St. Joseph Spouse of Mary - March 19th (the Lily)

 

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary. Have you ever wondered why Joseph is often pictured with a lily? The lily is associated with St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, through an ancient legend that he was chosen from among other men by the blossoming of his staff like a lily. It’s believed, the high priest had asked the men interested in taking Mary as their wife to come before the priest and as the men were standing before the priest, a lily suddenly blossomed from Joseph’s staff. And so, the biblical passage, "The just man shall blossom like the lily" is applied to St. Joseph in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church for his feast day.

It was 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 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. He would have been shocked and dumbfounded. He didn’t believe Mary could 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 decided to divorce her quietly.

However, Joseph received a visit from the angel Gabriel asked him to agree to God’s plan for Mary and reassured him it was by the Holy Spirit, Mary had conceived. The Gospel states, “When Joseph woke up he did what he angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.”

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.

Although Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, he was as a true father to Jesus. Children, who were adopted by Jews had all the rights of a child naturally born of a father. Joseph was of the royal line of David. Because Jesus was the child of the Virgin Mary and foster child of Joseph, He would have the legal title son of David, which would fulfill prophecies.

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 would 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.

Joseph’s life of prayer gave him the strength to be obedient to God’s call to him. He was a just man, a man of honor as our Gospel today tells us. He had to have been a man of deep faith to fulfill his high calling.

It is believed, he died before Jesus died 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.

And so we pray, “O Joseph, 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 we draw our dying breath, may our last words be: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony and take me to paradise.”

4th Sunday, Lataere Sunday, Blind Man

 

“O Lord, open the eyes of my heart, that I may see you.”  

Today is Lataere Sunday, Rejoice Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent! The priest wears glorious rose-colored vestments as a sign of joy. This weekend, Holy Mother Church pauses from Her Lenten sorrow for the sins of men, and the sufferings of Christ, to give way to a foretaste of Easter Joy! Soon the Easter joy will ring out, “Christ our Light, has risen, from the darkness of the tomb!”

Try to imagine what it would be like to be born blind. The man in the Gospel would never have seen his father or mother or siblings. He had never seen a sunrise or a sunset, the blue sky, nor clouds or lightning, or the moon or the stars. He had never even seen the food he was eating. His whole world was nothing but darkness.

In the Gospel, the man born blind is healed by Jesus, who is “the light of the world”. What do you think was the first thing he saw? Probably, the water when he washed the mud Jesus placed on his eyes. Then after giving witness to the Pharisees, Jesus found Him and it was then, He saw the face of Christ.

The healing of the man born blind is seen by the Fathers of the Church as a miracle symbolizing the sacrament of baptism in which, the Holy Spirit, through water, is used to cleanse the soul and receives the light of faith: “(Jesus) sent the man to the pool called Siloam, to be cleansed and be enlightened, that is, baptized and receive in baptism full enlightenment.”

Since all of us were born with blindness of original sin, we can identify with the challenges this man faced. Just as the blind man’s physical blindness made it difficult for him to live in freedom and independence, so our spiritual blindness causes us to struggle to find our way to God, to see God in others. Just as Jesus healed this man of his blindness, he has washed you-- clean of sin and healed your spiritual blindness in the waters of baptism. Although our original sin is washed away through baptism, the inclination to sin remains, and we still find it difficult to see things the way God sees them. We lack the light to walk in love and holiness, and God can seem distant.

The blind man is a straightforward person, and believes Jesus is a prophet, and the Son of God. Whereas the Pharisees persist in not wanting to see or believe, despite clear evidence before them.

In this miracle, Jesus reveals Himself as the true light that enlightens every man, who came into the world. Not only did He give sight to the eyes of the blind man; He enlightens his soul, leading him to make an act of faith in His divinity.

Our Blessed Lord questioned the blind man, and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” and he responds by stating, “I do believe Lord” and he worshiped Him. The healing of his eyes became an occasion for the man to be enlightened as to who Jesus is and to believe in Him.

The Pharisees however persisted in their unbelief, which is why Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” The Pharisees knew He was talking about them, and so, they said, “Surely, we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, “We see”, your sin remains.”

Our Lord was referring to their spiritual blindness. They could not accept His good deed of healing a blind man, as something coming from God because they presumed Jesus was a sinner, but He was not.

If one was a blind during the time of Jesus, he could not work and so was dependent upon others to help him. Just like the man in the Gospel who had to beg for food and money just to survive. For someone to go blind today, they would immediately become dependent upon others.

There is at least one blind person, who I know, that lives in Little River. She is a wonderful person, who never shows dissatisfaction or unhappiness, but rather accepts her condition. Her joyful attitude bears witness to Christ, whose light she shines into the world through her.

I told you the story before of a man, who used to be a satanic high-priest, but was converted through the miraculous medal. His name is Zachary King. He lives in Wichita and is a motivational speaker. Zachary told me, he is blind because he never took care of his diabetes. One day, because he didn’t take care of his health, he woke up, and was blind. Yet, despite his blindness, he sees what is true and that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he was enlightened to see the evil he was doing, to repent of it, and now he brings the light of Christ to all who hear his talks.

There is a documentary called “Purgatory”, that explains experiences of the afterlife. One experience in the movie, is about a little girl who drowned, and after she had died, they were able to revive her. The girl was blind from birth, and yet, she could describe in detail the pond, the birds, and telephone poles where she had drowned. Even though she has never been able to see, God showed her what it was like to see.

When I was an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, an elderly woman in her 90’s was going blind. She prayed to Jesus, “Please grant me the grace to not go blind”. She decided to do a novena to St. Lucy, and it so happened, by God’s divine providence, on the last and 9^th day of the novena, she had an appointment with her eye doctor. She was given an eye drop medicine with the name Luceria. Not only did it prevent her from losing her eyesight, she actually began to see better. St. Lucy is the patron saint of the blind, because its believed her eyes were plucked out, but God miraculously restored her eyesight. The elderly woman’s faith in God caused her to be healed of her blindness through the intercession of a saint and her faith brought the light of Christ to all who knew her.

Have you heard of Christopher Duffley? He was born 3 months premature, and as a newborn baby, he was addicted to cocaine because his mother took cocaine and Oxycontin while pregnant. His aunt and uncle adopted him. He was born blind and autistic. When he was 4 years old, he began to sing with perfect pitch and sang the song, “Open the eyes of my heart” The song goes like this, “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you. To see you high and lifted up. Shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love, as we sing, holy, holy, holy. “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you. I want to see you.” As a blind autistic boy, Jesus uses him to break forth His light through his voice. He sings the song, not to be physically healed, but to see Jesus, with the eyes of his heart.

Most, with disabilities, prayed at one time, the Lord would heal them. How much they desire to have the Lord, touch, and heal their broken bodies, and be restored to the fullness of health.

Many have ventured to Lourdes, France to obtain a healing through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and some have been healed there. But the most common form of healing is the healing of the soul, where people have not gone to confession for a long time, will go and then are able to accept their physical condition and have peace in their heart by embracing it as a cross.

The Pharisees were blind to their sins and remained in their blindness. But the man born blind, was healed physically and came to know and believe Jesus is the Son of man, as he told Our Lord, “I do believe” and worshiped Him because He believed He is God.

In what ways can we be spiritually blind? If we knew our neighbor was blind, would we volunteer to help the person in their needs? If we know of someone, who lost a relative, do we show our love and support by prayers, visiting them, sending them a caring note? These are not just one time efforts to help others, but rather, we need to be a caring people to show our love and support in the long term. What’s it like to lose a spouse through death or divorce and then the single parent takes care for the children alone? My grandfather died at a young age and my grandmother had to take care of 5 children on her own. Was there anyone there to help her? Did the Christian community rally to support her in a long term manner? Flowers are nice, cards are nice, but sometimes they someone to talk to, they need money to help pay their bills.

When I was in high school, my grandmother’s waterline kept freezing in her home. Do you know why it was freezing? Because she didn’t have enough money to keep the temperature in her house warm enough and also was afraid to let the water drip too fast, because she didn’t have enough money to pay her water bill. She kept a pan underneath the faucet to catch the drops of water and she used that water to boil eggs. She slept on a cot in the only room that had a gas furnace, and closed all the doors to the rest of the house, because she didn’t have enough money to heat the entire house. Can you imagine living like that? After graduating in High School, I had a good job, and when I found out, that was the case, I put her gas bill in my name and they sent me her gas bill every month. How did God open my heart to see, I don’t know. I give Him all the credit.

Our hearts need to be open to see Jesus in the disguise of the poor, the down trodden. Our Lord said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.” God calls everyone of us to open the eyes of our heart, that we can see Jesus those suffering from any difficulty.

Do you know what the definition of mercy is? It comes from the Latin word, misericordia. “miseri” is misery and “cordia” is heart. The word means to open the heart-- to see the misery of others and relieve that misery, which is mercy.

We are all called to be lights in the world of darkness by our words, our good deeds, our acceptance of our crosses and using our gifts to help others. If we ignore someone in need, we are blind to their needs, while at the same time, the blind see-- because of their faith.

In the second reading, in St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he said, “Brothers and sisters: You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

Today on this Lataere Sunday, this rejoice Sunday, may we rejoice in the faith of the physically blind, who out of love of Jesus accept their condition and therefore shine forth the light of Christ to us, in this world of darkness. And may we bring the light of Christ to those who are in need of love. O Mary, Mother of the Light, by your intercession, may our heart be open to see the miseries of others and to relieve their suffering by our acts of mercy.

3rd Week of Lent Thursday

   

In the Gospel today, Jesus is accused of being the devil. Bishop Fulton Sheen speaks about how the Catholic Church is a contradiction to the world. "If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church that is accused of being behind the times, as our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by men. Look for the Church which amid the confusions of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its Voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly it is other worldly. since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. But only that which is Divine can be infinitely hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is Divine."

 

3rd Sunday - Woman at the Well (5 marriages) - Baptism

 

Many are thirsting for true love and Jesus is thirsting for love. Today’s readings help us to know how thirsting hearts can be united.

In the Gospel today Jesus has a personal conversation with the Samaritan woman. It was unusual for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan woman, especially a woman who was a stranger. She was considered to be a great sinner because she had five husbands.

But the woman's faith and love was destined to grow: Jesus spoke of a "living water" able to quench thirst completely and become "a spring of water welling up to eternal life" in her; furthermore, He showed her He knew about her personal life; He revealed that the hour had come to worship the one true God in spirit and in truth; and in the end He confided to her -- something incredibly rare -- He is the Messiah. In all of these ways Jesus quenches her thirst for knowledge, her thirst for faith and ultimately her thirst for Jesus. And yet Jesus was thirsting for her faith in Him and thirsting to be loved with a pure love based upon respect, reverence and adoration.

In this subtle conversation, He helps her to understand that her thirst for love, was in all the wrong places and His personal encounter with her helps her to discover a love she had never known before.

Through His divine knowledge, Jesus reveals He knew the woman had been married 5 times and was now with her 6^th man. But Our Lord helps her find a love not based upon physical intimacy but unconditional love, (divine intimacy) only Jesus, as God, can give. She had been thirsting for true love, but didn’t know where or how to find it, but Jesus reveals it to her. Jesus Himself will quench her thirst. And by her willingness to love Jesus in return, she quenches the thirst of Jesus.

Years ago, when I was an associate priest in a parish, I met a non-baptized woman, who had been married 5 times and who was now with her sixth man, similar to the woman at the well in today’s Gospel. The sixth man was different than her past husbands. He was Catholic, who was married once before and had custody of his children. It took a toll on this woman who had 5 previous husbands. She suffered greatly from the stress and pain of all those broken relationships. She was fearful of marrying again, but was thirsting to be loved in a way she had never known. She told me, she finally found the man, who loved her in a way she wanted to be loved. What set him apart from the other men, was he was Catholic who lived by his faith. He had told her he didn’t want to have relations with her until they would first get married in the Catholic Church. She was inspired by his faith, a faith, she had never known. He was a man who worshiped God in spirit and in truth.

She realized she was not only thirsting to be loved and respected by a man, she was thirsting for something even greater than a man could give. She was thirsting for God. She was thirsting for faith. Her parents never took her to church and she didn’t know much about God. She was so inspired by his desire to live out his faith, she wanted to become Catholic.

She wanted to receive the gift of the waters of baptism, so her sins would be washed away and the Blessed Trinity could dwell within her. When she attended Mass with Him, she began to hunger for Jesus in Holy Communion. She went through RCIA and was able to get all 5 annulments. At the Easter Vigil she was baptized receiving the life giving water, which made her a child of God. She made her first Holy Communion and was Confirmed. Later that summer, they were married in the Catholic Church.

She received all she wanted and even more. Her thirst was quenched by Jesus, through the life giving grace of the sacraments. She came to understand the true meaning of love. And Jesus’ thirst for union with her, was quenched when she was baptized and began to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. The two lonely hearts found each other and quenched each other’s thirst.

Some search from bar to bar for someone who will truly love them, but as the country song goes, “I was searching for love in all the wrong places. Searching for love in too many faces. Hoping to find a friend and a lover. God will bless the day I discover another heart, looking for love.”

Just as wayward hearts are searching to be loved, so there is a divine Heart beating and searching for love. This divine Heart of Jesus beating in the Eucharist is searching for lovers to be united to His Heart in Holy Communion.

Today, let us pray for wayward hearts, searching for love in the desert of this world. May they discover the deepest longing of their hearts, Jesus, as their friend and lover, so that God will bless the day they discover a Divine Heart searching for love.

 

2nd Sunday Lent, Year A Transfiguration - Eucharist

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus took Peter, James and John up a very high mountain and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white. The extra ordinary incredible event would be something the three apostles would never forget. But, why would Jesus reveal the magnificence of His glory to them?

Christ's Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion. Pope Leo the Great, said “the principle aim of the Transfiguration was to banish from the disciples’ souls the scandal of the Cross”.

The revelation of His glory on Mount Tabor would give the apostles hope, in the midst of the terrible tragedy of His death. As Jesus said, He would be raised up on the third day. It would give them hope of the life to come.

God wants us contemplate the transfiguration-- and the glory and joy of heaven, because of the great suffering that every one of us will experience in the future. We can do this especially when we meditate on the 4th luminous mystery of the Rosary, the transfiguration.

Have you ever had a transfiguration event? Where God gave you a glimpse of His glory? After a thunderstorm, when clouds open and the sun shines through, we see the beautiful rays of light. Or if we look at the mountains in Colorado and see the clouds and snow tops, we are in awe and think of God’s glory. Or when a rainbow shines across the entire sky. We can exclaim, Oh Lord, my God, When I, in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed, how can I not contemplate thy glory?

When I was here 10 years ago, I was serving at three parishes rotating on the weekend, Holy Name in Bushton, St. Paul in Lyons and here at Holy Trinity in Little River.

After I was here for about a year, there was a period of two weeks, something amazing happened. One weekend, we had a Holy Hour in Bushton, and after the Holy Hour, an elderly woman came up to me and told me a story from her childhood. She said, when she was about 16 years old, during a Holy Hour, as she was gazing upon the Sacred Host in the monstrance, she saw Jesus. She told me this event that happened, over 70 years ago.

Then a few weeks later, I came here to Holy Trinity and after Mass a young girl from our parish told me the exact same thing. She said one day, during a Holy Hour when gazing upon the Host in the monstrance, here on the altar, she said she saw the face of Jesus. I don’t recall her name, but she was from our parish.

So within two weeks an elderly woman told me when she was about 16 she saw Jesus in a Host and then 70 years later, a young girl about the age of 16, from our parish told me, she too saw the face of Jesus in the Host. Isn’t that amazing.

Then, a few years later, I was assigned to Sacred Heart in Halstead as their pastor. One day, after Mass, a woman, about 70 years old, who had been singing in the choir, came down the steps from the choirloft and was crying. I said, “What’s the matter? What happened? Are you okay?” Wiping the tears from her face, she said, “You won’t believe what just happened. Father, when you were holding the Sacred Host above the altar, after the consecration, I saw Jesus!” She said, “I really did, I saw Jesus!”

Not much after that happened, at Sacred Heart, we started a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. A 12 year old boy and his two sisters and their grandmother, had just become Catholic. The children had only been Catholic for several months, when the grandmother and her three grandchildren were praying and doing a Holy Hour. The boy, said while they were praying, Jesus came out of the Host and stood in front of the altar. He said, he was wearing a golden crown and was wearing a white garment and a golden sash. Jesus told the boy, “Remove your shoes, and tell the others to remove their shoes. The ground on which you are standing is holy ground.” His sisters and grandmother knew something had just happened, because the boy was looking up and removed his shoes. He told them to remove their shoes and they did. When they came to me to tell me what happened, I was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to say. But, I believed him, especially since, he had never heard of the burning bush story in the bible, where God told Moses to remove his shoes because the ground he was standing is holy.

Back in Oct., when I was in Medjugorje, the little village, where its believed the Virgin Mary is appearing, some women from our group, saw what they called, “The miracle of the sun.” They saw the sun spin and then, the sun turned into what they said looked like a “white host”. They all believed the white host represented the Eucharist. It seems to me, it was sign from heaven. It is as though God was pointing them to the Holy Mass, to come to Mass often, to receive Holy Communion and adore Him during Eucharistic Adoration.

This last Christmas, I know of a priest, who had an interesting experience. During midnight Mass, after the consecration, as he elevated the Sacred Host above the altar, he said, the Host disappeared and there in his hands, he was suddenly holding the baby Jesus wrapped in a blue blanket. The priest said he saw the face of the divine Child, who looked at him. Then the child looked toward heaven and white and red rays came forth from His Heart toward heaven. Wow! Amazing!

None of these events have been investigated and these are just personal testimonies from people. But, I believe them and thought I would share them with you.

At Mass, God's glory is made manifest.  At Mass heaven is opened and we join the angels and saints who are giving God glory in heaven. At Mass, we sing with the angels and saints, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. At Mass we sing the words of the angels, Glory to God in the highest. And we say, we glorify you. We give you thanks for your glory.

Today, and every day, we have the opportunity to be a witness of God’s glory at Mass, when the bread is changed into the person of Jesus. During our Holy Hour, with the eyes of faith, we can gaze upon the glorious face of Jesus. We believe, He is here, just as He appeared on Mount Tabor, to Peter, James and John.

Let us pray,

O Lord, we pray, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you! Your Sacred Host is the cloud of glory and we want to look beyond the Host and see your glorious face. O Lord, as the Host is lifted up, we pray, shine the light of your glory, on us. Lord pour out your power and love, as we sing, holy, holy, holy, holy. Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you. I want to see you. Let the light of your radiant face break through the Host and shine upon us, O Lord! (Psalm 4:6)

And grant us your salvation through the intercession and prayers of the Virgin Mary. Amen.

 

1st Monday of Lent

 

When I was ministering at St. Francis Xavier Hospital, I met woman, by the name of Margaret, who became a nurse in 1955. After high school studied 3 years to become a nurse. She was a nurse for over 50 years at St. Francis Xavier Hospital in Tulsa and retired 7 years ago, but continues to volunteer in Employee Health at the hospital. She has been a nurse for 63 years. Last year she also became a patient. And I told her someday, she will have a great reward in heaven.

In today’s Gospel Jesus said, “When I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when a stranger you welcomed me, naked you clothed me, ill you cared for me and in prison you visited me.”

Isn’t that what nurses do? They feed the hungry, sometimes by feeding those who cannot eat by themselves, or replace nutrition bags for those who have a feeding tube. They give glasses of water to the thirsty and replace IV bags for hydration. They help patients to put on their hospital gowns, change diapers and dump out bedpans and urinals and sometimes help the homeless with donated clothing. They care for the ill by changing their bedding and their bandages, they give medicine and pills to them. They check their blood pressure and temperature. Nurses go from room to room throughout the day dealing with all sorts of health needs. One room is a car accident. And in the next room, suddenly a Code Blue and they must do chest compressions. The next room is an overdose, another room is an elderly man dying, one room is gunshot victim. Nurses care for elderly patients, children patients, and all sorts of everyone in between. Most every person is a stranger but treated as a friend.

What are they doing? They are serving Jesus in the disguise of the sick. “When I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when a stranger you welcomed me, naked you clothed me, ill you cared for me….”

This how we will be judged. On the day of judgment those who did acts of mercy, the sheep, will be placed the right and those who refused to give mercy, the goats, who will be placed on the left.

How glorious is the crown of nurses, who pour out themselves out of love for neighbor. Today, let us pray for nurses and all employees and volunteers of all hospitals. May all who work here open their hearts to see Jesus in the disguise of the patients. And when their life ends, those who loved and gave mercy to Jesus in the patients will hear Our Lord’s voice, “Come you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

1st Sunday of Lent, Year A -Temptations

 

Years ago, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic school in Wichita, a 3^rd grade boy asked me a question. He said, “Is there sin in heaven?” I said, “No, there is no sin in heaven.” He asked me again, “Are you sure, there is no sin in heaven?” I said, “Yes, there is no sin in heaven.” He then said, “But didn’t the devil and the bad angels sin in heaven?” That was a pretty smart question. I said, “Yes, you are right. But that was a one time event, and now there will never be sin in heaven again.”

Before God created Adam and Eve, Lucifer was the most intelligent, strongest, and most beautiful of all angels. The book of Revelation Chapter 12:7 details what happened in heaven with regard to the angels. It states, “And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels making war against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought, but they were not strong enough, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Lucifer, also called Satan, fell from grace. As for the particular sin the bad angels committed, many theologians believe in their prefallen state, the angels were given a foreknowledge of humans (who would be inferior to them), as well as a foreknowledge God himself (Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity) would take on human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary and then Jesus redeem the universe through his death on the cross. This revelation, angered Lucifer because it meant he and the other angels would have to worship God in His human nature. Lucifer and the other angels who fell, were so proud of being superior to men that their arrogance wouldn’t allow them to worship Jesus Christ the God-Man. This refusal–“ I will not serve”–stemmed from pride. Therefore, the root of Lucifer’s fall as well as the other 1/3 angels who rejected God, was most likely pride and disobedience.

And since then, the bad angels (now known as demons) want to do everything they can, to cause the loss of human souls to show their anger towards God. Satan and his demons use temptation to persuade human beings to sin.

For example, in the first reading from Genesis, Satan tempted Adam and Eve, and in the Gospel, Jesus was tempted by Satan. Both were tempted in three ways. First--Adam was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree. Second--He was tempted to vain glory “your eyes will be opened”. His third temptation was to the height of pride “you will be like gods”.

Jesus was also tempted with food—to change a rock into bread to satisfy is hunger from fasting. He was to tempted to vain glory ---to show off His power—by jumping off a cliff. His third temptation was the desire for worldly riches and fame to have all the kingdoms of the world, so as to hold God in contempt.

We are all tempted in three different ways, the world, our self and from evil spirits. So not all temptations come from evil spirits.

Everyone is tempted. If Jesus was tempted, we are tempted too. Jesus, as God, overcame every temptation, and as God, we turn to Him to help us overcome ours.

Often times, people try to overcome temptations by themselves, and forget they need Jesus, who came to save us from our sins. Our Lord has also given us the sacraments and sacramentals to help us.

Confession is the most powerful way to turn away from temptations. In confession, we are washed in the blood of Jesus, our sins are forgiven and completely absolved, we receive sacramental graces to overcome sin, we receive advice from Jesus, through the priest to help us with our temptations.

Being in the presence of the Holy Sacrifice, we receive sacramental grace from the Cross of Jesus. When we receive Holy Communion, the Lord comes to dwell within us and gives us spiritual gifts, such as consolation, spiritual strength to turn away from sin, our union with Jesus helps us to practice virtue. We receive love poured into our hearts when our heart is united to the Heart of Jesus.

We also have sacramentals, that bestow grace, especially crucifixes, scapulars, holy water, medals, rosaries. The St. Benedict Medal has power due to an exorcism prayer prayed by a priest.

We also have the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the many saints that we can turn to, in time of temptation. Our guardian angel’s mission is to help us become holy, to grow in love of God, to protect us from evil spirits and help us to get to heaven. We should pray the guardian angel prayer everyday. We can also specifically ask our guardian angel to help us during temptations. We also have other good angels as well, especially St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, who we can turn to.

St. Michael is especially helpful when battling against evil spirits because as a lowly archangel, he stood up and led the other good angels to cast out Lucifer and the fallen angels. In response to Lucifer’s rejection of God, “he will not serve”, St. Michael is believed to have said, “Who is like God?”

A number of years ago, Bishop Kemme asked all priests pray the St. Michael prayer at the end of Mass. But we should also pray the St. Michael prayer when tempted, because when we call upon St. Michael, he immediately comes.

I have a rock from St. Michael’s cave, where it is believed St. Michael appeared to people on a British island. It is a wonderful sacramental I keep next to my bed and at times carry with me.

We need to have blessed objects like statues, crucifixes, blessed pictures of Jesus, Mary and the saints in every room of the house.

We should pray when we under temptation, especially, the Our Father, which asks us to be delivered from evil and the Hail Mary is very effective. The Virgin Mary is the new sinless Eve and She is the one who is at enmity with Satan. She has tremendous power over all evil spirits. She is the queen of angels, which means, evil spirits, who are fallen angels, must submit to Her power and authority given to Her by God. Besides the Hail Mary, we can pray, the prayer on the miraculous medal, which states, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.”

By wearing a miraculous medal, or a crucifix, demons have difficulty tempting us. A simple sign of the Cross, will cause demons to flee. When we call upon the name of Jesus, every knee must bow and every tongue confess, Jesus is Lord. The name of Mary is likewise powerful too.

The world and each of us are in a spiritual battle. And we need to take up our weapons for battle. The power from all these weapons comes from Jesus, who is God, and who overcame every temptation of the devil. He is like us in all things, but sin.

Jesus wants to help us. We need to turn Him often and remember He is always with us. When we have Jesus, we have nothing to fear. Demons like darkness, but the light of Christ scatters all darkness, because light can not be over come. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who walks with me, does not walk in darkness.”

When someone remains in mortal sin, people don’t realize it, but demons influence them because are not in the state of grace.

Evil spirits can tempt children and adults through the Ouija board, astrology, wicca, black and white magic, video games with magic, spells & wizardry and... the dark web are all portals for evil spirits to enter into our life. Evil spirits hate us. They want to destroy us. They want us to burn in hell forever by rejecting God. You know the old saying, “If you mess with fire, your gonna get burned.”

If you have ever played these in the past, you should confess them to break any kind of attachment, you may have to them.

Jesus, wants us to be with Him in heaven, where there is peace, joy, happiness and love. We need to reject sin and temptations. We should hate sin, but love sinners.

Evil spirits can cause addictions and they can use them to negatively influence us. There are many kinds of addictions such as pornography, gambling, stealing, alcohol, drugs, excessive watching of television, the internet, video games. We should confess these in confession. Confession can break bonds with sin, and it removes evil from our lives, through repentance and sacramental grace. Confession is the most powerful way to break addictions, however sometimes we need supplemental help, such a deliverance prayers, therapy, treatment or medicine.

In the bulletin this weekend, I attached “Prayers of Protection” anyone can pray. When we are battling against evil spirits through temptation, we can bind them, and ask Jesus to deliver us us from them. Through baptism, we have the authority of Jesus to be delivered from evil spirits such as, “In the name of Jesus, I bind the evil spirit of lust or greed or anger, or the demon of addiction of gambling, to leave me and command you to go to the foot of the Cross of Jesus and remain there until Jesus sees fit what to do with you.”

But, we should not directly command them to leave others. For example its dangerous to say, “I command you evil spirit, etc…to leave a specific person.” Only priests and exorcists can command evil spirits in that way, because they have the authority to do it.

Exorcists have authority by the bishop to expel demons. Over the years, I have seen people who are possessed. A 19 year old man, became possessed by playing tarot cards, just one time. The repeated playing of the Ouija board can lead to possession too. When someone is attached to a serious sin and refuse to try to turn away from it, they too can be possessed. Our diocese has a priest exorcist, who can expel demons from a possessed person.

It may surprise you, yoga is an opening for evil spirits. Priest exorcists warn against yoga, because the meditations, breathing exorcises and positions, were originally created to worship false gods. This does not mean, people can’t do stretching exercises, but we should not do them in the form and manner used by another religion.

A pentagram or the numbers 666 can attract evil spirits. Some, will say, I just like the shape of the design of the pentagram, or I just like the numbers, or I don’t have any bad intention, but, these kinds of things are Satan’s instruments and we should avoid them because they attract evil spirits.

We should have our house blessed once a year by a priest and it is a very good practice to sprinkle holy water regularly and even each night in our bedrooms, before we go to bed.

I would like to tell you a short story about the importance of blessing the home. If a grave sin occurred in a house or any location, demons become attached to that place. For example, if there is a murder or illegal drugs are used, or if someone played the Oujia board or in a certain place, the room will attract demons.

When I was in Wichita, as an associate, I was asked to bless a home of a woman who had a 3 year child. She told me late at night she would hear footsteps and the TV and toys would turn on by themselves. At first, I thought she was crazy. I told her to unplug the TV and take out the batteries of the toys and I would come to bless her house. When I did the blessing, as I made the sign of the cross, we all felt a gust of cold wind go through the house. A few weeks after the blessing, while tearing up carpet, they discovered a pentagram used by a previous occupant of the house. They removed it, and I came to bless the house again, and there was no more problems after that.

We should not be afraid of evil spirits, but rather be afraid to commit sin because serious sin can cause us to end up in hell and because sin hurts and offends God, who loves us.

If we stay in the state of grace, if we pray regularly, if we go to confession regularly, attend Mass regularly and receive Holy Communion often, while in the state of grace, we will be protected.

Jesus loves us and cares for us. He does not allow us to be tempted more than we can handle. By our successful fighting against them and overcoming them. Temptations can actually help us to grow in virtue and holiness. As we begin Lent, I encourage you to turn to Jesus, His sacraments and sacramentals, to help you overcome temptations.

Evil spirits do not only tempt in gardens and deserts, they tempt us wherever we are. But compared to God, they are like dust bunnies.

Ash Wednesday

 

Lent it a time to reflect upon ways we can draw closer to Jesus and remember life is short because we are dust and to dust we shall return. We can draw closer to Jesus, through prayer, fasting, alms giving and repentance.

In our private prayer time with Jesus everyday, we should tell Him we love Him and we worship him. Then tell Jesus your sins. Our lies, gossiping, angry thoughts, using dirty words, disobeying parents, fighting with our brothers and sisters, not doing our homework, having impure thoughts, looking at bad things on the internet. Being lazy, self-pity, etc.. Pride, selfishness, etc.. and then tell Jesus you are sorry for our sins by making an Act of Contrition. Its important to daily thank Jesus for the many good things he does for us. Having a roof over our head, food to eat, clothing to wear, family who cares about us, a good school to attend, the gift of our faith, etc.. And finally, we should pray for others, especially the sick, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the lonely, pray for the poor souls in purgatory, that they can go to heaven. We can pray for our own needs too. We receive lots of graces when we daily pray the Rosary.

By fasting we deny our self nourishment which helps us to love and care about the poor who don’t always have food to eat. Fasting helps us to control our appetite, so we deny our self unnecessary pleasures. Fasting causes us to hunger for Jesus, the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. Fasting is powerful against evil and temptations. Fasting strengthens our will so we can more easily turn away from sin. Fasting not only cleanses our body, but especially our soul. In addition to abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday & Fridays of Lent, we could fast once or twice a week.

Jesus wants us to give alms to the poor. When helping the poor, we should first look to those in our own family and community that could use financial help. And then the larger church in other places like homeless shelters, soup kitchens, pregnancy centers. Remember what Jesus said, “What you do the least of my brothers, you do unto me.” When we help the poor, we are truly helping Jesus in disguise of the poor.

All of us should confess our sins monthly. To confess once a month and from here on afterward to confess every month regularly, this way, when its time to go to our judgment, we will have few sins on our soul and not spend much time in purgatory. It also can help prevent us from dying with a mortal sin on our soul, which will cause us to lose heaven forever.

When a priest places ashes on the forehead he has two choices he could say. One choice is: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Or he can say, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” When we say we are dust and to dust we shall return, it means this life is short and passes away quickly. Ashes also reminds us to do penance for our sins. To turn away from evil and turn toward God.

In European countries, ashes are placed on the top of the head, so no body can see they are doing penance. In the US and other countries, ashes are placed on the forehead as a witness to our faith as Catholics.

At the end of Mass each person will receive a miraculous medal. I encourage you to wear it everyday during Lent to be a witness to your faith. In the Gospel Jesus said to keep our deeds, like alms giving, prayer and fasting secret. But Our Lord also wants us to be a witness to others. You can also give a miraculous medal to a friend or family member. We should have enough for each person to take two medals. They all have a string attached and are blessed.

Dear friends let us resolve to make this a holy Lent. Through prayer, fasting, alms giving and by turning away from sin and turning towards Jesus living out the Gospel, we will have a fruitful Lent.

 

Saints Francisco & Jacinta - Feb. 20th

 

Today, Feb. 20^th is the Feast of Saint Jacinta and Francisco. In 1917, when Jacinta was 7 years old, when Francisco was 9 yrs old, and when Lucia was 10 yrs. old, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to them in Fatima, Portugal.

God chose to reveal to the children the Immaculate Heart of Mary, asking reparation be made for sins, which offend Her Heart. Our Lady showed the children a vision of hell. They saw many souls falling into hell, because no one did penance or offered sacrifices for them. This vision caused the children to offer many prayers, sacrifices and penances on behalf of sinners, and to make reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The three children did penance, by fasting and not drinking water, when they were thirsty. They gave their food to poor children and so they went hungry. They also tied a rope around their waist, and even wore it to bed. However, Our Lady appeared the children and told the children to take the rope off, before going to bed, (but could keep it on, while they were awake). Due to the angel’s appearance to the children, they would do penance by kneeling on the ground reciting the prayer of the angel taught them: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you.”

Lucia would become a nun in a Carmelite monastery, and do penance as a religious sister. She was called Sr. Mary Lucia of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Little Francisco’s penance was to console our Lord in the tabernacle. He often was found praying before the hidden Jesus in the Eucharist. Jacinta was known for her strict fasting, and long hours of prayer. She was somewhat of a mystic, and at times, could predict future events. When her coffin was opened, she was found to be incorrupt.

The three children suffered much, and were even thrown into prison, suffering at the hands of authorities, whom threatened, to be put them in boiling oil.

However, the children’s penance, which was most pleasing to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was the penance of fulfilling their daily duties, and by accepting and patiently bearing, all the sufferings God would send them.

They were constantly offering all kinds of sacrifices, as a penance, in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and begged for the conversion of poor sinners. Jacinta and Francisco died shortly after the apparitions, which fulfilled the prophecy of Our Lady, that She would soon come, to take both of them to heaven. Lucia died in the Carmelite monastery at Coimbra, Portugal at the age of 97, on Feb. 13th, 2005. Francisco and Jacinta were canonized May 13^th, 2017 in Fatima, Portugal.

As we begin Lent children of Fatima inspire us to do all different kinds of penances, especially fulfilling our daily duties, accepting sufferings as they come, praying for the conversion of sinners, and to pray in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.