giving themselves out as physicians of the flesh, people who are utterly ignorant of spiritual precepts are often not afraid of professing themselves to be physicians of the heart.” He says that since “the care of feeding is a testimony of love,” the one who fails to teach “the flock of God is convicted of having no love for the Supreme Shepherd”. “The ruler should be exemplary in his conduct, that by his manner of life he may show the way of life to his subjects, and that the flock, following the teaching and conduct of its shepherd, may proceed the better through example rather than words”. After all, “His voice penetrates the hearts of his hearers the more readily, if his way of life commends what he says.” He said, “A man is quite incapable of learning humility in a position of superiority, if he did not refrain from acting proudly when he was in a position of subjection” .Gregory writes, “For that man is an enemy to his Redeemer who on the strength of the good works he performs, desires to be loved by the Church, rather than by Him”. For this reason, Gregory urges boldness amidst humility. He warns that the desire for people’s approval causes us to “fear to speak freely of what is right” and thus fail to “exercise the zeal of shepherds caring for the flock”.

Today, let us pray for our bishops who have a daunting role in the Church, that they may be courageous defenders and proclaimers of the deposit of faith, and the Tradition of the Church, be teachers who enlighten the people of God about the truth of our faith and combat false teachings –all for the salvation of souls entrusted to them, as apostles. O Mary, Queen of the Apostles, pray for them, who have recourse to thee.

 

15th Sunday Year A - Sower & Seed

 

Today’s Gospel is the parable of the seeds and the soil. Jesus uses the parable to explain reasons why the Word of God sometimes does not bear fruit and sometimes bears great fruit.

Our Lord uses four examples to help us to know how the Word of God is affected by the manner in which it is received. The first type of person is this one: “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.”

This seed unfortunately doesn’t even get a chance to sprout because it didn’t land on soil. There was a lack of understanding and the evil one stole away the word of God. For example: Do we reject part of the message of the Gospel because we do not understand it and so we erroneously support teachings contrary to our faith: artificial contraception, same-sex marriage, abortion, stem cell research, pre-marital relations or other issues where the Church’s teachings are not understood? Have we allowed our lack of understanding to prevent us from seeking to understand why the Church teaches what She teaches, and so we reject part of the Gospel? Whenever we reject part of the message of the Gospel, to use the words of Jesus today, the evil one has stolen the word from our heart.

The second point made by Jesus is this: “The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.”

This time the seed sprouts but when the cross comes – “tribulation or persecution” - we give up. Have we ever been moved in our heart by God through a good experience in Confession or being overwhelmed by grace at Mass or when we received Holy Communion or when we received a spiritual insight in prayer or someone who did some good deed for us and because of one of these circumstances, we resolved to become a better Christian-- a better follower of Jesus, but we quickly go back to our old way of life because we could not see beyond some temporary difficulty or disappointment, such as a sudden health problem, an unexpected death in the family, a misunderstanding with someone, a co-worker or family member who ridicules our Catholic faith, or out of laziness we go back to our old way of doing things and we forget the inspiration God gave us to walk with Him closer, to be a more faithful disciple and so we fall away from what we were inspired to do and do nothing to change our life, even though at first we had the inspiration.

The third type of person is this one: “The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.”

It is “worldly anxiety and lure of riches” that this time hinder our hearts from being receptive to Jesus. Are there times when we are too busy to pray and to read the Bible? Have we missed Mass because we were too busy or made up some other excuse? Because we are having financial problems or because we just want to live a better lifestyle, we go to a Casino, or play the lottery, rather than use our money to support the poor or the Church? We fail to give our anxieties and our financial problems or even our greed to God. We fail to trust God will take care of everything. We fail to come to Mass to receive the graces we need to help us to have the peace we are longing for. Whenever we put “worldly anxiety and lure of riches” before God, the Word dies in our heart.

With these first three reasons, we can see why the Word of God does not affect our hearts. As Jesus said, “Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes…”

However, the fourth type of person is this one: “…the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. When we come to a difficult teaching which we don’t understand, we strive to learn more about it. We talk to a priest and we turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church for help to overcome our doubts. In the midst of trials and tribulations we turn Jesus in prayer and we pray more. We are more faithful to our Mass attendance. We go to Confession more. When we are persecuted or despised or when people utter every kind of false things about us, we rejoice and give thanks and praise to God and ask Him for the graces to defend our faith and to defend our self and others. When it comes to money, we seek not to be rich, but only to have what we need, to take care of the needs of others, especially the poor. We live out our Stewardship Way of Life, giving our time, talent and treasure out of love of God and neighbor.

There is some of each of these four types of person in all of us. We could be all four of these persons at once, or predominantly one of these types of person for a certain time. Thanks be to God each of us in many different ways, do hear the word, understand it and we do bear fruit.

Let us open our heart, such that if there are misunderstandings or disappointments and the cross, or worldly anxiety and the lure of riches, we will not render our hearts as unfertile soil for the Word of God, so that we do not grieve Jesus by a “gross heart”. Rather, we will allow our heart to become a fertile soil for God’s Word.

If we have humility and sorrow for our sins, we can say the words of David in Psalm 51, “A humble and contrite heart O God, you will not spurn.” “A clean heart create for me O God and a steadfast spirit renew within me”.

May the Word of God grow and bear fruit in our hearts and yield a hundred or sixty or thirty fold. And may we imitate the Virgin Mary, the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus, who bore the fruit of Jesus in Her Womb, so He could die for us, that we may have life and have it abundantly with Him in heaven.

14th Sunday Year A - Humility

 

The first reading and the Gospel both speak of humility. The first reading prophesied a king who will come riding in humility on a donkey, not on a camel nor a horse used by the wealthy, but a donkey used by the poor. The prophet Zechariah speaks about the humility of a king, who has power and authority and yet rides on the humble animal of a donkey. Jesus fulfilled this prophesy when He rode a donkey into Jerusalem as the people laid palm branches before Him saying, “Blessed is the King, who comes in the name of the Lord.”

In the Gospel, Our Lord said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Jesus wants His disciples, including us-- to learn to have a meek and humble heart.

Humility is truth. But pride reveals the hidden desires of the heart that cause a distortion of that which is true about our self and others. It’s an exaggerated view of our self and our needs. The truth is Jesus is God and He humbled Himself by taking upon our human nature. He appeared only to be human, but His personhood was God.

St. Paul said to the Philippians, “Though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

The Litany of Humility manifests the wrong ways of thinking that can lead to pride and by praying to be delivered of these ways, the Lord will give us the gift of that which is true—humility of heart.

And so let us pray for the gift of humility.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

Your response is “Deliver me, Jesus”

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...

From the desire of being extolled ...

From the desire of being honored ...

From the desire of being praised ...

From the desire of being preferred to others...

From the desire of being consulted ...

From the desire of being approved ...

From the fear of being humiliated ...

From the fear of being despised...

From the fear of suffering rebukes ...

From the fear of being calumniated ...

From the fear of being forgotten ...

From the fear of being ridiculed ...

From the fear of being wronged ...

From the fear of being suspected ...

Now your response is, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease..
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Today, let us choose to pray every day for the gift of humility and trust God will give us a heart meek and humble, in imitation of the Heart of Jesus, so we may echo the words of Mary, who said, “He will cast down the mighty and lift up the lowly.” And recognize all good things come from God, and not attribute them to our self, as Mary said, “He who is mighty has done great things for me.”