Our Lady of Mount Carmel - July 16th

Today, we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The Carmelites claim their religious order began at the time of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, as a group of men dedicated to living ascetical life were expecting the promised virgin, the Mother of the Messiah, on top of Mount Carmel in Palestine.

The first Carmelite monastery was located on the site where Elijah slayed the false prophets of Baal. He called down fire on the altar from heaven, asking God to show there is only one God and that Baal was a false god. The fire not only consumed the sacrifice which had been dosed with water, but it also consumed the stone altar.

Its believed that when Jesus, Mary and Joseph were returning from being exiled in Egypt due to Herod’s attempt to kill the Child Jesus, the Holy Family stopped by Mount Carmel where the ascetic monks were praying for the future Mother of the Messiah, and it is there, they not only saw the Mother of the Messiah, but also the Child Jesus, the Messiah Himself.

Simon Stock was born in England in 1165 and left his home at the age of 12 to become a hermit. He passed twenty years in penance and prayer and learned from Our Lady that he was to join an Order. He joined the Carmelite Order and then eventually became the prior-general of the order. In the 1200’s, many of the brothers in the community at that time had become lax and were in danger of losing their souls. In addition to this-- the order was persecuted. Some were accusing the brothers of not being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but rather were dedicated to Mary of Egypt, which was not true.

Because the situation seemed dire, Simon Stock fell at the feet of Mary on July 16^th of 1251 and said, “Most holy Virgin! Beauty of Carmel Virgin Flower forever in bloom! Bright Ornament of Heaven! Thou Virgin-Mother of a Man-God! Mother of holy love! Mother of mercy and meekness! Star of the sea! O Mary, show us thou art our Mother! O Virgin most holy, give me a sign of thy predilection for thine Order of Carmel which will astonish our adversaries, and confound our detractors!”

It was at this moment, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Simon Stock and gave him the scapular, which was a long woolen cloth that covers the front and back of the habit. She told him, “Whomsoever wears this scapular will not suffer eternal fire”. The men in the community began to wear the scapular, which renewed their devotion and helped them to once again become more fervent religious. Laymen and women also began to wear the scapular, but because it was so long, it was problematic to wear during work. The scapular became smaller as it is worn today, so that everyone may easily wear the scapular.

About 50 years after the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Simon Stock, she appeared to Pope John XXII and promised “She would assist and console the children of Carmel detained in Purgatory and also speedily release them on the first Saturday after death”, which would become known as the Sabbatine privilege.
Interestingly, the last apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes was on July 16^th and Mary appeared to the children of Fatima at the last apparition as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Sister Lucia said, “Our Lady appeared holding the scapular in Her hands because She wants everyone to wear it.”

Today, if we don’t wear the Scapular, may we once again put it on trusting the Blessed Virgin Mary will help us to get to heaven and protect us from the evil one. The scapular is the best fire insurance you can have, because those who wear it will not suffer eternal fire.

15th Sunday Year C - Good Samaritan

In the Gospel parable today, a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was robbed, attacked and left half dead. None of his fellow Jews stopped to help him. Because it seemed like nobody cared about him, he could be tempted to lose confidence in humanity. It’s a horrible feeling, to feel unloved and no one is willing to help you.

However, a non-Jew, a Samaritan, helped the victim by taking him on his mule to an inn. He was moved by compassion and poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. He not only brought healing to his wounds, but even more importantly the Good Samaritan poured love on the injured man’s emotional wound and that love would be just as important and even more for healing than the bandages, oil and wine.

The Samaritans were people who lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Samaria was located between Galilee in the north and Judea in the south. The Samaritans were a racially mixed society with Jewish and pagan ancestry. Because of their imperfect adherence to Judaism and their partly pagan ancestry, the Samaritans were despised by ordinary Jews. Rather than contaminate themselves by passing through Samaritan territory, Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee or vice versa would cross over the river Jordan, bypass Samaria by going through Transjordan, and cross over the river again as they neared their destination.

The Samaritans harbored a deep dislike toward the Jews. When Jesus used this parable, He wanted to point out the failure of Jews to help fellow Jews. Our Lord also wanted to show the Jews, that non-Jews, Samaritans, could do something very loving and compassionate, while at the same time showing Jews, they are failing to love others as they ought. Jesus wanted to change the Jewish attitude toward Samaritans and to discontinue passing through a different region to avoid them.

The Lord Jesus wanted everyone to treat their neighbor, as they would want to be treated (Jews and non-Jews including Samaritans), who they despised and avoided.

This parable is given to all people in every day and time to show us we are to love God with all our heart, all our being, all our strength and all our mind, and love our neighbor as oneself.

When the scholar asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, Jesus gave the parable to include those from a different culture, race and faith, so as to consider everyone as neighbor. When we fail to love our neighbor, we are really failing to love God as we ought.

Today, when we use the phrase, "Good Samaritan", we refer to a stranger who selflessly helps others. When someone we don’t even know shows an act of love, it inspires us to love others too.

When I was living in Alabama, there was an elderly lady, who daily attended Mass at the monastery of nuns. Unfortunately, the woman was racist. On occasion she made negative comments about black people.

One day, she was in a car accident and became unconscious due to her hitting her head on the windshield. When she woke up, there was an African American who helped her out of her car and because she was a small woman, he held her in his arms and was rocking her, telling her, “Everything is going to be alright.” She said the next thing she knew, she was in an ambulance. Before departing for the hospital, she told the EMTs, she wanted to thank that black man for being so kind to her. But the ambulance crew said there was no one there. But the woman insisted that there was. She later called the man her angel. After her experience, she was no longer racist.

When I was in high school, I was working at our farm and accidentally tore a gash on my arm from a barbwire fence and it was bleeding much. As I was walking back to the farm, along the highway, I was holding pressure on the injury to prevent it from bleeding, a semi truck drove by and the driver saw that I was injured. The man pulled off the road and came up to me and asked if he could take me to the hospital, but I refused. After the man left, I realized how kind it was that he stopped to help.

I’m sure some of you experienced a good Samaritan when a stranger changed their flat tire or you were the good Samaritan and helped someone change their tire.

I was in Walmart a few years ago, looking at eyeglasses in their optometry department. I noticed a woman came to pick up her eyeglasses and she barely had enough money to pay for them. A stranger walked up to her and said, “Sweetheart, let me pay for your eyeglasses.” The kind gentlemen wrote out a check for $300 paying for the woman’s glasses. In tears the woman profusely thanked him.

My friends, don’t be afraid to help a stranger in need. The best medicine of all is love. If we don’t love those who need help, they remain wounded and hurt. Good Samaritans give the medicine of love that heals broken and battered hearts.

I encourage you to be a Good Samaritan, to be the stranger, and seek out those who need help, for by doing so, you are loving God with all our heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength and loving your neighbor as yourself. May the Virgin Mary pray for us, and help us love God and our neighbor as She did most perfectly.

St. Benedict - July 11th

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Benedict, who is often invoked for protection against the devil. St. Benedict is the father of western monasticism. Born in Nursia in 480, he is the patron of Europe, because of his enormous contribution of establishing Christianity on the continent. It was a time in the Church, civil society, and Christian culture itself, were in great danger. Through his sanctity and accomplishments, he drew the barbarians from paganism toward a civilized and truly enhanced way of life.

When he was young, the corruption of the world caused him to live a hermit’s life of penance and prayer in a cave in the mountain Subicao, near Rome, where St. Romanus instructed him in Christian asceticism. He lived in solitude striving for religious perfection, self-conquest, mortification, humility, prayer, silence, retirement, and detachment from the world. His reputation for sanctity gathered a large number of followers, for whom he erected monasteries in which they lived a community life under a prescribed rule. He founded the great Abbey on Mount Cassino, which became the center of religious life in Europe. The principles of the rule written by St. Benedict became the basis for religious life for all western religious orders after his time.

St. Benedict’s sister, St. Scholastica founded the cloistered Benedictine monasteries. The most famous Benedictine Sisters today are the sisters of Gower, Missouri where Sr. Wilhelmina, the incorrupt nun is located.

We may be familiar with the St. Benedict metal, which is very powerful against the devil. On the medal, St. Benedict holds a cross in his hand. A broken chalice, and a crow are pictured behind him.

St. Benedict’s power over the devil can be understood by these two examples: A community of monks, whose abbot died, asked St. Benedict to accept the office as abbot, of their community. He first refused, but later conceded. However, after instituting a strict monastic discipline. But because they were lax, they wanted to kill him by poisoning his wine. He made the sign of the cross over a cup of poisoned wine, which immediately broke. St. Benedict replied, “God forgive you brothers. Why have you plotted this wicked thing against me? Did I not tell you beforehand my ways were not in accord with yours. Go and find an abbot to your taste…” With that he left and returned to Subiaco.

On another occasion a black bird began to fly around his face, and came so near to him that he could have grabbed it, if he wanted. When he made the sign of the cross, the bird flew away. Immediately he experienced severe lustful images, as he had never had before. He recognized it coming from the devil, and so immediately tossed himself in thorns, and was rescued from the temptation.

The St. Benedict medal and Benedict Crucifix are powerful weapons to protect us from evil spirits.

Yesterday, I had the joy blessing a parishioner’s home and two St. Benedict crucifixes (using the special prayer from the Benedictines given to diocesan priests using the exorcism prayer).

Everyone should have Benedict medals, crucifixes in their homes and they should also have their home blessed at least once a year.

Let us resolve to wear a St. Benedict’s medal, so that Our Divine Lord will protect us from the wickedness and snares of the devil. And may we also call upon the Blessed Virgin, who will crush the head of the serpent.

14th Week Wednesday - Joseph an Image of Jesus

Have you ever had something really bad happen to you and then later you discovered something very good would come out of it? That’s what happened in the first reading. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery but later would become the governor over a large territory and because of that, the whole known world would come to him during a time of famine in order to have food to eat.

Joseph said, “I am your brother, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.”

God used the terrible event of betrayal by his own brothers and then having to live as a slave for years, before Joseph would finally see the day, when all that suffering bore fruit. Amazingly, he was not bitter towards his brothers but rather saw God’s hand in using his misfortune to save lives.

Joseph is an image of Jesus. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver and Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and Jesus was betrayed by one of His apostles. Joseph had a cloak of many colors Jesus had a seamless garment they divided among them. Joseph was sold into slavery, Jesus would save mankind from the slavery of sin. Joseph was thrown into a hole and its believed after Jesus was arrested, Our Lord was placed in an underground dungeon. Joseph would become responsible for saving lives during a famine and Jesus would be responsible for saving souls, for the spiritually famished. Pharaoh told everyone to come to Joseph for all their needs. God the Father wants all to come to Jesus for their needs. Joseph forgave his brothers, and Jesus forgave all of our sins.

It was really for the sake of saving souls, God sent His Son ahead of us, but He had terrible sufferings to endure including His Passion that preceded His victory through His Resurrection.

Something terribly bad happened to Jesus, but it was for the sake of saving us from our sin. Joseph fed the people with food so they would not die. Jesus feeds us with His flesh, “The Bread from Heaven.”, so that those who eat His flesh and drink His blood we will live forever.

14th Sunday - Missionary Disciples

Our Lord sent out seventy-two ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place Our Lord intended to visit. Jesus said, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the Master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Most farmers just finished or about to finish the wheat harvest. Some farmers were reliant on custom cutters to cut their wheat and with all the rain, they went further north where it was dry and had to come back to finish the job. The laborers were few for a time, but in the end the Lord provided an abundant harvest and the workers completed their task.

It’s a lot of work to till the soil, plant seeds, much money and labor are spent and then farmers must rely on good weather. Rain to make it grow. Hail can damage crops. A drought can cause a poor harvest. Farmers have to trust in God’s divine providence, that He will provide all this is needed.

The image that Jesus uses of a harvest and workers remind us harvesters are missionaries sent out into the world to proclaim the truth. The missionary harvesters need to understand how to reap a harvest of those ripe and ready to hear the Gospel. When we think of spreading the Gospel, we think of priests, who preach and teach Jesus to others.

Priests are called by Jesus to be His close companions. They are called to give their life to Jesus, to offer themselves as a sacrifice for the people, and as shepherds guide and lead the flock. Priests are harvesters and after the Lord prepared their hearts through tilling their soul with trials, and pouring waters of grace to help them sprout into a disciple, they will then bear the fruit of virtue, so they too can scatter the seeds of faith to others. But, the priest can’t do it alone, everyone is a missionary disciple through baptism.

At baptism every Christian becomes a disciple of Jesus with the mission to make more disciples teaching all about Our Lord and what He commanded us. Jesus told His disciples, “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

Some missionaries go to foreign countries to tell others about Jesus, who never heard about Him, but have the opportunity to know and love Him. Missionaries are also in our own country, such as FOCUS missionaries who seek out young college students starving for truth and starving for love. FOCUS Missionaries learned how to gather the harvest with the love of Jesus Christ. They first win students for Jesus by meeting the students where they are and share the Good News of Christ to them. They help them develop a relationship with Jesus. They tell college students how God loves them and how their life can be filled with joy and peace if they turn their lives over to Christ.

They introduce them to the Mass, Confession, Bible study and Eucharistic Adoration, and help them put Jesus first and in the center of their daily life, so they too can eventually go out and make disciples. They also help non-Catholics to become Catholic.

The greatest number of people in the Little River area are un-churched (don’t go to church). Others have never belonged to a church. Many locally are starving for the truth. They hunger to have something more than worldly things, because they are hungering for Jesus, but don’t know it. However, every Catholic is a disciple and every Catholic is a missionary. Each one of us has the opportunity of first seeking out the un-churched, the unbaptized, those starving for love and those who do not know Jesus.

The way to evangelize our friends and neighbors is easy. First, just be their friends, then introduce Jesus to them, by telling them about your own personal relationship with Our Lord. Teach them to begin praying to Jesus and so have a relationship with Him, then help them to make Jesus the center of their lives.

What makes a good disciple? We turn to Mary, who always did God’s will in Her life. For us, it is also God’s will to avoid sin, which Mary did perfectly. It is God’s will for us to grow in holiness. Mary was the holiest human being. She was holier then all the angels and saints combined.

A disciple of Jesus first sits, listens and adores Our Lord, the teacher. Mary adored Jesus in Her womb. When He was born, Mary was the first to adore the face of Jesus. Mary was the first to pray to Jesus, listen to Him, which She did every day for the first 30 years of His life because She lived with Him. Mary knew Sacred Scripture and pondered it with Her Heart. She pondered every word and action of Jesus.

Therefore, for one to be a disciple of Jesus one must sit at His feet in Eucharistic Adoration. Bishop Fulton Sheen told priests and seminarians they should daily make a Holy Hour with Jesus. To be a disciple we adore the face of Jesus with eyes of faith in the Eucharist, receive in Holy Communion as often as possible.

A good disciple of Jesus ponders and meditates on Sacred Scripture reading the bible every day. One who is ignorant of Scripture is ignorant of Christ. A good disciple of Jesus will pray Hail Marys with their lips and meditate on the mysteries of the life of Jesus praying the Rosary often and so think about and ponder Jesus with Mary’s eyes and Heart.

But we can’t be perfect like Mary. We all fall short. The saints give us hope, because they were sinners and had faults. The apostles were jealous of each other and wanted to be better than the others. Peter denied Jesus three times. St. Jerome had angry outbursts all his life, but he did lots of penance. St. Augustine caroused with women and even fathered a child out of wedlock. St. Francis of Assisi was given into revelry before his conversion. St. Monica had a drinking problem when she was young. But all of saints used their weaknesses to help them grow in holiness and humility. The disciple will take up his cross daily striving for virtue.

Today, let us turn to missionary saints, especially St. Francis Xavier, who baptized 30,000. St. Junipero Serra baptized 6,000 Indians. St. Peter Claver baptized 300,000 in Columbia. St. Vincent Ferrer converted 20,000 Jews and thousands of Muslims. St. Patrick converted over 100,000 from false Irish religions. St. Francis de Sales converted thousands, who had fallen away from the faith.

And let us ask the Queen of all disciples, the Virgin Mary, the first and greatest Disciple to help us bring many to Jesus and so help them obtain heaven.

July 4th Independence Day - 249 Years!

Click on Flag

Tens of thousands just honored America at President Trump's Iowa rally with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. President Trump makes me PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

Today, the United States of America is 249 years old, and so next year we will be celebrating 250 years as a nation. On Sept. 19^th of 1987 Pope St. John Paul visited the United States and gave the following address at the airport in Detroit, Michigan.

Pope St. John Paul II said,

America the beautiful! So you sing in one of your national songs. Yes, America, you are beautiful indeed, and blessed in so many ways:

- in your majestic mountains and fertile plains;

- in the goodness and sacrifice hidden in your teeming

 cities and expanding suburbs;

- in your genius for invention and for splendid

 progress;

- in the power that you use for service and in the

 wealth that you share with others;

- in what you give to your own, and in what you do for

 others beyond your borders;

- in how you serve, and in how you keep alive the

 flame of hope in many hearts;

- in your quest for excellence and in your desire to

 right all wrongs.

Yes, America, all this belongs to you. But your greatest beauty and your richest blessing is found in the human person: in each man, woman and child, in every immigrant, in every native-born son and daughter.

For this reason, America, your deepest identity and truest character as a nation is revealed in the position you take towards the human person. The ultimate test of your greatness in the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones.

The best traditions of your land presume respect for those who cannot defend themselves. If you want equal justice for all, and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life! All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person:

- feeding the poor and welcoming refugees;

- reinforcing the social fabric of this nation;

- promoting the true advancement of women;

- securing the rights of minorities;

- pursuing disarmament, while guaranteeing legitimate

 defense; all this will succeed only if respect for life

and it's protection by the law is granted to every

human being from conception until natural death.

Every human person - no matter how vulnerable or helpless, no matter how young or how old, no matter how healthy, handicapped or sick, no matter how useful or productive for society - is a being of inestimable worth created in the image and likeness of God. This is the dignity of America, the reason she exists, the condition for her survival-yes, the ultimate test of her greatness: to respect every human person, especially the weakest and most defenseless ones, those as yet unborn.

With these sentiments of love and hope for America, I now say goodbye in words that I spoke once before: "Today, therefore, my final prayer is this: that God will bless America, so that she may increasingly become - and truly be - and long remain one Nation, under God, indivisible. With liberty and justice for all." 

My friends, since today is the First Friday of the month, I encourage you to offer your Holy Communion in reparation for sins of our nation committed against the Sacred Heart of Jesus, especially the sins against life: abortion, contraception, embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization and contraception.

And may the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate Conception, and patroness of our country protect us and help us to defend life.

Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle

 

Today is the feast of St. Thomas.

He was Jewish and one of the twelve apostles which Our Lord had chosen to build His Church. After Our Lord ascended into heaven, it is believed Thomas went to India to preach the Gospel. In Malabar, Christians today, still call themselves “Christians of St. Thomas”.

Jesus told His apostles He was going to return to Judea to visit His sick friend Lazarus. Some of His disciples tried to convince Jesus not to go and said, “with the Jews only recently trying to stone you, you are going back there again?”

Despite this opposition, Thomas exhorted the other Apostles to go with Jesus on His trip He said, “Let us go along, to die with Him.” Thomas believed Jesus was the Messiah and was willing to die with Our Lord.

At the Last Supper, when Jesus told His apostles He was going to prepare a place for them, it was Thomas who wanted to continue to follow Jesus and so said, “Lord, we do not know the where you are going. How can we know the way?” And because of Thomas’ sincere desire to follow, and thinking Jesus was referring to an earthly place, Our Blessed Lord states the beautiful phrase, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but through me.”

But St. Thomas is best known for his role in verifying the Resurrection of Jesus. On the day of the Resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the apostles in the upper room, by divine providence, Thomas was not there. After Jesus had left and when Thomas returned, the apostles told him that they had seen the Lord. But Thomas did not believe them and ever since had been called “doubting Thomas”. Despite this title given to Thomas, Pope St. Gregory the Great said, “his disbelief has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples.”

Thomas had said, “I will never believe it without putting my finger in the nail marks and my hand into His side”

But a week later, when the disciples were all gathered once again in the upper room, including Thomas, Jesus appeared and said to Thomas, “Take your finger and examine my hands. Put your hand into my side. Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe.”

Our Lord offered His side for the disbelieving disciple to touch, held out His hands, and showing the scars of His wounds, healed the wound of his disbelief.

And it was here that Thomas does something the other disciples did not, he cried out, “My Lord and my God!” Seeing he believed; and looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see.

Today, many Christians repeat these words especially when the Sacred Host is elevated above the altar at the consecration.

Jesus said, “Blest are they who have not seen and have believed.” In the Sacred Host, we do not see Jesus, we do not see God, but by faith we believe.

Today, during the consecration, when the Host is elevated above the altar, in the silence of our heart, let us use the words of St. Thomas and cry out, “My Lord and My God!”

In Butler’s Lives of the Saints, it states, “By his ignorance, he instructed, and by his incredulity, he has served for the faith of all ages.”

St. Thomas is not only a witness to the Resurrection of Jesus, but also of the Assumption of Mary. There is a tradition, which comes from St. John Damascus, who said, that the emperor Marcian wanted the body of the Mother of God, but that St. Juveneal, bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon, in 451 said, Mary died in the presence of the Apostles, but that Her tomb, when opened at the request of St. Thomas was empty and so the Apostles concluded that Mary’s body was taken up into heaven.

Thomas was speared to death and so died shedding his blood for Jesus. Today, let us turn to St. Thomas and ask him to help us to believe as he believed, when he touched the side of Jesus, and when the Host is elevated above the altar, let us cry out, “My Lord and my God!”