What better way to begin the new year than by celebrating today’s feast: the Holy Name of Jesus?

From Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year we read:

Today’s Mass, continuing St. Paul’s thought, offers us a majestic picture of the glory which is due the holy Name of Jesus: “That at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father” (Introit).

The entire Church — triumphant, militant, and suffering — is prostrate in adoration; the whole of creation seems to be silent, having stopped in its course for a moment to hear this most holy Name which gives glory to God and salvation to mankind.

Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee (Song of Songs 1:3).

“Oil gives light, it nourishes, it anoints,” writes St. Bernard.  “It is light when it is preached; it is food in meditation; it is balm and healing when it is invoked for aid.”

Thou, O Lord, art… our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name (Is. 63:16).

Jesus is, ever was, and always will be the perfect sin offering who saved us from everlasting torment.  His name invoked drives evil away and brings peace of heart.  “Just say ‘no’” should be, “Just say ‘Jesus’” with perfect trust.

Thy name, O Lord, is forever: thy memorial, O Lord, unto all generations (Ps. 135:13).

The Holy Mass is His memorial offered to the Father until the end of time when we shall celebrate the eternal todah.

On this day in particular we make up for the endless blasphemy against His Name and His Person by bowing down in spirit and in person, “for there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Collect for today’s feast:

O God, Who didst constitute Thine only-begotten Son the savior of mankind, and didst bid Him be called Jesus: mercifully grant, that we who venerate His holy Name on earth, may fully enjoy also the vision of Him in heaven.  Through the same Our Lord Jesus Christ who lives a reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.  Amen.

In the holy Name of Jesus I ask the Father to bless all my readers and protect them from all harm in this coming year.  May He be praised, loved, and honored by all men everywhere.

Joann at Into Stillness posted this video about Pope Pius XII.  She has other very interesting videos and posts so you might enjoy visiting her site.

I’ve mentioned this Pope of my childhood, a person I cherish in memory and life, in Eugenio Zolli’s Conversion and Benedict, the German Shepherd, but this video about one of the greatest men of the 20th century expresses best why I feel about him the way I do.

A Pope is father to all humanity, not just to Catholics. No one is excluded from the Holy Father’s love and concern.  Part of his leadership is to bring Christ to the world.  God blessed us all with this great man who stood staunchly in the name of Christ against every “liar and murderer” (John 8:44) of his time.

As we consider the threefold meaning of Advent which is the anticipation of the birth of Christ, Christ coming to us daily in our lives, and His final coming at the Last Judgment, we can learn a lot from the way by example that Pope Pius XII brought Christ to the world.  Most of us have not been called to do the great things he did on the world stage, but each of us in our own little way can bring the mercy and justice of God to the helpless, and to speak the truth with charity and courage as he did.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Crown of Thorns, 1520-25, Lucas, Cranach the Elder (b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar), Oil and tempera on limewood, Private collection

St. Gertrude the Great was quite an amazing woman, a glory of the Benedictine order.  I have a large book of her life that I’ve not been able to finish reading, but one of these days…

Although today is the first day of Advent, it’s still November, the month of the Holy Souls.  You may have heard this prayer or even used it yourself a time or two.  The good people of St. Peter Parish in Tulsa pray it after reciting the rosary before High Mass.  I have it on the back of a laminated holy card that I keep in my breviary.  Although we end every hour of the Divine Office with the “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord” prayer, I like to pray St. Gertrude’s prayer after every hour, too.

What strikes me about this prayer is the commonality between it, the chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the Chaplet for the Poor Souls, all beginning with “Eternal Father, I offer Thee…”. These prayers stretch across many centuries with a continuity of theology – we Christians pleading the blood of Christ for mercy from the Father.

Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

Eternal Father, I offer thee the most precious blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family.  Amen.

“…[T]hose in my own home…”  = me and my husband.

“…[F]or sinners everywhere…” = everyone in the world.

“…[W]ithin my family.” = the living extended family.

St. Teresa of Avila wrote in one of her books that the greatest alms we can give is to pray for sinners.  Who among us is so poor we cannot give these alms daily?

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Priest hearing confessions, Philipp Schumacher (1866-1940) via Wikimedia

This post is linked to Sunday Snippets at This That and the Other Thing.

Do you want to be a saint?  I do.  I mean that I want to end up in heaven with God and all the others He created who are one with Him in charity.  Becoming a saint is impossible, though, if we depend on ourselves. Moreover, we must leave this world a saint in order to be one in the next.  Fortunately, nothing is impossible to God and His magnanimous love for each of His creatures.  All we have to do is cooperate with Him.

At the Last Supper Jesus consecrated all the apostles as priests.  In that event He set them apart so that they were no longer men like other men, but were instead to stand in His place in a special way.  That’s why we describe the priest as an alter Christus – another Christ.

Just hours after instituting the sacrament of the sacred priesthood Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified thanks to the help of Judas. His remaining apostles, except for St. John, ran off and hid themselves behind locked doors.  Confusion, despair, grief and shame must have enveloped the souls of these newly ordained priests.  But inside of three days Jesus rose from the dead and came to where ten of the remaining eleven, including St. John, had gathered.  He didn’t knock.  He just came right through those doors as if they weren’t even there.

John 20:19-23 is a passage I love for many reasons, but especially because it tells of the institution behind those locked doors of the sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation), one of the ways we cooperate with God’s work in making us saints.

Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad [I think this is an understatement.  They must have been jumping up and down and hollering with joy], when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

And so it was that Jesus gave the apostles the power through the Spirit of Charity to stand in His place and forgive our sins, bringing us peace of heart.  Another aspect of the sacred priesthood where the priest acts as alter Christus.

This is why I look at every confession as an appointment with Jesus. Jesus is sitting behind the screen focusing His full attention on me and what I’m saying.  He hears not only the words but the language of the heart.  He gives the priest the grace to offer me useful guidance for amending my life just as He gives me the grace to confess what I’ve done that offended Him.

Jesus, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the one who forgives my sins. The Roman rite Church gives the priest these theologically perfect words to remind me that my sins are forgiven in His name (1962 Extraordinary Form):

May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead you to everlasting life. R.: Amen.

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, + and remission of your sins. R.: Amen.

May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release you from every bond of excommunication (suspension) and interdict, in so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from your sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.

The priest may add, time permitting:

May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints, whatever good you have done, and whatever evil you have endured, achieve for you the forgiveness of your sins, an increase of grace and the reward to eternal life. Amen.

In the Ordinary Form (1969 liturgical books) the priest says:

God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Every confession sincerely done is an act of humility and trust in God’s mercy.  Every confession is a source of joy and of real peace, of resolution and of greater clarity and cooperation with God in ridding myself of rust. By looking at confession as an appointment with Jesus, I look forward to going.  I don’t worry so much any more about accusing myself of the same sins and faults repeatedly.  Nothing makes Jesus happier than to have somebody He died for coming to visit Him and giving Him an opportunity through free will to apply His healing grace.

Love is like that.  Love wants to bring peace and well-being to the tortured and stricken.  We are all tortured and stricken.  Love wants to heal, to rejoice, to pour Itself out on the beloved.  But Love forces itself on no one.

The beloved are you and I.  If we really love Him back, how can we not give Jesus the opportunity to love us through the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of all that afflicts our spirit? How can we refuse to cooperate with Him in making us a saint to live with Him forever?  How can we not make and keep regular appointments with Jesus in the sacrament of Confession?

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

In keeping with remembering in prayer the Holy Souls in purgatory this month of November, and very much wanting them to pass quickly through their state of final purgation, I am continuing to post on aspects of this subject, especially on the state of Christian perfection necessary to see God face to face (1 Cor. 13:12).

Crucifixion and the Holy Souls in Purgatory

The great lesson purgatory teaches us is that of conforming ourselves so perfectly to the will of God in this life that our only attachment at the time of death is to Him.  Of ourselves we can do no such thing, but with God, all things are possible.  That we should even want to do so is a great grace of the love and mercy the infinitely generous Jesus grants us.

I have written before that we must begin in this life the disposition of soul we will carry into eternity: perfect charity.  In the analogy of ridding ourselves of rust, St. Catherine of Genoa writes in her treatise on purgatory:

And if a soul were brought to see God when it still had the smallest thing of which to purge itself, a great injury would be done to it.  For since pure love and supreme justice could not brook that stained soul, and to bear with its presence would not befit God [Rev. 21: 27], that soul would suffer a torment worse than ten purgatories.

To see God when full satisfaction had not yet been given to Him, even if the time of purgation lacked but the twinkling of an eye, would be unbearable to the soul.  It would sooner go to a thousand hells to rid itself of the little rust still clinging to it, than stand in the divine presence when it was not yet wholly cleansed.

It is better to die in the state of a totally pure heart (Mt. 5:8) and go straight to heaven than to die loving Jesus but still requiring that trial by fire.  Ideally then, whatever we can do in this life to purify our souls of selfishness and to scrub ourselves clean of the temporal punishment due to sin moves us closer and closer to that perfect charity God desires of us.  Jesus has given us the graces of the sacraments, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy to follow, the examples of the saints to imitate, and the gifts of pain and suffering in this life to help us become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48).

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a great early 20^th century saint hidden in the Carmelite cloister of Dijon writes so simply:

Love draws its object after it; we draw Jesus after us, He draws us into Himself. Then, carried away above ourselves, into the inner recesses of love, gazing upon God, we go to meet Him, to meet the Spirit that is His Love; and this Love burns us, consumes us, draws us into the unity where beatitude awaits us.

This is heaven.  The journey of burning purification begins now – today – if we so will.  We can be confident that even though we falter, we will never be abandoned by Jesus if we perform our daily duties out of love of God, if we confess our sins with true repentance and a resolve to stop sinning, and if we ask His help to be like Him.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Welcome to Sunday Snippets, our weekly meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Please join us, read others’ posts of the week, and comment if you like.

This week I worked on a vocation series.  If you think it’s only about priests and nuns, you’d be surprised.  I wrote these posts to encourage more conversation in families and parishes on this important subject.

What is a Vocation?g

Distinct Vocations

Vocations Are Not…

Discerning One’s Vocation

Also, because November is the month dedicated to the Poor Souls I wrote Why the Catholic Church prays for the Dead.  This is about as close to apologetics as I’ll probably ever get.  If you’ve ever encountered non-Catholics who deny the existence of purgatory, this article may help you.  As I wrote in How to Get More From Reading the Bible, God shows us some things without using specific words.

Another awesome image from the heavens and APOD:

HH-222 The Waterfall Nebula

HH-222: The Waterfall Nebula
Image Credit: Z. Levay (STScI/AURA/NASA), T.A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage) & H. Schweiker (NOAO/AURA/NSF), KPNO, NOAO

Explanation: What created the Waterfall Nebula? No one knows. The structure seen in the region of NGC 1999 in the Great Orion Molecular Cloud complex is one of the more mysterious structures yet found on the sky. Designated HH-222, the elongated gaseous stream stretches about ten light years and emits an unusual array of colors. One hypothesis is that the gas filament results from the wind from a young star impacting a nearby molecular cloud. That would not explain, however, why the Waterfall and fainter streams all appear to converge on a bright but unusual non thermal radio source located toward the upper left of the curving structure. Another hypothesis is that the unusual radio source originates from a binary system containing a hot white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole, and that the Waterfall is just a jet from this energetic system. Such systems, though, are typically strong X-rays emitters, and no X-rays have been detected. For now, this case remains unsolved. Perhaps well-chosen future observations and clever deductive reasoning will unlock the true origin of this enigmatic wisp in the future.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Offering Mass for the Poor Souls

November is the month in which we Catholics especially remember those who have gone before us to eternal rest but who have need of additional purification before being admitted to heaven.  Monday is the weekday devoted to the Poor Souls throughout the year.

Newsflash: the Catholic Church didn’t invent purgatory.  God did. The practice of praying and offering sacrifice for the Poor Souls, called that because they cannot any longer help themselves to acquire that perfect charity necessary for the beatific vision, actually began among the Jews long before the birth of Christ.

The Latin “purgo” means “to cleanse morally, purify, expiate.” Purgatory refers to the process of final sanctification of the soul who has not been directly admitted to heaven upon death.

The Catholic Church teaches from Sacred Scripture and Tradition that:

1.  We would die separated from Holy God, except:

2.  Jesus died in our place, taking our sins to the cross. Then he rose from the dead, to give us a resurrected life in Heaven.

3.  Those who accept this and seek forgiveness will have their sins removed and will live united with Jesus in Heaven.

4.  Those who understand this yet reject it will die in their sins, unable to enter Heaven, thereby choosing Hell.

5.  The souls who die loving Jesus but have failed to love others fully (what we do unto others we do unto Jesus; see Matt. 25:40) must be purified before they can experience the fullness of Heaven because “nothing unclean shall enter into it” (Rev. 21: 27) When we incur a debt to God through sin, the debt must be fully discharged or we die unclean even though forgiven.

6.  We are all sinners; even after we’ve been freed from Original Sin in our baptisms. We cannot become holy by our own efforts.

The necessity of purgatory can be likened to a man who murders another person, whether in cold blood or by accident.  When he is caught, he either confesses and is sentenced or is tried and found guilty on the evidence.  Even if he apologizes to the family and friends of the one he murdered and is forgiven, he must still go to prison to make atonement for his sin under the law.  If we have not atoned for our sins in this life, God, in his mercy provides for that final purification when we die because Christ opened the gates of heaven for us and we must be in perfect charity with God to enter.

When did the belief in purgatory originate?

It is impossible to say exactly when the Jews began to believe the doctrine of purgatory, but we find references to it in the Old Testament.  In Wis. 3:1-7, God tells us:

“But the souls of the just are in God’s hand; no torment will touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to be dead; their departure was reckoned as defeat, and their going from us a disaster. But they are at peace, for though in the sight of men they may suffer punishment, they have a sure hope of immortality, and after a little chastisement they will receive great blessings, because God has tested them and found them worthy to be His. He put them to the proof like gold in a crucible, and found them acceptable like an offering burnt whole on the altar. In the hour of their judgment they will shine in glory and will sweep over the world like sparks through stubble.”

We find additional allegorical (see my post on How to Get More From Reading the Bible) or outright references to purgatory in Dan. 12:10, Zechariah 13:9, Malachai 3: 2-3, and 2 Maccabees 12: 43-46.  Each of these verses tells of the need for purification or prayers for the dead.

For the sake of validity, we must also say here that all the books of the Old Testament recognized by the Catholic Church were in use and accepted as the Word of God by the Jews a full 200 years before Christ was born. The final ratification of the complete books of the Bible that were in use from the Apostolic age on occurred at the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397).  The bishops and Fathers of the Church present discerned at those councils the canon of the inspired Word of God and so the Bible remained until the 1500s when various individuals under their own authority began excising books that did not support their new theologies.

Purgatory in the Jewish Tradition

The roots of Christianity are Jewish. Before Christ’s birth Rabbi Shammai (50 BC – AD 30), a key major teacher of early rabbinical Judaism, is on record as having interpreted Zechariah 13:9 as referring to a state of purification after death.  Rabbinic literature interprets Isaiah 66:15-16 and Malachi 3:2-3 as referring to the purgatorial process, and even the Talmud in Sabbath 33b mentions purgatory. [1]

The Jewish historian Josephus commented on the endurance of the Jews under siege in the year 63: “Just as if deep peace enfolded the city, the daily sacrifices, offerings for the dead, and every other act of worship were meticulously carried out to the glory of God” (The Jewish War).

Observant Jews today chant the Kaddish for their loved ones.  The Mourner’s Kaddish asks God’s forgiveness for any sins the departed may have committed, begging Him to grant the departed eternal peace.  The Jews also offer alms and good deeds for the dead as is tradition in the Catholic Church. [2] We can see from this that the belief in purgation after death is very ancient. Jesus and the apostles would have considered the doctrine of purgatory a given and all Jews hearing their words would have understood the meaning just as today nobody needs explanations of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The New Testament on purgatory

If the Jews were wrong about their belief in a place of purification, Jesus would have surely corrected this in His preaching. However, He reinforced it, as did Matthew, Paul, Peter, John, and the writer to the Hebrews. In Matthew 5: 26 Jesus says:  “Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.”

Note that Jesus does not say “until I pay the last farthing for you.”  He justifies us with His blood, and without Him nothing we do of ourselves will merit heaven, but we must take responsibility for our actions and be cleansed before entering the presence of our heavenly Father (Rev. 21: 27).  This cleansing may take place on earth or it will take place after death.

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 says:

“Every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”

The quote is in concordance with the verses of Zechariah and Malachai cited above regarding the refiner’s fire.  Other New Testament references are: Timothy 1:16-18, Hebrews 12:14, Hebrews 12:22-23, 1 Peter 4:6.

Early Christian practices expressing belief in purgatory

Church doctrines derive from the written Word and oral Tradition handed down from the Apostles, the last of whom was John and with whom revelation ended.  The tombs and catacombs of the early Christians contained graffiti or inscriptions with words of petition for peace and rest.  It is also known that the practice in Apostolic times was to use a diptych at the altar which contained the names of the dead to be remembered at Mass.  These practices of the early Church show belief in purgatory because those in heaven have no need for our prayers of supplication on their behalf.

Purification

Saint Catherine of Genoa is known for her treatise on the Poor Souls.  In Fire of Love!: Understanding Purgatory she documents her understanding of the state of souls awaiting the beatific vision.  In a similar mode, Pope Benedict XVI writes of purgatory in Spes Salvi #47 clearly in reference to 1 Cor.:

“Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Savior. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away…. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion. At the moment of judgment we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy.” [3]

From both Scripture and Tradition we can say confidently that the doctrine of purgatory is true; some souls do endure a state of final purification because they have not died in perfect charity; it is temporary; the people in this state have been assured of salvation; and we can help them in their purification with our prayers, almsgiving, sacrifices, and good deeds on their behalf.  By remembering the Poor Souls this way, we are exercising charity and participating in the communion of saints which we profess in the Apostles’ Creed.

The Church prays in the Tract of All Souls Day (1962 liturgical books):

Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin.  And by the help of Thy grace may they be enabled to escape the avenging judgment and enjoy the bliss of everlasting light.

[1] http://www.fisheaters.com/purgatory.html

[2] http://www.yahrzeit.org/qak.html#Catholics%20do

[3] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

My God and My All

Perhaps one of the most difficult processes we can go through in life is to discern the state in life God is calling us to.  Difficult, that is, if we believe that we have an important part in the economy of salvation, which we do.

If we just go on auto pilot according to the wisdom of the world we will soon come to believe that something is wrong with us if we don’t get married, make lots of money, have a successful career, have a child or two, and acquire expensive things.  But God does have something special in mind for each of us as we have seen in What is a Vocation? It remains for us to seek His will.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if God would whisper in our ear His intentions? Unfortunately for our impatient natures, He doesn’t work that way.  He sometimes takes us on a journey of years before we are prepared to understand and commit to what He is asking of us. Other times, we are drawn from childhood to a particular vocation.

Sometimes we are deeply attracted to a particular way of life, or our fantasy of what that way is like.  Sometimes we are repelled by the hardships involved in a particular vocation and want to reject it as a possibility in our life, yet it could be the very one God calls us to.   The process of discernment will help answer the questions we must reasonably pose.

Questions

Perhaps the most useful question to start with is: Is our supposed calling from God or from the devil? Obviously, a mother with the responsibilities of children is not called to run off to the convent or be a hermit no matter how attractive the life may seem at times.  Likewise a husband and father with family responsibilities isn’t called to run off to a monastery or be a priest.  If an attraction to a vocation is essentially an escape from responsibilities or an avoidance of pain, we can be sure we are being tempted by the devil. In this case our will is the focus and not God’s.

Herbert Alphonso, S.J. wrote a useful little book Discovering Your Personal Vocation: The Search for Meaning Through the Spiritual Exercises to help discern God’s call and answer the questions surrounding it.

A good spiritual director is a big help in the discernment process. A spiritual director is one who can point out our faults and guide us in strengthening virtue, often pointing us in the direction of a suitable vocation.  Sometimes we have impediments to following a particular vocation.  These might be physical, mental, or canonical.  What does my spiritual director think?

What confirmations – not man made but independent and serendipitous ones – indicate I’m going in the right direction? We all start out in the single state.  God may wish us to remain in that state all our lives.  Confirmations of any vocation can be as much positive proofs as the absence of contrary indications. What contrary indications are present, if any, regarding a vocation I’m considering?

Sacred Heart, Light of the World

These are just some of the steps that are useful in discerning our vocation.  Perhaps you might like to add others in the comment box.

Discernment is never a process we should embark on alone. We must also be ready for a lengthy process even though some people discern fairly quickly and at a young age where God is leading them.  I know a man who was living with his girlfriend, converted to Catholicism and gave up his girlfriend, spend about four years in discernment, moved to another diocese, entered the seminary, completed his schooling in the requisite years and was ordained a priest at 40. His girlfriend converted to Catholicism, married and had three children as of two years ago.  I know a good Catholic woman who was single for 42 years, met the right man and was happily married to him.  Surely readers can list other examples of similar journeys into a particular vocation.

Last month I wrote a post on discernment that is more detailed and broad than this post as it is applicable to many more life considerations than vocations.  Readers may find it a helpful addition to this series.

We can always be certain that if we are sincerely seeking to do God’s will He will make it known to us.  We must not be anxious but rather trust in Him.  He will reveal His will for us in His time, not ours. Meanwhile let the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Light of the World be our light in discernment.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Sometimes when we’re exploring something deeply, we need to not only say what something is, but also say what it is not.  That is, differentiate what is from other, perhaps similar things that could cause confusion in our thinking.  This is especially important when we are looking at something that affects our eternal life.  If we end up making false assumptions about our vocation we will inevitably make mistakes in decisions and judgments that will cause us trouble.

What vocations are not

Carpenter at work

Vocations are not occupations. An occupation is what we do for a living and implies certain times when we engage in it and certain times, like vacations or coming home from work, when we don’t.  A married person doesn’t get a vacation from being married and a priest doesn’t get a vacation from being a priest and so on. It is a state in life proper to an individual.  We can change jobs and occupations, but marriage is until death do us part.  A priest is always a priest and a religious with solemn vows is always a religious.  We don’t get time off from our vocations.

An example:

In speaking with priests who were formed in diocesan seminaries of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, I have heard a number of times that they were trained to think of themselves as social workers and their vocation as an occupation.  The ownership of homes, boats, cabins at nearby lakes and other such worldly things came to be customarily sought after by priests in certain dioceses as a reward for dispensing the sacraments.  Thus, men who were naturally compassionate and caring came to see themselves as a man just like any other man and not one specifically ordained to offer sacrifice and to serve as the alter Christus in a permanent relationship with the Bride of Christ. It became all to easy to justify giving up the sacred priesthood for other pursuits in the same way a married man who starts keeping company with a woman other than his wife justifies divorce.

Michael Rose’s book Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church gives a fair view of the means by which seminaries lost their focus in forming priests.  It’s reasonable to say that St. John Vianney, patron saint of all priests, would not recognize that formation as leading to a faithful living of the vocation of the sacred priesthood.

Donna Steichen’s Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism tells the sad story of religious women who lost their understanding of the meaning of their vows as does Anne Carey’s Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women’s Religious Communities.

You can read the public records of the civil courts to see case after case of how marriages went wrong, vows were broken, and lives upended because vocations were abandoned.

Sometimes we have to look hard at what goes wrong in following a state in life in order to rediscover the original meaning and purpose of a vocation as opposed to an occupation.

Vocations are not apostolates.

An apostolate is usually associated with a charism – a gift that one uses for the salvation of souls. This is why we can have diocesan priests, religious priests, hermit priests, etc.  Apostolates are exercised under obedience to a superior such as a bishop, religious head such as an abbot or abbess, or director of an institute of apostolic life such as the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.  An individual may be called by God to exercise a particular apostolate while following his vocation.  Judie Brown, by vocation a married woman, founded American Life League which is her apostolate, for example.

In our lives we may, over time, have many different apostolates.  For awhile my apostolate was to educate people concerning the traditional sacred liturgy and seek the restoration of the 1962 liturgical books according to the wishes of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  Before that I had an apostolate as director of sacred music at a parish while I fulfilled my occupation as a professional photographer living in the married state.  Now my apostolate is this blog.

In our vocations, our occupations, and our apostolates the one thing common to all is doing God’s will, cultivating a solid prayer life, and exercising self denial in imitation of Christ.  We will always have problems to overcome, days of darkness and feelings of despondency, and moments of great joy.  It’s all part of the journey to eternal life.  The one thing we don’t and mustn’t do is put our hands to the plow and then look back (Lk. 9:62).

The next post in this series will probe the process of discernment of one’s vocation.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

This is the first in a series of posts on vocations: what they are, are not, and how to discern one, prompted by a video and post at Evan’s Cove titled Monday Message.  I hope readers will find this series useful whenever the subject of vocations comes up, and that it may even prompt an exploration of some of these callings on a personal level.

In recent weeks I posted on the vocations of the consecrated virgin and the hermit, something I’ve had in the back of my mind to do for some time.  Afterwards it occurred to me that the word “vocation” ought to be defined.  We use the word freely in the Church, but I’ve found that it doesn’t mean the same thing to everybody. Yet the Church does have a defined meaning.  It just takes a little digging to find it.

When I looked at the Catechism of the Catholic Church I saw the word used, but not defined.  Same with the Baltimore Catechism, the Catholic Encyclopedia and Father John Hardon, S.J.’s most excellent The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church.

However, Father Hardon’s Pocket Catholic Dictionary does define vocation:

A call from God to a distinctive state of life, in which the person can reach holiness.  The Second Vatican Council made it plain that there is a “universal call [vocatio] to holiness in the Church” (Lumen Gentium, 39).

Prior to 1965, in Catholic schools and parishes the word “vocation” was used exclusively to mean a calling to the sacred priesthood or the religious life.  We had a general idea what hermits were, but thought they had died out centuries ago, while the vocation of the consecrated virgin actually had disappeared.  Nobody referred to the married state or the single state as a vocation.  Lumen Gentium reawakened vocation’s Biblical meaning.  The 1983 Code of Canon Law, the final Vatican II document, along with liturgical rites proper to most vocations give structural clarity to the various distinctive callings.

The Spiritual Meaning of Vocation

The Calling of St. Matthew, 1621, Hendrick Terbrugghen (b. 1588, Deventer, d. 1629, Utrecht), oil on canvas, Centraal Museum, Utrecht

The word “vocation” comes from the Latin noun vocation meaning “a calling, a summoning”, derived from the Latin verb vocare, meaning “to call.”  The Person who summons us is God. If we don’t understand this basic idea, we aren’t going to understand why marriage is “until death do us part” and why priests and religious cannot abandon their calling for whatever reason.  The Church takes the meaning of vocation so seriously, only the Apostolic See can dispense some religious from their vows, laicize a priest, or declare a marital union “null.”

In The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church Father Hardon writes on page 433:

In the Catholic Tradition, holiness has always been mainly and pre-eminently the result of God’s gracious mercy.  “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” [Jn. 15:16] is written large across the portals of the Church’s history of sanctity.  Nevertheless, though divine grace is prior and paramount, it is not isolated from man’s free response and much less coercive of his deeply personal liberty. No doubt Christ called the apostles to follow Him, but they had to decide to follow him. Their commitment was the answer to His vocation.  And the tasks to which He called them became their mission from Him to the world they were to evangelize in His name.

Vocations are personal

Everybody has a vocation.  But if we dig deeper into the matter of vocation, we cannot escape the fact that our vocation is completely personal and individual. God infused a soul into us at the very moment our parents cooperated with Him in our creation – when the sperm and egg united to form us.  He chose our parents, the exact time and country we were to be born into, our particular sex, the talents He gave us, and all with one purpose in mind: that we should one day join Him in heaven and that through our life on this earth we should bring others to know, love, and serve Him so that they might gain heaven, too (cf. Is. 49:1, 5-6, Mt. 5:14).

God intended from the moment of our creation the specific vocation He has called us to.  We have, by our free will, the ability to refuse Him and go do our own thing, but if we turn God down, we will not receive certain graces He intended for us had we followed His call, and we will also not be a source of grace to those He intended for us to meet and serve had we answered His call.

Can we go to heaven by going our own way?  Yes, but it’s going to be a lot harder.  Why mess up a perfectly good arrangement intended by a loving God whose plans are always perfect for us? The Master Planner has His reasons for everything and those reasons are not only for our personal good but for the common good of all mankind. While God can always bring good out of evil and bring a positive effect out of our mistakes, wouldn’t  it be better not to make it necessary for God to fix something we broke? Therefore, discerning one’s vocation is a matter to be taken most seriously and one we will take up in another post after we explore the subject of vocations a little more.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

St. Basil the Young, hermit, d. 952

In the November, 2006 issue of Una Voce Arkansas Ozarks Regional Newsletter I published an article by Sister Judith Ann Marie, h.s., a hermit in the Little Rock diocese. I’m offering it again here to prompt more thinking about this particular vocation which seems to be on the rise again in the Church.

A religious hermit or solitary is ordinarily understood to be a religious living alone (not in community) – who according to Canon Law 603 ” …is recognized in law as one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity, and obedience)…into the hands of the diocesan bishop (who is the superior according to obedience); and observes his or her own rule of life under his direction”.  In addition “they devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through stricter separation (not in community or bound in community life); the silence of solitude (not using radio, television or even music for companionship); prayer and penance”.

The spiritual life of the hermit has always involved to a great extent

1) a profound liturgical life;

2) meditation upon Holy Scriptures (the Word of God – The Tablets);

3) adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (The Manna); 4) devotion to the Mother of God (Ark of Covenant).

The hermit life was the very first form of religious life and dates back to the early centuries of the Church. This vocation to silence and solitude witnesses to the fact that life is not measured by doing but by being. The work of prayer and penance is not only for the local church (the local parish/diocese in which the hermit resides), but for Christ’s Body everywhere. This vocation as all Christian vocations, calls each one to holiness of life.

The life of the hermit is not mystical or “otherworldly”- just as the life of those who called to religious life in community (whether active or contemplative), is not mystical or “otherworldly”.  My “work” is to pray and do penance for the glory of God, for salvation of souls and to “strive” toward total transformation into the likeness of Christ.  This is the vocation of all Christian Catholics – to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.  In addition, I have been called to dedicate this vocation for the sanctification and salvation of priests and for a greater outpouring of holy vocations to the priesthood. [Sister's personal charism.]

In the Diocese of Little Rock, there are three publicly vowed hermitesses.  Each one lives in a different part of the diocese.  We have been formed in religious communities prior to being called to this life and have spent several years in formation for the eremitic vocation prior to making our solemn vows.

During this time of formation and discernment – we develop a Rule and way of living that rule which governs our daily life. As the life is lived, this rule gets fine-tuned.   The Bishop must approve the Rule and Way of Life prior to public profession as hermit. This rule and plan of life spells out our daily “horarium” – what we do and how we do it (even the limitations of social interaction).  The Rule and Plan of life spells out how and when to communicate; the work we may do to support ourselves as well as all other decisions that come with daily living.

Why this life, many might ask?  Simply because one hears God’s call and in love respond to the small voice calling within. The hermit is not an escapist running away from the responsibilities of the world.  We remain part of the world even as we pray, do penance and live that silence of solitude for our brothers and sisters all over the world.

Solitude is not a method for achieving anything.  It is simply an expression of one’s total gift of self to God. There is a risk to saying yes to this life.  Unlike those vowed to communal life, there is no security. We have no salary, no insurance, except through the work of our hands. At one time Christian hermits could take themselves to the desert or claim a bit of land and subsist.  This is not possible in our day because someone owns the land, the cave or the desert.

How to assure income and not be a burden and remaining “apart” is a constant struggle.

Some hermits produce crafts to support themselves (as I do).  Others are able to use other skills learned – such as doing work on a computer in the hermitage.  One hermit in Philadelphia rides his bike (his only means of transportation) to work one day a week and lives in a house he bought years ago for $1.00 that he has renovated!

When I entered a cloistered community years ago, my intention was – with God’s help – to remain there until death.  But over a period of time, I began to hear a voice calling – and like Samuel, one I did not recognize at first.  But with spiritual counsel and discernment, I finally was able to “hear” the call to solitude and to be “alone with the Alone”.   I was given permission to test the call to the eremitic life.  I was given three years to make a decision.

Thirteen years ago I came to Arkansas to begin “my novitiate” and to “test this call” to the eremitic life.  A year later, I wrote to the community, thanking them for helping me to discern God’s voice – that I would not need the three years, and to be released from vows.  (One cannot be in vows within community and make additional vows under a Bishop).

The “vocation within the vocation” had been confirmed.  Nine years ago on Divine Mercy Sunday, I made solemn vows as a hermit in the Diocese of Little Rock.   Spring of 2004, it became necessary to find a new hermitage.  After prayer and discernment with Bishop Sartain the final decision to come to St. Michael’s was made after a parishioner donated land to build the hermitage.  Aside from the donation of the land, the major reason for coming to St. Michael’s was because of Perpetual Adoration. And this alone makes St.Michael’s is a very special Parish – as many of you already know.  Along with Perpetual Adoration, there is available within the Parish so many different ways of living our faith/spirituality.  God has given so many such deep desires to grow and mature in the Lord.  This parish is so full of life.  It is a family of deep faith and commitment.

The hermit stands before God with arms outstretched – seeking to lead others to that same prayer of silence, penance and compassion.  I leave you with a quote from another hermit monk Thomas Merton: “Unless we learn to listen in silence, we shall have nothing to say that is worth saying.  Our lives are so cluttered with words that we no longer know how to handle silence.  For our society, silence is simply a fruitless pause between words rather than a creative movement out of which deep and authentic words may emerge.  If our life is poured out in useless words, we will never hear anything, will never become anything, and in the end, because we have said everything before we had anything to say, we shall be left speechless.”

N.B. “h.s.”after Sister’s name stands for “hermit sister”.  A man would be “h.b.”, “hermit brother”.

Do you know of any hermits in your diocese?  Do you know someone who you could point in the direction of this vocation?

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

St. Agnes

The subject of vocations is coming up more and more frequently in recent years.  Everyone mentions the usual suspects: the priesthood, religious life, and marriage. But there are others that are mentioned in canon law we are unlikely to hear of from the pulpit.

I learned about a particular vocation by chatting with a woman I saw often at Mass.  It turns out she is a consecrated virgin. “So what is a consecrated virgin?” I asked.  I had never heard of it.  After we had talked about it, I went to the internet and hit the mother lode.  It turns out over 3000 women worldwide have given themselves to God in this vocation, around 150 in the United States.

Only the bishop can accept a woman as a consecrated virgin and she dedicates her life for the spiritual welfare of the diocese. You’d think most bishops would be making sure that every vocations program in the diocese would include information about this calling considering the spiritual benefit to the diocese, but I’ve never heard word one about it from the pulpit or anywhere else before or since I met this woman.

The following is taken from the web site of the U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins.

What is a Consecrated Virgin?

The Consecration of a Virgin is one of the oldest sacramentals in the Church, and one of the fruits of Vatican II was the restoration of this profound blessing on virgins living in the world. The promulgation of this restored Rite for women living in the world was on 31 May 1970.

Through this sacramental, the virgin, after renewing her promise of perpetual virginity to God, is set aside as a sacred person who belongs only to Christ. The acting agent in the Consecration is God Himself who accepts the virgin’s promise and spiritually fructifies it through the action of the Holy Spirit.

This sacramental is reserved to the Bishop of the diocese. The consecrated virgin shares intimately in the nature and mission of the Church: she is a living image of the Church’s love for her Spouse while sharing in His redemptive mission.

The consecrated virgin living in the world embodies a definitive vocation in itself. She is not a quasi-Religious, nor is she in a vocation that is in the process of becoming a Religious institute or congregation. Nevertheless, she is a consecrated person, with her bishop as her guide. By virtue of the Consecration, she is responsible to pray for her diocese and clergy. At no time is her diocese responsible for her financial support.

The consecrated virgin living in the world, as expressed in Canon 604, is irrevocably “consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church, when the diocesan bishop consecrates [her] according to the approved liturgical rite.” The consecrated virgin attends Mass daily, prays the Divine Office, and spends much time in private prayer. She can choose the Church-approved spirituality she prefers to follow.

Supporting herself by earning her own living, the consecrated virgin is not obliged to take on any particular work or apostolate. Usually, consecrated virgins in the United States volunteer their time to their local parish, diocese, or Church-sponsored association. Some volunteer their time also in civic responsibilities.

Who can be consecrated?

A woman living in the world who has never married or lived in open violation of chastity, and who by age, prudence, and good character is deemed suitable for dedicating herself to a life of chastity in the service of the Church and of her neighbor may petition her bishop to receive the Consecration. She must be admitted to this Consecration by her local Bishop; it is he who determines the conditions under which the candidate is to undertake a life of perpetual virginity lived in the world. Usually, a woman who aspires to the Consecration works with a spiritual director and has lived a private promise of perpetual virginity for some years before seeking the Consecration of a Virgin.

It is understood that a laywoman aspiring to the Consecration of a Virgin is able to support herself by work or pension or independent means and has provided financially for her medical care.

A woman aspiring to the Consecration should be practicing her faith. She accepts the teaching of the Church and Sacred Scripture, with a readiness and capacity for personal growth. She should be able to give herself totally to God and the Church.

If you know women who are in their early thirties who have never married and who otherwise meet the criteria expected, perhaps among them is one who is called by God to be a consecrated virgin. Please direct them to the site linked above.

In our diocese we have three consecrated virgins.  One is a contemplative who makes rosaries and lives on a small pension.  Another one has been heavily involved in pro-life diocesan work and is now elderly.  I don’t know who the other person is or what she does.  In the diocese of Oklahoma City I know of a consecrated virgin who makes her living as an EMT.

These fine ladies can be anywhere.  The next time your parish holds a vocations seminar, why not check with your bishop and find out if your diocese has any consecrated virgins who would like to talk about their vocation?  In this world where sex is touted as the be-all and end-all, there are still those well-adjusted women who have quietly given their virginity to Christ – who look like anybody else walking down the street, but who are spouses of Christ the same as women who enter the convent.  They are a true blessing to any diocese.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Reading the Bible

I was, unfortunately, well into my late 50s before I learned to read the Bible according to a method or structure quite evident in the writings of the early Fathers of the Church but which I had never had explained to me.  Thanks to the Catechism of the Catholic Church which explains in #115-119 the senses of Scripture, I had now a key to crack open the Bible in a more complete way.

The Holy Bible is the Word of God, the same Word who is God, Jesus Christ.  He himself said in John 8:12, “…I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  When we read the Bible, we are in a personal, intimate encounter with Christ who wishes to give us the light of life.

Getting Started

Before starting to read the Bible, it is important to remember we are in the presence of God, and to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us on the truths contained in it. Remove all distractions such as television, music, etc. because God does not yell at us over worldly noise, He speaks in a quiet voice ever inviting us to “Come follow me.” (Luke 18: 22)  By opening the Bible we are inviting God to be our guest and we must give Him our full attention.

The senses of Scripture

Whether we read the Old Testament or the New, we can gain considerable insight by doing it according to ancient tradition which distinguishes between two senses of Sacred Scripture, the literal meaning and the spiritual meaning. [1]

According to St. Thomas Acquinas, “All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal.” [2] The literal sense is the meaning of the words. When we read in Genesis that God created everything in six days and on the seventh He rested, the literal meaning takes the words at face value.

We can’t stop at the literal meaning, though.  We must continue with the spiritual sense, which according to ancient tradition is divided into three ways of looking at a passage:

1.  the allegorical sense,

2.  the moral sense, and

3.  the anagogical sense (Greek “anagoge” which means “leading”. Leading to our final end, that is).

This spiritual sense of the Bible is the answer to our longing to know and follow Jesus better every day of our lives so that we may join Him in heaven some day.

The allegorical sense

When thinking about the allegorical sense of a Bible passage, we can develop a much more profound understanding of it by asking the simple question, “Where is Jesus in this?”  For example, when God tells the Israelites in Exodus 12 the rules for the Passover and what He will do for them, it prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God on the cross.

The moral sense

St. Paul shows us the moral sense of Scripture when he tells us in 1 Corinthians: 10:11, after giving us a perfect example of the allegorical sense of Biblical interpretation, that these things “are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

Considering the moral sense of a Scriptural reading leads us to act justly towards God and others.  Understanding that “justice” in the Christian sense means to give others their due according to their dignity as human beings and God His due as our creator and Supreme Being, we can examine our consciences to discover how to be a better person.  The Two Great Commandments are our litmus test.  The question here is, “What does Jesus want me to do now in light of this passage to behave more justly towards God and others?”.

The anagogical sense

Resurrection, 1520, Marco Basaiti (active 1496-1530 in Venice), Oil on canvas, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

When we add the anagogical sense of interpretation to a Bible passage, we consider it within its eternal significance, how it points us toward our final heavenly destiny.  The raising of Lazarus is allegorical to the Resurrection of Christ. The Resurrection of Christ and his ascension into heaven is anagogical to our being raised up by Christ on the last day and taken up with him to our permanent home if we have been His faithful followers.  The question to ask ourselves when interpreting a Bible passage anagogically is, “How does this lead me to my final end of union with God and the saints for all eternity?”

A few more thoughts

Nearly everything in the Bible is linked.  We must take passages within context and not as isolated phrases independent of what is written before and after. This approach applies both to Bible study and to simple, prayerful reading which often leads us into mental prayer or meditation where we have a conversation with God over how He wishes us to apply His Word in our lives.

If we stop at the literal meaning of the Bible we’re missing a lot of points God is making to us.  If I were a dog, I’d be a bloodhound because I have a mania for following something to its end.  I can’t stand to have unanswered questions about the meaning of sacred scripture.  That’s why I bought the Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas. In these volumes, one for each of the Gospels, he has collected the writings of the various Fathers of the Church on each Gospel passage.  Another very valuable resource is McKenzie’s Dictionary of the Bible which I bought in the 1960s and is a fabulous work. I also use Biblos for research, especially when I want to trace the meaning and usage of Hebrew and Greek words and find the context in which they’re used. Occasionally I use the Jerome Biblical Commentary, too, and a Bible concordance.

Most people won’t want to go to the lengths I do for various reasons.  A book of meditations on the liturgical year may be a better option, such as Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D., and Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B.’s The Liturgical Year.

And you can’t go wrong by reading the writings of the saints on biblical passages.  Saints Augustine and John Chrysostom, both Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and St. Bernard, a Doctor of the Church come to mind.

Smaller Manhattans

I want to plug a blog that is a great example of linking Biblical passages to Church teaching – one from which I’ve learned a great deal.  Christian at Smaller Manhattans teaches catechism to sixth graders and often blogs the lessons.  They are always entertaining and thought provoking.  For example, he’s opened my eyes more than once to specific links between Scripture and Tradition, such as the one between Moses on the mountain, the Pope, and the Church structure we have of bishops and priests in A Royal Priesthood. Plus, you get a lot of Catholic/Christian culture from him.

How Christian approaches catechesis is also another way to understand what God is showing us in the Bible without necessarily using specific words such as “contraception”, “abortion”, “purgatory”, etc.  We can learn a lot about the spiritual meaning of passages with his approach.

When all is said and done, our final goal is eternal friendship with Christ. Reading the Holy Bible according to its spiritual senses is an important way to know, love, and serve Him better to achieve that goal.

[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church #115-118

[2] Summa Theologica, I, 1,10, ad 1

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Today seems like a perfect day to write about the sacred liturgy from last Sunday.  Jesus healed a palsied man, evangelized the people because he did it in public, and in so doing, painted us an image of who we are as repentant sinners.

About ten years ago we bought Dom Prosper Guéranger’s (1805-1875) The Liturgical Year collection.  Although it was expensive, I’ve never regretted the investment in what is a good resource for understanding the sacred liturgy for each day, especially Sundays.

I try to keep in mind thoughts from the scriptural themes of every Sunday throughout the week so that I may more faithfully walk in the footsteps of Christ.  Of course, I fail, but the words of the sacred liturgy always revive me. This past Sunday was the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Gospel reading is Matt. 9:1-8.

And entering into a boat, he passed over the water and came into his own city.

And behold, they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed.  And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee.

And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth.

And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk?

But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.

And he arose, and went into his house.

And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.

According to ancient tradition, the Church urges us to distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual (CCC #115), with the spiritual sense subdivided into the allegorical, moral, and anagogical senses. I’ll post on this another time, but you can always grab your Catechism and read more about this now.

Guéranger cracks open the Gospel for us, linking this passage to the sacred priesthood and the meaning of the healing of the palsied man to us sinners.  You can find all three spiritual meanings of the passage in his exegesis.  Also, the more I consider it throughout the week, the more meaning I find.  But to bring you the expert’s writing from volume 11 of The Liturgical Year:

The Gospel (Matt. 23:1-12) which speaks of the scribes and Pharisees who were seated on the chair of Moses has now been appointed for the Tuesday of the second week of Lent.  But the one which is at present given for this Sunday equally directs our thoughts to the consideration of the superhuman powers of the priesthood, which are the common boon of regenerated humanity.

The faithful…are now invited to meditate upon the prerogative which these same men have of forgiving sins and healing souls.  Even if their conduct be in opposition to their teaching [are we not all hypocrites ourselves?], it in nowise interferes with the authority of the sacred chair, from which, for the Church and in her name, they dispense the bread of doctrine to her children.  Moreover, whatever unworthiness may happen to be in the soul of a priest, it does not in the least lessen the power of the keys which have been put into his hands to open heaven and to shut hell.

For it is the Son of Man, Jesus, who, by the priest, be he a saint, or be he a sinner, rids of their sins His brethren and His creatures, whose miseries He has taken upon Himself, and whose crimes He has atoned for by His Blood.

The Healing of the Paralytic, c. 1560-1590, Netherlandish 16th century, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Chester Dale collection, 1943.7.7

The miracle of the cure of the paralytic [who represents everyman], which gave an occasion to Jesus of declaring His power of forgiving sins inasmuch as he was Son of Man has always been especially dear to the Church….The catacomb frescoes, which have been preserved to the present day [and continue to be discovered], equally attest the predilection for this subject, wherewith she inspired the Christian artists of the first centuries.  From the very beginning of Christianity, heretics had risen up denying that the Church had the power, which her divine Head gave her, of remitting sin.

Such false teaching would irretrievably condemn to spiritual death an immense number of Christians, who, unhappily, had fallen after their Baptism, but who, according to Catholic dogma, might be restored to grace by the sacrament of Penance.

With what energy, then, would our mother the Church defend the remedy which gives life to her children!  She uttered her anathemas upon, and drove from her communion, those Pharisees of the new law, who, like their Jewish predecessors, refused to acknowledge the infinite mercy and universality of the great mystery of the Redemption.

…The outward cure of the paralytic was both the image and the proof of the cure of his soul, which previously had been in a state of moral paralysis; but he himself represented another sufferer, viz., the human race, which for ages had been a victim to the palsy of sin….At once, to the astonishment of the philosophers and skeptics, and to the confusion of hell, the world rose up from its long and deep humiliation; and to prove how thoroughly his strength had been restored to him, he was seen carrying on his shoulders, by the labor of penance and the mastery over his passions, the bed of his old exhaustion and feebleness, on which pride, lust, and covetousness had so long held him.

From that time forward, complying with the word of Jesus, which was also said to him by the Church, he has been going on towards his house, which is heaven, where eternal joy awaits him!

Let us also give thanks to Jesus, whose marvelous dower, which is the Blood He shed for His bride, suffices to satisfy, through all ages, the claims of eternal justice. It was at Easter time that we saw our Lord instituting the great Sacrament, which thus in one instant restores the sinner to life and strength.  But how double wonderful does its power seem, when we see it working in these times of effeminacy and of well-nigh universal ruin!

Iniquity abounds; crimes are multiplied; and yet, the life-restoring pool, kept full by the sacred stream which flows from the open side of our crucified Lord, is ever absorbing and removing, as often as we permit it, and without leaving one single vestige of them, those mountains of sins, those hideous treasures of iniquity which had been amassed, during long years, by the united agency of the devil, the world, and man himself.

Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B.’s cause for beatification was opened by the diocese of LeMans in December of 2005.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

I’m shocked, I tell you.  Shocked. PBS will be running a documentary by an orthodox Catholic priest about the Church. With all the anti-Catholicism out there in the media, those of us who get edgy over any broadcast purportedly to be accurate about the Church feel a rush of skepticism. Not to worry.  Not to worry.

National Catholic Register ran a story this week about a two year project that fulfilled a dream of Father Barron, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.  Father Barron holds the Francis Cardinal George Chair of Faith and Culture at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.  You can find his many short, refreshing and informative videos  of the Faith on Fire series explaining Catholicism and sacred Scripture on You Tube.  Now he has rocketed to another level completely.

Father’s dream was to produce a documentary on the Church showcasing the beauty of the Faith. His ten part series costing about $250,000 per episode took him to sixteen different countries and fifty locations on twelve trips and will begin airing on PBS near the end of September and continue through the fall.  EWTN will broadcast it in November.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who once said that those who hate the Catholic Church don’t know her, would thoroughly approve of this venture were he with us today. As the first Catholic televangelist, he would have been thrilled to bring such a quality program to the English speaking world.

NCR’s Tim Drake writes:

Utilizing high-definition cinematography, the documentary explores the beauty and the truth of the Catholic faith by journeying with Father Barron to more than 50 locations to illuminate the spiritual and artistic treasures of the Church. Father Barron uses art, architecture, literature, music and all the riches of the Catholic tradition to explain what Catholics believe.

Among the episodes, the series explores a variety of topics: Christ, the mystery of God, Mary, Peter and Paul, the Church, liturgy, the communion of saints, prayer and “The Last Things.” Viewers are brought to the Holy Land, Uganda, Italy, France, Poland and Spain, as well as the streets of Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico, Calcutta and New York City.

One thing makes this series different from the usual documentary.  Mike Leonard, the show’s executive producer acts as a voice of skepticism, raising questions about the Faith that many people have. Father Barron in his usual comfortable style answers them without dodging any issues.

Doubleday has issued a 300 page companion book and study guide to accompany the videos so that groups studying the Catholic faith will have a valuable teaching tool in the combined media.

I’m looking forward to seeing a truthful representation of the Catholic Faith by a priest who is a good teacher and who holds to all the teachings of the Church. May skeptics, seekers of the truth, fallen-away Catholics, faithful Catholics, atheists and agnostics as well as those indifferent to religion find peace, truth, and God in this series – the personal and loving God who walks every day by our side even when we don’t sense His presence.

To read more interesting items about this series visit Word on Fire. To see the new trailer, go here. To buy the box set, book and a study guide, go here.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)