St. Anthony of Padua - Wonder Working Saint, June 13th

 

Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. Known as the wonder-worker, St. Anthony was from Lisbon, Portugal, but received his surname from Padua, Italy, where he resided converting many people. He was born in 1195, and baptized as Ferdinand. The clergy in the Cathedral of Lisbon educated him. At the age of 15, he became an Augustinian religious brother. When he was 17, he asked for a transfer to a more secluded monastery. For 8 years, he devoted himself to study and prayer. Due to his remarkable memory, he acquired a thorough knowledge of scripture.

In 1220, some Franciscans were martyred in Morocco and their relics were brought back to Portugal. St. Anthony longed to be martyred like the Franciscans. So he joined the Franciscan order, with the hope that he would be martyred. He changed his name to Anthony due to his devotion to the Anthony of the desert. With great zeal he received almost immediate permission to set out to Morocco to preach to the Moors, but had to return to Europe due to a severe illness.

While returning to Europe, he ended up in Assisi, where a general chapter was to be held. It was there he saw St. Francis. He then left the Augustinian brothers and joined the Franciscans.

As a sickly young brother, no one suspected him to have such intellectual gifts. If he wasn’t praying in the chapel, he was either serving the brothers washing their dishes and pots. At an ordination service, none of the Franciscans or Dominicans who came were prepared to give to deliver the sermon. His superior told him to go and speak whatever the Holy Spirit put into his mouth. All who heard his address were astonished, with his eloquence, fervor and learning. Due to this event, he was sent to preach in the province. He was an immediate success as a preacher. He was particularly effective in converting heretics.

St. Francis sent a letter to St. Anthony giving his approval to teach theology to the Franciscans provided “such study does not quench the spirit of holy prayer and devotion according to the rule.”

Due to his teaching at the university against Albigensians, he developed the title “hammer of heretics”. He had remarkable learning, eloquence, marked with logical analysis and reasoning, burning zeal for souls, a magnetic personality and a voice, which carried far.

The mere sight of him, brought sinners to their knees, for he appeared to radiate a spiritual force. Crowds flocked to hear him, hardened criminals, careless Catholics, heretics—all were converted and brought to confession. Men locked up their offices and shops in order to go and hear his sermons and women rose early in the morning or stayed overnight in the church to secure their places. Because the churches weren’t large enough to accommodate the crowds, he preached in public squares and market places. His sermons led to wide-spread reforming of many people in the city of Padua.

Once Anthony had traveled to the city of Rimini because it was a hotbed of heresy. The city leaders had ordered everyone to ignore him, so no one turned up for his homilies. Wherever Anthony went, he was greeted by silence.

Anthony walked along praying and reflecting upon what had happened. As he walked outside of the town, he came to the mouth of the Marecchia River where it flows into the Adriatic. There he began to address the crowds, not of people but of fish.

He called out, “You, fish of the river and sea, listen to the Word of God because the heretics do not wish to hear it.” Suddenly there were thousands of fish neatly arranged in rows, all pushing their heads through the surface of the water as if they were straining to listen to every one of Anthony’s words.

The people of Rimini, seeing this miracle, gathered to listen to Anthony. What began with simple interest in an extraordinary event turned into a passionate conviction that Anthony was speaking to their very hearts. They were so moved by Anthony’s words, by his call to conversion, that they abandoned their hardened positions and returned to the Church. As we stated above, we are not sure that this story is historic, but it certainly does represent a version of what often happened when Anthony preached: that many hardened sinners were converted through the unselfish love of Anthony.

On another occasion, a heretic said he did not believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. St. Anthony challenged the farmer to not feed his mule for three days and then come and bring the mule’s favorite grain. The man did as St. Anthony told him. With St. Anthony holding the Eucharist in one hand and the farmer holding a bucket with the mule’s favorite grain, the mule walked up to Saint Anthony and fell on its knees before the Blessed Sacrament. The mule’s owner was immediately converted and believed in the true presence.

St. Anthony is also invoked to help find lost articles, but is also an intercessor for the poor, infertile and pregnant women, and of travelers. People sometimes give bread to the poor, for the purpose of obtaining his intercession, which is often called “St. Anthony bread”.

In the spring of 1231, after preaching a powerful course of sermons, St. Anthony’s strength gave out. He never got better and died at the age of 36 after receiving the last rites. He was canonized within one year after his death.

Due to the many miracles worked at his tomb, he became known as the “wonder-working saint”.

If we do not have a devotion to St. Anthony, now is the time for us to begin praying to him. Though it is good to pray to him for lost articles, it is better to pray to him for lost souls and to ask him help for help in growing in virtue and holiness. St. Anthony, pray for us!

10th Sunday - Virgin Mary Did God's Will in All Things

 

In the first reading, we have Adam, Eve and the devil, who tempts them. They give in to the temptation and out of disobedience to God’s will, fall from grace. By doing what the devil wanted, they chose to do the will of the devil, rather than the will of God.

In Genesis 3:15, God responds to the Serpent, hinting at his first promise of redemption after the fall of Adam and Eve: “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” This hints at the cosmic struggle that will ensue, resulting in the Serpent’s ultimate defeat through the seed of the Woman—though her seed will also suffer through this victory (“you shall bruise his heel”). The Christian tradition sees this ultimately as a prophecy of Jesus’ victory over the devil on the Cross. The coming of the redeemer will return fallen mankind to the dominion of God, by the freedom to accept of God’s will for those who desire salvation.

God foretells to the serpent, it will be at enmity with a woman and her offspring in the future. The woman cannot be Eve because Eve who through her disobedience to God gave in to the temptation of the devil. So there must be a new woman (the Virgin Mary) who will come and her child (Jesus) will crush the head of the serpent.

To be at enmity means to be totally against such that they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. The future woman to come will assist the redeemer, in crushing the serpent. Since the woman to come will be totally against the devil, she will be obedient to God in all things. She will be sinless from her conception (like Eve), and so there is an allusion to Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Unlike Eve, She will always do God’s will and will never once commit any sin.

In the Gospel, we have Jesus, the new Adam and Mary the new Eve. Jesus, the redeemer, has power and dominion over the devil and evil spirits, and able to drive out demons. The redeemer, who will crush the head of the serpent, has come to bring salvation to those who accept it.

Sadly, some scribes accuse Jesus of being the prince of demons because He is able to cast out demons. In response, Our Lord speaks about the unforgivable sin (blaspheming against the Holy Spirit). It’s not unforgivable because it can’t be forgiven, but because they will not seek forgiveness for their sin. They attribute God’s work of freeing men from the power of evil spirits, to the action of devil. In another words, their hearts are so hardened, they refuse to recognize God’s action and even attribute God’s work to evil spirits and will not repent of their sin.

Genesis later calls Eve, the Mother of the living, but because of her fall from grace, she is really the mother of the dead. Blessed Guerric of Igny said, “The first Eve is not so much a mother as a stepmother, since she handed on to her children an inheritance of certain death rather than the beginning of light. She is indeed called the mother of all the living, but she is more truly the destroyer of the living or the mother of the dead, since the only fruit of her child-bearing was death. And as Eve was incapable of fulfilling the vocation of her title, Mary consummated the mystery. She herself, like the Church of which she is the type, is a mother of all who are reborn to life. She is in fact the mother of the life by which everyone lives, and when she brought it forth from herself she in some way brought to rebirth all those who were to live by that life.”

Second century writers St. Justin and St. Irenaeus used to call Mary the New Eve. They would say, “death through Eve, life through Mary”. The Catechism says, “The Virgin Mary 'cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation'. She uttered her yes 'in the name of all human nature' By Her obedience She became the new Eve, mother of the living." By the Catechism and early Church fathers, we can see Mary is the true Mother of the living because she is the spiritual mother of us all. Jesus gave His Mother to us at the foot of the Cross, when He told John, “Behold your Mother.” He said to Mary, “Woman, behold your son”. The word “woman” is in reference to the woman predicted in Genesis 3:15. In Revelation, Mary is the “woman” clothed with the sun and moon under her feet and on Her head a crown of twelve stars”. The dragon pursues Her and makes war against Her offspring because her offspring do God’s will.

In the Gospel today, when Our Lord’s Mother and His disciples arrived standing outside of the house, one of His disciples said, “Your Mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at the people said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whosever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Here it sounds like Jesus had brothers and sisters. But this is not the case. Rather, Mary is a perpetual virgin. She gave birth to Jesus, but in a miraculous manner preserving Her virginal integrity. Jesus did not have natural brothers and sisters because Mary never had other children. The Hebrew language didn’t have separate words for “brother”, “cousin”. The Jews used the word “brother” for a “near relative” without meaning “blood-brothers”.

What did Jesus mean when He said to the people? “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whosever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”? These words sound like He didn’t want to acknowledge His Mother. But, the opposite is true, He wanted all to know His Mother always did God’s will and was praising His Mother and exhorting them to be like Her. She is the promised Mother of the Redeemer and He is the Redeemer, who will crush the head of the serpent. He is saying, they are to be like Mary, who always did God’s will in Her life.

Since Mary is the Mother of the redeemer, we are of Her seed (Her children) and at war with the devil and his followers, because we do God’s will. In the end the victory is ours because the Redeemer will crush the head of the serpent and cast him and his followers into the abyss. The woman, the co-redemptrix, will assist Him in conquering the serpent.

Since Mary was free of sin and never sinned, She can help us avoid sin and do God’s will. God’s will is found in the ordinary duties and state of life. It’s God’s will we keep the house clean, wash the dishes and mow the yard. It’s God’s will children obey their parents. Spouses mutually submit to each other. It’s God’s will we obey civil laws and authority, such as not speeding or running stop signs. We are to obey our boss and do our job to the best of our ability. We are to be a good mother, father, brother or sister, or parent, or grandparent, or a good religious obeying our superior, living out the vows of poverty chastity and obedience and obeying the rule of life. God’s will for us is how we are mother, sister or brother to Jesus.

Sometimes we want to know God’s will in our life and should ask the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the Heart of Mary to help us know His will.

At times, we can’t understand God’s will, and must go by faith. When the angel asked Mary to become the mother of Jesus, She could not understand how it could be, because She had made a vow of virginity. How could She become a Mother and yet remain a virgin? But because of Her great faith, She told the angel, “Be it done unto me according to your word.”

Sometimes, when we can clearly see God’s will is painful and difficult for us, we are to have the same attitude of Jesus, who said, “Not my will, but your will be done?” trusting God will take care of us.

Today, may we seek Mary’s intercession in helping us to do God’s will, and not our own; to obey His commandments, avoiding sin; to do His will in our daily duties and state of life; and to accept God’s will as Mary accepted His will standing at the foot of the Cross. By doing God’s will, we are His children and the children of Mary (and therefore at war with evil spirts). But if we turn to Mary, the Queen of heaven and earth, the true mother of the living, the new Eve, who always did the will of the Father, we will inherit the kingdom of God, forfeited by Adam and Eve, but made available by our redeemer, who was obedient to His Father, even to death, death on the Cross, and rose from the dead for our salvation.

Corpus Christi Sunday - Eucharistic Revival

 

Today, I’m giving an explanatory homily, which is longer than usual to highlight, the Eucharist, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. The words “Corpus Christi” mean “Body of Christ”. Many parishes have a Eucharistic Procession following one of their Masses this weekend. The Eucharist is processed through the streets as a public witness in our belief it is truly the risen Jesus in the Sacred Host. Since, last week was our parish feast of the Most Holy Trinity, we had a Eucharistic Procession after the 8am Mass and had a Pizza Breakfast with Mr. Dold’s famous Cinnamon Rolls.

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, when He took the bread, blessed it, broke it and said, “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you. Then He took the chalice saying, “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for the many, for the forgiveness of sins, do this in memory of me.”

With these words, at the Last Supper, Jesus changed bread and wine into His body and blood and today through the priest, Jesus makes this happen at every Holy Mass.

In His Eucharistic discourse, in John Chapter 6, Our Lord said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him on the last day.” Some disciples responded saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” We know they took His words literally, because in John 6:66, after He said these words, it states many no longer followed Him. Jesus didn’t stop them from leaving because He meant His words literally. If He meant it symbolically, He would have had an obligation to tell them. He then turned to the Apostles, and said, “Will you also leave me?” But, Peter said, “But Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

John chapter 6 verse 66, have the three 6’s. They are numbers associated with the devil. It was at this point many no longer followed Jesus because they didn’t believe.

We are in a three year Eucharistic Revival in the United States. In 2019, a research study indicated 70% believe the Eucharist is only a symbol, but a 2023 survey suggests that 2/3 actually do believe the Eucharist is truly Jesus.

In our diocese of Wichita, many truly believe Jesus is present in the Eucharist as can be seen by the many adoration chapels. Three years ago, here at Holy Trinity parish, over 90% of the families signed up for an hour and others signed up as substitutes, which makes adoration so successful. If your not a substitute and don’t have an hour, you can do either. By spending your time with Jesus in silent adoration, you receive untold hidden graces for you, your family, the parish, and the world. I am so impressed by the love and devotion of many people here at Holy Trinity. Many of you receive Holy Communion reverently.

In order to increase faith in the Eucharist, over the centuries, the Lord has worked Eucharistic miracles. Blessed Carlo Acutis, a 15 yr. old boy from Italy, who died of Leukemia, created an International Eucharistic Miracle Display. Many of the miracles, Hosts began to bleed.

Carlo once said, "the Eucharist is the highway to heaven." When people sit in the sun, they become tan, "but when they sit before Eucharistic Jesus, they become saints.”

Over a span of 2 and ½ years, Carlo documented 187 Church approved Eucharistic miracles. One such miracle was in Tumaco, Columbia in 1902. Due to an earthquake a Tsunami was about to destroy the island, but the local priest took the Blessed Sacrament to the shore and made the sign of the Cross with the Host causing the giant tidal wave to immediately halt, sparing the island from destruction.

Carlo recorded a miracle in 1412, when a priest in Italy was assailed by doubts while offering Mass. Just as he consecrated the wine, into the blood of Jesus, the wine literally turned into blood and overflowed from the chalice falling upon the white cloth (a corporal) on the altar. Many witnessed the miracle and the priest repented of his doubt.

While not considered a Eucharistic miracle, a priest from our diocese felt the Sacred Host beat between his fingers after the consecration, as though he was holding the beating Heart of Jesus.

The meaning of Eucharistic Revival is to revive the faith in the true presence of the Eucharist, and to do that, we need to examine how we treat Jesus in the Sacred Host.

If we don’t have faith in the Eucharist, we think we ought, we can make acts of faith to increase it. Such as, “O Jesus, I believe you are really and truly present in the Sacred Host.” or when the Host is elevated at Mass, we can use the words of St. Thomas the Apostle, after he touched the wounds of Jesus, “My Lord and my God.”

We can read books about the Eucharist, such Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love, Or we can read about Eucharistic Miracles approved by the Church and collected by Blessed Carlo Acutis. We can get on a plane and fly to see a Eucharistic miracle. We can attend Mass more often and receive Jesus in Holy Communion, praying to Him, whom comes to dwell in our heart. St. Alphonsus Ligouri states Holy Communion lasts at least 15 min or until the Sacred Host is assimilated in our body. Consequently, after receiving Holy Communion, we can spend longer time in prayer.

The time we spend with Jesus adoring Him in Eucharistic Adoration, or before the tabernacle, where Jesus abides, helps us to grow in our faith. We can also increase our exterior reverence, as a sign of what we believe interiorly. For example, we can be more intentional when genuflecting. As we genuflect, we can gaze upon the tabernacle, and say, “I love you Jesus.” or “Jesus I worship you, truly present in the tabernacle.” When at home before going to bed, we can face the direction of the church, and genuflect towards the tabernacle saying a short prayer.

Fr. Don Calloway in his Eucharistic Revival talk said, we need to dress properly for church and said, “At many weddings, the bridesmaids dresses make them look like hookers.” He said, women should keep veiled, that which is sacred.

About a month ago, I went to the monastery with the incorrupt nun, Sister Wilhelmina. For daily Mass, everyone dressed up and received Communion on the tongue. Women and young girls wore dresses and veils and men and boys, wore dress shirts with ties.

In the 1970s’, women and girls almost never wore pants, but some began to wear dress paints. My grandmother always wore a dress and for years refused to wear dress pants. Then later, women and girls began to wear jeans, that only boys used to wear. As a culture women need to return to examine how we view our appearance and how we dress for Holy Mass. We dress up for funerals, so should we not dress up for Mass, where we are in the presence of the death of Christ on Calvary.

At the Congregational church here in town, at times, in their bulletin, they encourage causal clothes. That’s up to them how they do things, because they don’t have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They don’t have the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. They don’t believe what we believe.

Our ancestors, who lived before air-conditioning, dressed up for Mass. The women wore dress hats or veils, men wore suits, and children wore their Sunday best. And many lived a life of poverty. Families were willing to sacrifice comfort because they understood the Mass is Sacred.

At Sacred Heart in Halstead, we initiated a dress code by using the diocesan policy for lectors, ushers, & extraordinary Eucharistic ministers. One lector wore shorts and flip flops. She didn’t like the new code and started to attend Mass in Newton. A few weeks later, while attending Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, the pastor preached on dressing up for Mass and encouraged his parishioners to avoid wearing shorts. When she heard his homily, she apologized and began to dress up for Mass every week.

Perhaps, the reason why there is a lackadaisical way of treating the Mass, may have to do with how priests offer it.

When the priest faces the people there is a temptation for the priest to make himself the center of attention. He may use his personality to walk around sanctuary, or change the rubrics of the Mass, or allow non-sacred music, or the priest may rush the Mass, because he thinks if he has a short Mass people will like him. But, it cheapens the sacredness of the Mass. Consequently, some priests only use the shortest Eucharistic Prayer- 2. Its believed it was created in bar by several priests. There is nothing wrong with Eucharistic Prayer 2 or 3, they are approved by the Church.

Eucharistic prayer 2 is used by priests often times at Sunday Mass, to hurry up and get on with the Mass, but is not intended to be used for Sunday Masses, unless for pastoral reasons.

I use Eucharistic Prayer 1, at most every Mass. During Eucharistic Prayer 1, we ask many saints to pray for us, we pause to pray for others and pause to pray for specific deceased. It’s the oldest Eucharistic prayer and dates back to almost 1,600 years ago.

The Mass is the most holy action on the face of the earth. On the altar, the re-presentation of Calvary occurs. That’s why the Mass is called the Holy Sacrifice. The bread and wine are truly changed into the body and blood of Christ. The risen and resurrected Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist. During Mass, heaven and earth are united and we join the angels and saints worshiping God in heaven. According to a mystic, during the Holy Holy Holy, angels come down from heaven to surround the altar. If some have never heard these things, they don’t see the Mass as sacred.

Because the Mass is so holy, and so sacred, and because people who come to Mass desire to enter into the mystery of it, it can be difficult to pay attention due to distractions, such as phones ringing, or children screaming or hard toys or other objects dropped in the pews. A fussing child is difficult for parents. But, they find creative ways to control them: rocking them in the pew, or standing up, distracting them with a soft toy, or giving them a bottle. But if these don’t work, out of respect for others trying to enter into the mystery of the Mass or hear the Word of God or the homily, you may want to stand at the entrance of the church or use the rocker downstairs to watch the Mass on TV.

We are all family and we feel like family when we are together with children. Personally, I love when children are at Mass. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” They receive graces from God, by being present during the consecration. The bells rung by altar servers cause children to pay attention to see what is happening on the altar. When children are present, it reminds us-- we are family. We need to balance shushing the child and yet to be considerate of others, who desire to enter into the mystery of the Mass.

If you get distracted easy, sit closer to the front. You will be surprised at how much more you can get out of Mass.

Some parishes have Ad Orientem Masses (to face East), meaning the people and the priest face the same direction. Placed like the Cathedral or Church of the Blessed Sacrament have them weekly.

As pastor, I did several Ad Oritentem Masses every week, including a Sunday Mass. I was surprised that the majority of the people enjoyed it. There were a few who preferred the priest facing the people, but they had the opportunity to go to other weekend Masses.

When the priest and the people face God together, there is less distractions for the priest. I found it easier for me to pray the Mass and people were more in awe of the Mass.

Some think, you need to know Latin, to go a Traditional Latin Mass or need to respond in Latin, but it’s not necessary. In fact, the silence and reverence of the Traditional Mass causes one to enter into the mystery of the Holy Mass and its sacrifice. It is truly awe inspiring. The priest and the people face the same direction while the people follow along in the Missal as they watch the priest’s gestures. At the TLM Mass, everyone receives Communion at an altar rail and on the tongue. It reminds us, who we are receiving at Mass. A person, who is God, and not a thing.

When Sr. Wilhelmina made her first Holy Communion, Jesus spoke to her, saying, “Will you be mine?” She later understood Jesus wanted her as his bride, as a religious sister. This summer, when you go on vacation, I encourage you go to Mass at Gower, Missouri and see the incorrupt nun and attend their Traditional Latin Mass. Or you can go to St. Joseph’s church in Wichita, for their 11:30am Latin Mass.

Before we receive Holy Communion, the Church requires us to make a sign of reverence, such as to bow, or make the sign of the Cross, or genuflect or kneel. The US bishops Conference suggest we bow, but we are permitted to do as we desire. Fr. Brungardt gave us permission to use a kneeler during weekday Masses.

Did you know, the ordinary manner the Church desires we receive Holy Communion is on the tongue? But, each bishop can give permission to receive on the hand, called an indult.

It is a priest’s sacred duty to protect and guard the Holy Eucharist. You need to know there are problems with receiving Communion on the hand. For example, Hosts are more easily stolen, which I witnessed in other parishes. At St. Elizabeth in Wichita, when I was an associate there, someone kept putting Hosts in missalettes. One was found on the floor and one outside in the parking lot on Christmas day.

Another problem is tiny particles fall from Hosts, as can be seen in the bottom of a ciboria. Few pay attention to the particles on their hand, and so, Jesus is dropped on the floor. The Council of Trent states every particle no matter how small is the whole and entire person of Jesus.

When receiving Communion in the hand, people begin to treat the Eucharist as ordinary food, but it’s not. Its truly the risen and resurrected Jesus in the Sacred Host. Receiving Communion on the hand, over a period of time can cause a decrease in faith in the Eucharist.

If you receive Communion in the hand, after you receive the Host, look for particles and pick them up and place them in your mouth. The US Bishops Conference has said, if you receive Communion in the hand, the Host is to be immediately placed in your mouth before walking away.

Recently, in the news, a priest bit a woman during Holy Communion. The media made it appear as some crazy priest bit a woman for no reason. However, a Catholic news story, stated, the woman with her lesbian girlfriend, grabbed Hosts out of the ciboria, the priest was holding. To prevent her from grabbing Hosts, the priest bit her arm. She broke the host into pieces causing particles to scatter on the floor.

When the woman was interviewed by police she said, “He wouldn’t give me the cookie.” She accused the priest of not giving it to her because she’s lesbian. The priest admitted to biting her, because he wanted to protect the Blessed Sacrament and didn’t know she was lesbian.

No one as the right to receive the Eucharist. It’s a privilege. Communicants must be Catholic. They must be in the state of grace, and must believe the Eucharist is the true body of Christ. They must also believe everything we believe. Anyone who calls the Eucharist a “cookie”, doesn’t believe the Eucharist is the true Body of Christ. The bishop of the diocese of Orlando defended the priest saying he was protecting the Eucharist, he is bound to do.

The priest has an obligation to be sure all Hosts are consumed and not stolen and he is not to give the next person Communion, until the Host is placed in your mouth. By receiving Communion on the tongue, it displays a greater act of humility. It is more reverent. It is safer for the Host and prevents particles from falling to the ground. When we die and go to our judgment, the Lord will show us the particles that fell to the ground, by us being careless. I encourage you to pray and ask Jesus, if He wants you to receive on the tongue or on the hand.

A true Eucharistic revival is not just about listening to talks about the Eucharist. It’s not just even singing praise and worship songs during a Holy Hour. It’s not just about Eucharistic processions. All of these are good.

But, especially we will fall in deeper love with the Eucharistic Jesus, and if we do, we will want to receive Him often in Communion and come before Him in adoration and give Him the greatest reverence possible, because He is God.

Eucharistic revival is about proclaiming the whole truth about the Eucharist. Its about being sure we receive the Eucharist worthily and with reverence and helping others to do the same. Its about bishops and priests standing up to defend the Eucharist and even at times denying Communion to notorious obstinate sinners, such as pro-abortion politicians or denying non-Catholics Holy Communion.

To receive the Eucharist worthily, we need to be in the state of grace, with no serious sin on our soul. We need to receive the Eucharist only after fasting an hour, from every thing except water and medicine. Chewing gum, drinking coffee or tea or eating other foods, etc.. breaks the Eucharistic fast, and if one receives Communion after breaking the fast, the person commits a sacrilegious Communion, which is a mortal sin. If you come to Mass chewing gum, you can’t receive Holy Communion. If you accidentally break the fast, don’t receive Jesus. You can receive a dispensation before Mass by talking to the priest.

Or I can give you Communion after Mass, after the hour is complete.

Those who regularly use birth control and have no intention of giving it up, and if they receive Holy Communion, are doing so sacrilegiously. Rather than receiving graces from God during Communion, they seriously offend Jesus and receive absolutely no graces what-so ever.

St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians states those who don’t receive the Eucharist worthily are guilty of profaning the body of Christ and will bring condemnation to oneself.

After committing a mortal sin, if we are sorry and have the intention of avoiding the sin, go to Confession right away, to receive graces from Jesus to help you overcome the sin.

There is no greater time on earth than when we worthily receive Holy Communion, asking Jesus for favors, praying for others, thanking Him and just loving Him by keeping our attention and focus on Him, who comes within our heart.

A true Eucharistic revival will lead us to go to Confession often, to attend daily Mass to receive Communion as often as possible and never receive the Eucharist while in mortal sin.

A true Eucharistic revival will mean we become more reverent to Jesus in the tabernacle, when we receive Holy Communion and when we adore Our Lord in Adoration.

Once, our faith in the Eucharist has revived, we will want to draw others to do the same, by encouraging fallen away Catholics to go to Confession, so they can receive Holy Communion again. Your witness to your faith in the Eucharist, to your love of Jesus and the graces you receive, will help others in grow in their faith.

Let us pray through Mary’s intercession we will grow in our faith believing the Eucharist is truly Her risen Son, who we want to adore, and give our utmost reverence and respect, out of love for Him, who is God and King of heaven and earth, and who the angels and saints worship.

Trinity Sunday - Disciple of Jesus, Harrison Butker

 

This weekend is special for us, since it’s Holy Trinity Sunday, our parish feast day.

Before the fall, Adam and Eve had original justice. They had perfect control of their memory, will and intellect. They had perfect union with God. It was the possession of sanctifying grace with a right to enter heaven and they had preternatural gifts.

But due to original sin, by eating the forbidden fruit, they seriously broke their relationship with God.

Before Jesus came into the world, God had not yet revealed Himself as three persons. No one knew there is and has always been God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

    But, at the annunciation, when the angel appeared to the Virgin Mary, God revealed Himself as a Trinity of persons. The Virgin Mary was the first person to come to know God is three persons.

Revelation of the Trinity also happened at the Baptism of Jesus and at His Transfiguration. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He commanded His apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism washes away original sin and all personal sin. Through baptism, we become a child of God, a member of God’s family, the divine life of God is restored and the Blessed Trinity comes to dwell within our heart.

All are baptized as a disciple of Jesus, but do we follow Him as well as we ought? Do we witness to others as one of His disciples?

Harrison Butker, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, helped his team win two super bowls, wasn’t afraid to declare to others that he is a disciple of Jesus during his commencement speech at Benedictine College in Atchinson, a few weeks ago. The college, founded by Benedictine Sisters, was formerly, not so Catholic. The sisters who used to run the school over the years, like so many other religious orders, became very liberal and discontinued wearing their habit and consequently, no longer have any vocations. They are one of few Catholic groups who criticized Harrison Butker for his speech.

However, over the past 20 years, the college has grown immensely building dorms and halls for their classes due to many young traditional Catholics who attend it.

Harrison was baptized Catholic, but discontinued practicing his faith and later in his life, once he returned, he took to heart, his role, as a disciple of Christ.

I believe it’s important for you to hear much of his speech, so that you become aware of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Over 200,000 signed a petition wanting him to be fired. There is serious conflict between the Church and the world. But, what was so controversial about the speech?

In my opinion, his graduation speech was an exhortation to bishops, priests, and to the graduate women and men of the college to live out their vocations. He’s only 28 yrs. old, has no degree in Theology, but has a personal relationship with the Blessed Trinity through prayer and the sacraments. What I will do is quote much from his speech and then periodically give my commentary about each topic.

He began speaking about COVID, moral issues, and spoke about President of the US. He said, “While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique. Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder. Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice. He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common. They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone- doesn’t cut it.”

Now my commentary: Most people expect a priest to speak about moral issues in life, but they seldom do. So when a football player mentions these at a commencement speech, people pay attention.

He pointed out, how prominent Catholics failed to be a witness to their faith. But instead, scandalize others by their words and actions. How can a Catholic in good conscience, make the sign of the cross, when promoting abortion. By doing so, it makes the Catholic faith a mockery. It is a travesty Catholics, by name only, are scandalizing the world, rather then evangelizing, as a true disciple of Jesus ought. He makes very good points, that most bishops fail to do.

Harrison spoke of the failure of being a disciple of Christ, when he said, “But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the 'church of nice' is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.” “As members of the church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic. Don’t be mistaken, even within the Church, people in polite Catholic circles will try to persuade you to remain silent.”

My commentary: “Church of nice” means to never say anything that would offend anyone. Never to make waves. Always to keep peace, at all cost, even if it means to fail to speak the truth or defend it. But is really false mercy because to be truly merciful is to tell the truth to help others obtain heaven, even, if at first, one may not want to hear what is said.

He said, “Our Catholic faith has always been counter-cultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority. Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.”

My Commentary: By these words he is describing what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus and to be persecuted and perhaps die for the Church’s teachings.

Harrison goes on to describe some problems with priests. He said, “The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered. There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore and just blindly proclaim that, 'That’s what Father said.' Because sadly, many priests we are looking to-- for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory. It’s easy for us laymen and women to think that in order for us to be holy, that we must be active in our parish and try to fix it. Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems. Just as we look at the relationship between a father and his son, so too should we look at the relationship between a priest and his people. It would not be appropriate for me to always be looking to my son for help when it is my job as his father to lead him. St. Josemaría Escrivá states that priests are ordained to serve, and should not yield to temptation to imitate laypeople, but to be priests through and through. Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners, and in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar. This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate’s girlfriend says, 'Familiarity breeds contempt.' Saint Josemaría continues that some want to see the priest as just another man. That is not so. They want to find in the priest those virtues proper to every Christian, and indeed every honorable man: understanding, justice, a life of work — priestly work, in this instance — and good manners.” “Plus, there are still many good and holy priests, and it’s up to us to seek them out.”

My commentary: Here Harrison highlights how some priests are not leading their flock. But rather, lay people are attempting to do it because the priests aren’t leading as they should, but this is problematic. Over the years, I have seen a trend of many priests acquiring pets, especially dogs. 20 years ago, when I was ordained, there was only 1 priest, who I knew had a dog, but now, many do. There is nothing objectively wrong with having a pet, but a priest shouldn’t turn to a pet to give him happiness and consolation and using an animal to satisfy a passing happiness, instead of turning to Jesus. There is a temptation for priests to avoid making waves, out of fear of not being liked and, therefore, refrains from speaking the fullness of truth.

Suppose a man has been a priest for 40 years and built a magnificent church. But, he admitted to never mentioning contraception or abortion in a homily in 40 yrs. He believed if he mentioned these topics people wouldn’t donate to the church. And so, the beautiful church, in the end, was built on souls who may never go to heaven and built on babies who died because the truth was never proclaimed. This is reality today.

The reason why priests don’t speak the fullness of truth is because if they do, those who disagree with the Catholic faith, will complain to their bishop, and, the bishop, rather than standing up for the teachings of the Church and defending the priest, will cower to complaining parishioners. Some bishops tell priests to stop preaching about topics that make waves. But, by doing so, they don’t seem to care for the salvation of parishioners and they desire a false peace.

I know a priest who preached on contraception and abortion only four out of 156 Sunday homilies. And the bishop told the priest to stop preaching on these subjects.

Some priests are canceled by their bishop, and not given an assignment, because the bishop doesn’t want priests to preach the fullness of truth, for fear of upsetting the pro-abortion, pro-contraceptors, who tithe. Priests are afraid to speak the truth, out of fear of getting canceled.

I watched a video with Fr. Don Calloway, a priest of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, on Eucharistic Revival. He admitted to being afraid to preach on the Eucharist for fear of being canceled. He said if he gets canceled, he will just go back to the beech.

Harrison Butker spoke about bishops. He said, “The chaos of the world is unfortunately reflected in the chaos in our parishes, and sadly, in our cathedrals too. As we saw during the pandemic, too many bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear, fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked. They showed by their actions, intentional or unintentional, that the sacraments don’t actually matter. Because of this, countless people died alone, without access to the sacraments, and it’s a tragedy we must never forget. As Catholics, we can look to so many examples of heroic shepherds who gave their lives for their people, and ultimately, the Church.” “But in each of those examples, Church leaders leaned into their vocations and ensured that their people received the sacraments. Great saints like St. Damien of Molokai, who knew the dangers of his ministry, stayed for 11 years as a spiritual leader to the leper colonies of Hawaii. His heroism is looked at today as something set apart and unique, when ideally it should not be unique at all. For as a father loves his child, so a shepherd should love his spiritual children, too. That goes even more so for our bishops, these men who are present-day apostles. Our bishops once had adoring crowds of people kissing their rings and taking in their every word, but now relegate themselves to a position of inconsequential existence. Now, when a bishop of a diocese or the bishop’s conference as a whole puts out an important document on this matter or that, nobody even takes a moment to read it, let alone follow it. No. Today, our shepherds are far more concerned with keeping the doors open to the chancery than they are with saying the difficult stuff out loud. It seems that the only time you hear from your bishops is when it’s time for the annual appeal, whereas we need our bishops to be vocal about the teachings of the Church, setting aside their own personal comfort and embracing their cross. Our bishops are not politicians but shepherds, so instead of fitting in the world by going along to get along, they too need to stay in their lane and lead.”

My commentary: I don’t believe Harrison was condemning all bishops, but was trying to give voice to the faithful, who were hurt by bishops failing to stand up for the truth and failing to be concerned about the salvation of souls, especially during COVID.

If we place our selves in the shoes of the bishops during COVID, they had no idea what it was about, and relied on “medical experts” to guide them in their decisions. Yet, they abandoned the faithful when they needed the sacraments and pastoral care the most.

Harrison’s bishop, Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, defended him, saying, “Harrison Butker’s passion for his Catholic faith and his family are beautiful and well known. And like most people, he also has strong opinions on where we are as a Church and as a nation.” “The Catholic Church believes that God calls everyone to pursue holiness no matter what path they take. As St. Paul notes, that diversity of callings and vocations is essential to the life and mission of the Church. I support Mr. Butker’s right to share his faith and express his opinions — including those that are critical of bishops”.

The greatest outcry by those who disagreed with Butker occurred when he addressed women. He said, “For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker. She's the primary educator to our children. She is the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best at my core, and it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation. I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, 'Heck, no.'

My Commentary: He’s not a professional speaker and it seems to me, people attempted to read into something he didn’t say or mean. He never said women shouldn’t work. He merely praised stay at home mothers. One reporter accused him of putting down women, but the KC Chief’s coach replied, “No, he didn’t.”

Harrison spoke about fathers who should be leaders at home. But, I will talk more about in another homily.

My dear people of Holy Trinity, Harrison Butker’s speech is a reminder, that at the moment of our baptism, we became a disciple of Jesus and have an obligation to live out our discipleship, by our word and actions. Like Harrison, we should not cower to fear, or be bullied by the woke crowd, or spineless Catholics, but rather proclaim the truth.

As a priest, his speech gave me courage to proclaim the truth of our faith, without fear, and trusting, that no matter what happens, as a disciple of Jesus, we need to be willing do lay down their life for Our Lord, and His Church’s teachings, so we may have life with the Blessed Trinity in heaven. May, the Virgin Mary, the first and greatest disciple, help us to live out our vocation with the help and grace of the Most Holy Trinity.

Mary, Mother of the Church

 

Today, the Church celebrates, the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church.

As a child, Florence felt her mother’s absence keenly. Her mom wasn’t physically absent, but she was emotionally unavailable. In fact, she often relied on Florence to help her with the household chore, to care for the younger children, and even provide a shoulder to lean on when she felt overwhelmed. Florence learned to silence her own needs in favor of her mother’s.

As an adult, Florence came to terms with this unhealthy pattern, and she was able to forgive her mom. Then, a few years later, she was able to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. There, she joined thousands of pilgrims in the evening procession. As they all sang, “Ave Maria”, she was overwhelmed by Mary’s maternal care for her. She wept as a flood of pure love washed over her.

Mary has a tender love for each of us. She is the Mother of tenderness, who is always near. On today’s feast when we honor Mary as Mother of the Church, we can point to tenderness as a hallmark of her motherhood—the kind of tenderness that Florence had been deprived of as a child. Mary’s love, given to us by her son at the foot of the cross, can be a source of comfort and peace for us.

So look to Mary to be near you in every moment of your life. She who said yes to God’s will at the Annunciation will stand beside you as you open your heart to God’s will for your life. She who experienced tremendous sorrow while watching Her Son suffer understands your pain when your own suffering comes. And She who stayed with the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, humbly awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit, will pray for you to receive more of God’s love and gifts.

Receive Mary’s tenderness afresh today. Allow Her love to wash over you, filling any hurts or wounds you may still carry. Behold, your Mother!

Taken from Word Among Us