"We can surely expect that in our own lives there will come a time when we must make a choice between being loyal to the true faith or giving allegiance to something else which is either opposed to or not in alliance with our faith. O God, we ask of Thee to give us the courage to be ever faithful to Thee. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Fr. Emil Kapaun, Servant of God
Today,
we celebrate the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, priest
and doctor
of the Church, and patron of all universities
and of students.
He
was born toward the end of the year 1226. When St.
Thomas
was five years old, his father placed him under the care of the
Benedictine monks of Monte Casino. His teachers were surprised at the
progress he made, for he surpassed all his fellow pupils in learning
as well as in the practice of virtue.
At
the age of seventeen, he joined the
Dominicans
of Naples. However, in a 2 yr. period, some members of his family
would try to get him to leave the order. They even went so far as to
send an impure woman
to tempt him. But all their efforts were in vain and St.
Thomas persevered
in his vocation. As a reward for his fidelity, God
conferred upon him the gift of perfect chastity, which merited for
him the title of the "Angelic Doctor".
After
making his profession at Naples, he studied at Cologne
under
St. Albert the Great. Here he was nicknamed the "dumb ox"
because of his silent ways and huge size, but he was really a
brilliant student. At the age of twenty-two, he was appointed to
teach in the same city. At the same time, he also began to publish
his first works. After four years he was sent to Paris. The saint was
then ordained a priest. At the age of thirty-one, he received his
doctorate.
At
Paris
he
was honored with the friendship of King, St. Louis, with whom he
frequently dined. Urban
IV
called him to Rome
where he was appointed to teach, but he declined to accept any
ecclesiastical dignity. St.
Thomas
not only wrote, but he preached often and with great fruit.
When
Pope Urban IV decided to extend the Feast of Corpus Christi to the
entire church, he asked St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure to write some
new prayers and hymns for the feast. When they both appeared before
the Pope with their finished manuscripts, St. Bonaventure urged St.
Thomas to read his first. Both praised Thomas’ masterpiece. Then
St. Bonaventure said, "Holy Father, listening to Fr. Thomas, it
seemed as if I heard the Holy Spirit speak, for only the Holy Spirit
can inspire such beautiful thoughts It is out of place for me to
compare my poor essay with such a perfect masterpiece; and this is
all that remains of it!" Some of the Eucharistic hymns Thomas
wrote include the Tantum Ergo and Adoro Te Devote, Pange Lingua and
Ecce Panis.
He
left the great monument of his learning, the "Summa Theologica",
unfinished because while saying mass on
December 6, 1273,
he experienced a heavenly vision. Urged by others to write again, he
replied, "Such things have been revealed to me that all that I
have written seems to me as so much straw. Now I await the end of my
life."
On
his way to the second Council of Lyons, he fell sick and died at a
Cistercian monastery in 1274.
St.
Thomas was one of the greatest and most influential theologians of
all time. He was canonized in 1323 and declared Doctor
of the Church by Pope St. Pius V.
Today,
may we thank God for this wonderful theologian and ask St. Thomas to
help us to come to know the truths of our faith.
Today
we celebrate the optional memorial of St. Angela of Merici, who was
born in 1470 in Northern Italy. Even as a little child, she was
honored as a little saint, because she loved purity and modesty, so
much.
When
she was 13 years old, Angela entered the third Order of St. Francis
and soon afterwards, she took the vow of perpetual chastity,
renounced all her possessions, and wanted to live only on alms. She
practiced many austere penances, slept on the bare earth, and fasted
almost continuously on bread and water. Sometimes Holy Communion was
her only food over a period of several days.
One
day while she was praying in a secluded place, she had a vision of a
friend, who died not long ago. Her friend prophesied that Angela
would be a foundress of a religious institute, which would be devoted
to the education of the youth, which would do much good for the
kingdom of God. The vision gave her a great incentive to lead a life
of contemplation, but also to serve others.
She
gathered a group of young women, who began to give children religious
instruction to little children, to help the poor, and care for the
sick. Often times great sinners, were among those she instructed.
She encouraged them to be reconciled with God, and begin a new life.
Her
virtuous conduct and knowledge of theology, caused many, to regard
her as a saint. In 1516, to escape the honor given her, she went to
another town, and to live absorbed in prayer. In 1524, she had an
ardent desire to go to the Holy Land, just as St. Francis once did.
She visited Jerusalem, Calvary, and the other Holy Places with great
devotion and returned by way of Rome, in order to pray at the tombs
of the apostles.
In
1535, her group of women became a religious congregation known as the
Ursualines, named after St. Ursula. They began to spread rapidly,
especially in America.
When
she reached the age of 70, God revealed to her, the day and hour of
her death. She received the last sacraments, and with great fervor
was rapt in ecstasy. While pronouncing the Holy Name of Jesus, she
died, the very hour, it had been foretold to her. She was laid out
in the third order of St. Francis habit, holding a pilgrim’s staff,
which she carried in the Holy Land. She was later beatified and
canonized.
Angela’s
life was a life in which everyone could see the light of Christ shine
through her.
May
the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Light, help us to live a life
of virtue in imitation of Saint Angela Merici to draw all men to
Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.
St. Paul Consecrates St. Timothy a Bishop by Laying on of Hands
Today
the Church celebrates the memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, who
were friends of St. Paul. They went wi th St. Paul, as he went about
to many cities speaking about Jesus and starting new churches. Both
Timothy and Titus became bishops of the early Church.
St.
Timothy’s father was not a Christian. His mother was Jewish.
However, his mother, and grandmother of Timothy, eventually became
Christians. Timothy studied scriptures from his early youth. He
would accompany St. Paul, on his journeys.
Eventually
put in prison and never wavering in his faith in Jesus, he was later
set free. St. Paul consecrated Timothy, as bishop of Ephesus. As
bishop, Timothy stayed in Ephesus to govern the church, oppose false
teachers, and to ordain priests, deacons, and bishops. St. Paul
wrote a letter to him, while Paul was a prisoner in Rome, and
requested he come to see him, before he died.
Timothy
practiced penance to such a degree, that he drank only water, rather
than drinking wine, and so, Paul told him to drink a little wine.
St. Paul wrote two letters to Timothy, which are now New Testament
books. He was eventually stoned and clubbed to death, by a mob,
because he opposed the pagan festival, in which the people would
carry an idol in one hand, and a club in the other.
The
other disciple, whom we celebrate, is St. Titus, who was likewise a
friend, and disciple of St. Paul, as well. Paul ordained him Bishop
of Crete, which is an island nation near Italy. The letter he wrote
a letter to Titus, is now also a book in the New Testament.
Titus
was a secretary of St. Paul, who sent him to the cities of Ephesus
and Corinth in order to settle problems among the early Christians,
and to solve problems of scandal. He was later sent to Corinth once
again by St. Paul, to collect money for the poor Christians in
Jerusalem. He lived to be an old man, and died a peaceful death in
Crete.
Today,
let us pray to Timothy and Titus, that God will inspire us, to
imitate their faith and their holy example of discipleship, in
imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first disciple of Christ.
Today
is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. As a great
persecutor of Christians, he was responsible for the stoning of St.
Stephen. On the road to Damascus, a great light suddenly shone
around him. Blinded by the light, he fell to the ground, and a heard
a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me?”
Saul, eventually regained his eyesight, and became baptized. He
changed his name to Paul, as a sign of his conversion to Christ. St.
Paul went about the whole known world to spread the Good News. He
became the apostle to the Gentiles.
We
are likewise called to conversion. At times, we too are blinded. We
sometimes can persecute those around us, by way of our
idiosyncrasies, by our sins, and by our faults. We can be blinded by
our sinfulness, and how we are burdens to others.
Here
are some more examples of ways in which we can be blinded by our own
behavior. We may be arrogant and look down upon others, because of
our pride. Or we try to control everyone around us, because of our
selfishness and insecurity. We can make uncharitable comments towards
others because of our impatience. We can be passively aggressive
towards others, and make subtle comments, because we fear
confrontation. We can complain all the time, because of our lack of
gratitude for what we have. We can be envious of the material things
of others because we fail to see everything we have is a gift from
God. We can desire attention from others, because we feel unloved.
There are those who tell everyone what they think, and say things in
a cold and uncaring manner and will say to themselves, “At least
everyone knows where I stand.” Or we can be a workaholic,
because think the whole world revolves around us and because we are
afraid to enjoy life.
All
of us, at one time, or another, need to be knocked off, the horse, of
our pride, and gaze into the light of Christ. Our eyes need to be
opened to our sinfulness, our faults, and hidden impure motivations.
Today,
as prepare to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let us beseech the
Lord and His Holy Mother and ask them to help us, to know ourselves.
When
we receive Jesus in the Eucharist--- in the silence of our heart, we
will hear the voice of the Lord, telling us how we need to change our
life.
And
we can respond as St. Paul, by having a true conversion of heart, in
which we come to know the greatness of God’s love for us, and
therefore respond by changing our lives to reflect our understanding,
that the way we treat others, is the way, we treat Jesus.
Today,
we celebrate the memorial of Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of
the Church, who was born in 1567. One of his greatest virtues was
patience.
For
example, one day Francis had a bad idea
-- at least that's what everyone else thought. This was during the
time
of the Protestant reformation and just over the mountains from where
Francis lived in Switzerland
it was Calvinist territory. Francis decided he would lead an
expedition to convert the 60,000 Calvinists back to Catholicism. For
three years, he trudged through the countryside, had doors slammed in
his face and rocks thrown at him. In the bitter winters, his feet
froze so badly they bled as he tramped through the snow. He slept in
haylofts if he could, and once he slept in a tree to avoid wolves. He
tied himself to a branch to keep from falling out and was so frozen
the next morning he had to be cut down. And after three years, his
cousin had left him alone because he didn’t make a single convert.
Francis' unusual patience kept him working. No one would listen to
him, no one would even open their door to him. So Francis found a
way to get under the door. He wrote out his sermons, copied them by
hand, and slipped them under the doors. This is the first record we
have of religious tracts being used to communicate with people.
Adults wouldn't come to him out of fear. So Francis went to the
children. When the parents
saw how kind he was as he played with the children, they began to
talk to him. By the time, Francis left to go home he had converted
40,000 people back to Catholicism. In 1602 he was made bishop
of the diocese
of Geneva, in Calvinist territory.
It
was in 1604, Francis saw a widow
listening closely to his sermon – who was a woman
he had seen already in a dream. Jane de Chantal wanted him to take
over her spiritual direction, but, not surprisingly, Francis wanted
to wait. "I
had to know fully what God
himself wanted. I had to be sure that everything in this should be
done as though his hand had done it."
Three
years after working with Jane, he finally made up his mind
to form
a new religious order. But where would they get a convent
for their contemplative Visitation nuns? A man
came to Francis without knowing of his plans and told him he was
thinking of donating a place for use by pious women. In his typical
way of not pushing God, Francis said nothing. When the man
brought it up again, Francis still kept quiet, telling Jane, "God
will
be with us if he approves."
Finally the man
offered Francis the convent.
Francis
believed the first duty
of a bishop
was spiritual
direction.
At that time, the way of holiness
was only for monks and nuns
-- not for ordinary
people. Francis changed all that by giving spiritual
direction
to lay people living ordinary
lives in the world. But he had proven with his own life
that people could grow in holiness
while involved in a very active occupation.
His
most famous book, INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE, was written for
these ordinary
people in 1608. Written originally as letters, it became an instant
success all over Europe
-- however some preachers tore it up because he tolerated dancing
and jokes!
He
died on December 28, 1622, after giving a nun his last word of
advice: "Humility." He is patron saint of journalists
because of the tracts and books he wrote. Today, if we struggle with
patience, let us ask St. Francis to help us to be more patient and
let us ask him for the gift of zeal to evangelize.
Abortion - A Person is a Person No Matter How Small
The
first reading and Gospel for today remind us of the role of the
priest in interpreting scripture and how the priest is anointed to
speak on behalf of God to the people today. And today, I will speak
to you on behalf of God about respecting life.
The
first reading is from the book of Nehemiah. The Jews were taken into
captivity in 721 BC and their temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. 230
years later their captivity is over and are returning to Israel.
Once they reach their Jewish soil, the priest Ezra explains to the
people the content of the Law and interprets what was read.
During
the time of Jesus, it was customary for Jews to read scriptures at
the synagogue and the reader gave his interpretation. And this is
what Jesus did in today’s Gospel. He first read, “The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad
tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and
to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Then
He said, “Today
this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. Every Jew
knew this particular passage referred to the future messiah. And so
they understoodJesus was
declaring Himself the Messiah.
Every
Catholic priest isanointed when ordained. Just
like Ezra and Jesus, the priest reads scripture and then comments on
it, which is a homily. Every
priest receives three gifts: to
teach, to sanctify and to govern. When a priest gives a homily or
when He teaches, He is anointed to speak on behalf of
God to the people.Today, I am going to speak
to you on behalf of God with regard to respecting life.
Yesterday
wasthe 49th
anniversaryof
Roe vs Wade that
legalized abortion. Soon the
US Supreme
Court will decide if
Mississippi's law is
constitutional limiting
abortion to 15 weeks from
conception and manyhope and pray
for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Also
this
year, Kansans
will vote on the Value them Both bill.
Since Roe vs Wade, over 62
million children have died from abortion and
all their mothers and fathers have been wounded and deeply hurt by
abortion.
To
show how abortion affects the world,
here is an example. Cardinal
Raymond Burke told a
reporter, the doctor
pressured his mother to abort him.The
doctor told his mother, the doctor told his mother, who was very sick
while pregnant with the future Cardinal Burke, “You
already have five children,” “it is important for you to be in
good health so as to take care of them.” Fortunately,
his parents refused. “My parents told him that they
believed in God,” Cardinal
Burke relates, “and that Christ would give them the
necessary help. My mother gave birth to me, and everything went
well.”
A
few years ago, I offered a private Mass on my day off to close the
abortion clinic in Wichita. During Mass, I prayed for
those thinking about having
an abortion, will change their mind, those who had an abortion will
find healing and God’s merciful forgiveness and those who work in
the abortion clinic, will
quit and become pro-life. About
an hour later, I went to
the abortion clinic, and
several of usprayed
the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Litany of the Saints
at the gates of the clinic.
Then a woman came out of the clinic and walked up to us and said, “I
just couldn’t do it. The doctor told me I am pregnant with twins. I
could do one of them, but couldn’t afford
to pay for two of them, so I’m going to keep my babies.”
About 20
min. later a young woman in
her 20’s and her 5 yr. old
daughter as well as a woman in
her 50’s left
the clinic and the woman in
her 20’s said, “I’m
not going to have an abortion, I’m pregnant with twins.”
My friends with 30 min, four babies were saved. The prayers offered
outside the clinic and
the Holy Mass offered that morning, resulted in saving the lives of
four children and also saved their mothers and
their families from a future
life of pain and regret. We can see the power of prayer, especially
the Holy Mass, the Rosary,
the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Litany of the Saints. God
wants us to use
these to
help the confused.
There should never be a
choice to take the life of an innocent person. Everyone has the
ability to say yes and the
ability to give a
child up for
adoption to a couple who can’t have children.
Its
dangerous when a human being is not considered a person. When an
unborn baby is not considered a person, than the baby has no rights
and is
considered the property of the parents
and so they can
do with them as they want, even to kill them. Where does this
mentality come from? In the United States blacks were slaves and
were the property of slave owners.
They were not considered human and so the owner of the slave had the
right to abuse and even kill the slave which was legal. But it took a
civil war before they
were considered citizens with rights.
Also
in the US, women did not have
rights. They were considered the property of their father or their
husband and could not even vote until 1920. But
the truth is women are not
the property of men. Blacks are not the property of any person. An
unborn child is not the property of their parents. St. Paul said,
“Do you not know that your body is a
temple
of the Holy Spirit within
you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you
have been purchased at a price.”(1
Corn. 6:19) Our body came from God, we are not our own, we were
purchased at the price of the blood of Jesus. All
of us are created in the image of likeness of God. All
life is sacred and we are
holy because God dwells within us.
Let
me ask you some questions. Do
you think it should be against the law to kill a baby after birth?
President Biden and Kamala
Harris as well as the former governor Virginia thought so.Should it
be against the law to abort
a baby just before birth? Should
it be against the law to abort a viable
baby after24
weeks? What about a baby who is 15 weeks? What about a baby, who
feels pain? What if an unborn
baby has a beating
heart? Should it be against
the law to abort a baby justafter conception?
A person
is a person
no matter how small.
Jesus
was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the
Virgin Mary and scripture tells us immediately after His incarnation,
Mary went in haste
to visit Her cousin Elizabeth, who was with child. Did you know it
was a
5 day journey for Mary to travel from Nazareth to Ain Karem,
where Elizabeth lived. And when Mary greeted Elizabeth, the unborn
John the Baptist leapt with joy and Elizabeth recognized Mary was
with child
as she said, “Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should
come to me?” Just think Jesus
was only 5 days from conception in the womb of Mary. He did not yet
have a beating
heart, nor hands, nor eyes,
yet His divine presence caused an unborn John the Baptist to
recognize Our Lordwas present as
well as his mother, Elizabeth, who was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is a divine person with
a human and divine nature. A person is a person, no matter how small.
It
is a scientific fact, a new person is created at the moment of
conception, because the child has its own DNA. As Catholics we
believe God infuses an immortal soul into a child at the moment of
conception. We believe we are created in the image and likeness of
God. The prophet Jeremiah
states, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”
Before we were even created, God knew us and has a plan for each of
us.
Dr.
Bernard Nathason, a formerJewish abortionist
oversaw 75,000
abortions and performed
5000 himself.
Be he changed his mind when
he saw the silent scream of an unborn child on an ultrasound when he
we doing an abortion. But
when He was baptized,God
forgave all his sins and the punishment due to his sins and
God came to dwell in his heart. So if he would have died immediately
after his baptism, he would have went straight to heaven.
The greater the sinner, the greater one’s
right to God’s mercy.
Abby
Johnson, a former director of Planned Parenthood, had two abortions
and then assisted in an abortion, but realized the wrong
she was doing and when she
became Catholic, Jesus forgave all her sins and washed them away in
the ocean of God’s mercy.
Mary
Magdalene was a prostitute.
ButJesus appeared
to her first, before
He appeared to the Apostles
because she repented when
washed the feet of Jesus with her tears.
Jesus told Simon the Pharisee about Mary
Magdalane, “Therefore
I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved
much...” (Luke 7:47-48)
My
friends, we are all human, we all make mistakes, and can
make wrong decisions based
upon misinformation of what others tell
us or what they failed
to tell us or maybe
we ourselves chose not to seek the truth.
But we must trust in God’s mercy.
The
Church as a mother wants to help her children. She
gives us priests to teach
us about respecting life. The
Church gives us the sacraments for
grace and healing
when we
hurt our self and others. Jesus acts through priests, through the
sacraments and through the people of God to help all
of our brothers and sisters in Christ deeply
hurt.
The
boyfriend who helped his girlfriend to have an abortion, the parents
of the pregnant girl, who forced the child to have an abortion,
grandparents, who participated, friends who wrongly scheduled the
abortion-- nurses or doctors who encouraged the abortion,
everyone--everyone--everyone can be forgiven! There is no sin Jesus
will not forgive. If you
have been affected by
abortion, know Jesus loves
you and forgives you. Jesus
understands when a
young girl is
pressured or told
a lie, its not a baby, but
only tissue. Sometimes the
devil tries to make us doubt in God’s mercy. He will say, “God
will never forgive you. Your sin is too great.”
Or after you confessed the sin, the devil will make us doubt God
forgave us, and a result, we will keep confessing the sin over and
over. But we can’t give in to lies, rather we trust in God’s
mercy. We pray, “Jesus
I trust in You”, and Jesus
forgets the sin after we have confessed it and
so should we.
There
is a diocesan
organization called Project
Rachel which gives retreats,
some of its leaders have had
an abortion, and they want to help others to find healing, like they
received
andwant
to bringpeace of heart and healing
of
the spirit and soul to
all those hurt by abortion.
Jesus
gives us hope. Jesus gives us love. Jesus gives us forgiveness.
Jesus gives us mercy. Jesus gives us healing. Jesus
gives us a future of peace and
joy.
Jesus
told St. Faustina, “My
daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater
its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable
abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. (Diary
1182).
Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the
weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had
more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be
drowned in the
immeasurable
depths of My mercy.”(Diary
1059)
The
Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday. On
that day, The Lord opens wide
the gates of His mercy and
makes our soul like it was at baptism.If we go to confession during
Lent, and receive Holy Communion,
on the feast of mercy, our
sins will be forgiven and all the punishment due to our sins are
forgiven. We should look forward to that day, when all is washed away
in the ocean of God’s mercy.
How
beautiful at Holy Trinity we
pray the Chaplet of
Divine Mercy before or
after every Mass along with the Holy Rosary. It
must be very pleasing to God, we
are praying for mercy for the whole world.
During
this year of the Eucharist, let the light,
love and power of Jesus in
the Eucharist shine forth
from His beating Heart by
you spending time in Eucharistic
Adoration, offering your Holy Hour for an end to abortion, to close
Planned Parenthood and the
abortion clinic in Wichita.
To offer the graces you receive in Holy Communion. Jesus wants to use
you as channel of grace and love to change the hearts and minds of
those who are confused and hurting. Will
you offer your Holy Communion today for that purpose? To offer the
graces you receive by being present at the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass? Will
you pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy often.
Let
us turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who miraculously conceived Jesus
by the power of the Holy Spirit and ask our heavenly Mother, Our Lady
of Guadalupe, to intercede for our country so government legislators
and judges will outlaw abortion, and
every American will have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness. And most especially the right to life, for without
life, we cannot have liberty, nor pursue happiness.
Supportive care with fluids, fever control, and rest
Elemental Zinc 50mg 1 time a day for 7 days
Vitamin C 1000mg 1 time a day for 7 days
Vitamin D3 5000iu 1 time a day for 7 days
Optional over the counter options
Quercetin 500mg 2 times a day for 7 days or
Epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG) 400mg 1 time a day for 7 days
Moderate / High risk patients
Elemental Zinc 50-100mg once a day for 7 days
Vitamin C 1000mg 1 time a day for 7 days
Vitamin D3 10000iu once a day for 7 days or 50000iu once a day for 1-2 days
Azithromycin 500mg 1 time a day for 5 days or
Doxycycline 100mg 2 times a day for 7 days
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) 200mg 2 times a day for 5-7 days and/or
Ivermectin 0.4-0.5mg/kg/day for 5-7 days Either or both HCQ
and IVM can be used, and if one only, the second agent may be added
after about 2 days of treatment if obvious recovery has not yet been
observed etc.
Treatment Options
Dexamethasone 6-12mg 1 time a day for 7 days or
Prednisone 20mg twice a day for 7 days, taper as needed
Budesonide 1mg/2cc solution via nebulizer twice a day for 7 days
