4th Sunday of Advent Year A - St. Joseph

 

The Gospel today reveals, a most difficult marriage preparation for Joseph. At that time, Jews were betrothed one year before they were married. When a couple was betrothed to each other one year before marriage-- they were then legally united, but did not live together. A year later, the wedding ceremony took place and then the couple came to live together.

During the year before marriage, after they had been betrothed, Joseph learned Mary was pregnant. To say the least, he would have been shocked and dumbfounded. What suffering he must have endured. He didn’t believe Mary would have sinned, yet he knew he wasn’t the father of the child. What a terrible dilemma. In order to prevent Mary from being stoned to death (which was the punishment at that time for women, who committed such sin.) he believed he should quietly divorce Her.

During a dream Joseph received a visit from an angel asking him to agree to God’s plan for Mary. The angel reassured him it was by way of the Holy Spirit, Mary had conceived. “When Joseph awoke, he did what he angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.” Just as Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let be done unto me as you say”, Joseph also did likewise when he obeyed the angel.

Marriage and virginity are two signs of the love of God for us-- and we see both of these united in the first couple of the New Testament, Mary and Joseph. Joseph is a model of chastity. And we know Mary chose to dedicate herself exclusively to God in virginity.

Catholic tradition has always taught that Mary’s virginal love for God was so great, She consecrated Her body to God at an early age through a vow of perpetual virginity. Mary entrusted Her entire person to God and had absolute confidence in His play for Her life. She desired nothing in this life, other than to do God’s will. Her confidence was so great, She trusted Him to lead Her into marriage with a man, despite Her vow of virginity. She was certain God would give Her a man who would truly love both God and Her, and respect Her vow; a man who would be completely dedicated to God’s plan and protect Her virginity. She never doubted God.

There was never a man more in love with a woman, than St. Joseph was in love with Mary. What dignity and holiness were required of St. Joseph to be the husband of Mary. In Her feminine Heart, Mary knew She was secure in the manhood of St. Joseph. He was Her knight and warrior. Every wife desires such a husband—a gentleman, a protector, a good father. Having placed her trust in God, She delegated to a man the safeguarding of the greatest treasure. She who delegated Her flower of virginity to God earlier in a solemn ceremony- had no doubt She would have a virginal spouse.

In Joseph, Mary experienced a perfect reflection and mirror of God’s love for Her. When Mary met Joseph, She knew that God had chosen Him to be Her loving and beloved spouse. Trusting in God’s plan She fell in love with St. Joseph and gave him Her Heart. He was the only man who perfectly reflected the pure love of God. Mary and Joseph lived what was called a “Josephite marriage”, meaning they never had relations.

Although Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, he was a true father to Jesus. When Jesus was found in the temple, Mary said to Jesus, “Your father and I have been looking for you.”. We can imagine the love and affection between Joseph and Jesus, and between Joseph and Mary. We can imagine Joseph’s pain at the poor circumstances of Jesus’ birth. We can imagine the pain he must have suffered when Simeon told Mary, Jesus would be a sign that to be opposed and a sword would pierce Mary’s soul. We can imagine the pain Joseph suffered when he had to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safety to preserve their lives.

Sometimes we see Joseph pictured as an old man in statues and paintings, but it’s actually believed, he was just a few years older than the Virgin Mary. As Mother Angelica said, “Do you think an old man would have walked from Nazareth all the way to Egypt, during their flight into the desert?”

What gave Joseph the strength to endure all the trials his vocation brought him? It was obviously his life of prayer which gave him the strength to be obedient to God’s call to him. He was a just man, a man of honor. He had to have been a man of deep faith to fulfill his high calling.

It is believed, he died before Jesus began His public ministry and that Jesus and Mary were present with him, as he died. That is the way all people of faith would like to die, in the company of Jesus and Mary. And this is why St. Joseph is the patron of a happy death.

In 1870 Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church. He said, “in the same way that he once kept unceasing holy watch over the family of Nazareth, so now, does he protect and defend with his heavenly patronage the Church of Christ.”

Pope Leo XIII prayed to Joseph in this way, “Most beloved father, dispel the evil of falsehood and sin...graciously assist us from heaven in our struggle with the powers of darkness...and just as once you saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.”

In Joseph’s role as Patron of the Church he is indeed defending her from the snares of her enemies. Now more than ever we need to turn to St. Joseph to help the Church in these turbulent times in which the devil seems to be attacking the Church even from within.

Today, let us “go to Joseph”—“ita ad Joseph” in all our needs, especially seeking his fatherly care. He will help us to pray, to grow in our faith, to be obedient and to be just. He will help us love Our Blessed Mother and the Divine Child.

And so we pray, “O Joseph, patron of the universal Church, protect the Church from the harms of the devil, foster father of the Child Jesus, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, man of faith, watch over and protect us, keep us close to Jesus and intercede for us. Grant us perfect chastity, and especially the grace of a happy death. And when I draw my dying breath, may my last words be: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in last agony and take me to paradise.”

St. John of the Cross Dec. 14th

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. John of the Cross. He was born in Spain in the 1542. As child, he had a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Shortly after he was ordained a priest, he met Teresa of Avila. She interested him in reforming the Carmelite Order. He wholeheartedly wanted to pursue her plans of reforming. When he entered the Discalced Carmelite Friars at Durelo, he would be its first member taking the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He eventually became superior, prior, and vicar general. His struggles to reform the order caused him to be placed in prison by his own order. He eventually escaped taking refuge with the Carmelite Sisters. And was seen levitating in prayer.

In the midst of his exterior labors his heart was always intimately united to God. He is known in the Church as one of the greatest contemplatives and teachers of mystical theology. The spirituality of John of the Cross was centered on the experience of the Cross. Union with God is achieved through rigorous discipline, abandonment to God and purification of the will and senses. If one wants to save one’s life, one must lose it to God through the spirit of abandonment and self-denial. From a spiritual canticle, he states, “We must dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however, deep we dig we will never find their end of their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered from all sides. For this reason, the apostle Paul said of Christ, “In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God”. The soul cannot enter into the treasures, nor attain them, unless it first crosses into and enters the thicket of suffering, enduring interior and exterior labors...”

His writings with regard to prayer and union with God especially: The Dark Night of the Soul and The Ascent to Mount Carmel are very beneficial to the people of God throughout the entire Church. Because he is one of the greatest mystics of all time, he would eventually be named a doctor of the Church, as well as his trusted friend, Teresa of Avila.

In his last illness, he had a choice between two monasteries, one of them was a pleasant residence, and its prior was his intimate friend, but he chose the other, which was poor and where the prior was ill-disposed toward him. After much suffering, he died in 1591.

Today, let us daily strive to abandon our self to God, work at self-discipline, and purify our will and senses, that we too may be united to Jesus, through the Cross in imitation of St. John of the Cross thereby, digging deep into the infinite pockets of Christ, attaining union with Him through Mary.

St. Lucy Dec. 13th

 

 Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Lucy. Born in Sicily, in the late 200’s, St. Lucy is the patron of the blind and those who suffer from eye disorders.

From the cradle, she was educated in the Catholic Faith under the care of her widowed mother. Her father died when she was an infant.

At a very young age, she secretly made a vow of virginity. Her mother, however, had different plans for Lucy, who wanted her to marry a young man, who was a pagan.

Her mother suffered from a hemorrhage for many years. Lucy and her mother decided to go to the tomb of St. Agatha to request a miracle. When they arrived, they prayed to the holy martyr, who granted their petition. And so, St. Lucy’s mother was miraculously cured at the tomb. After the miracle, she told her mother that she had made a vow of virginity at a very young age. She also said she wanted to devote herself to God, and give her money to the poor. In gratitude for her healing, St. Lucy’s mother, let her keep her vow, and avoid marriage.

The young nobleman, who had wanted to marry St. Lucy became enraged and told the authorities that Lucy was a Christian, which was forbidden at the time by the government. She was ordered by the pagan judge to be sent to a brothel to expose her to prostitution. But when the guards attempted to take her, God made her body immovable. They then placed her into prison. They attempted to burn her, but God protected her, and she was unharmed as well. Finally, they took a sword, and cut her throat, killing the young saint in the year 304. She is mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I – The Roman Canon alongside Agatha, who had healed St. Lucy’s mother.

There is a legend, which suggests, Lucy willfully plucked her own eyes out, due to a young man, who was overwhelmed by her beauty. According to the legend, her eyes were miraculously restored, and were more beautiful then before. Today, she is depicted in statues and holy cards--- holding a dish with two eyeballs.

The first year I was ordained a priest, every week I would take Holy Communion to the homebound. And one elderly lady, who was in her 90’s was going blind. She told me she was praying a Novena to St. Lucy for a miracle. Today, many people would scoff at her praying to have her eyes sight restored. After all, she was past 90 years old, what should she expect at her age.

However, several weeks after she prayed her Novena, I came to her home to give her Communion and she told me her vision was getting better. She said on the 9^th day of the Novena to St. Lucy, her doctor called her and wanted her to try a new experimental medicine. And so she went to visit her doctor and he gave her a medicine called “Lucere”. The root word for the medicine means “light” in which the name “Lucy” has as its derivative. The woman, past 90 years old, had great faith, and believed in the intercession of a saint. St. Lucy, through modern medicine heard her prayer. The woman told me she prayed to God everyday, she would not lose her eye sight before she died and He granted her desires, through St. Lucy.

St. Lucy gives us an example of being unconcerned with our appearance so as to avoid vanity and she can help all those who suffer from blindness, whether it’s physical or spiritual blindness. We can turn to her in prayer asking her to heal the eyesight of those we know who are unable to see as well as they ought.

As we continue through this Advent season, let us ask Jesus to help us to see—with the eyes of St. Lucy,--- what we need to do to prepare for His birth at Christmas.

Our Lady of Gaudalupe Dec. 12th

 

 Today, Dec. 12^th, is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In the 1500’s, the Aztecs in Mexico practiced human sacrifice. They used to take out the hearts of the victims, while still alive and would eat human flesh. It is estimated 20% of the children at time were sacrificed. Thousands were killed on special feast days and about 300 people were sacrificed every single day.

When the explorer, Cortez landed, he built a church called the Rosary Chapel. He named the location, “rich town of the true Cross”. As he traveled through Mexico, he discovered a place, with racks of human skulls. On one rack there were over 100,000 human skulls. Cortez outraged and shocked by this abomination said, “We are obligated to exalt and increase our Holy Catholic faith, uproot idolatry, and abolish sacrifices and the eating of human flesh, which is so contrary to nature and so common here.”

As he and his army headed toward the main temples, they carried a banner with a Cross. When he approached the great temples, he met Montezuma, the Aztec leader. He told Montezuma, “I ask you not to sacrifice any more souls to your gods who are deceiving you, I beg you to allow them to remove them and put up Our Lady and the Cross”.

The Aztecs made war against the Spanish, but were defeated. When the war was over, Cortez said, “Our Lady was pleased to show God’s power and mercy, for with all our weakness, we broke the enemy’s arrogance and pride.”

It was under these circumstances, Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego on Dec. 9^th, 1531. She said to him, “Know for certain, dearest of my sons, I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, to whom everything lives, the Lord of all things, who is master of heaven and earth. I ardently desire a chapel be built here for me, for I will give my Son to the people and I will offer all of my love, my compassion and my help and protection to the people. I am your merciful Mother, the mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, and all of those who love me, cry to me and have confidence in me, here I will hear their weeping and sorrows. And I will remedy and alleviate their sufferings and misfortunes. Go to the house of the bishop and ask him to build a chapel on the hill.” When Juan Diego went to the bishop and explained what Our Lady wanted, the bishop requested a sign, so that he could believe him.

A few days later, on Dec. 12^th, Juan went to get a priest to give his uncle the last rites, and so as to avoid the lady went around the backside of the hill. But she appeared to him anyway. Our Lady said, “Listen and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little son. Let nothing discourage you, or depress you. Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness, or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of your arms? Am I not of your own kind? What else do you need? Do not let the illness of your uncle worry you, for at this very moment he is cured. Go to the hill top, my son, where you will find flowers.”

As Our Lady requested, Juan Diego went to the top of the hill and found Castilian roses, not native to Mexico and miraculously blossoming in winter. Our Lady Herself arranged the roses in his long apron, called a tilma, and then Juan went to the bishop. When he arrived, he opened the tilma and as the roses fell to the ground, the image of Our Lady’s image became immediately emboldened on it, which caused the Bishop to believe in the apparitions.

The news of the apparitions and the healings of Our Lady melted the hearts of the Aztec Indians, who brought their false gods and placed them before the image of Our Lady.

When two missionary priests arrived, hundreds of families came to the priests to be baptized. In 4 days, the priests baptized 14,000 natives. And within 10 years, 9 million became Catholic. This caused the human sacrifice to end forever, and the Spanish and Indians were reconciled. In a letter written by Bishop Zummaga to Cortez, he wrote, “In our day, God and his Blessed Mother was deigned to shower the land which was won by you, with His great mercy.”

On this feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, let us beseech our Mother, asking Her to close the abortion mills in Kansas and the USA.

3rd Sunday of Advent - True Messiah vs False Messiah

 

In the Gospel today, John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus to ask Our Lord if “He is the one who is to come”, in another words, “Is He the Messiah?”. In response, Jesus declares Himself the Messiah by giving proofs when He speaks about the miracles He performed.

What does Messiah mean? In Judaism, the expected king of the Davidic line would deliver Israel from foreign bondage and restore the glories of its golden age. The Jews during the time of Jesus mistakenly thought the messiah would be their military ruler and free them from Roman oppression. However, scriptures do not proclaim the Messiah as the leader of an army. The Jews also thought the Messiah would come to bring about lasting peace, which is true. The proper understanding of the messiah is that he is the anointed one, who restores man’s relationship with God, that was broken due to Adam and Eve’s original sin. The messiah specifically is referred to the coming of one who would usher in a period of righteousness and conquer sin and evil (Daniel 9:26).

Many Jews believed the Messiah would heal the sick, the blind and the lame. Therefore, the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, in the first reading today, foresees the Messiah as healing the sick.

In the Gospel today, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Messiah by telling the disciples of John the Baptist, “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” By Jesus adding “the dead are raised”, He revealed He is also God.

As God, He can forgive sins, which is what He told the adulterous woman and the paralytic that their sins are forgiven.

What if someone would claim to be the Messiah or a messenger from God today? Bishop Fulton Sheen indicated there are three ways we can know only Jesus is the Messiah. The first way is what we see in the today’s Gospel. The Messiah will be able to work miracles of physical healing (healing the blind, cleansing lepers, the deaf to hear, raising the dead).

Every time a saint is canonized, its due to a miracle that God performed through the intercession of a saint and is investigated and proven to be true by the Church. For example, Floribeth Mora Diaz, who had a brain aneurysm was told she would die soon, but after watching the beatification of Pope John Paul II, she had a dream where the pope told her, “Get up! Don’t be afraid.” and she was instantly healed. Fr. Ron Pytel suffered from a constricted aortic valve and was miraculously healed after venerating a relic of blessed Faustina, which led to her canonization. Marcilio Andrino from Brazil was healed of a brain infection with abscesses after venerating a relic of blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and that miracle caused her to be canonized.

All of these miracles are attributed to God, through the intercession of the saints.

The second way we know Jesus is the Messiah, is that the morality Jesus declares does not contradict human reason. In another words human reason tells us it is wrong to kill an innocent person, but a false Messiah may something like, its acceptable to kill an unborn baby.

The third way we can know Jesus is the Messiah is He fulfills all 456 prophecies of the Old Testament. Bishop Fulton Sheen said, “What is the probability of anyone fulfilling all 456 prophecies of the Old Testament that refer to the Messiah? To fulfill 4 of the 456 prophecies is 1 in 100,000. However, Jesus fulfills all 456 prophecies. Bishop Fulton Sheen said, the chance of fulfilling all 456 prophecies 1 with 184 zeros.” There are 12 zeros in a trillion, but Bishop Sheen said 184 zeros is incalculable.

Here are a few of the Old Testament prophecies Jesus fulfilled: The prophet Micah who said He would be born in Bethlehem. The prophet Isaiah 7:14 said He would be born of a virgin. 2^nd Samuel 7:12-13 states: He would be a descendant of David and sit on his royal throne. Isaiah 7:14 said He would be called Emmanuel. Hosea 11:1: He will spend time in Egypt. Malachi: His way would be prepared by Elijah the prophet who would be John the Baptist. Psalm 110:4 He would be a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Zechariah 11:12: He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey. Psalm 22:16 His hands and feet would be pierced, He would be mocked 7-8 and His garments would be divided by soldiers 18. Psalm 69:21 He would be given vinegar to drink. Psalm 16:10 He would resurrect from the dead. Isaiah 54:5-12: He would be a sacrifice for sin. Daniel 7:13-14 He will return a second time.

No past, so called messenger of God, nor any future messenger of God are able predict in advance where that false messenger he will be born, or how and where he will die. Jesus Himself predicted His rejection, suffering, death and resurrection. “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." (Mark 9:31)

Only Jesus said He wants an intimate and personal relationship with Him and to love Him. He said, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.”

No one, but Jesus would tell His followers to eat His flesh and drink His blood and if they do, and will inherit eternal life and will be raised on the last day. (John 6:54)

The false messiah who will be the Antichrist can not fulfill all 456 prophecies. There are 16 things about the Antichrist that reveal who he is. 1. He is not the devil incarnate. Only God can take on human nature. However, he will be controlled by Satan through diabolical possession. 2. He will declare himself the messiah. 3. He will be Jewish and his mother will be Jewish (LaSallete). 4. He will conquer enemies & reign over the world for 3 ½ years. 5. He will declare Jerusalem the capital of the world. 6. Claim to be God & worshiped (2Thess 2:4) 7. Have Statues of himself set up for people to worship 8. He will persecute Christians (Rev. 13:7) (The Great Persecution). 9. He will abolish the Mass (Dan. 12:11) 10. He will start a new religion and create a false church (Catherine Emmerich) 11. He will be be extremely intelligent, and will have eloquence, and posses perfect knowledge of every art and science, and know all scriptures. (History of the Anti-Christ) 12. He will work false wonders (2 Thess 2:9-10) such as calling down fire from heaven and cast out demons. He will supposedly die and come back to life, but he will not have really died. (Rev. 13:12). He will appear to heal the sick, but they will be false miracles. 13. He will control the World Economy – “Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” (Rev. 13:16-17). 14. He will kill Enoch and Elijah who the book of Revelation call the two witnesses. They will return as prophets to confront the Anti-Christ. (Rev. 11:8). 15. The Antichrist will be destroyed by Jesus at His Second Coming. 16. The Antichrist’s number is 666. Letters of alphabet are 666 when translated. Nero was like an Antichrist his number was 666.

According to the book, History of the Antichrist by Rev. P Huchede, pg. 24) written in 1884, a professor of the Theology at the Grand Seminary Laval, France, the Antichrist will be preceded by the false prophet. “The Antichrist adores Satan and the false prophet glorifies the Antichrist. The false prophet will not be a king nor a general of an army but a clever apostate, fallen from the episcopal dignity. (my understanding of what this means is that the person will be a bishop or cardinal, who someone like that, who will lose their faith by apostatizing and will in turn lead others to the Anti-Christ). For being an apostle of the Gospel he will become the first preacher of the false messiah. The Antichrist will communicate his power of working miracles to others, who will go into different countries and cities to gain new proselytes by human and diabolic means in the power. There shall rise up false christs and false prophets and they shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible the elect. They will blaspheme the majesty of God and despise all true authority.”

So if someone were to claim to be the Messiah today, we could easily tell he isn’t. Fulton Sheen says this about the Antichrist (the false messiah). He said, “the Antichrist will not be called the Antichrist or no one would follow him. He will be disguised as a humanitarian (to help the poor), one who will talk peace, prosperity, and plenty, not as means to lead us to God, but as ends in themselves. He will write books on the new idea of God to suit the way people live. He will identify tolerance with indifference to right and wrong. He will even speak of Christ and say that he was the greatest man who ever lived, (but not speak of Him as God). He will explain guilt away psychologically. He will foster more divorces under the disguise that another partner is “vital.”

I’m telling you this because there is a man in Jerusalem who some of the Jews claim, he is the messiah. He is extremely intelligent. He knew all scriptures by heart and the Talmud by the age of 15. He has worked false miracles. These fake miracles are not attributed to God, but rather to this man. As I mentioned the future false messiah, the Anti-Christ is known for 16 things. At this time, the man is said to have 4 of them. 1. He’s Jewish. 2. Jews are claiming he is the messiah 3. He is attributed 5 fake miracles and 4. He is extremely intelligent. He lacks 12 other features that would make him known as the false messiah (the anti-Christ). Attached to the bulletin are 45 out of 456 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. You can look them up in scripture. Also attached is the list of 16 points the false messiah needs to be declared the Anti-Christ.

My friends, if these things were to happen in our life time, we will reject every messiah because we believe Jesus is the only and true Messiah. We reject anyone who works false miracles attributed to himself, rather than God. We would reject any new and false church that does away with Catholic teachings, Her tradition, Her dogmas.

Rather, we will believe what has been passed down to us over the last 2000 years. Jesus is the one and only Messiah. He who is both God and man. He fulfilled all 456 prophecies of the Old Testament. Only Jesus can save us from our sins.

The point of today’s readings and Gospel is this: Jesus is the Messiah. When Jesus comes on the clouds of heaven, only Jesus can and will bring about a lasting peace, when He comes a second time, and then the world will be transformed and made new, and all will receive a resurrected body like His, at the end of the world.

Today, let us rejoice that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is God, who has come to save us from our sins, lead all to righteousness and restore mankind back to God.

And let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Messiah, the Mother of God, and our Mother, to pray for us, that we may help all to come to have a personal and intimate relationship with Her Son, who loves us so much, that He laid down His life for us, that we may have life with Him forever in heaven.

Holy House of Nazareth - Dec. 10th

 

 Today, we are celebrating the miraculous transfer of the Holy House from Nazareth to Loreto, Italy. The reason why the feast is celebrated today is because the holy house disappeared on Dec. 10^th, 1294, from Tersatto and landed in various places in Italy.

The house of Nazareth was the home where Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived. After Herod died, the Holy Family returned from Egypt to Nazareth where they lived and worked in this little house. In this the Annunciation occurred, where through the annunciation of the angel Gabriel and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary.

Popes and saints attribute the flying house transfer to the action of angels due to the invasion of Muslims in the Holy Land. It seems God wanted the house to be protected. The house literally flew in the air to various places until it landed in Loreto.

Here is what happened. On May 9, 1291, the Holy House was still in Nazareth. However, on the night of May 9 to 10, 1291, it traveled nearly 2,000 miles and reached Tersatto (now Trsat), in the region of Dalmatia, in what is now a suburb of Rijeka, Croatia. On that occasion, Nicolò Frangipane, a feudal lord of Tersatto, personally sent a delegation to Nazareth to ascertain whether the Holy House had indeed disappeared from its original place. The emissaries not only verified its disappearance but found the foundation the house was built and from which the walls had been taken away as a block.

Three years later, on the night of December 9 to 10, 1294, the Holy House disappeared from Tersatto and landed “in various places” in Italy. For nine months it stayed on a hillside overlooking the port of Ancona, and came to be called Posatora. A church was built on the site as a memorial.

In 1295, after nine months in Posatora, the Holy House was transported by angels to a forest that belonged to a woman called Loreta, near the town of Recanati. That is where the name Loreto comes from.

Between 1295 and 1296, after spending eight months in this location the Holy House was miraculously transported to a farm on Mount Prodo belonging to two brothers of the Antici family. In 1296, after four months at this farm, the Holy House departed and landed on a public road on Mount Prodo connecting Recanati to Ancona, where it remains to this day.

Back in Nazereth, around the foundations where the house was originally located, the Basilica of the Annunciation was built. Inside the Basilica it can be plainly seen how the foundation remains, yet the building is gone.

Archeological studies all indicate the house came from the Holy Land. The stones and bricks are kept together with a mortar whose physical and chemical composition is found only in Palestine and precisely in the region of Nazareth. Today in Loreto, the Holy House stands firmly, without its foundation, directly on the ground. In another words, the house was literally moved and reset on the ground it is currently located.

Moreover, if the house was dismantled and rebuilt in place after place along its journey—one cannot understand how it could possibly have maintained the exact geometric proportions of the Nazareth house, whose foundations, to this day, match perfectly the walls of Loreto. The fact the Holy House finally came to rest across an old dirt highway can be seen by the way the house landed, its three walls, with no foundation, are supported partly on ground and partly over open air.

Various bishops of the region approved the veneration of the miraculous translations. For centuries the Popes renewed the approvals until Urban VIII, in 1624, definitively established December 10 as the Feast of the Translation of the Holy House of Mary, Mother of God. And a few months ago, Pope Francis created the optional memorial of Our Lady of Loreto, which we are now celebrating today.

It’s believed the Litany of Loreto was created in the late 1500’s. And shortly after the litany was composed it was in danger of being forgotten forever, as the pope at the time did not especially like it. However, the priests of the shrine preserved it and it was sung every Saturday in Loreto. People who came on pilgrimage to Loreto, took it to their parishes. By the 17th century the litany became popular in the city of Rome and was sung frequently at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Ever since, it has remained one of the most popular litanies of the Church. So at the end of Mass today, we will pray the Litany of Loreto.

O loving and merciful Savior, you saved and protected the Holy House you were conceived by the Holy Spirit. It is the house You grew up. It is the house St. Joseph worked and died. It’s the house, the Virgin Mary kept clean and cooked. It is the house your learned the trade of a carpenter.

O Holy Family, come into our home and help our families to be families of love, sacrifice and prayer in imitation of your family. By the action of angels, transport your love upon the foundation of our homes. Amen.

St. Juan Diego - Dec. 9th

  

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Juan Diego. At the age of 50, he and his wife, María Lucía, were among the first to be baptized after the arrival of the main group of twelve Franciscan missionaries in Mexico in 1524. It is variously reported that after their baptism he and his wife were inspired by a sermon on chastity to live celibately. His wife died two years before the apparitions.

He worked as a farmer, laborer and weaver. He deeply loved the Eucharist and asked special permission to receive Holy Communion three times a week, which was unusual at that time. He walked 15 miles to go to Mass.

All of us know the story of Mary’s apparitions to him in Mexico. She left of Her glorious image on his tilma. This true miracle happened Dec. 9^th, 1531. Our Lady wanted a church to be built on the sight of the apparitions, and this miracle was the proof needed by the bishop of Mexico City, that Mary really appeared to Juan Diego. In addition to the miraculous image, Juan also had gathered Castilian roses on the top of the mountain, which are not native to Mexico and do not grow in the winter.

After the apparitions of Mary, Juan Diego received permission from the bishop to live as a hermit (as a monk that lives in isolation). He lived in a small hut near the chapel built on the hill of Tepeyac. He cared for the church and the pilgrims, who came to see the miraculous image and pray to the Mother of Jesus. Everyone was impressed with his holiness. Parents used to bless their children with the wish, “May God make you like Juan Diego.”

As we continue Advent preparation for Christmas, let us ask St. Juan Diego, to help us to turn Our Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, for our every concern. Our Lady touches us, by Her love, as we fly to Her protection, expressed in the beautiful hymn dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe: “You are the fountain of my life. Under the shadow of Your protection! I fear no evil, no pain, no worry! O Maria! O Most Merciful Mother! Gentle Virgin! With the name, Guadalupe. On a mountain, we find roses in winter. And all the world has been touched by your love.”

Immaculate Conception Dec. 8th Mississippi River

 

Did you know the word “Mississippi” is an Indian word that means “great waters”? Beginning in 1673 Fr. Jacques Marquette with Louis Joillet, were missionary explorers who came from Canada to the US. The name Fr. Marqutte gave to what the Indians called the Mississippi river, he named “The River of the Immaculate Conception.”

The entrustment of this mighty waterway (the Mississippi river) — one of the largest and most important rivers in the world — to the Virgin Mary was part of the French Jesuits’ mission to evangelize the Native Americans of the area, which by all accounts they did, not with violence, nor the conquering of land, but with fellowship and respect. Father Marquette was known for entrusting everything to Mary and Her Immaculate Conception.

Did you know, Marquette, Kansas was named after Marquette, Michigan, which was named after the Jesuit priest Fr. Jacques Marquette. The have a large statue of him in their city in Michigan.

In 1792, Bishop Carroll, the first Bishop of the US, consecrated the United States to the Immaculate Conception. Then in 1846, the bishops of the now United States declared Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as the patroness of the country. These events occurred before the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed in 1854.

On Dec. 8^th, 1854, Pope Pius IX, stated, “The Most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of Her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

After the fall, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God did not abandon man. God proclaimed the first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, when He said, “I will put enmity, between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring, she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for His heel.” The book of Genesis speaks of the battle between the serpent and the Woman and the final victory through descendant. Where Eve committed sin and lost her spotlessness, Mary kept Her Immaculate soul spotless-- to the end of Her life. She never-- not even once-- sinned in Her life. The promised woman will be an enmity with the serpent, the devil. To be at enmity, means the woman and the serpent have nothing to do with each other. Since Mary did not suffer from original sin and since She never committed sin Her whole life, She was at total enmity with the devil because of Her Immaculate Conception and Her sinless life.

Some statues of Mary show Her standing on the earth. Her foot is crushing the head of the serpent. Mary is woman promised in the book of Genesis, who will crush the head of the serpent.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary at the Annunciation, he said, “Hail Full of Grace!” The angel declared Mary’s soul, full of grace, because Her soul was like no other, filled and overflowing with grace, because it was Immaculate.

Through St. Catherine Laboure, Mary gave us the miraculous medal with the words, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee!” are prayed by millions of Catholics everyday.

In Lourdes, France, when St. Bernadette asked Our Lady, what is Her name, The Virgin replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.

Since Mary was never touched by any sin whatsoever, how powerful She must be to be able to aid us, who are sinners. We should call upon Mary often in time of temptation and we should ask Her for graces to help us overcome our sins.

On May, 1^st of 2020, the US Bishops re-consecrated the United States again to the Immaculate Conception. And by this consecration, we have hope and we trust the Virgin Mary, will watch over and protect our country.

O Mary, you who are our Mother, and on this day, we consecrate our parish of Holy Trinity to Your Immaculate Conception. You who were conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee. Keep us within your Most Pure and Immaculate Heart and help our country to overcome every evil affliction. Amen.

St. Nicholas - Dec. 6th

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Nicholas, who lived 300 years after Jesus.

As a young man, his parents died. Very much saddened by their death, he decided to wisely use the money he had inherited. He used the money to perform works of charity.

For example, St. Nicholas, heard about a man who lost all his money. Not knowing what to do, the man made a bad decision and decided to sell his three daughters for money. When St. Nicholas heard about this, he was shocked and saddened that a man would sell his own daughters. In order to prevent this from happening, on three different occasions, St. Nicholas went out in the dark night, and threw bags of gold threw the window to help the poor man and his three daughters. The gold happened to land in shoes.

The last time he threw a bag of gold in the window, the father of the three girls, saw Nicholas, and thanked him for his generosity and came to understand how wrong it was to try to sell his daughters.

Later in his life, St. Nicholas was unjustly put into prison for proclaiming the Catholic faith. While in prison he was chained and tortured along with the other Christians. However, once the emperor Constantine permitted Christians to freely practice their faith, St. Nicholas was freed from prison.

He later became a monk and then became an abbot at a monastery. When there was a vacancy in the diocese of Myra, he was chosen bishop.

At the Church council of Nicea, St. Nicholas spoke against the Bishop Arius. Arius denied that Jesus was God. Nicholas lost control of himself, and slapped Arius in the face. Due to this event, the other bishops decided to take away his office as bishop. They forced him to wear ordinary clothes, rather than the clothes of a bishop. Some bishops decided to put Nicholas into prison-- for his bad example.

However, Jesus wanted everyone to know that He was pleased with St. Nicholas, so Our Divine Lord and His Blessed Mother appeared to him while he was in prison, restored his freedom, and reinstated his office as bishop.

Once freed from prison, he heard about three innocent men, who were to be executed. St. Nicholas spoke up against their innocent accuser, until the accuser confessed that he knew the three men were really innocent, and so they were set free.

After his death, some sailors were going through a very rough storm at sea, and prayed to St. Nicholas for help, and miraculously reached the harbor safely.

Today, Germany and Dutch populations places shoes out and at night leave gifts or money in the shoes saying it was St. Nicholas who put them there.

Today, let us pray to St. Nicholas, that through his intercession, we will try to be holy and do acts of charity for others. And may the Blessed Virgin Mary, prepare us for the celebration of the birth of Her Son!

Vaccine's Causing Sudden Deaths?

 

Click: Died Suddenly Video

There is new video by Stew Peters that claims some vaccines are causing the sudden deaths of many people.

According to the video, long strands of rubber like substances grow in the arteries of the Covid vaccinated until it causes them to die suddenly. Embalmers in the video claim they have seen these strands in the vaccinated deceased. In response to the video, an owner of a mortuary in Wichita, Kansas was called and he asked two of his embalmers to watch the video and report if they had experienced these fibers in the deceased. Their answer was "No, they have not". The video does not seem to indicate which vaccine company causes the strand like fibers. Is it possible, the whole video is a hoax or is it possible the particular vaccine was not used in the Wichita area?

LifeSiteNews makes qualifications about the film and points out some inaccurate information within it.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/died-suddenly-documentary-shining-light-on-fibrous-clots-goes-viral/

Dr. Robert Malone speaks out against the video and calls it "fearporn". "This seems to mostly be a sensationalized but well-produced video covering information which has been known for quite some time."

https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/sins-of-information-warfare

Here is a homily given on the dangers of the Covid vaccines posted Feb. 11th, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

https://fatheredmondkline.blogspot.com/2022/02/6th-sunday-our-hope-is-in-lord.html

2nd Sunday of Advent - How to Make a Good Confession

 

 Why would the Church have John the Baptist as its focus during the Advent Season? Aren’t we preparing for the birth of Jesus? Let us recall John the Baptist was sent to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus. In order for the people to prepare for the coming of Jesus, God wanted the people to repent of their sins. In another words, one cannot prepare for the coming of Jesus, if one does not first acknowledge one is a sinner and needs His loving mercy.

Pride prevents repentance and one who is proud will not listen to what another person is saying…they think they know better. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were too proud to accept the fact Jesus is the Messiah and because of their pride, refused to repent and because they refused to repent, they would not become one of His followers. To prepare for the way of the Lord, John preached repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

Advent is a time to prepare for the Lord, by making an act of repentance through Confession. I would like to give you helpful advice when going to confession. Much of this came from a talk I heard while I was in Medjugorje. When we come to Confession, we are supposed to say our state of life. Are we married or single?

If we commit a mortal sin, we are supposed to say how many times we committed a moral sin and also the circumstances of the sin. For a sin to be mortal, it needs to be grave matter, you must know its grave matter and full consent must be given. If any of these is lacking then its a venial sin. The circumstance is like saying, “I missed Mass on Sunday, because I went hunting.”

A venial sin is like stealing a piece of candy, or having angry thoughts, or gossiping. While we are not obliged to confess venial sins, the Church recommends we confess venial sins regularly. When confessing venial sins, we should not confess the number of times. Some priests will tell the people that they don’t need to confess venial sins. But this is really bad advice. Catechism of the Catholic Church encourages confessing venial sins: “Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful...” (CCC 1458).

If we forget to confess a mortal sin, it is still forgiven. However, the next time you go to confession, you should tell the priest, that you forgot to confess it. Not because it wasn’t forgiven, but so that you will receive extra penance for the sin you forgot to confess.

If we commit an objectively grave action, though we didn’t know it was sinful at the time, we should still confess it, to break any attachment to the bad action. For example, if we didn’t know birth control was a mortal sin or didn’t know playing the Ouija board was sinful, we should confess them.

We shouldn’t confess another person’s sins. For example, “My wife nags at me all the time and she constantly charges up the credit card.” Or “My husband is lazy. He doesn’t help me clean the house and he never listens to me.” Rather, we should just confess our own sins.

We also shouldn’t tell stories. For example, “On my way to work, I got a flat tire, and then a stray dog came by while I was changing the tire and barked at me. Even though I was late for work, my mother called and all this made me angry.” Rather, we should just say, “I had angry thoughts”.

If you have never confessed a serious sin from the past, its important to confess it. Once we confessed a big sin from the past, we need to trust in God’s mercy. However, its okay to say, for example, “I am sorry for all my sins, especially for the sin of getting into a fight and knocking someone out, when I was in high school.”

If we ever steal something, we have an obligation to return the item. If its no longer possible to return it, we must still pay for it. We should do it anonymously. We can put the money in an envelope without a return address or name and anonymously mail it to the person or business it was stolen. If you don’t know where the person is or if the business is no longer in existence, you should donate the amount the item cost to a charitable organization, but you only do that if you cannot repay what you took or can’t return the item.

When we confess the sins, we should have the intention of not doing them again. If we look at a crucifix or meditate on the sufferings of Jesus, it helps us to be sorry.

Every day, we should examine our conscience and ask God for forgiveness for what we did during the day. If we do this regularly, we will actually begin to see how the motivation behind our sins and we can even eventually give up some sins.

We should not lose heart if we keep re-confessing the same sins over and over. Welcome to humanity! Saints confessed the same sins repeatedly such as St. Jerome, who had terrible temper his whole life. Jesus called James and John, “Sons of Thunder” because they both had a temper.

We should ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us to know all our sins and make a good confession. We should also pray for the priest before confession, so Jesus will help the priest to give good advice.

The devil doesn’t want us to go to confession. He does not want us to tell all our sins. He does not want us to bring sins into the light. He wants us to think, we don’t need confession. The devil wants us to doubt God’s mercy. For example, he will place in our mind the idea, that a sin is too big, that God will never forgive me. Or the devil uses our pride to keep us from confessing sins perhaps because we are too embarrassed.

If you have purposely withhold a serious sin in confession, it will not be forgiven, nor are any of our sins forgiven, until that one sin is confessed. To purposely not confess a particular sin is to make a sacrilegious confession.

A common sin not confessed is to have received Holy Communion sacrilegiously after committing a mortal sin and then failing to go to confession before receiving communion.

We should also confess what we have failed to do. Failed to bring children to Mass. Failed teach your children to pray or failed to teach children about the faith. Failed to bring children to confession. We can fail to pray everyday. Failing to financially support the church. Failed to help the poor or needy. We can fail to pay attention at Mass. Fail to help a family member or neighbor who could use our help.

Sometimes, we don’t try to overcome our sins, but only confess them because we are sorry, but don’t have the intention of avoiding the sin again.

You can ask the priest for advice for a particular sin. When the priest gives us advice, we should take it to heart and do what he asks of us. Usually, it is Jesus who speaks to us through the priest.

You can ask the priest to help you examine your conscience by him asking you questions. He can go through the 10 commandments and expound on them. For example, for the 2nd commandment, he will ask you if you took God’s name in vain, such as saying “Oh God!” for no good purpose except as an expression. And would ask if you cussed or used foul language or told dirty or offensive jokes.

When we are finished with our confession, we can tell the priest, “I am sorry for these and all the sins of my past life, especially for the sin of…. (adultery, or getting drunk in college, or yelling at my children, etc…) By saying these words, it helps the priest to know you are finished confessing. You can also ask for specific advice for one particular sin. When we are finished with confession, we should immediately do our penance and always thank Jesus for washing away our sins.

Confession not only washes away our sins, it also give us grace to overcome our sins. The more often we go to confession, the more peace we have. The more often we go to confession, the easier to overcome sins. We are also more able to see the root cause and our motivations behind our sins, which helps us to more easily turn away from them. Then when we do our daily prayer, we can ask Jesus for specific help in overcoming our sins.

It is important to remember, it is Jesus, to whom you are confessing. Jesus --in the priest-- forgives you. Jesus through the priest gives you advice.

Every sin no matter how small, hurts Jesus. We can look at a crucifix and see how sin hurts Jesus. Jesus loved us so much, He died on the Cross, so that our sins could be forgiven. We have a beautiful crucifix here above the altar. But this is not what the crucifixion event really looked like.
When I was a newly ordained priest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Wichita, a woman from Peru, visiting her family, came up to me crying. I said, “What’s wrong. Why are you crying?” She pointed the large crucifix above the altar, and said, “That’s a terrible crucifix. Its sanitized. There is no blood on that crucifix. Jesus suffered a lot for us. In my country our crucifixes are life like. Who in their right mind would create an image of the crucifixion that looks like there was not much suffering. It makes me angry and sick of heart to see Jesus depicted like this.”

My dear friends, the woman had a point. She was right. If we look at a crucifix that hides the blood and wounds, we are doing Jesus a disservice. It’s as though we don’t care about what Jesus went through-- out of love for us.

When we go to confession, we are kneeling at the foot of the Cross. In the confessional, we are telling Jesus, we are sorry for having hurt Him. And through His abundant mercy, He forgives us. When Jesus through the priest absolves our sins, our soul is washed in the blood of Jesus and it heals the wounds caused by sin. By telling Jesus our sins, we make an act of humility and admit we are a sinner and have hurt Him. Then when we leave the confessional, we resolve to try not to do the sins again and to make up for them, by doing our penance. We should confess our sins monthly.

I like to use this as an example of what penance is. If a young boy were to throw a rock through the window of an abandoned house and if the owner saw the boy do it, then the owner came up to the boy, and said, “You broke my window.” At the first the boy denies, it saying, “It wasn’t me.” But the owner said, “I saw you.” The boy then admits it, and says, “I am sorry, please forgive me.” The owner replies, “I forgive you, but you need to pay for the window.” There is punishment due to every sin. We tell Jesus we are sorry, but we need to make up for our sins by doing penance. Doing penance is paying the price for our sins.

The devil tries to get us to fear confession. We can be embarrassed to say our sins. But, we need to trust Jesus. And remember when He discovers a lost sheep, He picks it up and presses it to His Heart.

If you prefer to confess to a different priest, Fr. Michael Brungardt is just 10 min. away at Lyons and has confessions before every Mass. He’s a great confessor.

Come to Jesus in the Confessional and trust Him. And know the greater the sinner, the greater one has right to His mercy. Jesus is waiting to give you His mercy and His love. Don’t be afraid. Ask the Virgin Mary to help you to make a good thorough confession. By Her sorrowful Heart, pierced at the foot the cross, the thoughts of many will be revealed and be washed away in the ocean of God’s mercy.

St. Andrew - Nov. 30th

 

 Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew!

Peter and his brother Andrew, must have thought they were having an ordinary day, as they were casting their net into the sea. But on this particular day, Jesus called out, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately, they left their boat, and followed the Lord, and so became disciples and fishers of men.

Later they would learn to “catch men”, by preaching about Jesus, and His teachings. Just as Jesus caught Peter and Andrew, so to speak, while they were fishing, so Peter and Andrew would do all they could, to catch as many as possible, so that others would come to know, to love, to believe in Our Blessed Lord, and to follow His teachings.

St. Paul said, “How can anyone believe in Him if they had not heard about Jesus”. “How can anyone hear without someone to preach?” Therefore, Peter and Andrew went about preaching everywhere, so they could get as many as possible to believe in Jesus, because they knew no one could hear about Him and come to know about Him, unless someone preached about Him.

St. Andrew went about preaching Jesus in the countries of Turkey and Greece.  St. Andrew would eventually be martyred in Greece, by being crucified on an X-Shaped cross.

All of us are called to proclaim the Gospel. Proclaiming the Gospel is not only proclaiming the life and death of Jesus by our words. St Francis of Assisi indicated another kind of preaching, that we are called. He said, we should “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” In another words, our actions speak much louder than our words. Our actions are the strongest proclamation of the Gospel. Who would believe us, if we failed to put into action, what we preached?

The Blessed Virgin Mary was the perfect follower of Jesus, and by Her prayers many have come and will follow Her Divine Son.

On this feast of St. Andrew, let us implore his prayers and with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, others will come to know, to believe, to love, and to follow Her Divine Son, especially by our actions, and if necessary by our words.