“♪♬ Who Do You Say You Are, Mr. Big Shot! ♬♪” – Mt 11:25-27†

I started Saint Louis de Monfort’s “Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary” novena this week.  This prayer novena is 34 days of prayers, meditation, and reflection on Jesus’ teachings, and Mary’s faith in Jesus as a model for us to mimic.  This novena always ends on a Marian Feast Day, so can be started many times throughout the year.  There are tons of websites dedicated to this novena for those interested.  It is even on Facebook now!  I do this novena every year, and have received much in return each time.  Please consider this novena: “Try it, you’ll like it!”

 

Today in Catholic History:

†   1771 – Foundation of the Mission San Antonio de Padua in modern California by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra.
†   664 – Death of Deusdedit of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
†   1575 – Death of Richard Taverner, English Bible translator
†   1614 – Death of Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint (b. 1550)

 

Quote or Joke of the Day:

A disciple once complained, “You tell us stories, but you never reveal their meaning to us.” The master replied, “How would you like it if someone offered you fruit and chewed it up for you before giving it to you?” — Anonymous

 

Today’s reflection is about Jesus being the exclusive revelation of God.
     

At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  (NRSV Mt 11:25-27)

 

Today’s Gospel Reading, with some very minor variations is identical with Luke 10:21-22.  It introduces a little joy into this part of Matthews’s gospel where unbelief seems to dominate.  While the “wise and the intelligent,” [the Scribes and Pharisees], rejected Jesus’ preaching and the significance of his striking actions and conduct; the trusting and innocent accepted them.  

As a child, I thought of God as a stern judge, sitting at a big desk with a gigantic book open and quill pen in hand, making notations in the book with every sin; and condemning me for every transgression that I made.  My friends say He must have had a very big book, just for me: and I always told them that I was a “victim of circumstances!”

At that young age, I saw “God” as a distant, scowling, unapproachable “Zeus-type” figure; sort of like an Ebenezer Scrooge turned Greek God.  Isn’t it a pity that there are many adults today that still see God this way, such as the Islamic belief of an “Allah” being a stern judge and Ruler. 

On the other hand, I always saw Jesus as being much nicer.  He was not only a “sort-of-God;” He was also a man.  Jesus seemed to be more kind, and more caring than “God,” and was always talking about love instead of judging people.

With the maturity of many birthdays and experiences granted to me from the grace of God, I now know better.  Besides, God would have had one helluva case of carpal tunnel disease, and arthritis of the hand by this time; again solely because of me.

Acceptance of “mysteries” and graces depends solely on God’s revelation made available to us: but it is granted only to those who are open to receive it; and is usually rebuffed by the arrogant, the proud, and self-important that are not open to anything but themselves.  Divine communication is a powerful irreducible religious mystery, with Jesus being the exclusive revelation of the Father!

Jesus is capable of speaking about all “mysteries” unknown to us, because He IS the “Son” of the “Father,” and thus the perfect recipient and disseminator of knowledge between Himself and the Father; “things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows … except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses.”

Jesus came to earth to reunite and bring us together, with God.  We need to keep in mind that it was God that sent Jesus to us, in human form.  Sending a being to earth to “save” us is a ‘less-than-nothing’ accomplishment for a divine being such as God.  Making that being a “human” without the usual corporal act necessary is also no real mystery for this omnipotent God.  These two actions to me are simply facts based on faith.  Here is the ultimate “faith” statement for me, and an absolutely true “Mystery:” Jesus IS God, and God IS Jesus! 

God wants to have a relationship with us.  He sent Himself, in the form of the totally divine and totally human Jesus, to do just that (Gives new meaning to the phrase, “He gave 200 % to his job!”).  God is not a checklist maker and judge with gavel in hand, waiting to slam it down hard while yelling “GUILTY!” 

God is the loving Father we should have all had.  God is the Father that leads the innocent; and allows His children to experiment with life while He closely watches.  God is the Father that weeps bitterly when we turn our backs on Him, and rejoices and jumps for delight when we remember Him by continuing His work on earth.  And God is the one that wishes to hear from us and to talk to us as often as possible; and is sad when we ignore him.   He just wants to be a continual part of our daily lives.

How do we find God?  That’s simple!  All we need to do is open our arms and hearts to Him:  He is right there, next to you right now.

 

“Act of Faith”

 

“O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because you revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.”

 

Pax et Bonum
Dan Halley, SFO

*****

Franciscan Saint of the Day:  Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)

 

The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf were tomahawked by Iroquois warriors, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York.

Her mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the Blackrobes (Jesuit missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. She refused to marry a Mohawk brave and at 19 finally got the courage to take the step of converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.

Now she would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.

She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking journey to a Christian Indian village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.

For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity and in strenuous penance. At 23 she took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act for an Indian woman, whose future depended on being married. She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day—and was accused of meeting a man there!

Her dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly accepted an “ordinary” life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday. Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980.

Comment:

We like to think that our proposed holiness is thwarted by our situation. If only we could have more solitude, less opposition, better health. Kateri repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere. Yet she did have what Christians—all people—need: the support of a community. She had a good mother, helpful priests, Christian friends. These were present in what we call primitive conditions, and blossomed in the age-old Christian triad of prayer, fasting and alms: union with God in Jesus and the Spirit, self-discipline and often suffering, and charity for her brothers and sisters.

Quote:

Kateri said: “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I’ll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”

Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons and Feast
By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.
(From http://www.americancatholic.org website)

Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) Rule #14:

Secular Franciscans, together with all people of good will, are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively. Mindful that anyone “who follows Christ, the perfect man, becomes more of a man himself,” let them exercise their responsibilities competently in the Christian spirit of service.

“My Toe Has Sinned, But My Nose Is Clean!”-†

“In the solemn celebration of Pentecost we are invited to profess our faith in the presence and in the action of the Holy Spirit and to invoke his outpouring upon us, upon the Church and upon the whole world. Let us make our own, and with special intensity, the Church’s invocation: ‘Veni, Sancte Spiritus!’ ” Pope Benedict XVI Homily of Pentecost 2010
     

Today in Catholic History:

† 1601 – Birth of Antoine Daniel, Jesuit missionary and martyr (d. 1648)
† 1651 – Birth of Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
† Feast Days in the Church: Augustine of Canterbury, Venerable Bede, Saint Julius the Veteran, Pope John I, Hildebert, Bruno, Bishop of Würzburg, Eutropius, Mother’s Day in Bolivia (Día de la Madre) and Sweden (Mors Dag), Children’s Day in Nigeria
    

Quote or Joke of the Day:
 

The difficulty does not arise so much from the mere fact that good and evil are mingled in roughly equal proportions; it arises chiefly from the fact that men always differ about what parts are good and what parts are evil.  – G.K. Chesterton

Today’s reflection is:

Why does all personal sin have social consequences?  Do I think of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a positive celebration of the mercy of God?

     

Sin and its consequence on society: what an interesting subject.  I guess the first thing to discuss is what exactly is “sin” and “evil.”    Catholic resources say that is a “moral evil.”  Now we have to determine what is meant by evil and in particular moral evil.  It seems Catholic Theologians like to make things fairly difficult for other Catholics to understand at times.

So, being a good Catholic, I stopped with the religious resources at this point, and went to the secular dictionary instead.  A much easier definition of sin is:

“A transgression of a religious or moral law, especially when it is a deliberate disobedience to the known will of God.  Sin causes a condition of estrangement from God as a result of this disobedience.  Sin is usually something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.”

Evil is defined as:

Something morally bad or wrong, or wicked; causing ruin, injury, pain, or some other type of harm.  Evil implies a deficiency in perfection, hence it cannot exist in God who is by nature, “all good.”  

On earth, only the human race can display moral evil, as we are the only intelligent beings.  Animals and plant life have no capabilities to be intrinsically evil.  Animals and plants are only respondents to nature, and do not have “free-will.”

God gave free-will to only two of His creations: humans and angels.  This grace of free-will is a two edged sword.  One side brings us just this much closer to the divinity of God than all other creation, but its other side takes one away from God in the belief they ARE “gods” also!

Free-will is a concept and action of how we internalize and conform to right and wrong.  We either agree and conform, or disagree and do not conform to the natural and divine laws of God.

The angels were the first to fall on this sword, when a third of the angels tore themselves away from God, and were doomed to Hell.  As God is pure good and perfect in all ways; these “fallen angels” now have no good in them, and are pure evil.

Adam and Eve were made perfect and good by God because God cannot make anything other than good.  Adam and Eve’s own free-will led them to sin.  With that first sinful act, humanity lost all hope of perfection since non-perfect people simply cannot make perfect offspring.  Makes me wonder what would have happened if Cain and Abel were born prior to the “apple” incident?

When humans and angels know of God and His law, and then deliberately refuse to obey, “moral evil” results.  Sin is nothing more than a morally bad act; an act not in accordance with reason as informed by the divine law, and which is known to us by the dictates of our own conscience (angel on one shoulder, and devil on the other).

In every sinful act two things must be considered, the substance of the act and the want of conformity.  The Catholic Church has divided sin into two fundamental categories: “venial” and “mortal” sins.  Venial sins are relatively minor and could be forgiven through sacramentals or sacraments of the church.  For those Catholics that “do” go to church, this is done at the very beginning of each and every mass.  Mortal sin destroys grace, and separates the soul from God.  Mortal sin creates a threat of eternal damnation for the individual unless absolved through the “Sacrament of Penance.”

The most objectionable sins (vices) are called the “Seven Deadly Sins,” also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins.  They are wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

Now that we know what sin and evil are, we can discuss how ones personal sins have consequences on groups such as family, community, and society as a whole.

All Catholics are part of a community.  If one part fails, it has a direct result on the other parts.  If you stub you toe, your entire body suffers.  The brain has trouble concentrating for a short time, and you body has trouble walking or hopping for a period of time as well.  This is the same for the Church community also.  Any injury to one part injures all.

The body can be healed.  We have medicines, Band-Aids, and even physical therapy to help us heal in body; but what about our soul?  It can be healed as well.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation needs to be looked as the “healing” sacrament it is, instead of as punishment for our transgressions.  We did away with cod liver oil decades ago, and in the church we have also done away with the medieval attitudes and practices associated with having our sins forgiven. 

Confession (yes, I’m an old-timer) is a very pleasant experience.  I nearly laugh as I watch people walk into the “confessional” looking like they are about to get a prostate exam, and exiting as if they had won a large and priceless prize.  In actuality, they did!  They won the prize of being sinless and nearer to God, and assured (if only temporarily) of a place in eternal oneness with God in heaven.  The act of confessing sins to Christ (in the person of the Priest) is a very open and fluid experience now.  There is a formula, but the priest will easily help you through the process.  It is truly NON-painful, and makes one so happy inside and out.  I have actually laughed “in the confessional,” over the exchange between the priest and I (my childhood St. Joseph Nuns are turning over in their graves at the thought of humor involved in confession).  If you haven’t gone in a while, you honestly do not know what you are missing: a pleasant experience; and eternity in heaven!

 “O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all-good and deserving of all my love.  I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.”

     

Pax et Bonum
Dan Halley, SFO

*****

Catholic Saint of the Day:  St. Augustine of Canterbury (d. 605?)
    

In the year 596, some 40 monks set out from Rome to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons in England. Leading the group was Augustine, the prior of their monastery in Rome. Hardly had he and his men reached Gaul (France) when they heard stories of the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxons and of the treacherous waters of the English Channel. Augustine returned to Rome and to the pope who had sent them—St. Gregory the Great (September3 )—only to be assured by him that their fears were groundless.

Augustine again set out and this time the group crossed the English Channel and landed in the territory of Kent, ruled by King Ethelbert, a pagan married to a Christian. Ethelbert received them kindly, set up a residence for them in Canterbury and within the year, on Pentecost Sunday, 597, was himself baptized. After being consecrated a bishop in France, Augustine returned to Canterbury, where he founded his see. He constructed a church and monastery near where the present cathedral, begun in 1070, now stands. As the faith spread, additional sees were established at London and Rochester.

Work was sometimes slow and Augustine did not always meet with success. Attempts to reconcile the Anglo-Saxon Christians with the original Briton Christians (who had been driven into western England by Anglo-Saxon invaders) ended in dismal failure. Augustine failed to convince the Britons to give up certain Celtic customs at variance with Rome and to forget their bitterness, helping him evangelize their Anglo-Saxon conquerors

Laboring patiently, Augustine wisely heeded the missionary principles—quite enlightened for the times—suggested by Pope Gregory the Great: purify rather than destroy pagan temples and customs; let pagan rites and festivals be transformed into Christian feasts; retain local customs as far as possible. The limited success Augustine achieved in England before his death in 605, a short eight years after he arrived in England, would eventually bear fruit long after in the conversion of England. Truly Augustine of Canterbury can be called the “Apostle of England.”

. (From http://www.americancatholic.orgwebsite)

 

Prologue to the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) Rule, Chapter 1:
   

All who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with all their strength (cf. Mk 12:30), and love their neighbors as themselves (cf. Mt 22:39) and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and produce worthy fruits of penance.

Oh, how happy and blessed are these men and women when they do these things and persevere in doing them, because “the spirit of the Lord will rest upon them” (cf. Is 11:2) and he will make “his home and dwelling among them” (cf Jn 14:23), and they are the sons of the heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:45), whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mt 12:50).