First Sunday of Advent, Year A (What Do Catholics Believe About Rapture?)

 

Advent is a time to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ, and to prepare for the second coming of Jesus. 

With regard to His second coming, Jesus told His disciples, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of man be”. As the great flood came suddenly on a world unprepared, involved in the pursuit of pleasure and ordinary worldly things, so shall the coming of the Son of Man many indulging in good cheer, pleasure and worldly business.

Our Lord uses the example of Noah, who warned them of their impending danger, yet they paid no attention. Jesus used this example, because He wants us to be prepared keeping our soul in a state of grace, rather than be involved in worldly concerns. Jesus tells us to “Stay awake, for you do not know on which day the Lord will come.” “So too, you also must be prepared, for an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

The Gospel today speaks about one who will be taken, while the other is left and many Protestants refer to this as the rapture. But is their really such a thing as a rapture, when one will be taken and another left behind? Will the rapture be in secret? Will it occur before the great tribulation or at the moment of the Second Coming of Jesus?

Many Protestants believe the "taken" are the faithful who are raptured away, while those who are "left" are the unfortunate sinners "left behind". They also think the rapture will be secret and before the great persecution, so that only the elect will not undergo the tribulations and the persecution caused by the anti-Christ.

However, this is not what the Catholic Church teaches.  For Catholics, we believe no one is exempt from the great persecution. No one is exempt from suffering from the anti-Christ. We believe Jesus does not come twice, but rather only once. And when He does come it will coincide with the General Judgment. When

Our Divine Lord comes on the clouds of heaven, everyone will be caught up to meet Him in the air and we will all receive our recompense whether good or bad. We will all get a new resurrected body. Even those destined for hell, and those in hell and also those in heaven will get a new resurrected body.

 St. Cyril of Jerusalem suggests that the verse about one being taken and the other left refers to the Lord's rewarding of even the smallest good deed at the time of the Judgment. St. Cyril explains what one taken and one left means. In the context of the final judgment, he said, “…Those who are taken"….confess their good deeds before the Father in heaven, and their "works follow them" while those who are "left" are those who are passed over because, despite their great titles or impressive speech, "had no charity" (did no charitable deeds) and thus have no reward from God.” 

So we will be judged by our deeds of mercy. The good things we have done for others.

How are we to prepare for the coming of Jesus and the celebration of His birth? Most all of us will put up Christmas trees and decorations. We will shop to purchase gifts to show our love. We will make pies, cakes, candy, and desert. Then there is the turkey or ham, and the foods for the Christmas dinner. Some of us will have the office or work Christmas party, the family Christmas. It is true all these things are ways of showing our love for others, but in the midst the cheer, pleasure and activity, we can lose our focus on the coming of the tiny babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. We can wonder, where is Jesus in the midst of all our activity? We can forget about what we can give Jesus for Christmas? We give gifts to each other at Christmas, but do we give Jesus a gift? Do you remember whose birthday it is? Here are some examples.

 Accept the cross you have whether it’s an illness, or a difficult job situation, or a problem that never seems to go away. Stop expecting it to be taken away and ask the Lord for the grace to endure it. Therefore we can give Jesus the gift of accepting our suffering.

Prayer. Daily make time to pray. You can come to the adoration chapel as a family or make shorts visits. We can offer our Holy Hour for specific people. The adoration chapel is for everyone. Anyone can come and be with Jesus from Sunday 9am through Tuesday morning at 7am.

 Decide to daily pray the Rosary, especially as a family. If you already pray the Rosary, pray 2 or 3 rosaries a day.

You can also pray at home together as a family, by each person mentioning one particular intention and then pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. We can give Jesus the gift of family prayer or spending time with Him in prayer.

Read. To read a short paragraph from the bible and meditate on it. Do some spiritual reading such as read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or read lives of the saints. We can give Jesus the gift of learning more about Our Lord and His Church.

Visit and Call. Go to visit someone in a nursing home, or someone who is home bound. Call a family member or friend whom you haven’t talked to in a long time.

Forgive. Perhaps there is someone you haven’t talked to for a long time because you are holding a grudge. Give Jesus the gift of forgiving someone who hurt you.

Attend Mass during the week. Give Jesus the gift of allowing Him to come into your heart in Holy Communion.

Stop Wasting Time on the Computer. Instead of Facebook, call people or speak to them in person.

Help a Neighbor. Rack their leaves or remove snow or do a good deed. Give someone an anonymous donation.

Give a basket of food to a needy family.

There is the Christian Soup Ministry, which our CYO will be participating. Drivers are needed and donations of outdoor weather clothing is needed. There is a box in the entrance of the church you can place your items and if you want to volunteer see the bulletin.

Confession. There are most likely some who haven’t been to confession for a long time. How beautiful will your gift be to give Jesus, the gift of a truly repentant heart. Resolve to confess monthly, by giving Jesus the gift of overcoming your fear of confession and to regularly confess our venial sins.

Give Jesus the daily practice of a particular virtue or try to avoid a particular sin. We can practice patience, or try not to gossip, or to try to practice humility. One can have a negative attitude, put others down and complain about everything. Maybe try to have a grateful heart and positive attitude and give heartfelt compliments to others.

Young husbands and wives, you can give Jesus, the gift of being open to life, by giving up contraception and making the commitment to take Natural Family Planning Classes.

Parents once a week spend time with your children, playing board games or cards.

Children, be obedient to your parents, and do your homework without being told. We can give Jesus the gift of loving our family more and spending more time with our family.

Go to the Christmas pageant or concert. You can create a group to go Christmas Caroling to the homes of the elderly. By doing these things, you will give Jesus the gift of making Him the reason for the season.

Finally, you can make Advent like a little Lent, make sacrifices and do penance. Deny yourself chocolate, or candy or your favorite food. And each time you offer a sacrifice, or a mortification, place a piece of straw in the manger, so that when Christmas comes, Jesus will have a comfortable bed to lay His head.

What will you give the baby Jesus for Christmas? How will you spend your Advent? How will you prepare for Christmas and the 2^nd coming of Jesus? Do as St. Cyril said, to do deeds of charity and acts of mercy. And you will be very well prepared.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary to enter into mystery of Her preparation for the birth of Jesus and Our Lord’s second coming.

Miraculous Medal & St. Catherine Laboure Nov. 27th & 28th

 

 Today we we celebrate the feast of the Miraculous Medal and tomorrow we celebrate the memorial of St. Catherine Laboure. Born in 1806, Catherine’s birth name was Zoe Laboure.

She was the 9^th child of eleven and was the only child in her family to not go to school and she didn’t learn to read and write. Her mother died when Zoé was 8, and when her elder sister, Louisa, left home to become a Sister of Charity, the duties of housekeeper and helper to her father fell upon her. From the time of her first Communion at Saint Remy, Catherine became a mystic. From the age of 14 or so, she heard the call to the religious life.

At age 18 Catherine had her first mystical experience. It was in the form of a dream of an old priest (who was a stranger to her,) that she assisted during a Mass in the dream. Four years later Catherine asked her father for permission to enter religious life. Her father flatly refused. A year later while in a visiting parlor of the Hospital de Saint-Sauveur in Chatillon, Catherine recognized the old priest from her dreams in a portrait of St. Vincent de Paul and knew God meant her to be a Sister of Charity. Her father finally allowed her to join the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in 1830. She took the name Catherine, and after her postulancy was sent to the convent in the Rue du Bac at Paris, where she arrived four days before the translation of the relics of St. Vincent from Notre-Dame to the Lazarist church.

On the eve of the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, July 19, the Superior spoke to the novices about the virtues of their Holy Founder and gave each of them a piece of cloth from his surplice. Catherine earnestly prayed to Saint Vincent that she might with her own eyes see the Mother of God.

She was convinced that she would see the Blessed Virgin Mary that very night; and in her conviction, Catherine fell asleep. Before long, she was awakened by a brilliant light and the voice of a child. "Sister Laboure, come to the Chapel; the Blessed Virgin awaits you." Catherine replied: "We shall be discovered."

The little child smiled, "Do not be uneasy; it is half past eleven, everyone is sleeping... come, I am waiting for you." She rose quickly and dressed. The hall lights were burning. The locked chapel door swung open at the angel's touch. Amazed, Catherine found the Chapel ablaze with lights as if prepared for midnight Mass. Quickly she knelt at the communion rail, and suddenly, she heard the rustle of a silk dress... the Blessed Virgin, in a blaze of glory, sat in the director's chair. The angel whispered: "The Blessed Mother wishes to speak with you."

Catherine rose, knelt beside the Blessed Mother and rested her hands in the Virgin's lap.

Our Lady told Catherine she would have to undertake a difficult task and also, it is said, spoke of the future and the violent death of an archbishop of Paris forty years later.

On November 27 Our Lady again appeared to Sister Catherine in the same chapel, in the form of a picture and as it were standing on a globe with shafts of light streaming from her hands towards it, surrounded by the words: "O Mary, conceived free from sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!" Then the picture turned about, and sister Catherine saw on the reverse side a capital M, with a cross above it and two hearts, one crowned with thorns and the other pierced with a sword, below. And she seemed to herself to hear a voice telling her to have a medal struck representing these things, and promising that all who wore it with devotion should receive great graces by the intercession of the Mother of God. This or a similar vision was repeated in the following month and on several other occasions up to September 1831.

Sister Catherine confided in her confessor, and he, after making very careful investigations, was given permission by the archbishop of Paris, to have the medal struck. In June 1832 the first 1500 were issued. Originally called the “Medal of the Immaculate Conception”, it later became known to Catholics throughout the world as "miraculous".

The archbishop of Paris instituted a canonical inquiry into the alleged visions in 1836. The precautions she had taken to keep herself unknown, the promise she had wrung from her confessor not to tell anybody who she was, the secrecy she had kept towards everyone except her confessor, her constant unwillingness to appear before an ecclesiastical authority, account for this inquiry not being extended to the young sister herself. The tribunal decided in favor of the authenticity of the visions, taking into consideration the circumstances, the character of the sister concerned, and the prudent and level-headedness of her confessor.

The popularity of the medal increased daily, especially after the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne in 1842. He was a Jew who, having reluctantly agreed to wear the medal, and then consequently received a vision of our Lady in the church of Sant' Andrea delle Frate at Rome, whereupon he became a Christian and was later ordained a priest and became founder of a religious congregation, the Fathers and Sisters of Zion.

I met Zachary King in Wichita. He was a Baptist man who became a satanic high priest and through the miraculous medal. As a satanic high priest he assisted with and did abortions. However, one day someone gave him a miraculous medal and the moment he took it, he immediately had a vision of the Virgin Mary. At that moment, he gave up being a satanic follower and also knew he had to become Catholic. He became Catholic and since goes around giving talks throughout the United States warning people about the danger of the occult and satanism and also speaks about the power of the miraculous medal.

When I went on vacation to South Dakota a few years ago, as I was walking out of my motel room, a man was painting the exterior of the building. He walked up to me and said, “I used to be Catholic. I was invloved in witchcraft but don’t do it anymore. After some discussion, I invited him to return to the Church and go to confession. He said, “I will never go to confession. I don’t believe in it.” I handed him a miraculous medal and told him I would pray for him. He put it around his neck. The next day, when I returned to my motel, he walked up to me and said he wanted to return to Mass and said he wanted to go to confession. The power of miraculous medal is amazing. I have also seen how Our Lady uses the medal in parishes to bring back fallen away Catholics. So, if you know of anyone who is fallen away or who is not living a good lifestyle. Give them a miraculous medal and ask them to wear it. Its an innocent little medal, but Our Lady uses it in a powerful way.

This vision of Ratisbonne was also subject of a canonical inquiry and the reports of this were extensively used in the process of beatification of Catherine Labouré, of whose personal life very little is recorded. Her Superiors spoke of her as "rather insignificant", "matter-of-fact and unexcitable", "cold, almost apathetic".

From 1831 until her death on December 31, 1876, she lived unobtrusively among the community as portress, in charge of the poultry, and looking after the aged. Not until eight months before her death, did she speak to anyone except her confessor of the extraordinary graces she had received, and then she revealed them only to her superior. Her funeral was the occasion of an outburst of popular veneration, and a child of twelve, crippled from birth was instantaneously cured at her grave. St. Catherine Labouré was canonized in 1947, and Nov. 28^th was appointed as her feast day. Today, her body is incorrupt is encased in glass.

When we think of the saints, we often forget that they were ordinary people, who lived extra ordinary lives, often times in a hidden way. Their lives were simple, yet profound.

I would like to close with a quote from St. Catherine on the subject of prayer. St. Catherine once said, "Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to him, Lord I am here. Tell me what you would have me to do. If He gives me some task, I am content and I thank him. If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that. And then, I tell God everything that is in my heart. I tell him about my pains and joys, and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen. God always speaks to you when you approach Him plainly and simply. "

Today may we strive to do as St. Catherine Laboure in prayer, to approach God plainly and simply, knowing if we speak to Him and if we listen, He will speak to us.

 

St. Catherine of Alexandria - Nov. 25th

 

 Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria. She was a virgin martyr, who lived many centuries ago in the late 200’s and early 300’s of Christianity.

As a young lady, she read much about Christianity, and became Christian, after she had a vision of Our Lady with the Child Jesus. When the emperor heard of the young noble Christian woman, from Alexandria, he had her brought to him. She rebuked the emperor for worshiping idols. He was unable to reply against her arguments about his pagan gods, and so, he had 50 philosophers attempt to refute her, in a public debate. She easily one every point and made them look foolish. The emperor became angered, and had all 50 philosophers were burned to death. The emperor then responded by offering to marry her, if she would renounce her faith. She refused, which resulted in her getting beaten, scourged, and put into prison.

The emperor then went out of town to inspect his military forces, and when he returned, he discovered, that Catherine had converted the queen, and 200 of the queen’s bodyguard. The emperor had the queen, and all 200 soldiers put to death.

Catherine was sentenced to death, on a spiked wheel. When she was fastened to the wheel, its spikes flew off, and killed some onlookers. She was then beheaded. It is believed, angels carried her body to Mount Sinai. And in 526 the emperor Justinian built a monastery dedicated to St. Catherine on Mount Sinai.

She is often times pictured with a spiked wheel, or with a sword in her hand. The modern Catherine wheel, used as fireworks, is named after her. It is believed she appeared to St. Dominic. Dominicans have her as their special patronage.

St. Joan of Arc received spiritual advice by way of voices, from many saints, including St. Catherine of Alexandria.

She is the patron for philosophers, lawyers, librarians and teachers. St. Catherine boldly stood up for truth, and for justice, against the evil forces of the world. She also was willing to suffer for Her divine spouse for the sake of her virginity.

Today, we can expect evil forces to oppose us, but, by God’s grace, by our reliance on Jesus Christ, by boldly refuting modern day idols of the world, by living holy lives, and by our steadfast proclaiming of the truth to the world, we shall be victorious.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, give us the courage to witness to our faith in imitation of St. Catherine of Alexandria, even unto death.

Thanksgiving Day

 

 Today, American families will gather to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

Our first president, George Washington established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Many of us were taught in school the history of Thanksgiving. We were told Puritan pilgrims from Britain, and the local Indians, gathered at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, in the fall of 1621. These pilgrims and Indians gave thanks to God for surviving the hard winter, and for the many blessings God had bestowed upon them. They ate wild turkey and venison, which is deer meat. Although this event really happened, perhaps we may be unaware there was an earlier Thanksgiving, which included the Sacrifice of the Mass.

The first Thanksgiving Feast was actually Catholic, involved the Mass, and a dinner with the Indians. It occurred 56 years earlier in 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. The first settlers weren’t British and Puritan, but rather, Spanish and Catholic.

Admiral, Pedro Menendez de Aviles and the Spanish settlers came ashore in Florida on the Feast of the Birthday of Mary, on Sept, 8^th, 1565. Fr. Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, a diocesan priest offered the Holy Mass of Thanksgiving.

After the Sacrifice of the Mass was offered, the priest invited all 800 European settlers and the native Indians, for a communal meal, which consisted of wild turkey, deer meat, pork stew, and vegetables.

In the Gospel today, 10 lepers receive healing from Jesus, but only one, a non-Jew, who as a Samaritan returned to thank the Lord. All were healed, but only one returned to thank Our Lord.

Think about the times you were sick in the past. A cold, a fever, perhaps covid, or the flu, or maybe even cancer or an operation. When you got better, did you thank the Lord?

In the book of James it states, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” It is a gift to be healed from a physical ailment. It is a gift to have our soul healed when we confess our sins. It is a gift that we receive spiritual graces from God in Holy Communion. Family is a gift. Our job is a gift. Our good health is a gift. To live in the United States and be an American is a gift. Even sufferings and pain are a gift from God because they can be offered to make reparation for our sins and can be offered for the conversion of sinners.

The last time you went to Confession, did you thank Jesus for forgiving your sins? Have you thanked the Lord for all the times in your life you were physically healed? Or for all the times, you had good health. Or thank Him for your parents raising you in the faith or if you converted, to thank the Lord for the grace to become Catholic. We should thank God that we receive the grace to have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and She intercedes for us. Some saints and religious communities, give thanks for all that God has done for Mary, such as Her Immaculate Conception, Her glorious assumption and Her being the Mother of God.

With hearts full of thanksgiving, let us give thanks and praise to God for every good gift He has ever given us and will ever give us and especially the gift of heaven.

Blessed Miguel Pro - Nov. 23rd

 

 In the Gospel today, Jesus told the crowd, “They will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons and they will lead you before kings and governors because of my name.”

Our Lord’s prediction certainly came true as Christians would be persecuted for the first 300 years, until Constantine would give his edict permitting Christianity as a religion. The apostles were all martyred except John. They did however, try to kill him and he was most certainly persecuted. Thousands upon thousands of early Christians would be killed for the faith, some were killed in the Coliseum, but many more were killed in what was called a circus.

Peter would be placed in prison, but would be freed by an angel. Paul would be put into prison several times. Paul was stoned and beaten with iron rods. Peter was eventually captured again and then crucified upside down on Vatican Hill. Paul was captured again and was in prison for years and then they cut off his head near Rome.

Jesus Himself was persecuted beyond measure. He was taken before the governor Pilate and before king Herod.

It was said in the early Church, that those who would be named bishops would most likely be martyred. That is why they wear the red zucchetto cap, to remind them to expect to be martyred for the faith.

Jesus gives the reason why they would be persecuted; He said they would be persecuted because of His name. Those who would follow Him, follow the way of love, the way of the Gospel would find themselves being handed over by parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends. He said, “You will be hated because of My Name.”

Today is the feast of Blessed Miguel Pro, a priest martyr from Mexico. Due to the persecution in Mexico, it was illegal to perform the sacraments in the early 1900’s. Fr. Miguel disguised himself as a layman, so he could administer the sacraments secretly. By wearing regular clothes, he was able to go about the city giving Holy Communion. He distributed Holy Communion to 1,300 people in a singe day. Despite the danger of getting caught by the police, he continued to administer the sacraments and was arrested several times.

In 1927, after a bomb exploded, aimed at killing the president, Fr. Miguel was arrested but had nothing to do with it. He had no trial. And moments before he was shot, the Holy Spirit gave him wisdom to speak to his adversaries. A remarkable photograph was taken just before his death. With arms outstretched, his last words were, “Vivo Christo Rey”, “Long live Christ the King”.

Today, persecution continues to rage. Saudi Arabia do not permit Christians to practice their faith. Anyone with a bible, or crucifix or if they were to attend Christian worship, can themselves arrested and placed into prison. They same holds true for China as well. China is notorious for killing and imprisoning Catholics especially bishops and cardinals. The 90 year old, Cardinal Zen was arrested in Hong Kong and has been imprisoned and he recently went on trial.

The words of Jesus spoken 2000 yrs, ago apply to us today. We should expect persecution, and be hated because of His name. But, it is our duty to forgive those who hurt us and pray for those who persecute us, that they too may follow the way of Jesus, who is the only way to the Father in heaven. As we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, let us be thankful to God for allowing us to suffer for Him even in such a small way in our own families. And may the Blessed Virgin Mary, She who is the help of Christians, come to the aid of all those who are hated and persecuted because of the name of Jesus.