Catholic Church
Discerning One’s Vocation
November 3, 2011
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
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Vocations Are Not…
November 2, 2011
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
Donna Steichen’s Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
What is a Vocation?
October 31, 2011
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
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
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
A Hermit in Our Midst
October 26, 2011
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
The Vocation of the Consecrated Virgin
October 21, 2011
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
How to Get More from Reading the Bible
October 19, 2011
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
The Man Sick of Palsy
October 18, 2011, Feast of St. Luke, evangelist, physician, and painter
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Showcasing the Beauty of the Catholic Faith
September 16, 2011
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
My Favorite Bishop
September 12, 2011
A couple of weeks ago I wrote on The Virtue of Religion. Today in Divine Intimacy Father Gabriel wrote on religion and justice saying:
…yes, Jesus has shown us in what the true virtue of religion consists. it is interior worship, because “God is a spirit, and they that adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24); but it is also exterior, because our whole being, including our bodies, must take part in the homage we render to God.
Religious who are wholly consecrated to the service of God by their vows practice the virtue of religion in the highest degree, provided they fulfill their obligations “in spirit and in truth.” But even those who are not bound by vows should try in all their acts to have the intention of performing them for the glory, honor, and service of God; therefore, they should do them in such a way that they can be presented to Him as acts of homage, offering, and sacrifice. Thus, the virtue of religion is not confined to the hours of prayer; it embraces our whole life, transforming it into one continual act of homage to God, in imitation of the life of Jesus and in union with it.
This gives me a chance to mention one of my favorite American bishops, Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma. While we all have a responsibility to build up the body of Christ, bishops are our immediate leaders as successors to the apostles. What they do to foster the virtue of religion makes a huge difference in how close the people under their care come to living Catholic life fully. Some of the things I really appreciate about Bishop Slattery are:
1) When other bishops were literally persecuting and treating as third class citizens those of us who desired access to the Traditional Latin Mass, he invited the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to Tulsa for a congregation that began with 12 people in 1995. Still under the care of the FSSP, St. Peter Parish is now poised to take over Our Lady of Sorrows convent in Broken Arrow and start a Catholic school for girls. (The FSSP already has St. Gregory’s Academy for boys in Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
2) In 1999 he invited the Benedictine monks of Fontgombault in France to found Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek in Hulbert, Oklahoma. Starting with only 13 monks living in log cabins and sheds and celebrating the sacred liturgy in a converted horse barn, the monastery now has over 30 monks and has become self-sustaining and independent of Fontgombault with its own abbot. This group of contemplative monks has brought the full Benedictine life and spirituality to eastern Oklahoma with enormous benefits, including founding a convent for contemplative nuns.
3) A few years ago Bishop Slattery founded a diocesan Benedictine monastery in Tulsa with Father Mark Kirby, OSB, called Our Lady of the Cenacle. Father Mark’s charge is to form women who adopt priests of the diocese, becoming their spiritual mothers according to a request to all bishops from the Congregation of the Clergy. The bishop instituted a formal program for these women under the direction of Father Mark who is also spiritual director for priests of the diocese and writes Vultus Christi blog.
4) In recent years he founded a diocesan liturgical institute (Te Deum Institute of the Liturgy) to restore the sacred liturgy, inviting one of the great Benedictine liturgists and former Abbot Primate, Father Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, to head it up. The ongoing training for those involved in the sacred liturgy is second to none.
5) Bishop Slattery continues to strengthen the Let’s Talk program for married couples begun in 1992. This program was featured in the most recent issue of The Eastern Oklahoma Catholic. It’s purpose is to help preserve and strengthen marriages.
6) The bishop also supports Natural Family Planning as a means for conversion and holiness, with feature articles in the magazine from time to time.
He has done much more, including supporting the growth of other Catholic rites within his diocese such as the Greek and Chaldean rites, and many programs for the laity (youth and adults) aimed at helping them live a strong Catholic identity.
The Tulsa diocese is a great place to live as a Catholic with all the opportunities to weave the virtue of religion into daily life and steady reminders to focus on God. I can say that I wish my husband and I were able to move there, but God has His reasons for keeping us where we are. Maybe the extra effort we must make in our spiritual lives because of conditions in our own diocese is making us stronger followers of Christ.
Run Without Stumbling
September 6, 2011
The Collect for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost evokes such beautiful images of a right relationship with God I find myself rejoicing every time I repeat it at the end of each hour of the Divine Office most days this week.
O almighty and merciful God, of whose gift it cometh that Thy faithful do unto Thee worthy and laudable service: grant us, we beseech Thee, that we may run without stumbling towards the attainment of Thy promises. Through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
I cannot help but read this prayer as a little child speaking with her loving Father in total trust. It takes me to Matt. 18:3-4:
Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
We begin with the vocative case: O almighty and merciful God. This places me in the position of lowliness, of one who lacks power of my own but who has great needs only Someone of great power can provide out of a loving benevolence and mercy. These great needs above all are the forgiveness of sins and the building of virtue. My heavenly Father listens for my voice. He waits for my call.
He holds out to me a richly wrapped present I open in delight. Inside is the bright light of grace as shining from a globe. This grace/gift is the power to do worthy and laudable deeds that give my Father pleasure. He has given me a treasure that will never fade or be used up – a treasure I must safeguard if I am to follow His commands.
I see, as in Psalm 23 v.5-6: You spread the table before me…my cup overflows a beautifully decorated banquet table set with every good a child of God could desire. My Father has prepared it for me – these promises of eternal life and joy are within reach. As I see it, I run toward it as a young child runs with a somewhat wobbly step. My Father heeds my call to guide my feet without stumbling.
The prayers of the sacred liturgy belong to the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, which offers them to the Father on behalf of all men. I am comforted every time I pray them, knowing they are inspired by the Holy Spirit and infused with the charity of Christ. This week I will hold on to the image of me as a child running without stumbling toward the beauty and perfection of heaven.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sabbath Moments
August 27, 2011
Awareness of God
Welcome to Sabbath Moments, a weekly meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. Visit her to read other blogger’s times when they paused for a moment with God or experienced Him in ordinary every day life.
Asparagus Beans
In the past two weeks we’ve had cooler evenings and the asparagus beans have taken off once more after dwindling in production during the heat of July. I pickled another five jars this week and gave one away to a friend. It’s hard work to harvest, cut the beans, steam them and make the vinegar mixture to pour over them. I’m thankful to God that I now have the strength to do what is a 2 hour job without getting exhausted. However, when I’m done, I have to lie down because the fibro pain is too fiery. This is OK with me because I think about how delicious those beans will taste this winter and know it’s a good trade-off.
Rule of St. Benedict
Because I’m a Benedictine Oblate I read short meditations on the Rule most days. Part of chapter 58 for today reads:
Let him [the novice who has chosen to make vows] know that from henceforth, being bound by the law of the Rule, he may not leave the monastery, nor shake off from his neck the yoke of the Rule which after such prolonged deliberation he was free either to refuse or accept.
"Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart."--Prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict
This passage calls to mind the words of Christ, “My yoke is sweet and My burden is light” (Mt. 11:30). The yoke of the Rule becomes the yoke of Christ for those called to the monastic or oblate life. Today’s commentary includes words from the Covenant of Peace, Section II, n.3 that monks of the Swiss-American Federation read:
By his public profession, the Benedictine monk intensifies his baptismal commitment to God in Christ and enters into a covenant with his community. He surrenders all he is and has to his brothers in expression of his total gift of self to God with them. From now on his life, his talents, his own will are not his to direct or govern, but are submitted to the good of the community under the abbot.
With regard to oblates, the commentary goes on to say:
[These words] can also mean much to our oblates, who, after mature deliberation, choose to direct their lives according to the spirit of St. Benedict and promise (but not make a vow) to dedicate themselves to the service of God and mankind according to the Rule of St. Benedict in so far as their state in life permits.
In an insane world full of incessant racket and commotion, the sanity of the Rule of St. Benedict brings peace and focus – a respite from distractions and unwitting pursuit of the trivial. It is a practical reminder to surrender everything to God for the good of our neighbor. With continuing gratitude I ponder this rule so old and so fresh. Moreover, keeping it in the back of my mind helps me make good choices concerning any undertakings. From the Rite of Oblation:
May God strengthen you in your faith. May you persevere in your holy resolution to serve God and mankind in accord with the spirit of the Rule of St. Benedict. So be it. Amen.
And now I must go outside and pick beans. Thank you, Lord, for St. Benedict.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
On the Road to Sanctity
August 23, 2011
In this “time after Pentecost” which I like to call “The time of the Holy Spirit”, I am exploring how He works in us so that I will have a greater appreciation of this gift of the Father and the Son to us. Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D. writes in Divine Intimacy:
The Holy Spirit, who “searcheth…the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10), has a perfect knowledge of the divine nature and mysteries; He who penetrates all things and knows perfectly the delicacy and secrets of the highest virtue, as well as the needs and deficiencies of our souls, comes to take us by the hand and lead us to sanctity.
As long as we advance by our own initiative, our orientation toward God will always be imperfect and incomplete, because we shall be acting in a human manner, but when the divine Spirit intervenes, He operates as God, in a divine manner; that is why He draws us and directs us completely toward Himself.
In Human actions, thought precedes the determination of the will, and since our capacity for thought is so limited, our actions are, of necessity, limited too. This is especially true in regard to divine things.
But when the Holy Spirit intervenes, He acts directly on the will by drawing it to Himself. He inflames our heart and enlightens our mind. This is the genesis of that “sense of God” which is impossible for us to express, but which makes us know God and taste Him; it directs us toward Him, more than any reasoning on our part could ever do. Then we feel that God is “the only One,” that all creatures are infinitely distant from Him, that He is worthy of all our love — which is nothing compared with His infinite, divine lovableness; we feel that any sacrifice, even the greatest, is but a trifle when made for such a God.
This is how the Holy Spirit guides us on the road to sanctity. At the same time, He helps us to overcome actual difficulties. For example, we very often find ourselves struggling against a fault which we seem unable to overcome, or trying unsuccessfully to acquire a certain virtue, or endeavoring to solve some problem; but at a certain point, without our knowing how, things change: our former doubt is resolved and we are able to accomplish with ease what at first seemed impossible. This, too, is the result of the action of the Holy Spirit in our soul; it explains why His initiatives are so precious for us, and why we should desire Him and invoke Him with so much confidence.
I am struck in this passage by how important humility is to prepare ourselves for the Holy Spirit to act in us. Also how important inner quiet is, even if we have only 15 minutes a day to stop everything and listen to Him. In all honesty I have to ask myself:
Am I trying for what I want in holiness, or am I listening to what God wants for me?
Am I devoting some quiet time to God each day, or is prayer something “to be gotten over with” – God being put on the shelf and taken off whenever I feel like it?
What do I need to surrender to God every day? What am I doing to develop an attitude of surrender?
Am I practicing daily sacrifices to prepare myself to lose everything important to me if God wishes it – even my life?
Do I indulge myself in “giving up” because I am not perfect?
Even if I am suffering, can I find humor in life and in God?
Prayer: Veni Sancte Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Too Vertical?
August 12, 2011
Some years ago a priest accused me of having too much emphasis on a “vertical” relationship with God and not having enough of a “horizontal” relationship. I had no idea what he was talking about except to know that he was insulting me. In those days I was unaccustomed to the code words the Modernists of the post-Vatican II world used to belittle Catholics trying to live according to the two great commandments in a world that is trying to throw God down a deep well and pile it full of stones. This priest, by the way, had a Ph.D. in sociology from St. Louis University in the heyday of the St. Louis Jesuits. He is big on social work and not so big on unity with the Holy Father and deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, according to a sermon he gave.
So what is a “vertical” relationship with God? Put simply, it means we acknowledge God as our creator and ourselves as His creature, subject to Him always. We put our duty to God ahead of everything else. We also learn to think with the mind of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ.
I have no idea what a “horizontal” relationship with God is. To me, “horizontal” connotes equality in some way. I don’t see being equal to God as a possibility for any creature. In retrospect, when I think of that remark I feel a little as if I was in the Garden of Eden with a snake slithering around my feet. I believe this priest was telling me I should put more emphasis on social work and a lot less on how much and the manner in which I worship God – sort of a Modernist metaphor for the two great commandments.
In any case, I can’t accept a false dichotomy between the two great commandments. One is never followed at the expense of the other. Out of our love of God flows our love of neighbor and true love of neighbor is impossible without putting God first. Piety, one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, is the root of love of neighbor.
We all know that post-Vatican II, religious communities of men and women were decimated as they hemorrhaged vocations. The sacred priesthood endured the same losses to the point that now, in my diocese, a number of priests are caring for three parishes where in the past every parish would have had two priests.
A chief reason for this diminishment in numbers was the false concept that “I don’t need to pray. My work is my prayer. Serving the poor is my worship of God.” I heard and read this from religious who ultimately abandoned their vocations. In other words, they gave up the practice of the virtue of religion in favor of all sorts of good works or championing political causes, becoming empty vessels in the process. These same people would extol Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s work with the poor and dying, but not extol the fact that she started every day with prayer, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Mass before she ever set foot in the streets of India.
Some of the laity fell victim to this false dichotomy, too. We had a local Carmelite monastery of cloistered nuns many of us were very attached to. A number of laity in the Third Order Franciscans wanted the local bishop to kick them out of the diocese because they “aren’t doing anything”, and take their monastery and turn it into housing for the poor. Aside from the fact that the monastery was a foundation of Pontifical Right and the bishop had no authority to take it away from them, these Carmelites no doubt did more for the salvation of souls by being faithful to their vocations than those who wanted their property. If God wanted nothing but Christian social workers He would never call each of us to vocations other than that.
On the other hand, priests like Father Giovanni Salerno, founder of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World, show us what a right relationship with God can lead to. He writes an account of his work with a native of Peru:
Timothy was a young man born in Cotabamas. On account of poor nourishment and hard labor in the fields, he came down with tuberculosis, and when they called us to help him, we found him vomiting liters of blood. He was very weak and he was in despair because he was leaving seven children as orphans and in poverty. After giving him some relief, food, medicine, and decent clothes, I concerned myself with preparing him to meet the Lord.
I read him the verses of the Gospel in which Jesus tells us to trust in Him, for He helps the orphan and the widow. He did not know that Jesus felt this way about the poor, having thought that Jesus was a judge who severely punished all those who broke His commandments. Each day I would visit him and give him shots, and we would discuss Jesus’ love for sinners and the suffering. Each day I would find him more and more serene.
The tuberculosis was joined by other infections and he began to worsen. I invited him to trust in God, saying that God is a loving father and that He would care for his children with generosity and love. When I had administered the last Rites, he told me: “I was desperate, but now I die wealthy because I leave my children to Jesus,” and he quietly fell asleep in the Lord.
God is indeed a loving father, and Timothy’s wife and children were well taken care of. With the help of some friends, I brought two of the children to Italy and they are now professionals.
Father Salerno is one who would be considered “too vertical” by the Modernists. Yet his moral authority and the fruits of his work came from his daily prayer and the sacred liturgy. To the Modernists, I say, bring it on. If we only have time for “do gooding” every day and no time for prayer and the sacred liturgy, the Fount of Life and the Fire of Love will die out in us. Although I’m not called to be a missionary “on the ground”, I want to be like him.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Missionary Servants of the Poor
July 29, 2011
Laus Deo (Praise God)
Yesterday I wrote about the virtue of religion, prompted by the Mass prayer from the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. A good Christian sincerely wants all people to know, love, and serve God in this world and to spend eternity with Him by living a virtuous life on earth. The virtue of religion is central to this motivation.
This month the newsletter I receive from the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek in Oklahoma contained a letter and an announcement from the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World. Father Giovanni Salerno reveals in his letter a great discovery of the value of the virtue of religion:
For our Missionary Servants of the Poor it is a great privilege to represent the Church and the Holy Father in the midst of the poor. When the missions of the Third World are spoken of, many think that the best way to help the poor is to address their material needs: clothing, medicine, food, etc. In my life as missionary, after forty-six years, I have realized that the greatest gift we can give the poor is God and His divine grace through the Sacraments of the Church.
The Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World was founded to obey the Holy Father John Paul II who told us: “God and serve the poor with empty hands, but with the treasures of the Church.” Because of this our charism is marked by a profound love of the Holy Eucharist, with a tender and filial devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and all the poor, and an absolute fidelity to the Holy Father and the Magisterium. If we have asked for help from the Benedictine Abbey of Clear Creek, it is not primarily for economic help but for assistance in circulating our newsletter in English so that in this way American youths, full of faith and generosity, might dedicate their lives to God and come to serve the indigenous of the Andes Mountains. We believe that the greatest gift to the needy is God.
…By virtue of our statutes, as Missionary Servants of the Poor, we can ask for collections in any parish or anywhere in the world, but instead we ask for a true conversion in those we meet because there is no greater service to the poor than to provide a deep transformation in ourselves. If we truly focus on this — our own conversions in Christ — the material needs will take care of themselves.
What a great example of having priorities straight! Father Salerno draws the same direct line between the virtue of religion and service to our neighbor as Jesus did when he said in Matt. 22: 35-39:
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
All around us we have the poor. We witness to hope for them when we first, through the virtue of religion, show our love of God and a right relationship with Him and second, when we kindly and lovingly meet their needs.
If you would like to support the Missionaries of the Poor in some way or receive their newsletter, you can contact them here for the United States office at Clear Creek:
Friends of the Missionary Servants of the Poor 5800 W. Monastery Rd. Hulbert, OK 74441
To read an inspiring story from their newsletter visit my post : A Modern Day St. Maria Goretti.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
The Virtue of Religion
July 28, 2011
kneeling in prayer
In last Sunday’s Mass prayer we ask God to “graft in our hearts the Love of Thy name, and grant us an increase of religion….”
What is “religion” and why do we need an increase of it? We don’t hear much if anything about this important virtue, but the lack of it in society today is due to man enthroning himself in the place of God.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says this about the virtue of religion:
Of the three proposed derivations of the word “religion”, that suggested by Lactantius and endorsed by St. Augustine seems perhaps to accord better with the idea than the others. He says it comes from religare, to bind. Thus it would mean the bond uniting man to God.
The notion of it commonly accepted among theologians is that which is found in St. Thomas’s “Summa Theologica”, II-II, Q. lxxxi. According to him it is a virtue whose purpose is to render God the worship due to Him as the source of all being and the principle of all government of things.
There can be no doubt that it is a distinct virtue, not merely a phase of another. It is differentiated from others by its object, which is to offer to Almighty God the homage demanded by His entirely singular excellence. In a loose construction it may be considered a general virtue in so far as it prescribes the acts of other virtues or requires them for the performance of its own functions.
It is not a theological virtue, because its immediate object is not God, but rather the reverence to be paid to Him. Its practice is indeed often associated with the virtues of faith and charity. Still the concordant judgment of theologians puts it among the moral virtues, as a part of the cardinal virtue justice, since by it we give God what is due to Him.
St. Thomas teaches that it ranks first among moral virtues. A religious attitude towards God is essentially the product of our recognition, not only of His sovereign majesty, but also of our absolute dependence on Him. Thus, as Father Rickaby says, He is not merely “the Great Stranger”, our behavior towards whom must be invested with awe and admiration; He is besides our Creator and Master and, in virtue of our supernatural filiation in the present order of things, our Father. Hence we are bound to cherish habitually towards Him sentiments of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, loyalty, and love.
Such a demeanor of soul is inexorably required by the very law of our being…. Our composite nature [body and soul ] needs to express itself by outward acts in which the body as well as the soul shall have a part — this not only to spur on our inner feelings, but also because God owns us body and soul, and it is right that both should show their fealty to Him. This is the justification of external religion. [Kneeling, bowing, walking in procession, making the sign of the Cross, etc.]
Of course God does not need our worship, whether interior or exterior, and it is puerile to impugn it on that score. We cannot by our homage add anything to His glory….It is not because it is strictly speaking of use to Him that we render it, but because He is infinitely worthy of it, and because it is of tremendous value to ourselves.
The chief acts of this virtue are adoration, prayer, sacrifice, oblation, vows; the sins against it are neglect of prayer, blasphemy, tempting God, sacrilege, perjury, simony, idolatry, and superstition.
In this time after Pentecost, the time of the Holy Spirit, practicing the virtue of religion causes the gift of piety to blossom, leading to those good works on behalf of our neighbor that a generous heart offers for the glory of God.
My next post is about the relationship between the virtue of religion and missionary work. Please join me to hear from a priest who has spent 46 years among the indigenous peoples of the Andes.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
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