5th Sunday - Love Your Neighbor (Rosary Retreat)

 

The readings today give us a glimpse into heaven and how Jesus’ commandment to love-- is necessary to obtain heaven.

In today’s Gospel Jesus gave His apostles and us a new commandment, called the “Commandment of love.” He said, “I give you a new commandment, love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus said, love one another, as I have loved you. How did He do that, but by laying down His life for them, and for us. And they responded with love.

All of the apostles, except John would lay down their life for Jesus, as martyrs. But, they attempted to kill John, by boiling him in oil, but he miraculously survived.

The apostles laid down their life for others, by preaching the Gospel, even when they knew it was cause their death. They loved their neighbor so much, they wanted them know and love Jesus and with Him in heaven.

There is no greater example of how we should love one another, than the Virgin Mary. At the moment of the annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to Her asking Her to become the Mother of Jesus, She gave her fiat, Her Yes. The angel Gabriel told Mary that Her cousin Elizabeth was six months pregnant, but the angel didn’t ask Her to go to visit Elizabeth.

But, out of love of neighbor, Mary was concerned for Her cousin Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist. Out of love of neighbor, the Gospel tells us, She went in haste to visit Her cousin Elizabeth. Mary immediately responded because She understood Elizabeth would need help, since she was advanced in years and it was her first and only child.

The virtue associated with the Visitation is love of neighbor. While praying the Rosary, when we meditate on Mary’s action of thinking about her cousin Elizabeth before Her own needs, makes us want to respond to the needs of others out of love of neighbor.

Ladies, if you were a virgin and made a vow of virginity and if you knew you could keep the vow and still become a mother, wouldn’t you be enthusiastic and thrilled? And then immediately after you became pregnant, wouldn’t you want to tell others the wonderful news?

But, wait a minute. How could She? Imagine Her telling others, “Hey! Everyone! You will never believe what happened. An angel appeared to me and the Holy Spirit came down upon me and now I am pregnant with Jesus, the Son of the Father. I’m still a virgin and I am also the Mother of the Messiah!” If She would tell others, people would think She’s crazy.

If you were the Virgin Mary, and if you kept it to yourself, wouldn’t you think about preparing for the birth, perhaps making infant clothes and a baby blanket and telling Joseph to make a crib?

If you knew, Jesus, the Son of the eternal Father, had just come down in your womb, wouldn’t you spend extra time praying to Jesus in your womb and thanking God the Father? I suspect many of you would tell your friends and they would give you a baby shower.

Mary didn’t do any of these. Rather, Our Lady continuously prayed to Jesus inside Her, though She quickly went to visit Elizabeth. She was able to see God in others, whom She helped and prayed for.

Mary kept the secret of Her pregnancy to Herself and most likely didn’t even tell Joseph. She knew it was up to God to tell him how it happened. Only after Joseph went the trial of having to trust Mary, and not understanding how it could be, only then, did God send an angle to give him peace and understanding.

What young pregnant teenage girl would travel five days on a mule, spending 5 nights out along the side of the road, for the purpose of helping an elderly cousin who is pregnant and return home doing the same thing for another 5 days. Hot days, cold nights, little food, dusty roads, sleeping outdoors.

Scripture doesn’t say if Mary stayed until John the Baptist was born. But we know she stayed for three months, which would be about the same time he would be born. Mary certainly would not spend three months and then leave just before her cousin gave birth.

Mary’s love of neighbor is especially seen meeting Jesus on the way of the Cross and standing at the foot of the Cross. If people were beating your son, condemning him t be crucified and nailing Him to a tree, wouldn’t you try to stop them? Wouldn’t you yell at them and perhaps even curse at them?

But, not Mary, She prayed not only for the soldiers, the chief priests, and the crowd mocking Jesus, She prayed for all of us and offered everything as a sacrifice for our salvation. Out of love of God and love for neighbor, She endured it all.

How did Jesus love us? By laying down His life for us. And we are called to do the same, to lay down one’s life for another.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus for 40 days until He ascended into heaven, we are reminded that by Our Lord’s death and resurrection, we can go to heaven.

His resurrection gives us hope for heaven. And we have hope that at the end of the world, we too will have a resurrected body just like Jesus.

We have hope if we lived a life of love and virtue, we will enter the joys of heaven, “where every tear is wiped away”. The Holy Rosary will help us to obtain the virtues we need, by praying it often meditating on the lives of Jesus and Mary.

Just think about heaven for a moment. There is no old age, no suffering, no pain, no tears, no heartaches, no cancer, no mourning, or wailing, no war, no disagreements, no disunity, no physical ailments, no arthritis and no death.

Rather there is joy, peace, love, unity and happiness. Our imperfect relationships on earth, become perfect in heaven. We get to know each other and love each other in a way beyond our imagining. Every question we wanted answered on earth-- will be answered in heaven. Everything we wanted to do in this life, we will be fulfilled and not just fulfilled, but in the most profound and incomprehensible way. As the Lord, said, “My ways are not your ways.” St. Paul said, we have “an everlasting home in heaven”. On earth, we suffer, we go through difficulties, and by doing so we learn to love, to forgive and to grow in virtue.

And we arrive in heaven we will see the beauty and glory of the Virgin Mary and understand more fully Her motherly care and concern for us. We will see how when we prayed the Rosary, not only did it help us to get to heaven, but many others. Praying the Rosary will have helped us love our neighbor, by assisting those we pray for, in their spiritual and temporal needs.

Speaking of how we love our neighbor, and how that affects our judgment, the book of Wisdom states, “Our good deeds go with us.” St. John of the Cross helps us to know what our judgment will be like. He said, “In the end, we will be judged on love.” In other words, how much we fulfilled Our Lord’s commandment of love, loving our neighbor--- will either be our glory and reward-- or our eternal loss.

When we share with others God’s gifts He has given to us--- we are practicing stewardship. For example, mowing yards for those who cannot do it themselves, stitching and sewing for others, to use our voice in singing, to smile at someone who we know could use cheering up. There is a lady I know who makes her own greeting cards by her artistic talent. She draws beautiful flowers, birds and animals and writes little notes inside. Her Christmas, Easter and birthday cards are always my favorite. She uses her ability to make people happy. We can give a compliment to a co-worker when they did a good job. To financially help a single mother who is struggling to make ends meet. To bake cookies or a meal to give to a neighbor. To help our neighbor move cattle. To donate vegetables from your garden. To send a sympathy card to someone who lost a relative. A few kind words of encouragement for someone who is discouraged. All of these things are acts of love. Stewardship is recognizing God’s gifts He has given to us and sharing them with others out of love for God and neighbor.

Finally, many people have a “bucket list,” important things they want to do before they die. I would like to suggest, we create a new and different kind of “Bucket Bucket list”. We trust everything we ever wanted will be given to us in heaven and in a more profound and unimaginable way.

Let’s get the largest bucket we can find, and fill it with acts of love and mercy and place our good deeds, kind words and rosaries we prayed in it, so that when we go to our judgment, when Jesus said, “How much did you love?”

Then we will hand him a giant bucket filled of love and overflowing with all the good things we did in our life and He will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Today, let us entrust our good deeds, our merits, our prayers, our rosaries and everything to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for She will make sure, nothing we did in this life will be lost, but rather will be our reward and our glory.

4th Sunday, New Pope, Good Shepherd Sunday

 

On Thursday, May 8^th, the second day of voting in the Conclave, and upon the fourth ballot, minutes after a hungry baby seagull appeared with mother and father on the jumbotron focused on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, white smoke billowed from the smoke stack.

Also, May 8^th is the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii (a church built in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary), and Feast of the apparitions of St. Michael in a cave in Italy. A great day for a new pope was elected, so we can see Our Lady and St. Michael are interceding for the pope and the Church.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the first ever American pope, stepped out onto the loggia, taking the name, Pope Leo XIV, greeted by tens of thousands of pilgrims, visitors, and citizens of Rome.

He had a stately bearing, wearing the papal mozzetta (red cape) and stole, as Pope Benedict XVI had done upon his election in 2005. Pope Leo XIV spread his hands as a father welcoming his children. A microphone was set before him, and he spoke in Italian as he gave his papal address from a prepared speech, as Pope Benedict XVI had done 20 years earlier. Then Pope Leo XIV gave his first address.

Bishop Kemme sent an email to priests saying: “With great joy and profound gratitude to God, I join the universal Church in celebrating the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Born Robert Francis Prevost, our new Pope brings with him a remarkable blend of pastoral wisdom, deep missionary experience, and devoted service to the Church. As an Augustinian friar and the first American-born Pope, he has served the people of God across cultures and continents—from his roots in Chicago to the missions of Peru, and more recently in the heart of the Vatican, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. His years of work as a bishop in Peru and as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine have shaped in him a shepherd’s heart—one that listens, serves, and leads with humility. His recent role overseeing the appointment of bishops worldwide has shown his deep care for the future of the Church. We now look to him, our new Vicar of Christ, with faith and filial devotion. May Pope Leo XIV guide the Church in the light of the Holy Spirit, with courage, compassion, and fidelity to the Gospel.”

As we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus helped Peter understand, that He is the chief shepherd of the Church. He asked Peter, the same question three times. “Peter, do you love me?” Each time Peter responds, “Yes, Lord you know that I love you.” Jesus told Him, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” 

To feed the lambs, to tend the sheep and feed the sheep is what shepherds do, that is why the pope is the chief shepherd of the Church. As chief shepherd, the pope is to feed the people with the truth of the Gospel, passed down to us from Jesus and the Apostles. The pope is also to protect the sheep from the wolves of heresies such as modernism, communism and socialism.

Modernism promotes the idea that doctrines can change according to the times and so there are no moral absolutes, which is relativism.

Communism & socialism, promotes atheism, and affirms the doctrine of the community of goods and denies the right to ownership of private property. The pope is to warn the faithful of wolves who want them to lose their faith, and lose their God given right to own property.

The pope is to protect the Church from schism, which is a deliberate separation from Church structure. He is to help the faithful to be loyal the Church and loyal to the pope, not departing from any Church teaching but to maintain unity.

The pope is to protect the faithful from apostasy, which is the abandoning of one’s Christian faith and principles. An example of an apostasy would be if a cardinal, bishop or priest states that public officials who promote abortion and or same-sex marriage, can receive Holy Communion, which contradicts Church teaching and is apparent there is a loss of faith among the clergy, which Our Lady of LaSallette predicted in 1846.

Jesus Himself is the Good Shepherd. Our Lord appointed Peter as the shepherd of the Church and his successors has the duty to care for and protect the sheep.

The pope is to maintain unity, preach the fullness of truth, safeguard the faith, and strengthen faith in Jesus.

When Jesus said, “My sheep, hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” He used a familiar example of shepherds and farmers who knew sheep follow them.

We hear the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, through the voice of the Church, which proclaims Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition in what is called the Deposit of Faith, that has been passed down to us from Jesus and His apostles, through the centuries unto today.

How much more tenderly does God love us and knows each of us by our name? Jesus used analogies of sheep to help His disciples and us today to come to understand that as our Shepherd, there are things He wants us to do and some things He does not want us to do. For example, He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Jesus also does not want us sin, and wants us to be faithful to God. He wanted the early Christians to listen to the apostles and do what they would tell the Christians to do, as He said, “He who hears you, hears me.” (Luke 8:13). With these words, Jesus gave His authority to the apostles and their successors, who were bishops and priests so we would hear the voice of the Shepherd through the Church in every generation.

Our Lord told Peter, our first Pope, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

These words remind us that the Church is indefectible and can never be destroyed. The Catholic Church, founded by Jesus on His apostles, will continue until Jesus comes on the clouds of heaven.

In the book of Revelation, those wearing white robes were washed in the blood of the lamb. They are washed in His blood through the sacrament of baptism, but also those who laid down their life for Jesus, as martyrs.

Beginning with Peter, did you know the first 27 out of the first 31 popes were martyred? All the apostles, who were the first bishops were martyred, except John.

Jesus is both Shepherd and lamb, who laid down His life for us. He desires the shepherds today, to do the same for the people, even as martyrs, if necessary.

Bishops and cardinals wear the red hat to remind them to be willing to lay down their life for the sheep. Red is a reminder of the shedding of blood, as martyrs.

Today is Mother’s day and also Good Shepherd Sunday, let us honor and give thanks to God, for our three mothers, our mother the Church, our natural mother and our Blessed Mother. May we never forget, we have three mothers and may we love them, cherish them and turn to them, in all our needs, and be faithful to them, because they help us to obtain heaven, to be with Jesus, “The Lamb who is the center of the throne will shepherd (us) and lead (us) to springs of life-giving water and God will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes.”

And let us pray, for Pope Leo XIV, that the Virgin Mary will help him fulfill his role as chief shepherd of the Church, the vicar of Christ, feeding the people of God, the sheep, with un-compromised truth, passed down to us from Peter, our first Pope.

May 8th - Election of Leo XIV & Our Lady of Pompeii & St. Michael's Apparition

 Today is a remarkable day for the Church. We have a new pope. Today is also the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii and also the feast of the apparition of St. Michael the Archangel.

Bishop Kemme sent an email to the priests saying, “With great joy and profound gratitude to God, I join the universal Church in celebrating the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Born Robert Francis Prevost, our new Pope brings with him a remarkable blend of pastoral wisdom, deep missionary experience, and devoted service to the Church. As an Augustinian friar and the first American-born Pope, he has served the people of God across cultures and continents—from his roots in Chicago to the missions of Peru, and more recently in the heart of the Vatican, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. His years of work as a bishop in Peru and as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine have shaped in him a shepherd’s heart—one that listens, serves, and leads with humility. His recent role overseeing the appointment of bishops worldwide has shown his deep care for the future of the Church. We now look to him, our new Vicar of Christ, with faith and filial devotion. May Pope Leo XIV guide the Church in the light of the Holy Spirit, with courage, compassion, and fidelity to the Gospel.”

Today is the feast of the apparitions of St. Michael the archangel. It marks both that event and all his apparitions at Monte Gargano, which lies the little town of Monte Sant’Angelo, a 30-minute drive from San Giovanni Rotondo, where Padre Pio was from.

In this beautiful, town is a shrine located in a small cave. The cave constitutes the only church in the world not consecrated by human hands. Why wouldn’t we consecrate this place like every other church? The reason is that St. Michael did it himself. The traditions surrounding the founding of this shrine include four apparitions of St. Michael, including the earliest appearance of him in the Western world.

In the 5th century, he appeared to a local lord from nearby Siponto who had lost a bull in a cave. The man shot an arrow to scare the bull out of the cave, but the arrow came back and struck the lord. St. Michael appeared to the local bishop to request that the cave be consecrated.

The bishop did not obey immediately, perhaps doubting the vision’s veracity.

The second vision of the Archangel occurred when Siponto was threatened by invaders. He saved the town, an event that is commemorated on May 8th.

St. Michael appeared a third time—to the same bishop—to reiterate his request. The bishop at last acquiesced, and was told by St. Michael that the cave didn’t need to be consecrated because the Archangel had already done it himself. Legend says that he even left his footprint in the rock of the cave!

St. Michael made one last appearance in 1656, when he spared the townspeople from a plague that had struck southern Italy. He told the bishop that whoever kept stones from the cave would be protected from the plague.

To this day, pilgrims flock to the town to visit the grotto. Many popes and saints have visited it, including St. Francis of Assisi, who wouldn’t enter it because he felt unworthy. The stones of the cave—which have been used effectively in exorcisms—are now relics that you can obtain for spiritual and physical protection.

Today is also the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii. In October 1872, a man named Bartolo Longo, came to the valley. He was the husband of the Countess of Fusco, who had some property there; and Bartolo, a baptized Catholic came to see what condition it was in. Fallen away from the Church, he became a satanic priest.

But, October 9th, a few days after his arrival, he was walking along a rather desolate road when suddenly a voice seemed to speak to him. It told him that if he wished to be saved, he should spread devotion to the Rosary and that the Blessed Virgin had promised, that was the way to find salvation. Bartolo fell on his knees and replied that if the Virgin had truly so promised then he would be saved; he would not leave the valley until he had popularized the Rosary and the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. He went to Confession to a priest.

His early efforts to interest the people in the Rosary devotion do not seem to have been very successful, but he persisted, and in two or three years he had gathered quite a group around him for daily recitation of the prayers in the little chapel. The bishop visited the valley in 1875, and complimented Bartolo on the good work he had done. He suggested that a church be built there and then, turning prophet, the Bishop pointed to a field near the chapel and declared that someday a basilica would stand on that spot. As the number of people taking part in the daily recitation of the Rosary grew, it was decided to obtain a picture of the Blessed Virgin, to help the faithful meditate as they prayed. On October 13, 1875, Bartolo went to Naples to see if he could find a suitable picture, he reluctantly accepted a secondhand painting from a junk store for five lire. A trucker, not knowing what the package contained, pitched it on top of a load of garbage and manure and this is how the picture arrived at the chapel. 

The people were pleased with the dilapidated picture and enshrined it. He eventually had the picture re-painted. Almost immediately several miracles took place through Mary’s intercession. A church was built, 1876-1891 and a new basilica, 1934-1939, ordered by Pope Pius XI. Today is the anniversary of laying the foundation stone for building the Church. Later Bartolo Longo would give the Church the 54 day Rosary novena due to an apparition that a woman had and he began to promote. Bartolo Longo was beatified in 1980, and this year he will be canonized.

Today, there is hope that the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Pompeii and St. Michael will intercede for the new pope and the Church. Let us pray the Rosary every day and pray the St. Michael prayer asking the archangel to intercede for the pope and the Church.

St. Joseph the Worker - May 1st

 

Today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. In 1889, Pope Leo XIII pointed the faithful to Saint Joseph. Unchecked capitalism began to tear families apart as profit started to become the goal of work, rather than as a means of providing for one’s family. An even greater concern was the introduction of the philosophy of socialism, which was coupled with atheism. Socialism presented itself as a friend and ally to the worker, but it did so through objectively distorted means. It sought to eliminate religion, the family, and private ownership of property. Instead, each individual was to become a subject of the state, while the state took the place of God. Work was for the fatherland or motherland, not primarily to care for one’s family. In Saint Joseph, workers had someone to emulate. Saint Joseph did not work to get rich. He was not a servant of the state. He was not an oppressed laborer who needed liberating. He was a family man who found dignity in work as he provided for his family in a humble way.

On May 1, 1955, in an address to the Catholic Association of Italian Workers, Pope Pius XII took devotion to Saint Joseph one step further. He confronted the growing concerns posed by communism and its socialist philosophy on human labor and family life by instituting the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. “The humble craftsman of Nazareth not only personifies to God and the Holy Church the dignity of the laborer, but he is also always the provident guardian of you and your families.” May 1 (May Day) was chosen for the feast because socialist countries celebrated “International Workers’ Day” on that date. A Catholic feast, honoring the laborer in the person of Saint Joseph, was a fitting way of combating socialist ideology and restoring the dignity of labor to its proper place.

Every age has its challenges. Therefore, every age needs a role model to look up to and to help the faithful navigate the particular challenges of their day and age. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Saint Joseph was especially held up to the faithful who engaged in the daily toil of work to support themselves and their families with dignity and love. 

Work was not part of God’s original plan for humanity. Recall that when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield…” Thus, working “by the sweat of your brow” is a consequence of Original Sin. However, we must not see this consequence as something evil, but as a means by which we now fulfill our human mission. Human labor has dignity because it is an act of obedience to the will of God and is a participation in the work of God, the work of creation.

The invitation to turn to Saint Joseph as the patron saint of workers emerged over the past two centuries as societies went through drastic social and economic changes. Through the eighteenth century, most societies remained the same as they had always been. The majority of people tilled the land and raised animals to provide food for their families. Some engaged in various trades: a carpenter, blacksmith, tailor, baker, or shoemaker.

With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century, societies began to change. Machines were developed to perform tasks that had been performed by hand. Workers moved into cities to labor in factories of mass production, and many of the individual tradesmen were left behind. And though production increased, new abuses also arose. Child labor, long hours, unsafe work environments, and low wages were among the new problems. These problems especially affected family life. In response to these new societal problems, the Church held up Saint Joseph as a model for all to emulate. It ad Joseph “Go to Joseph” and he will help us to do God’s will with love and faithfulness.

Today, we turn to St. Joseph asking him to direct our work first and foremost for our family life, our humble acceptance of labor, and our dignity in bringing about God’s kingdom in the world through labor.

4th Sunday, Year C - Good Shepherd Sunday & Mother's Day

 

This weekend, we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother's Day.

What a beautiful image: Jesus a loving shepherd cares for us and leads us to good pasture and safety. It’s also comforting to know we are the sheep of His flock; He knows each of us by name and calls out to us. And we, His sheep, hear His voice and follow Him.

As we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus helped Peter to understand, that He is the chief shepherd of the Church. He asked Peter, the same question three times. “Peter, do you love me?” Each time Peter responds, “Yes, Lord you know that I love you.” Jesus tells Him, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” To feed the lambs, to tend the sheep and feed the sheep is what a shepherd does, that is why every pope is the chief shepherd of the Church.

Jesus Himself is the Good Shepherd, as it says in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. To green pastures He leads me with His crook and His staff.” As the Good Shepherd, Jesus went through His Passion, but He is also the lamb slaughtered, on the Cross, so His sheep may have life and have it abundantly in heaven.

In fact, Jesus’s suffering and death occurred on the day of Passover, when the Jews slaughtered thousands of lambs to make atonement for sins.

In the second reading from the book of Revelation, John had a vision seeing a great multitude in heaven who stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding branches. They had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And they worshiped God, the Lamb, on the throne, who will shepherd them to springs of life-giving water.

The multitude in heaven wearing white robes and carrying palm branches are martyrs, and all Christians who were washed in the blood of the lamb.

Jesus is the lamb and the Shepherd, whom was slain and who they worship. And Mary is the Mother of the Lamb and the Mother of the Good Shepherd.

Did you know sheep recognize their master’s voice and even can be called by their own particular name? So when Jesus said, “My sheep, hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” He used a familiar example of shepherds and farmers who knew sheep follow them. Shepherds can use specific names to get sheep to do what he wants.

How much more tenderly does God love us and know us by each of our names? God calls us individually by name.

Jesus used analogies of sheep to help His disciples and us today to come to understand that as our Shepherd, there are things He wants us to do and some things He does not want us to do. For example, He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Jesus wants us to not sin, to be faithful to God. He wanted the early Christians to listen to the apostles and do what they would tell the Christians to do, as He said, “He who hears you, hears me.” (Luke 8:13). Our Lord also declared to His apostles, “he who receives you, receives Me, and he who rejects you, rejects Me and the One who sent Me.” (Matthew 10:1-40).” With these words, Jesus gave His authority to the apostles and their successors, who were bishops and priests so we would hear His voice through the Church in every generation.

Did you know Mother's Day began almost two thousand years ago? It all began due to the people who realized the Church was their mother, at the baptismal font, where they were born into a life of grace, when they first became Christian. Through baptism, we are washed in Jesus’ blood, the blood of the lamb and shepherd. Years later, the converts returned to the church of their baptism to celebrate their faith and life in the church they were baptized and then also decided to celebrate a day dedicated to their natural mother.

Every Christian has three mothers. In my book on the Rosary, the book is dedicated to my spiritual mother, the Virgin Mary, and my natural mother, Cecilia, and My Holy Mother, the Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ. I said I pray all will be honored.

Last week at the 8am Mass, we crowned the Virgin Mary, our spiritual mother, with a wreathe of flowers. The children gave her flowers and we sang beautiful hymns. The beautiful poem by Bishop Fulton Sheen, “Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue”, was read. We prayed the Living Rosary before the statue of Mary. We do these things because we love Her.

Our natural mother will someday die, and some of your mothers have already died, which was surely one of the greatest heartaches in your life.

Our natural mother gave birth to us, raised us as children, taught us to take care of ourselves, gave us the faith and will always love us.

Our spiritual Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary died and was assumed into heaven. One may believe, She didn’t die, but fell asleep, though many saints said Mary died and then was assumed into heaven. Now that She is heaven, Mary intercedes for us and prays for Her spiritual children.

Will Holy Mother, the Catholic Church die too?​ Our Lord told Peter, our first Pope, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.”

These words can certainly mean that the Church will go through a terrible time of persecution, mentioned in the book of Revelation, where those wearing white robes were washed in the blood of the lamb. The persecution will be so severe, the Church go through Her death and will have a resurrection in imitation of Jesus. These are frightening words.

Yet, they are hopeful words, because in the end-- the Church triumphs over death, like Jesus triumphed over death.

Just as the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and the Apostle John faithfully stood with Jesus, as He went through His passion, we are called to stand with the Church, the mystical body of Christ, as She goes through Her Passion. We pray, that we will not be like all the other Apostles, who abandoned Jesus during His passion.

When Jesus was an unborn Infant, He heard Mary’s heart beat for love of Him. After His birth, He felt Her tender love for Him as She pressed Him to Her cheeks. And He would have experienced Her love day by day during the 30 yrs. of His hidden life. She was there for Him as He carried His Cross, stood and watched Him die on Calvary, held Her dead Son in Her arms, and helped place Him in His tomb. Because of Jesus’ love for His Mother, many believe She was the first to whom Our Lord appeared after His resurrection.

Because Mary is our spiritual mother, She will intercede for us during the great tribulation, as the Church goes through Her passion and resurrection in imitation of Jesus. I believe this is happening in our lifetime. And if it is, the Lord will help us through it.

As the Mother of the true God, and our mother, She has compassion on us. She helps us in our sorrows. She wipes away our tears, consoles us, and gives us peace. And through Her intercession, She will keeps us close to Jesus, as the Church goes through Her passion and we go through ours.

On Mother’s day and Good Shepherd Sunday, let us honor and give thanks to God, for our three mothers, our mother the Church, our natural mother and our Blessed Mother. May we never forget, we have three mothers and may we love them, cherish them and turn to them, in all our needs, and be faithful to them, because we need all three to help us obtain heaven, to be with Jesus, “The Lamb who is the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water and God will wipe away every tear from their (our) eyes.”

Sunday, Parish Eucharistic Festival - Carlo Acutis

 

Today, we have this special Sunday Mass. I would like to highlight a young man who created the first ever International Eucharistic Display, that contains 158 documented Church approved miracles.

Carlo Acutis was born on May 3^rd, 1991, in London, England, to devout Catholic parents. His family soon moved to Milan, Italy, where Carlo spent most of his life. From an early age, Carlo exhibited an extraordinary devotion to the Eucharist and a profound love for the Virgin Mary. He attended Mass daily and had a deep understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. At the age of 7, he wrote “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan.”

In addition to his strong faith, Carlo had a keen interest in technology and computer programming. He used his skills to create a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles from around the world, a testament to his desire to share his faith with the world. Despite his remarkable piety, though, Carlo was an ordinary teenager in many ways. He volunteered at a church-run soup kitchen, helped the poor in his neighborhood, assisted children struggling with their homework, played saxophone, soccer, and video games, and loved making videos with his dogs and cats.

However, his life took a dramatic turn when he was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 15. Throughout his illness, Carlo remained remarkably resilient, offering his suffering to God and drawing strength from the Eucharist. When he was dying he said, “I’m happy to die, because I’ve lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn’t have pleased God.”

He died on October 12, 2006, at the age of 15. His life, though brief, left an indelible mark on those who knew him and countless others who have since learned about his story.

Before he died, he developed on the computer and printed his large International Eucharistic Display that travels from parish to parish. Just think about that for a moment, he did that when computer technology was still developing and all before before the age of 15.

Blessed Carlo Acutis was beatified in 2020, and was to be canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday, last week, but since the pope died, the canonization will take place on another date.

The miracle attributed to his intercession occurred in 2022 when a Costa Rican woman named Valeria, who fell from her bicycle at 4 a.m. on July 2, 2022, and suffered a serious head injury. Even after emergency surgery removing part of her skull to reduce severe intracranial pressure, doctors warned her family she could die at any moment.

A friend of the young woman’s mother began praying to Blessed Carlo the same day, and the mother went to Assisi and prayed at Carlo Acutis’ tomb on July 8 – the same day the young woman began to breathe on her own again. She slowly recovered basic mobility, and a CT scan showed the hemorrhage was gone.

Blessed Carlo said, “When people sit in the sun, they become tan, “but when they sit before Eucharistic Jesus, they become saints.” Above all, he was impassioned by Jesus; and since he was very good on the internet, he used it in the service of the Gospel, spreading love for prayer, the witness of faith and charity toward others.

I personally had prayers answered through Blessed Carlo’s intercession. After I had surgery in Tulsa several years ago, and was in the hospital, a nurse came to my room to give me medicine, but she first needed to record it on the computer, which was located in every patient room. She attempted to turn on the computer multiple times, but it wouldn’t work. She left and said she would be back in a few minutes. Knowing Blessed Carlo was a computer expert, I prayed, “Carlo Acutis, please turn this computer on!” About 15 minutes later, the nurse returned, and said, “Thank you for turning on the computer. How did you do it?” I said, “I never touched it. I prayed to a young man, who died by the name of Carlo Acutis, and now it’s working. He got it working.”

The Eucharistic miracle display he created has many miracles approved by the Church. For example in the 1200’s the miracle of St. Clare watching Midnight Mass in her room when she was too sick to attend Mass. And when Muslims were attacking Assisi and enter the monastery of nuns founded by St. Clare, she went the wall surrounding the cloister and as she held up a Host in a monstrance, a ray of light shone out of the Host, scaring the Muslims, who ran away.

Another miracle in the 1200’s, was St. Anthony of Padua, who asked a farmer, who didn’t believe Jesus was present in the Eucharist-- to not feed his mule for three days and then come to St. Anthony with his mule and the mule’s favorite grain. Three days later, the man with the mule and the grain returned. While St. Anthony was holding the Eucharist and while the owner of the mule held the grain, the mule walked up to the Eucharist and bowed down on its front knees in adoration of the Sacred Host. Due to this miracle, the man believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

In 750 AD, at Lanciano Italy, during Mass, when a priest was having doubts about the Eucharist, as the priest elevated the Host above the altar, the Eucharist partially turned to flesh and blood drops fell from the Host. The miracle can still be seen today in a reliquary.

On January 31, 1906, on the small island of Tumaco, off the shore of Columbia, at 10 o’clock in the morning, there was a violent earthquake. All the inhabitants of the village ran to the church and begged the pastor, Fr. Gerardo Larrondo, to lead a procession with the Blessed Sacrament. The sea was rising in a giant wave and had already engulfed part of the beach. Fr. Gerardo quickly consumed the small Hosts in the ciborium. He called out to his people: “Let us go, my people. Let us go toward the beach, and may God have pity on us.” The people marched with the priest crying out to God. When Fr. Larrondo reached the beach with the monstrance he courageously went to the water’s edge, as the wave came rushing in, he calmly raised the Sacred Host and traced the sign of the Cross over the water. The wave hesitated, paused and backed off. The entire area was destroyed by the tidal wave, but didn’t touch the area where the priest and the people had gathered, while he held Jesus in the Host.

My dear friends, and young people. Imitate a 15 year old saint, Blessed Carlo Acutis. Come to daily Mass, come to Eucharistic Adoration, live your life of charity by helping others and ask Carlo Acutis for his heavenly help. Have his desire his desire, “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan. Live your life doing everything to please God, not wasting a minute. Come often to Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration, and trust the words of Blessed Carlo, “When people sit in the sun, they become tan, “but when they sit before Eucharistic Jesus, they become saints.”

And remember Carlo said, “the Eucharist is the highway to heaven”.

So if you want to go to heaven, if you want to become a saint, receive Jesus as often as possible in Holy Communion and adore Him every week in Eucharistic Adoration and live a life of charity helping others.

Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.

3rd Sunday Easter - Miraculous Catch of Fish & Feed my Lambs

In the Gospel today, after spending the entire night on the boat fishing and not catching anything, then in the early in morning, Jesus appeared to them on the shore of the lake, but they didn’t recognize Him. He told them to throw the fishing nets off the side of the boat. When they did, the apostles caught 153 fish. Doesn’t it make you wonder how they knew the exact number of fish? Obviously, they counted them, like any good fisherman would.

Do you think any of the Apostles prayed that night on the boat, asking God to help them catch fish? I doubt it.

I am sure most of you have gone fishing before, and before you went fishing, did you ask Jesus to help you catch fish? I’ll suspect not. But, why not? Jesus wants us to come to Him for everything, including catching fish to eat. No matter how small or how large our need, we should come to Jesus for everything. He wants us to completely depend upon Him.

The resurrection appearance of Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, shows us, that He cares about the Apostles and us. It shows us that He appointed one man to guide and lead the Catholic Church, who is its chief shepherd.

It was by the miracle of catching many fish, that John was the first to recognize Jesus, and that is why John said, “It’s the Lord!”

John was sensitive to the Lord’s amazing miracles.

John knew Jesus well, and understood only Jesus would have miraculously placed the fish near the boat, and then tell them to throw the net in the location of the fish to catch them.

When they came ashore with the great haul of fish, they noticed Jesus prepared breakfast for them. He was cooking fish over a charcoal fire and had bread for them too.

Have you ever had breakfast with Jesus? Have ever invited Jesus to eat breakfast with you or any other meal? Why not? When we pray before meals, why not invite Jesus to be with us when we eat breakfast?

Jesus cared that the Apostles were hungry after a long night of fishing. He cared that they were disappointed in not catching anything. He specifically showed His care for Peter, giving Peter the opportunity to make up for his three denials that happened before the cock crowed after Jesus was arrested.

Our Lord never chastised Peter for denying Him three times. But, He allowed Peter to make up for what he did, by telling Jesus that he loves Him three times.

If somebody were to hurt you three times, wouldn’t you be angry? Wouldn’t you probably bring up the incident and tell the person that they hurt your feelings?

But that’s not what Jesus did. Rather, He asked Peter, the same question three times. “Peter, do you love me?” Each time Peter responds, “Yes, Lord you know that I love you.” Jesus tells Him, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.”

Not only did Jesus lovingly help Peter to make up for the three denials, but also showed His confidence in Peter and commissioned him to take care of the Church.

By telling Peter to feed His lambs, tend His sheep, and feed His sheep, He was helping Peter to understand that he is the chief shepherd of the Church, for isn’t that what a shepherd does, feeds, and tends the sheep and lambs?

It is therefore, the pope’s duty to feed the people, who are the sheep, with sound doctrine and teachings. That is why it is the chief role of the pope to teach, to clarify, and to proclaim the faith, because by doing so, the people are fed with the Word of God, which helps them to get to the green pastures of heaven.

Most likely, by the end of the week, we will have a new pope. Let us earnestly pray to Jesus asking Him to give us a good shepherd, who will truly clarify, teach, and proclaim the faith passed down to us from Jesus and the Apostles.

This weekend is our Eucharistic festival. It all starts at 4pm with two priests hearing Confessions (Fr. Michael Kerchen and myself), at 4:50pm, Fr. Michael will give a 10 minute talk on the Eucharist. At 5pm, we will have a special Mass at 6pm.

Then we will have hamburgers and hot-dogs at the parish hall and watch a Eucharistic video “Jesus Thirsts”. After the video, about 7:45pm, we will have a Eucharistic Procession and then go the farm of Jon and Laurie for Adoration Under the Stars from 9pm to 10pm.

Amazingly, by God’s providence, this weekend the book 33 Days of Eucharistic Glory arrived. There are 60 copies, please take one with you.

Before Mass, children brought up flowers to give to the Virgin Mary and we honored Her by singing a hymn to Our Lady while a little girl crowned Her. The beautiful poem that was read was often quoted by Bishop Fulton Sheen.

“Lovely Lady dressed in blue. Teach me how to pray! [Jesus] was just your little boy, Tell me what to say!” etc...

As we begin the month of May, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, let us honor our heavenly Mother, by daily kneeling before a statue or image of Her, praying Her Rosary, beseeching Her to place Her mantle over us, to protect us, and let us ask Her to take our petitions to Jesus, knowing through Her motherly intercession, Jesus will more quickly answer our prayers.

The Virgin Mary, keep us close to Her Eucharistic Son and help us to love, honor, respect and adore Jesus, truly and really present in the most blessed Sacrament. And may today’s Eucharistic festival, pour out an abundance of graces for you, your family, our community, and the whole world.