Ash Wednesday - Deny Pleasures, Self-love

 

Are we living for eternity or living for the world? Are we detached from the things of the world, rather than to attached to God alone. One of the most common temptations we have is the temptation for self-love, by satisfying our own personal desires because we love our self, more than we love God and neighbor.

That is why Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. The minimum, when fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. All Fridays of Lent are days of Penance and Sacrifice.

During Lent and especially on Fridays of Lent, we are to deny our self-non-sinful pleasures of the body: food, drink, temperature control, delicious meals, favorite foods, comfort, taste, meat, etc... And pleasures of the eye: TV, Internet, Social Media. And especially deny our self-sinful pleasures: Lying, Laziness, Envy, Gossiping, Excessive Food or Drink, Lust, Anger, pornography, impurity, cussing, etc...

By dying to our self and our pleasures, we live for God and live for heaven and don't allow worldly things to control us. Rather we control them and master them, so as to practice virtue. We need to be detached from the things of the world, so we can be attached to God alone.

The following items are considered non-necessary or even luxury items, especially in poor countries: Candy, dessert, pop, alcohol, cigarettes, power drinks, meat, chewing tobacco, etc...

Alcohol is viewed by most in four ways: as a social drink or partying drink or luxury drink, or for celebrations.

It also lends to immoderate drinking and drunkenness and is an occasion of sin for some who may have it as an addiction.

This is why during Lent; we deny our self-non-sinful pleasures and sinful pleasures. We make these sacrifices, so that we can detached from the things of the world and be attached to God alone, because in the end, if we give up all our worldly and sinful pleasures, we will look forward to heaven as our goal, we all our pleasures will be satisfied in God alone.

Rather than living for our self, and our pleasures, let's live for God & neighbor. May the Virgin Mary, help us to enter into Lent with a spirit of penance and sacrifice, as we look forward to celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter.

As Aristotle said, "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self."

6th Sunday - Heaven, Hell, Purgatory

 

Today's readings speak about heaven, hell, and purgatory. The book of Sirach said, “If you keep the commandments, they will save you.” What do the commandments save us from? Hell. “Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.” Life refers to eternal life, which is heaven.

The second reading said, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” This refers to heaven. St. Paul is speaking about a place where we cannot comprehend. There is nothing on earth we can see or hear, compared to the place for those who love Him will go, which is heaven. In heaven there is no tears, no pain, but only love, joy, and peace. It's a place where all our desires on earth are fulfilled and not just fulfilled, but even beyond our wildest dreams. We will be rewarded for our merits. We will see and talk to saints, angels, the Virgin Mary and our family and friends and most importantly God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel today, Jesus mentions purgatory. He said, “Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you paid the last penny.” To settle with one’s opponent, refers to making amends with those whom we have hurt, by apologizing, and by making restitution to the harm done to them. Jesus makes it clear the offender must pay for his sins. He is referring to a temporary prison (purgatory). The court refers to the person’s judgment at the moment of death. The judge refers to Jesus, who judge's us when we die. If all our sins are not made up in this life, we will be punished in the next life, through the fires of purgatory, because only that which is clean may enter heaven. Those in purgatory have the assurance of eventually going to heaven. Their greatest pain is have to wait to be with God. St. Augustine said, “The pains of purgatory are greater than any kind of suffering we can endure in this life.”

Today's Gospel mentions hell three times. “Whoever says, ‘You fool’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” The following verse is repeated twice, “It is better if you lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.” Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. He said, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!" The punishment of hell is forever, which is horrifying.

The Virgin Mary, showed three children, ages 10, 8, and 7 what hell looked like. Sr. Lucia spoke about the vision. She said, "(Mary) opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the demons and the souls [of the damned]. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames which issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fright (it must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons were distinguished [from the souls of the damned] by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals...."

Our Lady also told the children, "Each time you say the Rosary, My children, say after each decade, 'O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy."

Thanks to the Virgin Mary, every time we pray the Rosary, we pray 5 times that Jesus will save us from the fires of hell. The vision of hell didn't cause the children to be afraid of God. But rather it caused their hearts to expand with great love for sinners. This is why the children offered their sacrifices and did penance for the conversion of sinners. They never had a vision of heaven, but wanted souls to go there because of love.

Lucia asked the Virgin Mary, "Do you come from heaven...and will I go to heaven?" “Yes, you'll go". "And Jacinta?" "As well" “and Francisco?" "Him too, but he will have to say many rosaries". Our Lady told the children: "Do you wish to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the suffering that He may please to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and to ask for the conversion of sinners?" "Yes, we do." said the children. "You will have to suffer a lot, but the grace of God will be your comfort.”

One day in St. John Vianney little church, a man possessed by a demon approached him, and the demon said: "I hate you, I hate you because you stole from my hand eighty-five thousand souls." He suffered much and did great penances to save souls from the fires of hell.

Today many think God is too merciful to send anyone to hell. Some cease to fear hell and do not try to avoid it. Others believe everyone goes straight to heaven, as though no one goes to purgatory or to hell. Some wrongly believe at the end of time, God will release all the souls and demons from hell. But the Church teaches hell is everlasting. God is not only infinitely merciful, He is also infinitely just.

May we seek the kingdom of heaven and do everything we can to keep it. May we come to Jesus, the merciful shepherd in confession often, especially if we committed a mortal sin, to come quickly to Him to receive His infinite mercy. As soon as we commit any sin, may we immediately ask the Lord to forgive us. There is nothing more important than keeping our soul in the state of grace. And if you find our self in mortal sin, do everything you can to get out of it. Because if we die in the state of mortal sin, we go to hell forever. We don't avoid mortal sin out of fear of hell, but especially out fear of offending and hurting the good God, whom we love because He loves us so much He died for us, that we may be with Him forever in heaven.

Let us do as Our Lady of Fatima asked, to do penance, offer up sufferings, make sacrifices and pray the rosary daily for the conversion of sinners, so that we help many souls go to heaven. By the grace of God, we will save our own soul and go to our eternal home where there is no pain, no suffering and no tears, where there is nothing but love, peace and joy in heaven forever and ever and ever.

O Jesus, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.

Our Lady of Lourdes - Feb 11th - 72 Miracle

 

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. On Feb. 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous at a grotto in the small French town of Lourdes. Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette 18 times between February and July of that year.

After the first three apparitions, Our Lady asked St. Bernadette, “Would you have the goodness to come here for 15 days?” Despite resistance from her mother, Bernadette continued to visit the grotto and pray her rosary, which gained the attention of many villagers.

During the final few apparitions, close to 10,000 people came to Lourdes to see St. Bernadette and the apparition. Our Lady’s messages to Bernadette were always about repentance and praying for the conversion of sinners. Our Lady of Lourdes said to St. Bernadette, "You will pray to God for sinners” and "Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners! Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners!"

Our Lady of Lourdes did not reveal herself until the 16th apparition on March 25, after St. Bernadette asked her who she was for a fourth consecutive time that day. Our Lady replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

One reason millions of people visit the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes every year is due to the reported medical miracles from the grotto’s spring water. The Lourdes Medical Bureau was established in 1883 at the request of St. Pius X. Out of 7,500 cases, 72 were reported as scientifically inexplicable. It is for this reason Our Lady of Lourdes is the patroness of the sick.

Antonia Raco, a 67-year-old Italian woman long affected by an incurable neurodegenerative illness, was officially introduced to the press on July 25, 2025 in Lourdes, where her healing was recognized as the 72nd miracle attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary since the apparitions of 1858. When the miracle was announced Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis, the permanent doctor at the Lourdes Sanctuary, reminded the audience that the Church considers a healing miraculous only if it is sudden, complete, lasting, medically inexplicable, and not attributable to treatment or gradual recovery.

Diagnosed in 2006 with ALS — a progressive and fatal condition — Raco experienced a recovery that defied medical explanation. The recognition by the Shrine in Lourdes marked the culmination of 16 years of medical, canonical, and pastoral inquiry. Raco, a mother and active parishioner from Basilicata in southern Italy, had been living with the disease for several years when she traveled to Lourdes with her husband Antonio in 2009. Raco said, “I had wanted to go to Lourdes since I was a child."

On the second day, sanctuary volunteers brought her to the baths. “We prayed together. That’s when I heard a beautiful young female voice say three times: ‘Don’t be afraid!’”

Raco wore the white veil and uniform of the Hospitallers of Lourdes — the volunteer caregivers she now joins each year, assisting the sick with the same compassion once shown to her. During the immersion in the bath, she described a sudden, sharp pain in her legs as though “they were taken away from me.” She did not disclose what had happened to anyone during her stay and returned home in a wheelchair.

In her living room with her husband, she heard the same voice urging her, “Tell him! Call him!” Obeying the voice, she called out to her husband, who had just stepped into the kitchen. “Something has happened,” she told him. In that moment, she stood unaided for the first time in years. Overcome with emotion, the couple embraced, crying together as they realized she was cured.

Although miraculous physical healings are astounding, what is more astounding is when a soul is healed from sin. Spiritual healing is infinitely more important than a physical healing.

One of the primary messages from Our Lady was for us to do penance and to pray for sinners. Today, let us resolve to don penance and pray for the conversion of sinners. We can do this most especially, like Bernadette daily praying the Rosary and calling upon Mary saying, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee."

5th Sunday, Salty Pie

 

Last Saturday, Fr. Ken Schuckman offered the 6:30pm Mass. I went to the Confirmation of Sydney and Kassie Sauer at St. Joseph in McPherson. Last year, they were unable to get confirmed with our group. When you see them be sure to congratulate them.

When I was a seminarian, I was serving at Church of the Resurrection, the parish of Fr. Ken Schuckman. One day, an old lady stopped by the priest house and dropped off homemade cherry pie, she made for us. She did a charitable deed for us.

Later that day, after we finished our evening meal, Fr. Schuckman cut the pie and we began to it. But, suddenly, we realized something was wrong with the pie. On top of the crust, bakers sprinkle sugar and sugar is used as an ingredient in the pie. But, not this one.

After swallowing a bit my mouth immediately puckered and I had to spit it out. It was extremely salty. I said, "The pie has a huge amount of salt in it." Fr. Schuckman was slowly chewing it, but he swallowed it. He said, "There is one thing, you must learn, people have good intentions. She must have accidentally used salt instead of sugar when she made it." He said, "Come on, you can eat it. She spent her time and money making this pie. It ain't gonna hurt you." He said, "You should be thankful for what anyone gives." I took another bite of the pie, chewed it, swallowed, but had to spit it out. I said, "I'm sorry, I can't finish it. It upsets my stomach." Fr. Schuckman finished eating his piece with a grimace on his face. He put the rest in the refrigerator and throughout the week, he finished off the pie. His humility shined like a light.

In the Gospel today, Jesus used metaphors of light and salt to explain the importance of living our life as a Christian. Salt seasons (adds flavor), it preserves, it heals, but it can also burn.

Salt Seasons – Christians are called to add spice to life, to bring beauty, joy and hope to the world. Keeping the Commandments is a source of joy as we experience God’s power to put sin to death in us and bring forth order, self-discipline and holiness. We are to be zesty, passionate, alive and free from sin in Christ. Look at what spicy things our Catholic faith has contributed in the world: Art, music, churches, hospitals, universities, the scholastic and scientific methods.

Salt Preserves – Before refrigeration was invented, salt was used to cure or persevere meat. It killed bacteria and other microorganisms that caused rot and decay. As Christians we are to prevent further decay in this sinful world. The truth we proclaim is meant to preserve people from the decay of sin. Chastity, justice, generosity, the proclamation of the truth, and so forth, are like salt that preserves the world from decay. As Christians we proclaim the dignity of life from the moment of conception until natural death. In a world immersed in promiscuity, we proclaim, purity, chastity and abstinence. In a world which thinks life is worth as to how much a person is useful, as Catholics we believe life is worthy living for the handicapped, elderly, unborn and the poor. As the world promotes homosexuality, Catholics proclaim the beauty of marriage is only between a man and woman. The world promotes infidelity, but we proclaim the indissolubility of marriage. The world disregards conscience and religious beliefs, but we proclaim religious freedom is a gift from God, not from man. In a world life is not protected, we proclaim abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research are grave offenses against God. We proclaim every life is sacred. Our Catholic faith preserves all that is good.

Salt Heals – In the ancient world salt was used on wounds. It helped stop bleeding, it killed bacteria and prevented further infection. So too the Christian faith. Through our doctrinal and moral teaching, and living our faith, we bring healing a world wounded by sin, strife, war, jealousy, anger, bitterness, retribution, promiscuity, unfaithfulness, greed, and countless errors. The Word of God and His plan is a healing medicine for an ailing world.

Salt Burns –When salt is applied to wounds it burns and causes pain. The truth stings, and the truth of the Gospel can be irritating to a world wounded by sin. But, despite the protests of our world, the sting can heal. It is driving out the bacteria and disease of the world and preventing further infection by proclaiming the healing balm of truth. The truth is-- the pie the lady made was extremely salty and was hard to swallow. But to those who can stomach it, its a source of virtue.

Salt in a saltshaker needs to be sprinkled about. It has to go forth and be scattered. We are to bring Jesus to others, and to help them to know and love Him. But if salt goes flat or is used for the wrong purpose, it's hard to swallow.

Christians are called to transform the world bringing the light of Christ to the world by their good deeds, like he lady who made a pie for Fr. Schuckman and I. Our good deeds are a way of proclaiming the Gospel. And those who are homebound and suffering in the hospital are beacons of light. They witness to the beauty of suffering. Pain is powerful when united to the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross. Their gift to the world is to reveal the suffering Jesus to others and that suffering is redemptive. Suffering purifies the soul and can be offered to Jesus for the conversion of souls. How beautiful are the souls of those who suffer with Jesus and transform the world by their willingness to embrace their cross. They are hidden sources of light that radiate a spiritual light emanating as a beacon in a world of darkness.

The lady who gave Fr. Schuckman and I the cherry pie, was a light of God's love. Too much salt when doing a good deed can sour the stomach, but the loving action is beautiful in the eyes of God.

Today, add flavor to your life, by doing good deeds of love. Scatter salt and allow the light of Christ to shine through you. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, give us the grace to be faithful Christians by “passing the salt” and to “turning on the light”, so as to give glory to God.

By the way, you will never eat a salty pie made by the Wrights at the Little River Cookie House.