St. Cecilia Nov. 22nd

 

 Today, St. Cecilia, the martyr and the patroness of music, whose memorial we celebrate, sings in heaven before Jesus, the Lamb of God.

A native of Rome, she made a vow of virginity as a child. Despite her vow of virginity, her parents forced her to marry a pagan nobleman named Valerian. After she told him of her vow of virginity, she was still able to maintain the vow while married. At her wedding, when the musicians played their instruments, she sang with all her heart to God, her divine spouse. She told her husband, that an angel is watching over her virginity, and that if he wanted to see the angel, he too should be baptized. Because of the deep love of Christ and her holy virtues, her husband and his brother became Christian. And once he was baptized, he saw the angel. From her childhood until her death, she bravely denied the worship of false gods. She helped the poor and did many deeds of mercy. Her husband and his brother were martyred, followed by St. Cecilia, a few days later. She was placed in hot steam for three days, but was miraculously not affected. The executioner struck her three times with the blade, but she did not die immediately. And do today, statues of the virgin martyr, show her lying down with a large gash on her throat. Although she died in the early 2^nd century, her body continues to be incorrupt and is located in a church in Rome. Her name is in the Roman Canon, which is Eucharistic prayer 1 of the Mass.

Just as St. Therese is patroness of the missions, although she was never a missionary, St. Cecilia, is the patroness of music, although she never played musical instruments. However, at the sound of musical instruments, the virgin, Cecilia, sang in her heart continually, as an outpouring of love to God, Her Divine Spouse.

Today, even though there are some of us who may never have played a musical instrument we can be just like St. Cecilia and do everything for the love of God and in this way, when we enter the gates of heaven, we will sing with the choir of angels forever.

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Nov. 21st

 

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. Even though Sacred Scripture doesn’t say anything about Mary’s Presentation in the Temple, the belief is based upon by a very ancient tradition of the Catholic Church. And the Church has given it, official recognition by making it a special Marian Feast.

It’s believed that when St. Anne was childless, she and her spouse St. Joachim, made a promise to God, that if they would conceive a child, the child would dedicated to God. Once the child was born, the sacrifice would be a great one, but their love was entirely pure and holy, as they preferred God’s glory and pleasure. And so, when Mary was three years old, they took Her to the temple to be consecrated to God.

On Mary’s part, She totally gave Herself to God, consecrating Herself to Him, and vowed Her Perpetual Virginity. She left Her home, Her family, and aging parents behind, to consecrate Herself solely to Her Divine Master.

Many young virgins attempted to enter into the service of the Lord at the temple, but not all were permitted. They had to undergo questioning and approval by the priests. The young Virgin Mary, must have dazzled the priests by Her perfect answers, and so, would have been easily admitted, due to Her abundance of grace. While in the temple, Mary remained with other young virgins to be educated and trained to serve the sanctuary and sacred priests, by making vestments, and ornaments, and assisting at services, and contributing to the worship of God, in whatever manner was possible, for a young girl of the time.

How sorrowful for Sts. Joachim and Anne to leave their only daughter at the Temple, after just three years, from which She was born.

The Gospel for the feast calls our attention to the total dedication of Mary to God’s service, and Her obedience to God’s plans, because She always did the will of the Father, from Her tender years as a child, to the day of Her Assumption into heaven.

All of us are mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters of Jesus, as we joyfully serve God, by doing His Holy Will in our life. It is never too late to dedicate our self, to the service of the Lord, in whatever manner we are able.

And so, with a prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori, we cry out to Mary, “Behold, O Mary, I present myself to You today, offering myself entirely to Your service, for whatever days I have left still on this earth. I renounce all creatures as you did, and vow myself entirely to the love of the Creator. Accept O Most Holy Virgin, the offering; accept it, I beg, by the consolation Your Heart felt when you gave Your Self to God in the temple. O Mother of Mercy, help my weakness by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me, from your Jesus, the strength to be faithful to you until death. And Grant that after having served You, always in this life, I may go to praise You, eternally, in Paradise.” Amen.

Christ the King - Reverence Towards Our Eucharistic King

 

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year.

In the first reading, David is a shepherd and anointed as a king. God made a covenant with David, in which He promised, a future messianic king. It was fulfilled when the Angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to the Blessed Virgin. “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Jesus is the King of Kings, and the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for His Sheep, so that His kingdom could come here on earth as it is in heaven.

When we think of a king, we think of his authority and how his subjects show respect and reverence to Him. A king has power to rule his kingdom.

An ordinary king is to be treated with honor and respect. We see this in King Charles, who replaced his mother, the Queen of England.

Suppose a citizen of the king would walk up to him and spit in his face, what do you think would happen to him? Or what if someone began cursing at the king? What do you think the king’s attendants would do? Rather, then bowing before the king, as people were obliged to do, what if someone were to mock the king, by pretending to kneel before the him. Or what if someone were to slap a king in his face, what do you think would happen to the man?

If a king is treated disrespectfully, the king or his guards ordinarily would have the person arrested or even killed.

In the 2 book of Samuel (16:13), Shemei threw rocks and tossed dirt at King David and cursed at him. One of his attendants with David said, “Let me go and lop off his head for cursing my lord and king.” So if anyone treated a king with disrespect, he would certainly pay the price.

Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the king of heaven and earth. And this is what happened to Jesus. The night He was taken captive, a man spit in his face. Another slapped Jesus. Soldiers later mocked Our Lord, by pretending to kneel before Him. They put a robe around him, placed a stick in His hand, pretending it to be a scepter, and on His Sacred Head, they did not place a royal golden crown, but rather, a crown of thorns.

In the Gospel today, it states the rulers sneered at Jesus, saying, “He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” The Gospel said, “even the soldiers jeered at Him.” They said, “If you are the King of Jews, save yourself.” The inscription Pilate placed above the head of Jesus, on the Cross, testified as to why Jesus was being crucified. It said, “This is the King of the Jews.”

The good thief is the only one who defended Our Lord, who said, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he acknowledged Jesus is a king, saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

When anyone comes into the presence of a king, they dress up. They wear their best clothes out of respect for the dignity of Jesus, whose house we enter. We shouldn’t wear t-shirts and shorts during Mass or Eucharistic Adoration or really anytime we come inside the church because this is God’s house. This is His temple.

Thanks be to God, in our parish we don’t have a problem with modesty. In some parishes, pastors struggle to warn young ladies to not wear low cut tops or short shorts or tight clothes. Girls shouldn’t unveil anything sacred. Men and boys, could be tempted in ways women don’t know or understand. Girls should be modest at all times, including sports activities.

The Holy of Holies was in the Jewish temple. It was veiled as a sign of respect for the sacred presence of God. When the tabernacle is opened, you see two white cloths hanging at the opening. There in the tabernacle is a veil that covers the presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. Women and girls veil themselves because their bodies are sacred and should not be revealed in public.

It is becoming more popular that women and girls are now returning to wearing chapel veils to humble themselves before the presence of God in the church.

Out of reverence and respect toward Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, truly present in the tabernacle, when we come to church and leave the church, we genuflect and then we go to our pew and we kneel and bow our head in prayer before the golden door containing the Eucharist, because as Catholics, we are giving homage the King of heaven and earth in the most Blessed Sacrament.

At Mass, we kneel at the moment bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus. At the words of the priest, “This is my body”, and “This is my blood.”, Jesus will come down from heaven on the altar. We kneel because Jesus, who is God, and who is a divine King comes down at that moment.

When we come forward to receive Holy Communion, the Church requires we show reverence before receiving Holy Communion. In the US, the bishops ask us to bow our head. There are some who make the sign of the cross or genuflect or kneel before receiving Holy Communion. Minimally, we should at least bow before receiving Communion. How beautiful that altar rails are being re-install and parishioners are now able to once again kneel to receive Holy Communion.

It is especially reverent to receive Our Eucharistic King on the tongue, as this is the manner the Church desires. However, we are permitted to receive on the hand. But if we do, after the Host is placed in our hand, we should look for Sacred Particles and consume them, less they fall to the ground.  As your priest, I strongly recommend receiving on the tongue, which safer because the Host is less apt to fall, and no particles fall to the ground when receiving on the tongue.

Our heart is the palace of the King of Heaven. And in order to keep our palace presentable, we need to regularly keep it clean, by going to confession at least monthly.

If we were to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, in the state of mortal sin, or if we receive the Eucharist without fasting before receiving the Eucharist, we commit a sacrilegious communion, which is another mortal sin.

We are not permitted to receive Holy Communion if we break the one hour fast. Chewing gum, eating candy, drinking coffee or tea will break the one hour fast and we are not permitted to receive the Eucharist, if its been less than one hour before Communion. If we eat something accidentally, its not sinful, but we are still not permitted to receive Communion after we just ate or drank something, other than water or medicine, except for diabetics, who if their sugar drops suddenly, the can take orange juice or sweets, and that’s when food becomes medicine and is permissible.

If we commit a sacrilegious communion, we do as the soldiers did to Jesus, we, so to speak, re-crucify Him, we nail His hands and feet to the Cross, we jeer at Him and mock Him and treat Him in a vile manner. That’s why its called a sacrilegious communion. Just as the body of Jesus was profaned on the Cross, His blessed body in the Eucharist is profaned when we commit a sacrilegious communion.

But oh, how merciful is our King! All we need to do is come to Him in confession, first, before receiving Communion, and He will wash away all our sins, bestow His mercy on us, and therefore prepare our heart to receive Him worthily. He will then pour abundant graces and gifts into our hearts.

It is so wonderful to see many in our parish spending time with Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament during your Holy Hour. I would also like to encourage you to bring your children with you to adore Jesus, our Eucharistic king.

Its so beautiful to see many from our parish give Jesus the double knee genuflection when you come to do your Holy Hour. When we adore Jesus, we are coming before the king and what does a king do, when He is treated with respect and reverence? He lavishes His gifts upon His subjects. Jesus pours spiritual gifts into our hearts because we are faithful in our commitment to be with Him. He gives us graces and gives because we come to Him, not demanding what we want, but we ask out of humility from the giver of every good gift. Don’t be afraid to ask the king for anything. Be bold and ask for more than you can imagine. As God and king, Jesus can give you anything, if its in accord with His holy will.

Advent begins next Sunday. Everyone should go to Confession before Christmas. Just as the wise men, fell on their knees in adoration in the presence of the newborn king, so we will do the same, if we come to receive His infinite mercy in confession and have our heart (our own temple) prepared for Him, who loves us.

Then when Christmas comes, we will sing with the angels, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. May the Virgin Mary, the Queen of heaven and earth, help all of us to grow in love and respect for Her Son, the King of the universe.

St. Rose Duchesne

 

 Born on Aug. 29, 1769, in Grenoble, France, Rose Duchesne was the second of eight children. Five of the six sisters would become visitation sisters.

She briefly joined the Grenoble Visitation sisters until the government closed all women’s religious communities due to the Enlightenment.

After a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Francis Regis in 1800, she resolved to dedicate her life to the teaching of the poor. She and four nuns adopted a new name “Daughters of the Propagation of the Faith” on Mar. 3, 1803, and the following year sought admission into the Society of the Sacred Heart, founded by Madeleine-Sophie Barat.

In 1817 Louis DuBourg, bishop of Louisiana visited France. Because of the urgent plea for missionaries and a personal meeting between the bishop and Mother Barat, permission was obtained for Mother Duchesne and her first nuns to go to America. After spending 10 weeks at sea, the missionaries landed in the US on May 25 in 1818. They stayed with the Ursulines at New Orleans for several weeks before heading by boat to St. Louis. The bishop ordered the sisters to take up residence at St. Charles Missouri.

After Pope Gregory XVII urged the society to engage in missionary activity among the Native Americans, three sisters were appointed to this task. Due to her advanced years, Mother Duchesne was not chosen. The intercession of her priest friend called Mother Duchesne to be included. Their destination was a Potawatomi Indian village at Sugar Creek, KS.

Mother Duchesne arrived in Sugar Creek in July of 1841. Her age, her inability to master the Native tongue, and her ill health, combined to limit her material support she could offer to the missionary effort. She spent long hours nursing sick tribe members and the reputation of her sanctity grew. The Indians called her “woman who prays always”, in honor of her extensive periods of time she spent kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament.

After being sent to St. Louis by her superiors, she died Nov. 18, 1852 having attained her eighty-third year.

Mother Duchesne’s remains were interred in the community cemetery at St. Charles. After lying in the ground for three years, encased in a plain wooden coffin, her body was exhumed and the corpse was found to be incorrupt at this time, although later it decomposed. Mother Rose Duchesne was beatified in 1940 and in 1988 was pronounced a saint of the Church by Pope John Paul II. Today, if we have never prayed to St. Rose of Duchesne, a saint who walked, worked and prayed in Kansas, let us beseech her to help us to pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

33rd Sunday Year C - Synod

 

Image taken from the Vatican Synod Website

“By your perseverance you will secure your lives”. During this time just before Advent, the Church gives us Apocalyptic readings in Scripture that can be frightening, but passages like today’s Gospel can also fill us with hope.

Today, we read about Jesus reaching the temple, surrounded by all its grandeur. For the Jewish people, the temple was a sacred place. It stood as a reminder that God had chosen Israel as His own. So when Jesus warned, “There will not be left a stone upon another stone,” His message troubled His listeners.

Just as Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, so the Catechism of the Catholic Church predicts the passion of the Church, meaning the body of Christ, will go through its apparent crucifixion. But it will rise after what appears to be its destruction, as Jesus told Peter, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Catechism states, “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 Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.”

There is a synod going on in Rome some believe could cause the Church to go through its passion. This synod is causing great concern among bishops, priests and lay people. There is not only concern in the US, but also throughout the world.

A synod is general term for ecclesiastical gatherings under hierarchical authority, for the discussion and decision of matters relating to faith, morals, or discipline. It’s different from a Church Council called by the pope and all bishops of the world participate. But, all the bishops of the world don’t participate in a synod. A synod cannot make infallible statements on faith and morals. Synod statements can contain errors.

However, a Church Council, when in union with the pope, can make infallible statements on faith and morals binding all Catholics to believe. The last Church Council was Vatican II.

The current synod underway has been criticized by some cardinals, bishops and priests.

When I was in Medjugorje, a Dominican priest, who preached in the presence of a bishop who offered the Mass, gave a homily on the synod. He said, “In the pre-synodal reports of certain countries, they clamor for change in doctrine and morals.” “...some who promoting for change, claim holiness is an ideal, rather than a goal. They seek to accompany, which they mean to keep people exactly where they are. What is sinful is no longer called sin. We are reassured that hell is not eternal or that it is empty. When we fail to love people enough and properly, our error manifests. How? By lying to them and blessing their disordered unions. By confirming them in adultery and fornication. By affirming their grave errors like abortion and reward them with Communion without repentance. It is a failure to love people’s souls and the willingness to risk their eternal salvation. And all, why? For the sake being inclusive and nice. For the sake of making myself popular.”

In Catholic news recently, Bishop Robert Mutsaerts from the Netherlands, said, “One thing is clear to me. God is out of the picture in this damned synodal process. The Holy Spirit has absolutely nothing to do with it. Among the protagonists of this process are to me a little too many defenders of gay marriage, folks who don't really think abortion is a problem and never really show themselves defenders of the Church's rich creed, wanting above all to be liked by their secular surroundings. How un-pastoral, how unloving. People want sincere answers. They don't want to go home with more questions. You're keeping people from salvation. I have since dropped out of the synodal process.”

Cardinal Mueller, former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith was recently interviewed on the Catholic television EWTN show, The World Over hosted by Raymond Arroyo. During the interview the cardinal spoke about the current synod being held in Rome. He, other clerics and church theologians are accusing the synod leaders of having a pre-planned agenda.

He said, “This is a desire to take over, a power which doesn't exist, a want to be more intelligent than God himself. It is like the Marxistic form of creating the truth by presenting of his own power. ... They have the intention to substitute their own subjective ideas, against a revealed reality of Jesus Christ, as is the [path to the] destruction of the Catholic Church... This occupation of the Catholic Church is a hostile takeover of the Church of Jesus Christ... And if you look at only one page, or read one page of the Gospel, you'll see that it has nothing to do with Jesus Christ... and [in this agenda] they think that doctrine is only like a program of a political party, who can change it according to their votes. And we must resist it like the old heretics of the Arianism.” The words of Cardinal Mueller are sobering.

What if the majority of bishops in the world, were to say, Jesus is more than a man, but less than God? Would you follow the majority of the bishops? This is actually what happened in the early 300’s, during the Arian Heresy. During that time, the majority of the bishops in the world were holding to a false teaching that originated by a bishop, whose name was Arius. However, the majority of the people of the Church did not accept this false idea, but persevered through that crisis and the heresy died away because the Church, as the bride of Christ was victorious. Ordinary lay people believed what the Church had taught, Jesus is fully God and fully man, with two natures, human and divine.

What if today, suppose for example, the majority of the bishops would say women can be ordained priests, homosexual unions are no longer sinful, and can be blessed, and everyone, no matter their religion, or if in they are in a state of mortal sin, can receive the Holy Eucharist. But the problem with these ideas, is that the teachings of the Church on these subjects can never be changed. These topics are actually being discussed at the synod.

But what if the majority of the bishops followed these errors? Suppose for example, if a synod document would make these erroneous statements, would you follow the synod? You better not, because then you would be setting yourself outside the teachings of the Church passed down to us from Jesus and the Apostles.

St. John’s second letter, he said, “Anyone who is so “progressive” as to not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.” (2 John: 4-9)

St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians (1:8) said, “Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the we preached to you, let him be cursed.”

Bishop Fulton Sheen, whose cause for his canonization is under way, said, this about the future antichrist: He will give “the temptation to have a new religion without a Cross, a liturgy without a world to come, a religion to destroy a religion, or a politics which is a religion.. He will set up a counter church which will be the ape of the Church, because he, the Devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. ..But the twentieth century will join the counter church because it claims to be infallible when its visible head speaks ex cathedra from Moscow on the subject of economics and politics, and as chief shepherd of world communism.”

My friends, we are entering into very confusing times in the Catholic Church and the world. That is why in last week’s bulletin, I suggested you keep up on Catholic news. We must always hold fast to our Catholic faith. It is the pearl of great price. Human beings make mistakes and sin. But the deposit of faith (divine revelation) given to us by way of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition (as found in the Catechism) can never change and if we cling to it, no matter what goes on around us, we will always have hope.

Jesus wasn’t just predicting the destruction of Jerusalem (which actually took place in 70 AD), about 37 years after His death and resurrection. He was also unveiling a spiritual reality. Like the prophet Jeremiah centuries before Him, Jesus was warning the people not to place all their confidence on the temple alone. Rather than placing their hope in bricks and mortar, they needed to look to the God who inhabits the temple.

It wasn’t just the temple, either. Jesus also foretold of earthquake, famines, wars, and persecutions. Nations would fall; good health, peace, and stability would collapse. Everything the people relied on—everything we rely on—would one day pass away. Only God and His teachings lasts forever.

So where’s the hope? By exposing the lie that says security comes from money, status, or well-being, from human beings, Jesus is pointing us to what does last: heaven. Because He loves us, He is warning us not to rely on fleeting things that will only disappoint us. As much as we enjoy the consolations and blessings of life on earth, they can’t possibly compare to heaven!

That the hope: Jesus is showing us the greatness of our God and the glory of the life to come. He’s opening our eyes to the only One who lasts: our faithful God. With Him, we find everlasting life. That’s why, as we persevere and cling to Him, and His divine revelation through His immemorial teachings of the Church, and we will “secure our lives”.
The words of Jesus to Peter, give us hope: “I say to you: That you are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He doesn’t promise the Church won’t go turmoil. But, He promises His Church and His teachings will never change and will last until He comes on the clouds of heaven. Let us turn to the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and ask Her to watch over and protect the Church and help us to always be faithful to the Church’s teachings, even to death if necessary. And may we keep all those who are causing confusion in the Church in our prayers, that they may become a witness to the truth of the Gospel.

Fr. Leon's Pereira Homily before a Bishop, who offered the Mass at St. James in Medjugorje

 Bishop Robert Mutsaerts Synod Explanation

https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2022/11/dutch-bishop-god-is-out-of-picture-in.html

Cardinal Mueller's Interview with EWTN the World Over

 https://fatheredmondkline.blogspot.com/2022/10/ewtn-world-over-cardinal-mueller.html

St. Josaphat - Nov. 12th

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Josaphat, bishop and martyr, who was born in 1580 in Poland to Orthodox parents. His birth name was John Kunsevich. His mother raised him in the fear of the Lord and in his tender heart formed longings for virtue. As a child, he would separate himself from the games of his companions in order to pray. He learned a large section of the Divine Office by heart and was faithful in praying it everyday. He became Catholic of the Byzantine Rite. He studied philosophy and theology under two famous Jesuits.

In 1604, when took the religious habit as he entered the Order of St. Basil, at twenty years of age, he took the name Josaphat. He thoroughly reformed the order, giving the order a more active character. He was ordained a priest and began to preach in various churches to many dissidents. Through his boundless charity and powerful preaching, he established unity with the Uniate Church. So well known, did his wisdom and knowledge become, that he was recommended, to the Pope by his own people to rule over them as archbishop in 1617. In this office he campaigned intensively for the conversion of the schismatics, and reform the clergy in his diocese. He restored five major cathedrals, aided the poor and maintained total frugality in his residence. Soon, St. Josaphat had an enemy, who made himself bishop of the same city in which Josaphat was bishop. In a very short period of time, many of the people of the city began to follow the false archbishop, who sought power over the people. An uprising occurred which resulted in the archdeacon being wounded on the head and left for dead. When Bishop Josaphat went to calm the turmoil, he knew it would be the end of his life. At the age of 44, Josaphat they cruelly assassinated him and profaned his body.

After five days, when his mortal remains were recovered from a river, and exposed for 9 days, his body constantly emitted a fragrance of roses and lilies. One of the councilors, who had abandoned the faith, immediately came back to the Church, when he saw the countenance of the St. Josaphat. The archbishop gladly went to his death in order to reunite the schism. About four years after the death of Josaphat, the false archbishop repented and lived a life of penance and prayer. Such changes of heart are the result of the sanctity of St. Josaphat. About 5 years after his death, his body was found incorrupt, though his clothes had rotted away. Again, in 1637, his body was found white and supple. After a hundred forty years in 1767, the body was still found incorrupt. It was eventually taken to St. Peter’s basilica in Rome and he was canonized in 1867, as the first Eastern saint by Pope Leo XIII.

Pope Pius XI said, “St. Josaphat is rightly looked upon, as the great glory and strength of the Eastern Rite Slavs. Few have brought them greater honor, or contributed more, to their spiritual welfare than Josaphat, their pastor and apostle, especially when he gave his life, as a martyr for the unity of the Church.”

Today, let us pray for unity among all Christians, especially between the East and West. And if necessary, and if God so ordains it, may we lay down our life for truth and unity, in imitation of St. Josaphat, the martyr.

St. Marin Tours - Nov. 12th

 

 Today is the feast of St. Martin of Tours. He was born about the year 317AD. His parents were not Christians. They were pagans, who worshipped idols. His father was a soldier, who wanted his son, Martin, to follow in his footsteps, as a soldier. After becoming a soldier, he met a poor man in the street, who was cold. Martin cut off a piece of his own military cloak, and gave half of his cloak to the poor man. That same night he had a vision, which helped him to understand that the poor man was really Jesus in disguise. This caused Martin to become Catholic. And after his baptism, he led the life of a hermit, and later converted his mother to the Catholic faith as well.

St. Martin and St. Hilary built a monastery and lived there, until he was chosen bishop of Tours in 371. Even though he was elected bishop, he continued to live the same humble and mortified life as before. As bishop, at first, he lived in a little cell near the church, but afterward laid the foundations of a new monastery. A number of followers flocked to his monastic way of life, and he therefore became the founder of monasticism in what is now today, France.

As bishop, he succeeded in getting rid of idolatry from his diocese of Tours. He and St. Ambrose protested against those who were putting heretics to death.

The life of St. Martin was one of constant prayer and his virtues were rewarded by an extraordinary gift of miracles. Living more than eighty years, he died peacefully in 397. As we prepare to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, let us ask Our Blessed Mother to give us the grace to live a holy life in imitation of St. Martin of Tours.

St. John Lateran - Nov. 9th

 

 Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica, which is the cathedral of Rome. There is an inscription on the outside of the church, which states, “The holy church of the Lateran, mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world.”

After the church was constructed by the emperor Constantine and given to pope Sylvester I, it was consecrated in 324. The pope lived at the Lateran palace for about 1000 yrs, before moving to St. Peter’s Basilica. The church also possesses the relics of the heads of Peter and Paul and the holy table our Lord used at the Last Supper.

Many think St. Peter’s Basilica is the Cathedral of Rome, but its not. It’s St. John Lateran and the church has the bishop of Rome’s chair called the cathedra.

We celebrate the dedication of the physical structure of the Lateran Basilica, not so much because it is old, or that it was the resident of the pope for centuries, but most importantly, because of who is in the Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist now resides in the Lateran Basilica and every Catholic church in the world.

In the second reading today, St. Paul said, “Do you not know you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”

Today’s feast is a reminder that our body, like that of a church, is a temple, which belongs to God. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and because of that we should treat our body with respect. It does not belong to us, it belongs to the Lord. So when we purposely harm our body, we really harming something that belongs to God.

Many today, don’t respect their God given body, which does not belong to any of us, but to the Lord. We are stewards of our body. We are to take care of that which belongs to God.

When our body dies, we bury it with respect. In fact, it used to be that it was never be permitted to cremate. But today, we can, but only if the remains are buried properly and the ashes are not scattered and if the person who died believes in the resurrection of the body. At the end of the world, our body, whether decayed or as ashes will be resurrected and be re-united with our soul and the general resurrection.

Because our body is sacred, we are to treat it with respect. Some ways the body is disrespected today, include dying of one’s hair such as green, red, yellow, orange or purple. For young men they at times where there hair with dread locks, which means they don’t wash their hair and purposely damage it.

The bible also specifically mentions not to get tattoos nor mutilate our body. Tattoos inject ink in our body and at times can cause serious infections. Simply even writing on the hand and use it as paper is also disrespectful to the body.

Surgeries such as face lifts, or if a man or woman gets sterilized, so as to not have children is harmful to the body.

Piercing of eye brows, the nose, and excessive ear piercing is not treating our body with respect. Other ways we treat our body sinfully is overeating food, or food that harms our body, or smoking, which harms our lungs, or excessive drinking of alcohol. Eating excessive candy. Some women starve themselves to have a slim figure. Not taking care of our health or by refusing to see a doctor, or not taking medicine beneficial to us. Some people exercise excessively and can eat harm their body because of the desire for others to look at their physic. Others don’t get the exercise they need such as walking. Some don’t bathe as often as they should.

Even more important than the physical care of the body, is the care of the soul. Whereby we avoid sin, especially mortal sin. We do this especially by going to confession regularly to spiritually wash our soul and to receive Holy Communion often, which strengthens our soul, when its united to Jesus.

We become living tabernacles, when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. And we need to be conscience of the indwelling of God in our soul, for by doing this, we will treat our body and our soul with respect.

By coming to Mass today, we recognize our need to drive those things in our heart, which prevent the temple of our soul from truly being the Father’s house. We need to be like Jesus, and have holy zeal, to drive out the sheep, oxen, and money changers within our heart (which are our sins).

Today, let us therefore honor and praise St. John Lateran Church, the mother church of all Christians, let us with zeal strive to make our soul immaculate in imitation of Mary, the image and model of the Church and in this way, Our Lord will find within us a miniature palace, a little tabernacle and a home He can dwell.

32nd Sunday - Does Marriage Last Forever?

 

Does Marriage Last Forever? No. Recall what we say when the vows are exchanged, “in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, until death do we part.”

Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and so when we marry someone, assuming it’s a valid marriage, we are married until either spouse dies.

So, if our first spouse dies and we marry another person, which spouse will we have when we get to heaven? Actually, neither.

Does that mean we won’t be married in heaven? Yes, we won’t have a spouse in heaven. We won’t be married in heaven. Yet, most likely we will be most grateful for our spouse, in helping us to get to heaven.

The Sadducees in the Gospel were wealthy Jews, and nearly all were priests of the governing class. They accepted only the written law of the Old Testament, which are the first five books, also called the Torah, written by Moses. The Sadducees didn’t put much faith into the prophetic books, they didn’t accept the Book of Maccabees (from which our first reading came today) and they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and they did not even believe in angels. That’s why they were sad, you see!

The Saducees ask Jesus a question that was purposely meant to ridicule the belief in the resurrection, a concept which books like Maccabees promoted.

In order to humiliate Jesus, they quote a law from the book of Deuteronomy stating if a man dies childless, his wife must marry the man’s brother. However, the Sadducees really exaggerate this law, and tell of a woman who married seven brothers, and still didn’t have a child. To make fun of the idea of Resurrection, they ask: “who is going to be the husband of this lady in the afterlife”. Then they must have chuckled, thinking they outwitted Jesus.

However, Our Lord’s answer, becomes the clearest affirmation in all of Scripture that there is life after death and we will rise from the dead.

First of all, Jesus said we only marry in this world. We marry because we want a partner in this life, we can love and care for and one who will love and care for us. But after death, Jesus indicates when we get to heaven, there is no reason to marry any more.  Instead, we become like angels. In heaven, we won’t desire to marry because our life will be different. We will have a union with God, which completely satisfies us.

Suppose a man marries a woman and she dies. Because of her death, he is free to marry. This indicates marriage ends at death. And if he were to marry another woman, and if she dies, he won’t have two marriages in heaven. He will actually have no human marriage in heaven at all.

Rather, in heaven we have union with God in which God gives Himself to us and we give our self to Him. We participate in the divine life of the Trinity, through baptism on earth, but in heaven we perfectly share in God’s divine life and love.

What we can therefore say, is “love lasts forever”. There are three theological virtues, faith, hope and love. In this life on earth, we need to believe in God and all that He has revealed. We believe that when we die, we will go to heaven and have a new resurrected body at the end of the world. We need to have hope, that Jesus will save us and bring us to our home in heaven. We have hope of eternal life, that we will live forever. But when we are in heaven, we will not have faith because we will be with God and fully understand all we believe. We will not have hope because our desires will all be satisfied because we will be with Jesus in heaven. But the love that we have on earth, we will take with us to heaven. Love is eternal, it lasts forever.

One of the purposes of marriage is for the good of the spouse and the greatest good for our spouse is to help them to get to heaven. We are to help our spouse to get to heaven, always giving our spouse the love deserved, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad and until death, do we part. In heaven, we will share that imperfect love we had on earth, with a perfect love forever in heaven.

For young people who eventually begin to look for a spouse, something that’s helpful, in finding a good spouse, is to ask your self this question. “Will this person help me to get to heaven?” If not, then the person would not be a good choice for you. Before dating and during dating, we should pray and ask the Lord to help us to know if the person we are interested is the person God wants us to be with. If the person causes you to fall into serious sin regularly, then, if you were to marry the person, you would end up having great difficulties in your marriage and it most likely would not work out.

Rather, ask the Lord to help you find someone who you will love and who will love you in a holy way, and He will put into your life, the person that will not only help you to get to heaven, but enjoy a life of sacrificial love. We also need to remember there is no perfect person and there is no perfect marriage, but the person we end up marrying will be someone we grow in love as the years go by.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will live forever.” Until the great day of the General Resurrection, when we will receive a new resurrected body like Our Lord’s, let us strive to believe in Him, so that we will share eternal life with Him and with the Virgin Mary, and with all the angels and saints forever in heaven.

St. Charles Borromeo - Nov. 4th

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Charles Borromeo. He along with St. Philip Neri, St. Ignatius of Loyola and others worked to combat the Protestant reformation. His mother’s brother would become Pope Pius IV. Born in 1538, he would become a very devout boy and even received the order of tonsure when he was only 12 years old. While very young he received income from a rich Benedictine Abbey, but told his father the money should be given to the poor. While at a University he studied civil and canon law. Many thought he was slow because he had slight speech impediment. Due to his piety, he was a model for other students, who were often pleasure seeking. He received his doctor’s degree at the age of 22 and it was not much long after that both of his parents died. He was surprised to hear that his uncle was elected pope.

A few months later, his uncle the pope requested to see him. Though he was not even a priest, the pope made him a cardinal, which was permissible in that time period. The pope gave him many tasks. Despite this he wanted to go to a monastery to be alone with God and away from the world.

He was present at the Council of Trent. During the council rifts occurred over discussions about doctrine, and Charles is attributed to healing those rifts. He also did much work on developing the Catechism at that time. One of his jobs would be to develop liturgical music. After his brother died, he entered the priesthood and was ordained the bishop of Milan three months later.

Catholics had been falling away from the Church, because there had not been a resident bishop in Milan for over 80yrs. He immediately began to reform the diocese and established seminaries, schools and convents. He also began to reform the clergy. Many priests were ignorant and lazy and the sacraments were neglected. He raised up the spiritual life and began Sunday Schools for teaching the children Catechism. Historically, these were the first Sunday schools which numbered 740.

At night, he would take off his bishop’s garb and put on a tattered old cassock. Once someone asked if he wanted his bed warmed, and he said, “the best way to not find a bed cold is to go to bed colder than the bed is”.

A great challenge occurred when a famine and plague occurred. While the governor left, he stayed to minister to the dying. He would use his funds to take care of the poor and destitute. He wore a rope around his neck as a penance during the plague and he cried tears of blood in anguish due to the plague.

His reforms were not accepted by everyone and a group of attempted to assassinate him. They fired upon him while he was praying his evening prayer. His pectoral cross that he wore deflected the bullet. 

He always carried with him a picture of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, who had been martyred under Henry VIII.

In 1584, he became very ill and received the last sacraments. He died at the age of 46. His body now rests in the cathedral of Milan and was canonized 16 yrs. after his death. 

He is often pictured giving Communion to the poor and destitute during the plague and a rope around his neck, as a sign of penance during the plague.

Because of his piety and his effectiveness as a churchman, he became known as a “second Ambrose” and is called "father of the clergy". He is the patron of seminarians and was truly a good shepherd, who was willing to lay down his life for his sheep, in imitation of Jesus the Good Shepherd.

He is an example, all cardinals, bishops and priests, on pastoring the people during a plague and continuing to give them the sacraments. He risked his life to give the people of God, especially the sick during a plague, how unlike the many shepherds, who fled during the pandemic in our time.

St. Martin de Porres - Nov. 3rd

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Martin de Porres, who was born in Lima, Peru in 1579. At the age of 15, he became a lay brother at the Dominican Friary in Lima. Following in the footsteps of St. Dominic, he spent his whole life there, as a barber, farm-laborer and infirmarian, who takes care of the sick brothers.

He is often pictured holding a broom and there are usually mice and a dog beside him in artistic depictions because he had a special way with animals, who would come when he called them. He would call mice, and they would come and feed them.

He had a great desire to go off to some foreign mission and be martyred. Since, he would not receive this grace, he martyred himself devoting himself to severe penances.

Whenever he would contemplate the sufferings of Jesus, he begin to weep. He had an exceptional love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and spent long hours in prayer before Jesus truly present in the tabernacle. He desired to receive the Eucharist as often as possible. As a religious brother, he was very obedient, and dealt with his religious brothers with profound love which comes from pure faith and humility of spirit. For the poor, he provided food, clothing and medicine. Many called him, “Martin the Charitable” because he looked at everyone as his own brothers and sisters, and considered them to be better and more righteous than himself. Just as Padre Pio, was able to fly in the air, and bilocate, so Martin de Porres, bilocated, and was seen in flight, yet he lived 400 yrs. before St. Padre Pio.

St. Martin, the charitable, in a special way came to follow the way of charity. Today, let us imitate his example, by spending time with Jesus truly present in the Eucharist, so that we may truly live a life of charity.

Poor Souls - Nov. 2nd - Dorothy and Her Deceased Husband

 

Today we remember holy souls, the faithful departed who are detained in purgatory until their time of purification has ended.

I have three Masses today, and will give pretty much the same homily. However, in each homily I will tell a different story about a personal experience I had with souls who have gone before us.

In the bulletin this week was the prayer of St. Gertrude. It is said 1000 souls enter heaven every time its devoutly prayed. While we can’t know for sure if this is the exact amount or if 1000 souls refers to “many” souls, by faith we believe our prayers can help souls in purgatory to go to heaven. I encourage you to pray that prayer everyday during the month of November.

However, the greatest and most powerful way to liberate a soul is through the Holy Mass. There are some monasteries and religious orders that can offer 30 consecutive Masses for the soul of one person, and its believed by the end of the 30 days, that soul will go to heaven. Its called Gregorian Masses, due to a private revelation to Pope St. Gregory the great. While its okay to believe this private revelation, perhaps some people need just a few Masses or maybe others need many more. Only God really knows for certain. Sometimes it takes more than 30 Masses and sometimes just a few Masses, which all depends upon how much temporal punishment was not made up in this life, but needs to be made up in the next.

As we know Padre Pio, St. Faustina, St. Charles of Sezze and other saints had encounters with souls who died requesting his prayers. But its not just the saints who have had these encounters. Some including myself have experienced souls who seem to be asking for prayers and/or Masses. For example: I used to give Communion to a lady at Sacred Heart in Halstead, that at times was not able to go to church and other times she could, depending upon her health. As the months progressed she was slowly less able to attend Mass and I would give her Holy Communion on Wednesdays. Since, her health was frail and seemed to be declining, I gave her anointing of the sick.

One day she confided in me and told me that she thought her deceased husband would at times come to her at night and lay next to her. But, she said it was creepy and she didn’t like it. I blessed her house and sprinkled holy water and asked her to tell me, if it happens again. A few weeks later, she said it happened again. She said this figure keeps coming out of her closet and either sits on the bed or lays down next to her. I asked her if there was anything in the closet that did not belong to her. And she said, her husband’s shirt was still in the closet. She like it because it reminded her of him. I told her if she wanted to stop having that happen, to dispose of the shirt and she did. I also said maybe her husband is wanting Masses for his soul and she mentioned that she hadn’t really offered Masses for him after he died. I said, “I will schedule three Masses for him.” Over the next few weeks, first we had one Mass, then the next week I offered another Mass for his soul and then on the 3^rd week, I offered the last of the three Masses. After I offered the Mass that morning, I heard a siren of an ambulance, which sounded like it went to either the public high school or to the assisted living center which was located next to the school. I decided to quickly get into my car to see if any Catholic needed to be anointed. There on the ground at the assisted living center, lay Dorthy, who the EMT’s were performing CPR. I quickly gave her anointing of the sick and the Apostolic Pardon and she died soon thereafter. She died on the same day, the last of the three Masses was offered for her husband. Perhaps, he came to ask for Masses for himself and somehow wanted to help prepare her for her upcoming death.

We can offer our Holy Communions, Rosaries, make sacrifices, our daily duty, do works of charity on behalf of a soul who has died, so they can enjoy heaven. We can even offer one plenary indulgence per day, as long as we receive Holy Communion for that person, go to confession within 8 days before or after. A plenary indulgence, if obtained with the proper disposition, can completely free a soul from the punishment due to their sins, so they can enjoy heaven forever. We can offer our Eucharistic Holy Hour for a particular soul too.

May the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.