2nd Sunday of Lent, The Transfiguration & the Face of God

 

Six days after predicting His death and resurrection, when Peter, James, and John climbed a high mountain, Jesus revealed His glory to them on Mount Tabor.

When they arrived at the top, the three were tired and thirsty and decided to take a short nap. But they were suddenly awakened by a bright light that emanated from Jesus. Our Lord stood transfigured before them glowing brightly and with Him was Moses and Elijah. It wasn’t during the night, but during the day, when His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white.

One of the priests of our diocese, Fr. Larry Carney, wrote a book on the Holy Face of Jesus. Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus has a long history; it seems as long as that of the Church, if not longer because there is a recurrent theme in the Old Testament to seek the Holy Face of God. Already in Genesis 3:8 at the sin of Adam and Eve, we read that they “hid from the face of God.” It seems that a longing to see the Divine Face remained in them and was passed on to their descendants.

The Hebrew scriptures make reference to the holy face of God, especially in the psalms. Desire to see the Face of God is frequent. In Psalm 27: “Thou hast said, ‘Seek ye my face.’ My heart says to thee, ‘Thy face, Lord, do I seek.’ Hide not your face from me.’” In 2 Chronicles 7 a national blessing is assured by God to Solomon, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” The priestly blessing of Aaron over the people emphasizes its importance: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace” (Numbers 6.22-27).

In 2 Corinthians 4:6, St. Paul directs our attention to the face of Jesus: “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Revelations 22:3-4 proclaims the eternal joyful contemplation in heaven “… the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see His face…”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, said “Moses says (to the Lord), ‘Show me your glory’ . You see that the prophets in those times saw the Christ, that is, as much as each was able. ‘Show me your glory … that I may see you with understanding.’ But (God) says, ‘You cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live’ (Exodus 33:20).

For this reason, because no man could see the face of God and live, Jesus took upon Himself the face of human nature, that we might see it and live.

When Our Lord was born in Bethlehem, the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were the first to see the face of Jesus.

And yet when Jesus wished to show a little of His majesty at the Transfiguration, when His face shined as the sun, the disciples fell down afraid. His bodily face shining with less than the full power of him who made it, but according to the capacity of the disciples still frightened them, so that they could not bear it. How, then, could any man gaze upon the majesty of God?

After Jesus rose from the dead, most did not immediately recognize the face of Jesus. Perhaps, His new resurrected body made His appearance look different.

The face of any person reveals who we are and often times what we think. There are some who naturally have a happy face and are always smiling. Others their face looks grumpy. Some you can look at their face and tell what they are thinking.

With Bishop Jackals, our former bishop, you could always tell what he was thinking by looking at his face. One time we had a speaker at the clergy conference who said some inaccurate things. All we had to do was look at face of Bishop Jackals and we knew what he was thinking. And then, sure enough, the bishop stood up and gently corrected the speaker.

Some have what’s called a “poker face”, meaning they are able to hide what they are thinking when playing cards. They can be angry or maybe shocked by something, but you can’t tell by looking at their face.

Most of the time, we can tell by looking at someone’s face if they are happy, or if they are sad, if they are anxious, if they are worried, if they concerned, if they are angry.

Crying causes the face to appear sad and it draws empathy from others. A joyful face will cause others to be happy and can inspire laughter.

One of the beatitudes states, “Blessed are the pure of heart, they shall see God.” A pure heart will overlook the faults of others, look beyond their roughness and see God within the person.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread (in the Holy Eucharist, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

She also said, “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” She said, “We can never know the simple smile can do.” “Every time you smile at someone, it is action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

When I prepare couples for marriage, I always tell them, its up to them how they will discipline their children. Whether or not they will spank them, but if they choose to spank, they should only spank the bottom and never slap the face of the child. Why? Because to do so is a serious way of shaming the person. It’s an insult to their human dignity. In some countries, to slap someone in the face is as though, it was a slap against God Himself. In countries, like Iceland, to slap a child is considered abuse. In the United States to slap someone is a misdemeanor, punishable up to a year in jail.

God gives each of us our own face. It is uniquely ours. Every face is beautiful. Every face is precious. Every face has the ability to show love.

Let us use our face to help others, by smiling and let us seek the face of God most especially in the Eucharist, but also in the poor, and in each other.

In our mind’s eye when we look at the Sacred Host, during Adoration and at Mass, we can gaze upon the glory of the face of Christ on earth, for by doing so, we look forward to see God face to face in all His glory in heaven.

Miracles of the Rosary & the Rosary of Miracles

                                              NEW ROSARY BOOK

In Miracles of the Rosary & The Rosary of Miracles there are meditations for each mystery of the Holy Rosary. These meditations are especially helpful to our spiritual life. Specific applications after each mystery help the reader to apply the mystery to our life today. True inspirational stories after applications encourage the reader to grow in his or her faith and to pray the Rosary more often. Applications and stories are used to convey and pass on some Catholic beliefs and traditions. After the applications and stories, an apparition is given that concerns the Rosary. The apparitions are approved by the Church in some manner and are in chronological order. The author adds an additional five mysteries to the Rosary called the Rosary of Miracles: Jesus Heals the Paralytic, Jesus Walks on Water & Calms the Storm, Jesus Heals Mute Boy, Jesus Multiplies the Loaves & Fish, and Jesus Raises Lazarus from the dead. Author: Fr. Edmond Gene Mary Kline

Individual Paperback or Hardback Books: Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Miracles of the Rosary & The Rosary of Miracles: Meditations with Applications, Stories & Apparitions: PAPERBACK (Inside Images in Color)     

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Printable Pamphlet: The Rosary of Miracles

8 1/2 x 11 Pamphlet of Rosary of Miracles 

2nd Sunday of Lent, Transfiguration

 

Jesus, Peter, James and John climbed a very high mountain and when they reached the top, they paused to sit down and rest. The three disciples took a short nap, but were suddenly awakened by a bright light that emanated from Jesus. Our Lord stood transfigured before them glowing brightly and with Him was Moses and Elijah.

But, how did they know who the two men were? Most likely it was a divine intuition from God. The Holy Spirit helped them to immediately recognize who they were. They also heard them speak to Jesus about His upcoming Passion and death and through the conversation they had with Jesus, the three Apostles understood who they were.

Mount Tabor is 1,929 feet from the bottom to the top. It’s shaped like a half sphere. Some say it's shaped like a soup bowl. It’s above the Jezreel Valley plain in lower Galilee. It’s about five miles east of Nazareth and eleven miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Scripture states the transfiguration took place six days after Peter’s confession of faith, when he declared to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” When He called Jesus, “the Christ”, he was stating Jesus is the Messiah.

At that time, Jesus also warned them about what was going to happen in the near future, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Tour guides at Mount Tabor will say that on August 6th, the Feast of the Transfiguration, the sun shines directly through the window and onto the apse of the mural of the Transfiguration. On that day the sun will light up the mural, making the image of Lord shine brightly for all to see.

The tour guide pondered if the church was designed and the artwork created in such a way, that they knew the sun would shine directly on the image of the transfiguration, on the Feast of the Transfiguration or was it created through the inspiration of God’s Divine Providence without any foreknowledge of the designers. The incredible artistic masterpiece in the apse of the church is described as, “Within the building itself we are immediately struck by the skill of an architect who could seize on the essentials of a site a situation and a mystery, express its meaning in stone, mosaic and bronze, and illumine it all through alabaster with the light of the sun itself.”

Most likely, the walk up Mount Tabor caused the four to be tired, thirsty and out of breath. They certainly would need to sit down at the top to get their breath, rest and would have gazed upon the lower valley in awe. Today, it’s accessed by a narrow winding road.

In the transfiguration event, we get a glimpse into the divinity of Jesus and also a confirmation that He is the Messiah. Six days after predicting His death and resurrection, when Peter, James, and John climbed a high mountain, Jesus revealed His glory to them. It wasn’t during the night, but during the day, when His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white.

In a flash, the disciples' eyes are opened. They can see who Jesus really is. He is more than a rabbi, a miraculous healer, or gifted preacher. He is greater than even Moses or Elijah! Jesus is the Messiah. He is God.

During this event, they saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Jesus, as God and Messiah, represents the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

By revealing His glory, Jesus showed them what it would be like after He rises from the dead. Seeing this gave the disciples strength for the future difficult time of Jesus’ suffering and death. By witnessing the transfiguration, they understood Jesus will come back in glory. Our bodies too will be glorified at the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus’s disciples didn’t fully grasp their mountaintop vision or how they would need to cling to it as Jesus headed toward the Cross. They didn’t know how their faith would be tested or how important it was that Jesus was more than a just man. They didn’t know what Jesus meant when He said He would die and rise again. But Jesus knew. That’s why He told them to keep the revelation to themselves until He had risen from the dead.

In His transfiguration, Jesus was giving His disciples a gift to sustain them for the day of His crucifixion. On that day there would not be three tents, but three crosses. Jesus would not stand between Moses and Elijah, rather He would hang between two thieves on a cross. On that day they would abandon their teacher and Lord to His cruel end. But Jesus’ transfiguration not only helped the disciples during His crucifixion. Even more, it foreshadowed a greater revelation of His divinity: the resurrection!

The transfiguration, when linked to the Eucharist, reveals the glory of God and His love for us.

Today, the tabernacle in every Catholic Church is the meeting place between God and man, because the Eucharistic Jesus is truly present in every tabernacle. The physical church is the new temple. At Mass the one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross becomes present when bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus. At Mass, we are in God’s presence. We are in the presence of the sacrifice of Calvary and when the Host is elevated, in our mind’s eye, we can gaze upon the glory of the face of Christ.

Let us rejoice in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and may we look forward to see Him face to face in all His glory in heaven.

First Sunday of Lent Year C - Temptations & Rosary

 

In the Gospel today, Jesus goes out into the desert for 40 days without eating food to be tempted by the devil. The devil tempted Our Lord with food—to change a rock into bread to satisfy is hunger from fasting. He was 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.

Evil spirits normally tempt us to sin, but on rare occasions they can possess those who do extraordinary evil, such as playing the Ouija board, tarot cards, or witchcraft.

I wrote a book called Miracles of the Rosary & the Rosary of Miracles last year. The book has meditations on each of the mysteries of the Rosary, it has applications, stories and apparitions about the Rosary. At the end of the book, I added five new mysteries to the Rosary called the Miracle Mysteries.

The five miracle mysteries include: healing of the paralytic, the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus walking on water, Our Lord delivering a possessed man, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. One of the stories in freeing of the possessed man, I quoted a story about St. Dominic. We see in this story how the Virgin Mary through the Rosary helped to expel demons. Here is the story:

“When Saint Dominic was preaching the Rosary near Carcassone an Albigensian was brought to him who was possessed by the devil. Saint Dominic exorcised him in the presence of a great crowd of people; it appears that over twelve thousand had come to hear him preach. The devils who were in possession of this wretched man were forced to answer Saint Dominic’s questions in spite of themselves. They said that: 1. There were fifteen thousand of them in the body of this poor man, because he had attacked the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary; 2. They went on to testify that by preaching the Rosary he put fear and horror into the very depths of Hell and that he was the man they hated most throughout the whole world, because of the souls which he snatched from them through devotion to the Holy Rosary;

3. They then revealed several other things.

Saint Dominic put his Rosary around the Albigensian’s neck and asked the devils to tell him who, of all the Saints in Heaven, was the one they feared the most, and who should therefore be the most loved and revered by men. At this they let out such unearthly screams that most of the people fell to the ground, faint from fear. Then, using all their cunning, so as not to answer, the devils wept and wailed in such a pitiful way that many of the people wept also, out of purely natural pity. The devils spoke through the mouth of the Albigensian, pleading in a heartrending voice:

“Dominic, Dominic, have mercy on us—we promise you that we will never hurt you. You have always had compassion for sinners and those in distress; have pity on us, for we are in grievous straits. We are suffering so very much already, so why do you delight in heightening our pains? Can’t you be satisfied with our suffering without adding to it? Have pity on us! Have pity on us!”

Saint Dominic was not moved by the pleas of these wretched spirits and told them that he would not let them alone until they had answered his question. Then they said they would whisper the answer in such a way that only Saint Dominic would be able to hear. The latter firmly insisted upon their answering clearly and out loud. Then the devils kept quiet and refused to say another word, completely disregarding Saint Dominic’s orders—so he knelt down and prayed thus to Our Lady: “Oh, all powerful and wonderful Virgin Mary, I implore you by the power of the Most Holy Rosary, order these enemies of the human race to answer me.”

No sooner had he made this prayer than a glowing flame leaped out of the ears, nostrils and mouth of the Albigensian. Everyone shook with fear, but the fire did not hurt anyone. Then the devils cried: “Dominic, we beseech you, by the passion of Jesus Christ and by the merits of His Holy Mother and of all the Saints, let us leave the body of this man without speaking further—for the Angels will answer your question whenever you wish. After all, are we not liars? So why should you want to believe us? Please don’t torture us any more; have pity on us.”

“Woe unto you wretched spirits, who do not deserve to be heard,” Saint Dominic said, and kneeling down he prayed to Our Lady: “Oh most worthy Mother of Wisdom, I am praying for the people assembled here who have already learned how to say the Angelic Salutation properly. Please, I beg of you, force your enemies to proclaim the whole truth and nothing but the truth about this, here and now, before the multitude.”

Saint Dominic had hardly finished this prayer when he saw the Blessed Virgin near at hand, surrounded by a multitude of Angels. She struck the possessed man with a golden rod that She held and said: “Answer my servant Dominic at once.” (Remember, the people neither saw nor heard Our Lady, but only Saint Dominic.) Then the devils started screaming:“Oh you who are our enemy, our downfall and our destruction, why have you come from Heaven just to torture us so grievously? O Advocate of sinners, you who snatch them from the very jaws of Hell, you who are the very sure path to Heaven, must we, in spite of ourselves, tell the whole truth and confess before everyone who it is who is the cause of our shame and our ruin? Oh woe unto us, princes of darkness: Then listen well, you Christians: the Mother of Jesus Christ is all-powerful and She can save Her servants from falling into Hell. She is the Sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles and subtlety. It is She who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares and makes our temptations useless and ineffectual.

We have to say, however reluctantly, that not a single soul who has really persevered in Her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that She offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires and aspirations of all the Saints.

We fear Her more than all the other Saints in Heaven together and we have no success with Her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon her when they are at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards are saved by Her intercession.

Oh if only that Mary (it is thus in their fury that they called Her) had not pitted Her strength against ours and had not upset our plans, we should have conquered the Church and should have destroyed it long before this; and we would have seen to it that all the Orders in the Church fell into error and disorder.

Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because She obtains for Her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God’s forgiveness and mercy.”

Then Saint Dominic had them all say the Rosary very slowly and with great devotion, and a wonderful thing happened: at each Hail Mary that he and the people said together a large group of devils issued forth from the wretched man’s body under the guise of red-hot coals.

When the devils had all been expelled and the heretic was at last entirely free of them, Our Lady (who was still invisible) gave Her blessing to the assembled company, and they were filled with joy because of this. A large number of heretics were converted because of this miracle and joined the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.”

My dear friends, 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, pray the Rosary daily, while in the state of grace, we will be protected. As the story said, no one who perseveres in praying the Rosary will go to hell.

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 and to His Blessed Mother. Pray the Holy Rosary every day and pray the Rosary together with your family at least once a week.

Click Here to Order the book: Miracles of the Rosary & The Rosary of Miracles

Ash Wednesday

 

We begin Lent with Ash Wednesday. Ashes are placed on our foreheads as a sign of repentance, remembering that we are dust and to dust we shall return. It is a reminder life is short and we need to live everyday for heaven.

Lent is time to turn away from sin and to be faithful to the Gospel. We are to draw close to Jesus, who helps us go through 40 days of temptations by the devil.

The Gospel reminds us to fast, pray, and give alms to the poor, as we renew our efforts to live a life of virtue and holiness. Lent is a time of self-examination, where we look in our hearts to discover things that prevent us from being close to Jesus and confess them to Our Lord in Confession.

During Lent we practice self-discipline and self-denial. We make sacrifices out of love of Jesus and for the conversion of sinners. What are going to give up? Candy, desserts, smoking, alcohol, technology such as video games, movies, computers, YouTube, Facebook.

We are especially called to do our daily duties to the best of our ability. To not complain when we are told do something. To keep our room clean or our house clean. To do our job to the best of our ability. To get up in the morning and go to bed on time.

When I visited the 3rd and 4th grade class last week, I asked them what they were going to give up for Lent. To my surprise, a boy said he was going to take a cold shower every day during Lent. A girl said she was going to take short showers to save money for her parents. A boy said he was going to sleep on the floor every day during Lent. Another boy said he was giving up all technology: video games and computers. I never suggested any of these things. They said these things on their own.

Adults, have you done any of these things? How inspiring to hear what children are doing. Shouldn’t adults do much more? Such as fasting twice a week, praying more, giving donations to the poor or an organization such as crisis pregnancy centers.

We should especially give us sin, such as gossip, lying, disobeying parents. If we fail to attend Mass regularly, we should renew our efforts to come to Mass every weekend and receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

As I mentioned last week, one of the best things we can do during Lent is to attend daily Mass during the week, if we are able. To receive Jesus in Holy Communion is the greatest joy and the most special graces we can receive in this life. But, we must do so, only in the state of grace. If we have any mortal sin on our soul, we must first go to Confession before we receive Holy Communion, otherwise we commit a sacrilegious communion, which is an additional mortal sin.

How powerful it would be to pray the Rosary every day and at least once a week pray the Rosary as a family.

Another wonderful thing to do during Lent is to grow in your relationship with Jesus by spending more time in prayer, most especially during Eucharistic Adoration, but also in your home or before Jesus in the tabernacle.

Read a short paragraph from the bible everyday. You can spiritual reading such as reading the book Miracles of the Rosary or a book on the lives of the saints.

How blessed will your lent be if you knelt down every day before a statue or picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked Her Motherly intercession to help you in your needs.

Finally, one of the greatest things we can during Lent is to accept suffering for love of Jesus and offer it for the conversion of sinners. That is why we make sacrifices and give up things, out of love Jesus and for the conversion of sinners.

Conversion of sinners means we pray that they will turn away from sin and come to know and love Jesus and allow Him to lead their life.

May your Lent be grace filled and joyful, as you practice self-denial, self-discipline and acts of charity towards others. as we look forward to celebrating Easter, when Jesus comes out of the tomb conquering death in order to give us life with Him in heaven.

8th Sunday - Look at One's Own Faults before Others

Today, I would like to talk to you about three topics. The first topic is about the Gospel. The second topic is about Lent, which begins this week on Ash Wednesday. The final topic I would like to discuss with you is a Eucharistic Youth event for our parish.

In today’s Gospel Jesus gave teachings that remind us to look at ourselves more than others. Once we do that and achieve good changes and free ourselves of evil ways, we will bear much fruit.

Thus, bearing good fruit begins with making ourselves good. This requires much self- reflection, self-examination, and humility. And that is always the hardest part. We all have tendencies to look at everyone before we look at ourselves. It is the other who must be wrong not us. We have eagle eyes for the mistakes of others while being blind and neglectful of ourselves. We give ourselves all the benefits of the doubt. Understanding, patience, and mercy are always available to self. But we don't do that for others as we ought.

For Jesus, this attitude is not productive. Change, if needed will not happen. Why? Because the other who is the object of criticism is also looking at us and is doing the same. In other words, we see each others defects, but we do see our own? And when we do not see our own defects, change can't happen. Change begins with self. Rarely does one change because someone points out our sins or defects. In most cases, we are offended. If and when we admit our defects, change comes very gradually or minimally.

Religious brothers and sisters have meet once a month in what they call "Chapter of Faults". During the Chapter of Faults each one will tell the faults of others. And they enjoy being told their short comings, so they can grow in holiness. They want to grow in virtue and holiness by seeing their faults and overcoming them.

But if we heed Jesus’ call to focus more on ourselves, change can be immediate. If I look at myself, see my defects, admit their presence in me, understand the need to change them, and finally decide to address them, change will happen. 

Jesus did not mean that we cannot criticize each other. No one sees everything. We all have our blind side. Jesus was stressing the fact that humility is basic. Learning to humble ourselves opens ourselves to the concern of others. The combination of self-criticism and fraternal correction is a perfect recipe for becoming a good person. And, as the Gospel says, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good…”

    The second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, reminds us why goodness should be maintained. The sting of death is sin. Goodness and holiness defeat death. Not that we will not die physically but life eternal is the fruit awaiting and if we don't attempt to be holy, we can lose our soul to eternal death. (Taken from Fr. Benny Tuazon)

The second topic is Lent. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We have two Masses on Ash Wednesday 7am and 6:30pm, with Confessions before each Mass. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence. We abstain from meat and also fast. We can eat one meal and if necessary two smaller meals that don’t equal a meal. Or we can fast on bread and water or perhaps eat a bowl of soup without meat. We will have Stations of the Cross at 6pm before Mass on Ash Wednesday.

I would like to encourage go to Confession at the beginning of Lent and then towards the end of Lent go to Confession again or even more often. Monthly confession or weekly Confession is very good for your soul. We have Confession before every Mass. Take seriously your Lent this year.

You will receive many graces if you attend Holy Mass during week and receive Holy Communion. There is nothing greater you can do during Lent than to receive Jesus in the Eucharist often.

During Lent, make a resolution to pray the Rosary every day. In the bulletin is a pamphlet on how to pray the Miracles Rosary.

The last topic is a Eucharistic Youth Festival here at Holy Trinity. With the permission and encouragement of Fr. Michael we can schedule, perhaps, Sunday, May 4th.

The youth event will include a Passion Play (which is really an outdoor Stations of the Cross for the public), a Eucharistic Procession, Eucharistic Adoration under the stars. We will watch the Eucharistic Video called “Jesus Thirsts.” Two priests will give talks. We will dinner for the youth.

We will need help in either making costumes or purchasing them. 8^th grade through high school will play actors play the parts of Jesus, Mary, John, Mary Magdalene, the weeping women, Simon, Pilate, Soldiers, good thieves. Its really much more simple than it sounds. Its really just the Stations of the Cross lived out in public-- with a few added scenes such as the crowning of Jesus with thorns and the scourging at the Pillar. We can practice the Stations during PSR time. Its a good way to learn our faith and to share our faith with others.

I think it will be fun for the youth and inspiring for the local people to watch. If you are willing to help, let me know. Let me know if there any objections to May 4^th for the Eucharistic Youth Festival.

Let’s bring Jesus to the community, so that others may fall in love with Him, who loved us so much He carried His cross and suffered His passion and rose from the dead, that we may have life with Him by giving Himself to us in the Eucharist.

May the Virgin Mary guide each of you to have a blessed Lent and inspire you to love our faith and be willing to share it with others.

7th Sunday, Reconciled to God and Father (Jeff Cavins)

In the first reading, Abishai proposed keeping with the ordinary notions of retributive justice (he asked David if he could kill Saul by nailing him to ground and thrusting his spear into him). But David knew that the Lord shows himself merciful with the merciful – that is to say, he understood that a compassionate and generous God wants his servants to be like him in returning good for evil.

What we see in David, however, is only a foreshadowing of what we find in Jesus of Nazareth, who revealed the full measure of God’s love for all humanity. Throughout the course of His earthly life Jesus was entirely devoted to the work of reconciliation that had been entrusted to him by his Heavenly Father. And his mission as Mediator between God and man was fully accomplished when He died upon the cross. As Saint Paul puts it: when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. Indeed, when Jesus Christ laid down his life for our salvation, He not only restored our friendship with the Creator of world – as the last Adam, who came from Heaven – but even made us partakers of his own divine son-ship – as the true Son of the living God. Through baptism we become children of God the Father.

We can only be acknowledged as sons and daughters of the Most High if we in our turn are willing to reconcile ourselves with one another. How? – we might ask.

In today’s Gospel we are told that the only way to make our peace with all our brothers and sisters – with friend and foe alike – is to take God Himself and His only-begotten Son as the model for our dealings with others. In fact what Jesus really means when He exhorts us to do to others as we would have them do to us is that we should follow his example in imitating his Heavenly Father, who is kind even to the ungrateful and the wicked.

So we are asked to do good to those who hate us, because our Creator showed His love for us when were we were still his enemies. We are asked not to resist an evil person, because Christ was delivered into the hands of sinful men to be crucified. We are asked to lend and give freely, because God the Father did not spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all.

Jeff Cavins, was the former host of Life on the Rock on EWTN. He tells the story of his reconciliation with the Church and with his father. At the age of 18, he left the Catholic Church due to his rebellion against his father.

When he was 18, his father struck him in the face and he fell to the ground. While lying on the floor, he pointed to his father, and said, “I am no son of yours.”

When that happened he left home and also left the Catholic Church. He rebelled against the authority of his father and rebelled against the authority of the Church. He had poor Catechesis as a child. He never read the bible much as a Catholic.

He began to study the bible and eventually became a Protestant pastor. But, the more he studied scripture, the more he began to understand the Catholic faith in the bible. He saw scripture and tradition together, whereas non-Catholics only believed in the bible. The Jews believed in tradition and also scripture. He realized scripture alone was a problem. He saw how the Eucharist in the bible was Catholic. He came to understand the Jews would bring a lamb or buy a lamb and they had to be be sacrificed in the temple.

In the Old Testament Jews ate the lamb on Passover and he came to understand how we need to eat the lamb today, and that lamb is the Eucharist in the Passover of the Mass. He began to study more and more and was convinced that the Catholic Church was right, but one one of his issues was the papacy, and so began to study the papacy.

He discovered there are 28,000 denominations in the USA alone and each had their own authority. He realized as a non-Catholic pastor, he had the Word of God, but anyone could interpret the Bible to their own liking and each denomination and each person was their own authority.

He watched a video of Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver, and he said to his wife, “That is the vicar of Christ.” “That is my father”.

He realized he was being his own “pope” with his own authority, but that there was a real pope, who had authority given to Him by Christ. He realized he had to be reconciled with his father, who he had rebelled against.

A non-Catholic Lutheran pastor revealed to him he had a rebellious heart against his father and the Church. He thought he could prove it that he didn’t need a father.

After Jeff was convinced of his calling back to the Church, there were a series of events that happened. One day, when he was going out of town, his mother came to watch his daughter. But, that night his father had a heart attack. When he went to see his father, his father said to him, “I am sorry for hitting you. But, one thing really bothers me. You said, “I am no son of yours.” In response, Jeff embraced his father saying, “I am sorry. I am your son. I love you. You are my father.” He said when this event happened, there was a tremendous healing and reconciliation not only with the Catholic Church, but a healing with his father.

Over the years, he was running from his father. He was running from authority of the Church. But, once, he reconciled with his father, he was able to fully embrace the Church and saw the need for a spiritual father, the pope. He realized the Church was built on Peter, the rock. He recalled that Jesus said, “Peter, you are rock and on this rock, I will build my Church”. Jeff said, the keys were given to Peter, who was then given the authority of Jesus to lead the Church.

Jesus is our shepherd. He loves us. As a shepherd He made sure you would be taken care of by giving us a shepherd of the Church. He has a responsibility to feed us. Jesus feeds us with His body and blood. He feeds us with the teachings of the Church. Jesus established His Church and He established His authority in Rome.

Jeff said, at times, what comes out of Rome can be confusing. There has been a lot of goofy things over the years. But, it’s beautiful how Christ communicates to us, even through the goofy times. He said, “Look at Moses and David who were leaders of the Jewish people, and yet they were both murderers. But, God still worked through them”.

Jeff came back to the Catholic Church because he needed a father. When he saw Pope John Paul II, he knew he had come home back to the Catholic Church. He said the Catholic faith is there from the beginning of our life (through baptism) and to the end with the sacrament of the sick, Confession and the Eucharist for the Journey Home to heaven. He said in the Catholic Church there is certitude because of apostolic succession, the handing on of the deposit of faith (Scripture and Tradition). He said there is certitude because of the Pope, who is the vicar of Christ, whose job it is to lead the Church.

We see in this story how precious and beautiful our Catholic faith is. We see the importance of being reconciled with God and with others. We see Jesus as the example and hope for all of us. Today, let us resolve to be reconciled with God often through the sacrament of Confession and rejoice in God’s unfathomable mercy.

And let us pray for Pope Francis who is in critical condition that he may be reconciled with God his heavenly Father, if necessary, before he goes to his judgment.

Seven Servites, Feb 17th

 

Today, we celebrate the commemoration of the Seven Servites, a confraternity of religious men.

On the Feast of the Assumption, August, 15th 1233, these seven young men, with other members of the Laudesi, having confessed and received Holy Communion, were each and all making their thanksgiving after Mass. Each, unknown to those about them, fell into an ecstasy. Each seemed to himself surrounded by supernatural light, in the midst of which Our Lady appeared to them accompanied by angels, who spoke to each of them the words; “Leave the world, retire together into solitude, that you may fight against yourselves, and live wholly for God. You will thus experience heavenly consolations. My protection and assistance will never fail you.”

The vision faded, the congregation dispersed, only the Seven remained, each meditating what the vision might mean. Bonfilius Monaldi, as the eldest, broke the silence, telling what had befallen him, saying he was ready to obey Our Lady’s call.

Some of these men were engaged in business, some in offices of state, four had family ties, which it was not easy to break, especially since the Church suffers no married man or woman to enter into religion unless the other party to the marriage contract does so too. It is believed all social and worldly arrangements were made; and by the eighth of September, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, they were free to obey, they had stripped themselves of all that bound them to the world.

The director sketched out a plan of community life. They adopted a habit of gray wool, with a leather cincture, and found a house just outside the city walls, where they might pass much of their time in solitude and prayer, yet near enough to the city to give an example to those they had so lately left. All this was done with the approval of the Bishop; it was merely a question of certain men living a mortified life in community; the bishop granted permission to James to live with them as their chaplain, to celebrate Mass in their oratory, and to reserve the Blessed Sacrament.

Their appearance drew a crowd of sympathizers, who, recognizing their great renunciation and sanctity, pressed to touch their garments, to kiss their hands and entreat their blessing. Suddenly, from the midst of the crowd, were heard the voices of children who cried: “See, the Servants of Mary.” The same exclamation was made still more wonderfully on the following thirteenth of January, when a child only five months old, spoke for the first time in crying said, “Mother, those are Mary’s Servants, give them an alms.” The child’s name was Philip Benizi, who afterwards became one of the greatest Saints of the Order and its superior general.

The community became instrument in helping the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows to be added to the Church calendar as they prayed often the 7 Sorrows of Mary.

The seven sorrows are as follows: 1 The presentation of Jesus in the temple (when Mary was told a sword would pierce Her Heart); 2 the Flight into Egypt; 3 the Loss of Jesus for three days; 4 Mary meets Jesus on the way of the Cross; 5 Mary stands at the Foot of the Cross; 6 Jesus is taken down from the Cross and placed in Mary’s arms and 7 Jesus is placed into the tomb.

Today, I would like to encourage you to learn and pray the 7 Sorrows of Mary, also called the Servite Rosary. Many special graces are given to those who pray it.

6th Sunday, Beatitudes

 

Today the Church gives us the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Luke. The Beatitudes help us to have a positive view of life and seek the life to come.

As we now examine each Beatitude, think about how these words help us to accept life’s difficulties today and are means to seek heaven.

“Blessed are you, who are poor.” Some view being poor as though it were a curse or something to avoid for the sake of a better life. However, to be poor in spirit means that we come to understand and accept-- we truly own nothing because all we have is a gift from God. This beatitude reminds us to follow the stewardship way of life. As a steward of God’s gifts, we should use our time, talent and treasure as God desires. Am I giving my time, talent and treasure as well as I ought? When I become aware of my intelligence, wealth, success, gifts and talents-- do I give God the credit. If I have a financial hardship do I trust God to take care of all my needs and abandon myself to His care?

“Blessed are those who are hungry, for you will be satisfied.” Some are able to eat what they want, when the want it. As a child, I believed only rich people ate steaks or rich people went out to eat, because my family rarely went to a restaurant and if we did, our parents would order for us. We didn’t have a choice as to the foods, we could eat. But, we didn’t care, because we were just happy to eat out.

This beatitude also refers to those who hunger for righteousness. We hunger to be holy. How many of us wake up in the morning and pray to Jesus, “I want to become a saint!” “I desire to be holy and virtuous!” We can grow in holiness by coming to daily Mass, going to confession weekly or monthly, praying the Rosary everyday, daily reading a paragraph from one of the Gospels and meditating on the life of Jesus and spending an hour with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration. If you want to hunger and thirst for righteousness, wake up every morning and pray, “Jesus, help me to become a saint!”

“Blessed are those who are now weeping, for you will laugh”— As Christians we are to comfort those who suffer, especially the loss of a loved one. We should attend funerals and comfort those who mourn. We should pray for those who have died and offer Masses for the repose of their soul. We should also comfort those who go through difficult situations, such as illness, tragedies, divorce or family hardship. If we are parents with teens—we should listen to them—and support them during their difficult time as they mature into adulthood. In heaven, we will rejoice and laugh looking back at how we endured sadness in this life. We will laugh because it will make us smile, because the crosses we embraced at the time seemed so big, but were in fact, much smaller than we thought and the Lord helped us to carry the Cross, when we thought we were carrying it alone.

“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day. Behold your reward will be great in heaven.”

Not many of us are insulted for our faith, primarily because we don’t express it to others. Catholics suffer persecution when we express our faith among family and co-workers, and talk about topics such as abortion, contraception, the Blessed Virgin Mary or the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Our Lord was spurned and avoided by men, we say that we want to follow Jesus and be like Him, but are we ready to embrace the difficult truth that imitating Christ means being acquainted with suffering?

If Jesus suffered, was rejected and persecuted, who are we to think, we are better than Him and can escape them? Rather, we should rejoice in sharing in Christ’s sufferings and be glad for we are more conformed to Christ, when we endure a small portion of His rejection and pain.

Jesus then give us the woes. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

There is nothing wrong, with being rich, with being filled, with laughing, or when others speak well of us. Rather, we see these as warning signs.

The proclamations of woes are not condemnations; they are not an expression of hatred, or envy or of hostility. The point is not condemnation, but a warning that is intended to save.

They are warnings signs that if we are not living the beatitudes, we risk the loss of the deepest happiness found in God alone and in heaven.

It’s not that we should avoid hunger, poverty, tears and rejection. But, as Pope St. Gregory the Great warned, “Rather there is a danger that if the prosperous are not careful, they may love their pilgrimage more than their homeland and transform the supplies for their journey into an impediment for their arrival.”

Suffering, borne well, on the other hand, can increase our desire for heaven and help prepare us to receive the joy that is to come.

If we life our life, based upon the Beatitudes, God will give us a grace of true conversion of heart, by turning away from sin, turning toward God and opening our heart to our neighbor and we will remember, that we are on a journey, through a place that is not our home. But rather we heading toward our final destination of heaven, our true and lasting home.

Today, ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help live the beatitudes. She is a good mother and will always watch over us and help us to through this valley of tears to reach the harbor of salvation.