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Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Oct. 30, 2011: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
I was in CC's Coffee a year ago with a few priest friends of mine and we were all wearing our clerical collars. As I walked toward the condiment table to add cream to my coffee, I heard someone speaking. I thought that it might be directed to me so I looked around but there was no one looking in my direction speaking to me. Then I heard more distinctly what the person was saying, "Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven," the very scripture verse from today's gospel. Again I looked around, and still, there was no one remotely looking in my direction. As I poured the sugar, I heard the person repeat the scripture passage again. I had to smile to myself because someone was displeased that a Catholic priest was there, and in protest he was quoting a scripture about why we shouldn't call anyone on earth "father". I smiled because I thought about all the earthly fathers that we call, "father" or "daddy." Do we stop calling them "father" because of this scripture?
While I was in the seminary, someone told me that you have to 'earn' the title of "Father." It's probably natural to think that a professional title such as Dr. is a result of years of hard work. Yet, all the earthly fathers receive that title because of God's pure gift. A child does not arrive on this earth because you earn him; a child arrives because of God's gift. Therefore, whether you are an earthly father or a spiritual father, the title and the role are both gift from the Heavenly Father who shares and delegates such awesome role. All the glory is due to our Heavenly Father, alone, for everything that we accomplish we accomplish through Him. Yet this still leaves a great responsibility on the earthly fathers to accomplish our Heavenly Father's will. How do we become fathers (for that matter, mothers--both earthly and spiritual) who make a difference by accomplishing Heavenly Father's will? In today's Gospel, we learn from Jesus what not to do. He says, "they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen." Children can quickly tell whether we practice what we preach. They are brutally frank with us when we ourselves do not live up to standards we set for them.
This week I was listening to an interview of the author who wrote a biography about a man who recently died of cancer. The author said that the man had been adopted and at age 6, this boy had told the girl across the street that he was adopted. The girl said, "Oh, you're adopted, that means your parents abandoned you and didn't want you." He ran to his adoptive parents, the people he considered his real parents, and they told him, "No, no, no, you're special. We specially picked you out. You were chosen by us." Those words helped to give him a sense of being special and chosen. His dad also instilled in him at a young age something that would influence his life and his career. As the father and son were building a cabinet, the father said to him that even the parts unseen should be beautiful because although nobody else would know, you will know whether or not you used great craftsmanship. The father taught by example, not just by words, how every work we do can bring joy and sense of beauty to other's lives. The young man took his father's teaching to heart, and millions of us enjoy our iPods, iPhones, Macs, and iPads. That young man was Steve Jobs. Steve's adoptive father accomplished the Father's will by showing Steve how the work of our hands touch people's lives and bring glory to God.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Oct. 28, 2011 Friday: Apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude
St. Simon and St. Jude
These two apostles of Jesus are honored on the same day. St. Simon was called “the zealous one” because he had so much devotion to the Jewish law. Once he had been called by the Lord to be an apostle, he gave his heart and his energy to preaching the Gospel. With the other apostles, he received the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. Then it is believed that he went to Egypt to preach the faith. Afterward, he went to Persia with the apostle St. Jude, and the two of them were martyred there.
St. Jude is sometimes called Thaddeus, which means “the brave one.” He is known for the question he asked the Lord at the Last Supper. Jesus had said: “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” And St. Jude wanted to know: “Lord, how is it that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus gave him the answer: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn 14:23).
St. Jude is sometimes called the saint of “desperate or impossible cases.” People pray to him when things seem hopeless. Often God answers their prayers through the intercession of this beloved apostle.
-Daughters of St. Paul
These two apostles of Jesus are honored on the same day. St. Simon was called “the zealous one” because he had so much devotion to the Jewish law. Once he had been called by the Lord to be an apostle, he gave his heart and his energy to preaching the Gospel. With the other apostles, he received the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. Then it is believed that he went to Egypt to preach the faith. Afterward, he went to Persia with the apostle St. Jude, and the two of them were martyred there.
St. Jude is sometimes called Thaddeus, which means “the brave one.” He is known for the question he asked the Lord at the Last Supper. Jesus had said: “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” And St. Jude wanted to know: “Lord, how is it that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus gave him the answer: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn 14:23).
St. Jude is sometimes called the saint of “desperate or impossible cases.” People pray to him when things seem hopeless. Often God answers their prayers through the intercession of this beloved apostle.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Oct. 27, 2011 Thursday: Blessed Contardo Ferrini
Blessed Contardo Ferrini
Contardo was born in 1859 in Milan, Italy. His father was a teacher of mathematics and physics and passed on his love for study to his little son. As a young man, Contardo could speak many languages besides Italian. He did very well in every school and college he went to. His great love for study and for his Catholic faith made his friends nickname him their own “St. Aloysius.” (St. Aloysius Gonzaga was a young Jesuit saint known for the goodness and generosity of his life.) It was Contardo who first started clubs for college students to help them become good Christians.
When he was twenty-one, he was offered a chance to continue his study of law at the University of Berlin in Germany. It was hard for him to leave his home in Italy, but he was happy to meet devout Catholics at the university. He wrote down in a little book what he felt the first time he received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a foreign land. It thrilled him to realize that the Catholic Church is really the same everywhere a person goes.
Contardo decided to live his life for God. Even though he was very busy as a successful professor of law, he was very active in helping the poor, and he also devoted careful attention to his spiritual life. He became a member of the Franciscan Third Order and also joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. While enjoying his favorite sport of mountain climbing, he would think of God, the Creator of all the beauty he saw. People noticed that there was something different about Professor Ferrini. Once, when he had passed by with his usual warm smile, someone exclaimed, “That man is a saint!”
Contardo Ferrini died of typhoid fever on October 17, 1902. He was only forty-three years old. He was declared a blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1947.
It is important to the life of the Church that every member do his or her part to bring about the kingdom of God. This is not just the work of priests and religious. Blessed Contardo can inspire us to take our own place in the Church and do whatever it is God may be calling us to do.
-Daughters of St Paul
Contardo was born in 1859 in Milan, Italy. His father was a teacher of mathematics and physics and passed on his love for study to his little son. As a young man, Contardo could speak many languages besides Italian. He did very well in every school and college he went to. His great love for study and for his Catholic faith made his friends nickname him their own “St. Aloysius.” (St. Aloysius Gonzaga was a young Jesuit saint known for the goodness and generosity of his life.) It was Contardo who first started clubs for college students to help them become good Christians.
When he was twenty-one, he was offered a chance to continue his study of law at the University of Berlin in Germany. It was hard for him to leave his home in Italy, but he was happy to meet devout Catholics at the university. He wrote down in a little book what he felt the first time he received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a foreign land. It thrilled him to realize that the Catholic Church is really the same everywhere a person goes.
Contardo decided to live his life for God. Even though he was very busy as a successful professor of law, he was very active in helping the poor, and he also devoted careful attention to his spiritual life. He became a member of the Franciscan Third Order and also joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. While enjoying his favorite sport of mountain climbing, he would think of God, the Creator of all the beauty he saw. People noticed that there was something different about Professor Ferrini. Once, when he had passed by with his usual warm smile, someone exclaimed, “That man is a saint!”
Contardo Ferrini died of typhoid fever on October 17, 1902. He was only forty-three years old. He was declared a blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1947.
It is important to the life of the Church that every member do his or her part to bring about the kingdom of God. This is not just the work of priests and religious. Blessed Contardo can inspire us to take our own place in the Church and do whatever it is God may be calling us to do.
-Daughters of St Paul
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Oct. 25, 2011 Tuesday: St. Richard Gwyn
St. Richard Gwyn
Richard was a Welshman who lived in the sixteenth century. He was raised in the Anglican Church and attended Oxford University and St. John’s College in Cambridge. After completing his studies, he returned to Wales and opened a school. He got married and had six children. It was at this time that Richard converted to the Catholic faith.
Wales was ruled by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Many people in Wales were Catholic, but the queen introduced many strict laws to enforce the Anglican religion as the only one in her reign. Catholic priests or people who were loyal to the Holy Father were put in prison. They were often tortured and killed.
Before long, Richard was a hunted man. He escaped from jail once, and the following year he was arrested again. “You will be freed,” he was told, “if you will give up the Catholic faith.” Richard absolutely refused. He was brought to an Anglican church by force. He upset the preacher’s whole sermon by clanking his chains loudly in protest. Furious, the officials put him in the stocks for eight hours, and many people came to abuse and insult him.
More prison time and torture sessions followed. The queen’s men wanted him to give them the names of other Catholics, but Richard would not. At his trial, men were paid to lie about him, as one of them later admitted. The men on the jury were so dishonest that they asked the judge whom he wanted them to condemn. After Richard was sentenced to death, his wife and baby were brought to court. “Do not imitate your husband,” the poor woman was told. In disgust, she bravely snapped, “If you want more blood, you can take my life with my husband’s. If you give more money to your witnesses, they will surely find something to say against me, too.”
As Richard was being martyred, he cried out in terrible pain: “Holy God, what is this?” One of the officials mockingly answered: “An execution of her majesty, the queen.” “Jesus, have mercy on me!” exclaimed the martyr. The beautiful religious poems Richard wrote in prison are still in existence. In them, he begged his countrymen of Wales to be loyal to the Catholic faith. Richard died a martyr in 1584. He was proclaimed a blessed by Pope Pius XI in 1929. In 1970, Pope Paul VI canonized him as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Richard was a Welshman who lived in the sixteenth century. He was raised in the Anglican Church and attended Oxford University and St. John’s College in Cambridge. After completing his studies, he returned to Wales and opened a school. He got married and had six children. It was at this time that Richard converted to the Catholic faith.
Wales was ruled by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Many people in Wales were Catholic, but the queen introduced many strict laws to enforce the Anglican religion as the only one in her reign. Catholic priests or people who were loyal to the Holy Father were put in prison. They were often tortured and killed.
Before long, Richard was a hunted man. He escaped from jail once, and the following year he was arrested again. “You will be freed,” he was told, “if you will give up the Catholic faith.” Richard absolutely refused. He was brought to an Anglican church by force. He upset the preacher’s whole sermon by clanking his chains loudly in protest. Furious, the officials put him in the stocks for eight hours, and many people came to abuse and insult him.
More prison time and torture sessions followed. The queen’s men wanted him to give them the names of other Catholics, but Richard would not. At his trial, men were paid to lie about him, as one of them later admitted. The men on the jury were so dishonest that they asked the judge whom he wanted them to condemn. After Richard was sentenced to death, his wife and baby were brought to court. “Do not imitate your husband,” the poor woman was told. In disgust, she bravely snapped, “If you want more blood, you can take my life with my husband’s. If you give more money to your witnesses, they will surely find something to say against me, too.”
As Richard was being martyred, he cried out in terrible pain: “Holy God, what is this?” One of the officials mockingly answered: “An execution of her majesty, the queen.” “Jesus, have mercy on me!” exclaimed the martyr. The beautiful religious poems Richard wrote in prison are still in existence. In them, he begged his countrymen of Wales to be loyal to the Catholic faith. Richard died a martyr in 1584. He was proclaimed a blessed by Pope Pius XI in 1929. In 1970, Pope Paul VI canonized him as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Monday, October 24, 2011
Oct. 24, 2011 Monday: St. Anthony Claret
St. Anthony Mary Claret
Anthony was born in Spain in 1807. It was the same year that Napoleon invaded that country. Perhaps that was a hint of the exciting events that would follow Anthony throughout his life. He became a priest in 1835 and was assigned to his home parish. For the next ten years, he preached missions and retreats in Catalonia. Later he went to the Canary Islands and worked in the missions for about a year.
In 1849, Anthony started a new religious Order called the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are known as Claretians. This Order is dedicated to the work of preaching missions in parishes.
Queen Isabella II of Spain thought highly of St. Anthony. She suggested that he was the best person to become archbishop of Santiago, Cuba. His apostolate in Cuba turned out to be an exciting seven years. Archbishop Anthony visited parishes, speaking out against social evils, especially slavery. He blessed marriages and baptized children. He was a reformer who had enemies who opposed the changes he introduced. He received death threats often, and was wounded in an assassination attempt, but he did not stop his wonderful work until he was recalled to Spain in 1857.
During Anthony’s priesthood he was head of a seminary in Madrid. He established the school of St. Michael to foster the study of arts and literature, and he even tried to start a school of agriculture. Father Anthony was convinced of the power of the printed word. He wrote 144 books and pamphlets, and preached over 25,000 sermons! His best-known book, The Right Way, has reached millions of people. He went to Rome to attend Vatican Council I in 1869, and he died in 1870. St. Anthony Mary Claret was declared a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
St. Anthony Claret shows us how to have a missionary heart. We can pray for people all over the world, especially those who are suffering and poor. We can also help bring the light of the Gospel to other lands by giving some of our spending money to the missions.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Anthony was born in Spain in 1807. It was the same year that Napoleon invaded that country. Perhaps that was a hint of the exciting events that would follow Anthony throughout his life. He became a priest in 1835 and was assigned to his home parish. For the next ten years, he preached missions and retreats in Catalonia. Later he went to the Canary Islands and worked in the missions for about a year.
In 1849, Anthony started a new religious Order called the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are known as Claretians. This Order is dedicated to the work of preaching missions in parishes.
Queen Isabella II of Spain thought highly of St. Anthony. She suggested that he was the best person to become archbishop of Santiago, Cuba. His apostolate in Cuba turned out to be an exciting seven years. Archbishop Anthony visited parishes, speaking out against social evils, especially slavery. He blessed marriages and baptized children. He was a reformer who had enemies who opposed the changes he introduced. He received death threats often, and was wounded in an assassination attempt, but he did not stop his wonderful work until he was recalled to Spain in 1857.
During Anthony’s priesthood he was head of a seminary in Madrid. He established the school of St. Michael to foster the study of arts and literature, and he even tried to start a school of agriculture. Father Anthony was convinced of the power of the printed word. He wrote 144 books and pamphlets, and preached over 25,000 sermons! His best-known book, The Right Way, has reached millions of people. He went to Rome to attend Vatican Council I in 1869, and he died in 1870. St. Anthony Mary Claret was declared a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
St. Anthony Claret shows us how to have a missionary heart. We can pray for people all over the world, especially those who are suffering and poor. We can also help bring the light of the Gospel to other lands by giving some of our spending money to the missions.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Oct. 23, 2011: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
I was watching one of Dr. Phil’s shows recently and he began with, “What do you do when your kids are hanging around with the wrong crowd and making destructive choices? Today we’re going to talk to parents who say that their kids will end up either in jail cells or dead." Dr. Phil was interviewing a troubled 14 years-old teen and his distraught mother. The young man named, Isaac, was involved with a gang and already risking going to jail and losing his life. On the show Dr. Phil invited a Jesuit priest, Father Greg Boyle to help understand the problem Isaac is going through. Fr. Greg runs the largest gang intervention center in America called “Homeboy Industries” in the heart of Los Angeles gang turf. In his talks and interviews to many media outlets like Dr. Phil’s Show, Fr. Greg points out that it would not be possible for him to tell about the changed lives of young people apart from God, Jesus, compassion, kinship, redemption, mercy, and our common call to delight in one another. He said, “We are put on earth for a little space that we learn to bear the beams of love...this is what we all have in common, gang member and non-gang member alike: we’re just trying to learn how to bear the beams of love.”
Dr. Phil asked Fr. Greg, “What is it that winds these kids up in this life style?” Father replied, “The common misconception is that these kids are pulled or attracted to this. But there is always a push factor. The common denominator is the lethal absence of hope. If a kid can’t imagine a future for himself, then his present isn’t compelling. And if his present doesn’t compel him, then he doesn’t care whether he inflicts pain on others or duck to get out of harm’s way. You really can’t scare a kid straight. Isaac knows, more than anybody else, the consequences of what he has chosen. When he doesn’t care about himself, then we try to infuse him with a sense of hope. Gangs are what kids flock to when they feel miserable about themselves, and misery loves company. We can’t scare them straight when adults in their life have let them down. We have to care about them to set them straight.”
Fr. Greg said, “they say a person becomes a person through other people." If you jog back your memories, can you think of a person who has infused that gift of hope in you, who believed in you, who led you to get closer to Jesus? In high school, I wore a lot of black clothing (similar to what they call goth.) At the time, the clothing reflected what I was feeling inside, dark, somber and alone. An upperclassman who was in the same school choir with me took an interest in me. He had a great gift of writing and singing music. He asked me, "Paul, do you want to go to an A'Capella concert in Waco?" "Yeah," I replied. "Good, well, you have to drive because I'm legally blind." On the way there and on the way back, we talked a lot. He listened to what I had to say and he talked a lot about the Lord. I still remember that from 20 years ago. Little did I know then, but it was the beginning of me coming out of the darkness. It shows how somebody can make a difference in another person's life by caring. (I haven't changed much on the exterior color of my clothing, the inside certainly has been filled with love that I had not known before). We can see why Our Lord said one of the greatest responsibilities of this gift of life that God has given us is to love one another and to infuse hope for another. It is through loving our neighbor, that we love God Himself.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Oct. 20, 2011 Thursday: Blessed John XXIII
Blessed John XXIII
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in northern Italy in 1881. He was one of thirteen children born to a hardworking farming family. He entered the seminary in Rome and began preparing for the priesthood. He studied theology, and after some time he earned a degree in canon law.
During World War I, Father Roncalli was drafted into the Italian army, and he served as a medic and chaplain in the front lines. After the war, he became a Vatican diplomat and visited Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. In Turkey, during World War II, he helped people who had fled from Nazi Germany. In 1944 he was chosen to be the papal nuncio to France. Because of his success in carrying out his difficult tasks, he was made a cardinal by Pope Pius XII, and later he was named patriarch of Venice at the age of seventy-one. It seemed, due to his age, that this would be the last appointment he would be entrusted with. But six years later, in 1958, after the death of Pius XII, Cardinal Roncalli was elected pope. He took the name John XXIII.
Then it was his turn to surprise the world by calling for an ecumenical Council. Vatican Council II, the first Council in almost 100 years, had the goal of renewing and updating the Catholic Church. In opening the Council, Pope John spoke with hope and optimism about the Church’s role in the modern world. He reached out not only to Catholics, but also to all humanity with warmth and honesty. People of all faiths and from all around the world saw him as a man of goodness and truth, devoted to peace and understanding between peoples and nations. He broke with tradition and left the “prison of the Vatican” to travel outside Rome. In his encyclicals Mater et Magister and Pacem in Terris, he stressed the importance of upholding human rights and working together for peace.
Vatican Council II brought about important changes in the Church, but Pope John was not to see its conclusion. He died on June 3, 1963, one of the best-loved popes in recent centuries. Pope John XXIII was declared a blessed by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in northern Italy in 1881. He was one of thirteen children born to a hardworking farming family. He entered the seminary in Rome and began preparing for the priesthood. He studied theology, and after some time he earned a degree in canon law.
During World War I, Father Roncalli was drafted into the Italian army, and he served as a medic and chaplain in the front lines. After the war, he became a Vatican diplomat and visited Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. In Turkey, during World War II, he helped people who had fled from Nazi Germany. In 1944 he was chosen to be the papal nuncio to France. Because of his success in carrying out his difficult tasks, he was made a cardinal by Pope Pius XII, and later he was named patriarch of Venice at the age of seventy-one. It seemed, due to his age, that this would be the last appointment he would be entrusted with. But six years later, in 1958, after the death of Pius XII, Cardinal Roncalli was elected pope. He took the name John XXIII.
Then it was his turn to surprise the world by calling for an ecumenical Council. Vatican Council II, the first Council in almost 100 years, had the goal of renewing and updating the Catholic Church. In opening the Council, Pope John spoke with hope and optimism about the Church’s role in the modern world. He reached out not only to Catholics, but also to all humanity with warmth and honesty. People of all faiths and from all around the world saw him as a man of goodness and truth, devoted to peace and understanding between peoples and nations. He broke with tradition and left the “prison of the Vatican” to travel outside Rome. In his encyclicals Mater et Magister and Pacem in Terris, he stressed the importance of upholding human rights and working together for peace.
Vatican Council II brought about important changes in the Church, but Pope John was not to see its conclusion. He died on June 3, 1963, one of the best-loved popes in recent centuries. Pope John XXIII was declared a blessed by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Oct. 19, 2011 Wednesday: St Isaac Jogues and North American Martyrs
St. Isaac Jogues, St. John de Brebeuf, and Companions
St. Isaac Jogues was born in 1607 in Orleans, France. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1624. As a Jesuit missionary, he went to Quebec, Canada. There he worked among the Hurons, explaining to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baptizing those who asked to become Christians. In 1642, some Iroquois warriors captured him, five other French Jesuits, and two French laymen.
For a year, St. Isaac Jogues suffered terrible torture with his companions. But the Dutch helped him to escape, and he went back to France. In 1644, he asked to return to Quebec. While he was on his way to the Iroquois, after a peace treaty had been signed with that tribe, he was captured by Mohawks and killed.
St. John de Brebeuf became a Jesuit after a battle with tuberculosis. He and St. Gabriel Lallemont were among the group of valiant Jesuits tortured and put to death by the Iroquois. Father Anthony Daniel had just finished celebrating Mass for his Huron converts when the Iroquois attacked the village. The Christian Indians begged him to try to escape, but Father Daniel stayed to baptize all those who were crying to him for Baptism before they would be killed. The Iroquois burned him to death in his little chapel. St. Charles Garnier was shot by an Iroquois musket during a surprise attack, but he still tried to crawl to help a dying man. He was killed by a hatchet blow. Father Noel Chabanel had found missionary life in the New World very hard, but had made a vow to stay in North America. He was killed by a Huron traitor. The two lay helpers, Rene Goupil and John Lalande, were both killed with tomahawks. So it was that these heroes of Christ gave their lives for the native people of North America. These brave men, often called the North American Martyrs, were proclaimed saints in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.
Many sins committed today offend the dignity of human beings. We can ask these martyrs to share with us their great love and respect for all people. We can ask them to give us their great “missionary hearts.”
The Church also celebrates the feast of St. Paul of the Cross on this date.
-Daughters of St Paul
St. Isaac Jogues was born in 1607 in Orleans, France. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1624. As a Jesuit missionary, he went to Quebec, Canada. There he worked among the Hurons, explaining to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baptizing those who asked to become Christians. In 1642, some Iroquois warriors captured him, five other French Jesuits, and two French laymen.
For a year, St. Isaac Jogues suffered terrible torture with his companions. But the Dutch helped him to escape, and he went back to France. In 1644, he asked to return to Quebec. While he was on his way to the Iroquois, after a peace treaty had been signed with that tribe, he was captured by Mohawks and killed.
St. John de Brebeuf became a Jesuit after a battle with tuberculosis. He and St. Gabriel Lallemont were among the group of valiant Jesuits tortured and put to death by the Iroquois. Father Anthony Daniel had just finished celebrating Mass for his Huron converts when the Iroquois attacked the village. The Christian Indians begged him to try to escape, but Father Daniel stayed to baptize all those who were crying to him for Baptism before they would be killed. The Iroquois burned him to death in his little chapel. St. Charles Garnier was shot by an Iroquois musket during a surprise attack, but he still tried to crawl to help a dying man. He was killed by a hatchet blow. Father Noel Chabanel had found missionary life in the New World very hard, but had made a vow to stay in North America. He was killed by a Huron traitor. The two lay helpers, Rene Goupil and John Lalande, were both killed with tomahawks. So it was that these heroes of Christ gave their lives for the native people of North America. These brave men, often called the North American Martyrs, were proclaimed saints in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.
Many sins committed today offend the dignity of human beings. We can ask these martyrs to share with us their great love and respect for all people. We can ask them to give us their great “missionary hearts.”
The Church also celebrates the feast of St. Paul of the Cross on this date.
-Daughters of St Paul
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Oct. 18, 2011 Tuesday: St. Luke
St. Luke
It is generally believed that Luke was a gentile doctor. He was a good, kind man who came to know the Lord from the great apostle Paul. After he had become a Christian, he sometimes traveled with Paul. Luke was a great help to him in spreading the faith. The Bible calls Luke “the beloved physician.”
St. Luke is the author of two books in the Bible: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Although he did not meet Jesus while the Lord was on this earth, he wanted to write about him for new converts. So he talked to those who had known Jesus. He wrote down all that they had seen the Lord do and heard him say. It is Luke who tells us some of the best-known stories about Jesus. Luke tells us the story of the first Christmas. He tells about Jesus lost in the Temple when he was twelve years old. He also tells us the story of Zaccheus the tax collector, who climbed a tree to see Jesus. Luke repeats for us the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
Luke also wrote the story of how the apostles began to teach the message of Jesus after he went back to heaven. It is in Luke’s book, the Acts of the Apostles, that we learn how the Church began to grow and spread.
St. Luke is the patron saint of painters and doctors. We are not sure when or where Luke died. He is one of the four evangelists, or Gospel writers.
Luke’s Gospel speaks especially of God’s mercy for people who are sorry for their sins. Sometimes we become discouraged because of our sins and mistakes. We can ask St. Luke to show us how to have confidence in Jesus’ mercy, as he did.
-Daughters of St. Paul
It is generally believed that Luke was a gentile doctor. He was a good, kind man who came to know the Lord from the great apostle Paul. After he had become a Christian, he sometimes traveled with Paul. Luke was a great help to him in spreading the faith. The Bible calls Luke “the beloved physician.”
St. Luke is the author of two books in the Bible: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Although he did not meet Jesus while the Lord was on this earth, he wanted to write about him for new converts. So he talked to those who had known Jesus. He wrote down all that they had seen the Lord do and heard him say. It is Luke who tells us some of the best-known stories about Jesus. Luke tells us the story of the first Christmas. He tells about Jesus lost in the Temple when he was twelve years old. He also tells us the story of Zaccheus the tax collector, who climbed a tree to see Jesus. Luke repeats for us the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
Luke also wrote the story of how the apostles began to teach the message of Jesus after he went back to heaven. It is in Luke’s book, the Acts of the Apostles, that we learn how the Church began to grow and spread.
St. Luke is the patron saint of painters and doctors. We are not sure when or where Luke died. He is one of the four evangelists, or Gospel writers.
Luke’s Gospel speaks especially of God’s mercy for people who are sorry for their sins. Sometimes we become discouraged because of our sins and mistakes. We can ask St. Luke to show us how to have confidence in Jesus’ mercy, as he did.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Oct. 16, 2011: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
theThis week priests of our diocese were on retreat together at Manresa Retreat Center, a beautiful 130 acres wooded land next to the Mississippi River Road. It was perfect retreat weather, not too hot, not too cold, and no trace of typical Louisiana mugginess. With a rosary in hand, I set out for the deep woods for a prayerful walk. Only minutes later, I was chased out of woods by tiny mosquitoes and gnats that made a good lunch out of this priest. Back in the conference room, our retreat master told us, "Guys, I know it's going to be tempting to reach for your smart phones or something else that you depend on to distract you. Don't do it. Give God a chance to work through you on this retreat. Give Him a chance to talk to you." The first day, I listened to the retreat master and spent most of my time reading and praying. However, on the second day around evening, a thought came to my mind, 'I wonder what's going on in the world.' Ignoring the precaution from our retreat master, I turned on my iPhone and read the latest news and emails--a big no-no on a silent retreat. One of the diocesan employees replied to one of my emails, "Father, I thought you were supposed to be on a silent retreat? You couldn't keep silent, huh :) ?"
Often we long for a time away from the busy and fast paced world. But why is that when we actually get the peace and quiet, like on a retreat or at our camps, we want to get back into the busy world? We really cannot pry ourselves from the attractions of this world, can we? We all have to work, pay our utility bills and rent, and pay taxes. All of us are intertwined in this world, with many of us working 9 to 5 jobs at companies that provide service to our friends, neighbors, and even us. The local, state, and federal taxes all go into upkeep of our city, interstate highway systems, and essential social programs. Not to pay the bills and taxes, then, is to receive the services that make my life easier but neglect to pay for the work that my neighbor did for me to provide those services. When Jesus was asked, "Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" he replied, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." So he rightly said the work and services that are performed for us by others need to be paid for with our dollars that has the face of George Washington on them.
What about paying to God what belongs to God? What kind of currency can we use to pay God for all the goods and services that He has rendered us since we were born? Does God have an organization like the IRS where they automatically withhold state, federal, and social security tax? Does it suffice for God that we pay Him at offertory collections during mass? I think the offertory prayers that priest and all of us say give us good insight. After the ordinary bread and wine are brought to the altar, the priest prays the following: "Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life." The bread and wine represent all of our earthly labor from the past week and we believe that it will somehow become our spiritual food and drink. The priest then prays, "Pray brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the almighty Father." All reply, "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our good, and the good of all His Church." We are asking God at that moment that all the work we did the past week-- the hours we worked for pay and those that we did for our neighbor without cost--all become something to give praise and glory to Him and for the good of our Church.Do you get the sense that during Mass everything that we do is about giving glory to God by our sacrifice? After six days of hard work, we use this seventh day to reflect and offer all our works, our prayers, and our desires of the week to give glory to God, for everything belongs to Him. Today's responsorial psalm said, "Give glory and honor to God...For great is the LORD and highly to be praised; awesome is he, beyond all gods." St. Paul reminds us of this also, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing how you were chosen." God has chosen us to accomplish His will even when we don't realize it. God said in the First Reading, "I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not...so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD and there is no other."
It is sometimes difficult to give God what He is due, isn't it? He wants to work through each one of us to accomplish His will, but we sometimes fear what He asks of us. In fear we close ourselves off from the Father, from Jesus, and from Blessed Mother. Even in that quiet and beautiful retreat center, I was afraid of what God would ask from me, so I chose instead to distract myself in the world news. But I learned something from this retreat. Heavenly Father waits patiently and lovingly for our fears to subside. And He longs for us to be patient and to wait for Him to work through us. As we grow in our love for Jesus, as we are strengthened by His love for us, then our entire day, each action of our day, will become a prayer. It is then that the Father can work through us, as He desires, not as we desire.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Oct. 14, 2011 Friday: St. Callistus
St. Callistus I
This great pope and martyr lived in the first part of the third century. He was once a young slave in Rome, who got into serious trouble. His master had put him in charge of a bank. Somehow, Callistus lost the bank’s money. In fear, he ran away from Rome. He was caught after jumping into the sea to try to get away. His punishment was to be chained and put to hard labor in a mill.
From this punishment Callistus was released, only because his creditors hoped he could get some of their money back. But once again he was arrested, this time for having gotten into a fight. He was sent to the mines of Sardinia. When the emperor freed all the Christians who had been condemned to those mines, Callistus was freed, too. From that time on, things began to go better for him.
Pope St. Zephrinus came to know and trust the freed slave. He placed him in charge of the public Christian cemetery in Rome. This cemetery is now named after St. Callistus. Many popes were buried in it. Callistus proved himself worthy of the pope’s confidence in him. St. Zephrinus not only ordained him a priest, but also made him his friend and advisor.
Later on, St. Callistus himself became pope. Some people complained because he showed too much mercy to sinners. However, the holy pope ruled that, if they truly repented, even murderers could be admitted to Communion after they had done pen-ance for their sin. This great pope always defended the true doctrine of Jesus. He was martyred around the year 223, having been killed in an uprising.
Because St. Callistus was so aware of God’s forgiveness in his own life, he was more than willing to be forgiving toward others. Do we treat others with the same forgiveness that we hope to receive from God?
-Daughters of St Paul
This great pope and martyr lived in the first part of the third century. He was once a young slave in Rome, who got into serious trouble. His master had put him in charge of a bank. Somehow, Callistus lost the bank’s money. In fear, he ran away from Rome. He was caught after jumping into the sea to try to get away. His punishment was to be chained and put to hard labor in a mill.
From this punishment Callistus was released, only because his creditors hoped he could get some of their money back. But once again he was arrested, this time for having gotten into a fight. He was sent to the mines of Sardinia. When the emperor freed all the Christians who had been condemned to those mines, Callistus was freed, too. From that time on, things began to go better for him.
Pope St. Zephrinus came to know and trust the freed slave. He placed him in charge of the public Christian cemetery in Rome. This cemetery is now named after St. Callistus. Many popes were buried in it. Callistus proved himself worthy of the pope’s confidence in him. St. Zephrinus not only ordained him a priest, but also made him his friend and advisor.
Later on, St. Callistus himself became pope. Some people complained because he showed too much mercy to sinners. However, the holy pope ruled that, if they truly repented, even murderers could be admitted to Communion after they had done pen-ance for their sin. This great pope always defended the true doctrine of Jesus. He was martyred around the year 223, having been killed in an uprising.
Because St. Callistus was so aware of God’s forgiveness in his own life, he was more than willing to be forgiving toward others. Do we treat others with the same forgiveness that we hope to receive from God?
-Daughters of St Paul
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Oct. 9, 2011: 28th Sunday Audio Homily
https://vr.shapeservices.com/play.php?hash=f1c8335900bd1e5d968f4efa535206dd3369b27d4ff96d1c9
Click to hear audio homily. Priests of our diocese will be on retreat until Thursday.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Oct. 9, 2011: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
The first time I mentioned to my dad that I wanted to go to the seminary he responded with, "I'm going to disown you if you enter the seminary." Angry at me, he then went to his room, but moments later he came back and said, "Tell you what, if you take the job that has been offered to you and work for 3 years, and after that, if you still feel like going to the seminary, I won't stop you." I still ponder how I came to make that decision to let go of all that I had and enter the seminary. I had worked hard at the university, staying up many nights studying for exams and preparing for interviews with major chemical companies. I thought that a chemical engineering career was my ultimate goal, that is, until I dated a girl for 3 years. Then I thought marriage and family life were part of even a greater goal. Some how, though, something didn't seem right inside of me. Finally, I came to a realization, just as St. Francis did, that there was something better, something that would fill my soul without having to resort to possessions. It was clear to me that someone was promising that I would be filled to my heart's content, if I would just say 'yes.'
St. Paul had a similar experience, as he explained in the Second Reading. He said, "Brothers and sisters: I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance.
In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Oct. 7, 2011 Friday: Feast of the Holy Rosary
Why pray the Rosary
by Father Kilian Byrne.
- On the 29th of October, 1978, scarcely two weeks after his
election, Blessed Pope John Paul II admitted to the world that the
Rosary was his favourite prayer, ‘marvellous in its simplicity and
depth’.1
- Among the many reasons why the late Holy Father loved the
Rosary one stands out in particular. ‘To pray the Rosary’, he said,
‘is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and His
Mother’.2
- Let me give you a working example of what this means. It is taken from Fr. Benedict’s great book: The Rosary – Chain of Hope.
- In it he describes how the Rosary can bring healing to the
soul and can, even at times, be a lifeline. Such was the case for
Mother Teresa who lived through decades of deep spiritual darkness.
Fr. Groeschel quotes from a letter she posted to her spiritual
director.
- ‘The other day I can’t tell you how bad I felt – there was a
moment when I nearly refused to accept – deliberately I took the Rosary
and very slowly without even meditating and thinking – I said it slowly
and calmly – the moment passed – but the darkness is so dark, and the
pain is so painful – but I accept whatever He gives and I give whatever
He takes’.
- Commenting Fr. Groeschel adds: ‘So even for Mother Teresa the
Rosary was not only an act of devotion but also a place of refuge at
certain times amid interior storms of darkness’.3
- Another beautiful reason for reciting the Rosary is because
this prayer leads us into the Mysteries of Christ and can even make the
power of these Mysteries touch our lives deeply. With Mary we learn
to contemplate His Mysteries and allow their grace transform our lives.
- Take, for example, the Third Joyful Mystery: the Birth of
Jesus in Bethlehem (a name which means House of Bread). What do we see
here? A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, under
the watchful gaze of His mother and foster father. What do we hear?
The hosts of angels singing in the heavens: Glory to God on high and on
earth peace to you, to all of goodwill. The Word is Made Flesh and
pitches His tent among us. God becomes man so that man might become
God. And therein lies the grace of this great Mystery.
- But the scene changes. Joy yields to sorrow. The child
becomes the Man of Sorrows familiar with suffering, a plaything to the
powers of darkness. Bethlehem gives way to Gethsemane (a name which
means a press for crushing olives). ‘Here especially’, says Dom
Marmion, ‘we are at the door of a sanctuary we cannot enter except with
living faith and deep reverence’.4
- The Mystery of the Agony marks the start of the Hour of the
Passion. For what did Jesus experience that night on the Mount of
Olives? The true horror of sin from Adam down to the last inhabitant
on the planet. Therefore my sin and your sin. Fr. Romano Guardini,
beloved of Benedict XVI, says that ‘We participate in this Mystery only
when we realize that its content is our sin.’ 5
- And the great grace of this Mystery: true sorrow for sin, a
humble contrite heart. ‘Why do you weep so much, Father?’ - the Curé
of Ars was asked by a sinner kneeling by his side. ‘Ah! My friend, I
weep because you do not weep enough!’.
- Another reason praying the Rosary is because it draws us into
Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is ‘our peace’ (Eph. 2:14).
Therefore it is the great prayer for peace in our lives. This is the
peace that the world cannot give. It is the peace that draws together
the broken bits and scattered pieces of our lives. Therefore it is a
peace that heals and unites.
- As a prayer for peace, the Rosary is then also the great
prayer of and for the family. Fr. Patrick Peyton, the world renowned
Rosary Priest, from Bonniconlon, Co. Mayo, never tired of repeating:
the family that prays together stays together.
- How can this be so? Pope John Paul II gives the answer.
‘The family that recites the Rosary together reproduces something of the
atmosphere of the household of Nazareth: its members place Jesus at
the centre, they share his joys and sorrows, they place their needs and
their plans in His hands, they draw from Him the hope and the strength
to go on.’6
- The Holy Father concludes his teaching on the Rosary by
calling it, a treasure to be discovered and even rediscovered by the
Christian community. The saints knew this and that is why they have
always been fervent lovers of the Rosary. And it is said that the Curé
of Ars last act, when he was on his deathbed, was to give a Rosary to
somebody. Pope Paul VI loved to link the Rosary to the Liturgy, for
example, as a preparation and as a thanksgiving for Holy Mass and
communion. This was the practice of Padre Pio who used rise in the
night to prepare for holy Mass by reciting many Rosaries.7
- Both at Lourdes and Fatima Our Lady encourages us to pray the
Rosary every day and in every home. We pray the Rosary in times of
joy and in times of sorrow, to give thanks, to ask for spiritual or
bodily health, to seek the salvation of a soul gone astray and to ask
deliverance for the holy souls in purgatory.
- Sr. Lucia, to whom Our Lady appeared in Fatima said, ‘From
the moment that Our Lady gave importance to the Rosary, there is no
problem, material or spiritual, national or international, which cannot
be solved.’8
- In the end Mary is God’s Secret Recipe to holiness. And such holiness, in the words of St. Maximilien Kolbe, is not a luxury, but a duty. Amen.
2. Ibid. 25.
3. Groeschel, The Rosary: Chain of Hope, 16.
4. C. Marmion, Christ in His Mysteries, 228.
5. R. Guardini, The Lord, 447.
6. Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 41.
7. Cf. S. Manelli, Devotion to Our Lady, 142, 143.
8. Ibid. 141.
http://www.worldpriestday.com/rosary_relay_why_pray.html
Oct. 6, 2011 Thursday: Blessed Marie Rose Durocher
Blessed Marie Rose Durocher
Eulalie Durocher was born in 1811 in Quebec, Canada. She was the tenth of eleven children. When she was eighteen, Eulalie’s mother died, and her brother, who was a priest, invited his younger sister to his parish. She became a lay apostle. She took charge of the household duties for her brother. She also started the first parish sodality in Canada. The thirteen years she was involved in the life of the Church and the parish were preparing her for a special work for God.
In 1843, when Eulalie was thirty-two, the bishop of Montreal asked her to begin a very special mission. Eulalie started a new religious congregation of women called the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Their particular work for Jesus would be to educate the poorest and most neglected children. Eulalie became Mother Marie Rose. Others came to join this generous woman. They, too, believed in the importance of educating children for the love of Jesus.
Mother Marie Rose lived only six years after her congregation began. However, she helped her sisters from heaven because the community continued to grow and open new convents. They started a mission in the United States, too. They went to Oregon in 1859. Today the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary are spread throughout the world.
Mother Marie Rose Durocher was declared a blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
Eulalie Durocher was born in 1811 in Quebec, Canada. She was the tenth of eleven children. When she was eighteen, Eulalie’s mother died, and her brother, who was a priest, invited his younger sister to his parish. She became a lay apostle. She took charge of the household duties for her brother. She also started the first parish sodality in Canada. The thirteen years she was involved in the life of the Church and the parish were preparing her for a special work for God.
In 1843, when Eulalie was thirty-two, the bishop of Montreal asked her to begin a very special mission. Eulalie started a new religious congregation of women called the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Their particular work for Jesus would be to educate the poorest and most neglected children. Eulalie became Mother Marie Rose. Others came to join this generous woman. They, too, believed in the importance of educating children for the love of Jesus.
Mother Marie Rose lived only six years after her congregation began. However, she helped her sisters from heaven because the community continued to grow and open new convents. They started a mission in the United States, too. They went to Oregon in 1859. Today the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary are spread throughout the world.
Mother Marie Rose Durocher was declared a blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Oct. 5, 2011 Wednesday: Blessed Francis Seelos
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
Francis Xavier Seelos was born on January 11, 1819 in Fussen, Bavaria, Germany. He was baptized on the same day in the parish church of St. Mang. Having expressed a desire for the priesthood since childhood, he entered the diocesan seminary in 1842 after having completed his studies in philosophy. Soon after meeting the missionaries of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), founded for the evangelization of the most abandoned, he decided to enter the Congregation and to minister to the German speaking immigrants in the United States. He was accepted by the Congregation on November 22, 1842, and sailed the following year from Le Havre, France arriving in New York on April 20, 1843. On December 22, 1844, after having completed his novitiate and theological studies, Seelos was ordained a priest in the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
After being ordained, he worked for nine years in the parish of St. Philomena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first as assistant pastor with St. John Neumann, the superior of the Religious Community, and later as Superior himself and for the last three years as pastor. During this time, he was also the Redemptorist Novice Master. With Neumann he also dedicated himself to preaching missions. Regarding their relationship, Seelos said: “He has introduced me to the active life” and, “he has guided me as a spiritual director and confessor.”
His availability and innate kindness in understanding and responding to the needs of the faithful, quickly made him well known as an expert confessor and spiritual director, so much so that people came to him even from neighboring towns. Faithful to the Redemptorist charism, he practiced a simple lifestyle and a simple manner of expressing himself. The themes of his preaching, rich in biblical content, were always heard and understood even by everyone, regardless of education, culture, or background. A constant endeavor in this pastoral activity was instructing the little children in the faith. He not only favored this ministry, he held it as fundamental for the growth of the Christian community in the parish. In 1854, he was transferred from Pittsburgh, to Baltimore, then Cumberland in 1857, and to Annapolis (1862), all the while engaged in parish ministry and serving in the formation of future Redemptorists as Prefect of Students. Even in this post, he was true to his character remaining always the kind and happy pastor, prudently attentive to the needs of his students and conscientious of their doctrinal formation. Above all, he strove to instill in these future Redemptorist missionaries the enthusiasm, the spirit of sacrifice and apostolic zeal for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people.
In 1860 he was proposed as a candidate for the office of Bishop of Pittsburgh. Having been excused from this responsibility by Pope Pius IX, from 1863 until 1866 he dedicated himself to the life of an itinerant missionary preaching in English and German in the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
After a brief period of parish ministry in Detroit, Michigan, he was assigned in 1866 to the Redemptorist community in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here also, as pastor of the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption, he was known as a pastor who was joyously available to his faithful and singularly concerned for the poorest and the most abandoned. In God’s plan, however, his ministry in New Orleans was destined to be brief. In the month of September, exhausted from visiting and caring for the victims of yellow fever, he contracted the dreaded disease. After several weeks of patiently enduring his illness, he passed on to eternal life on October 4, 1867, at the age of 48 years and 9 months.
His Holiness Pope John Paul II, proclaimed Father Seelos Blessed in St. Peter's Square on April 9th of the Solemn Jubilee Year 2000. His Feast Day is October 5.
Francis Xavier Seelos was born on January 11, 1819 in Fussen, Bavaria, Germany. He was baptized on the same day in the parish church of St. Mang. Having expressed a desire for the priesthood since childhood, he entered the diocesan seminary in 1842 after having completed his studies in philosophy. Soon after meeting the missionaries of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), founded for the evangelization of the most abandoned, he decided to enter the Congregation and to minister to the German speaking immigrants in the United States. He was accepted by the Congregation on November 22, 1842, and sailed the following year from Le Havre, France arriving in New York on April 20, 1843. On December 22, 1844, after having completed his novitiate and theological studies, Seelos was ordained a priest in the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
After being ordained, he worked for nine years in the parish of St. Philomena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first as assistant pastor with St. John Neumann, the superior of the Religious Community, and later as Superior himself and for the last three years as pastor. During this time, he was also the Redemptorist Novice Master. With Neumann he also dedicated himself to preaching missions. Regarding their relationship, Seelos said: “He has introduced me to the active life” and, “he has guided me as a spiritual director and confessor.”
His availability and innate kindness in understanding and responding to the needs of the faithful, quickly made him well known as an expert confessor and spiritual director, so much so that people came to him even from neighboring towns. Faithful to the Redemptorist charism, he practiced a simple lifestyle and a simple manner of expressing himself. The themes of his preaching, rich in biblical content, were always heard and understood even by everyone, regardless of education, culture, or background. A constant endeavor in this pastoral activity was instructing the little children in the faith. He not only favored this ministry, he held it as fundamental for the growth of the Christian community in the parish. In 1854, he was transferred from Pittsburgh, to Baltimore, then Cumberland in 1857, and to Annapolis (1862), all the while engaged in parish ministry and serving in the formation of future Redemptorists as Prefect of Students. Even in this post, he was true to his character remaining always the kind and happy pastor, prudently attentive to the needs of his students and conscientious of their doctrinal formation. Above all, he strove to instill in these future Redemptorist missionaries the enthusiasm, the spirit of sacrifice and apostolic zeal for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people.
In 1860 he was proposed as a candidate for the office of Bishop of Pittsburgh. Having been excused from this responsibility by Pope Pius IX, from 1863 until 1866 he dedicated himself to the life of an itinerant missionary preaching in English and German in the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
After a brief period of parish ministry in Detroit, Michigan, he was assigned in 1866 to the Redemptorist community in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here also, as pastor of the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption, he was known as a pastor who was joyously available to his faithful and singularly concerned for the poorest and the most abandoned. In God’s plan, however, his ministry in New Orleans was destined to be brief. In the month of September, exhausted from visiting and caring for the victims of yellow fever, he contracted the dreaded disease. After several weeks of patiently enduring his illness, he passed on to eternal life on October 4, 1867, at the age of 48 years and 9 months.
His Holiness Pope John Paul II, proclaimed Father Seelos Blessed in St. Peter's Square on April 9th of the Solemn Jubilee Year 2000. His Feast Day is October 5.
Oct. 4, 2011 Tuesday: St Francis of Assisi
Prayer of St Francis
The following variation on the prayer was delivered by Mother Theresa when she addressed the United Nations in 1985
Make us worthy Lord to serve our fellow men throughout the world,
who live and die in poverty and hunger.
Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread
and by our understanding love give peace and joy.
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.
That where there is hatred I may bring love,
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt I may bring faith,
That where there is despair I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows I may bring light,
That where there is sadness I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
The following variation on the prayer was delivered by Mother Theresa when she addressed the United Nations in 1985
Make us worthy Lord to serve our fellow men throughout the world,
who live and die in poverty and hunger.
Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread
and by our understanding love give peace and joy.
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.
That where there is hatred I may bring love,
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt I may bring faith,
That where there is despair I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows I may bring light,
That where there is sadness I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Oct. 3, 2011 Monday: Blessed Bartolo Longo
Blessed Bartolo Longo
Bartolo was born on February 11, 1841, in southern Italy. He received a good education from the Piarist Fathers. He later studied law, but the university he attended had little respect for Gospel values or the Church. Bartolo’s faith began to weaken, and in time he became interested in demonic rituals. Fortunately, Bartolo remained friends with a professor who was a devout Catholic and a deeply spiritual man. Together with a Dominican priest, this professor was able to bring Bartolo back to the practice of his Catholic faith.
Bartolo earned his law degree and became an attorney in his hometown. He began living a holy life of prayer and good deeds. He was especially devoted to praying the Rosary.
Bartolo went to Naples in order to help the poor in the city’s slums. He became tutor to the children of a wealthy widow. He traveled with her when she visited her properties, and he saw firsthand the poverty and ignorance of her tenant laborers. He knew that God was calling him to bring faith and hope to these people. He decided that the best way to present the faith to people who couldn’t read was to teach them to pray the Rosary. By meditating the mysteries of the Rosary, they would learn of the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord, and of Mary’s important role in leading Christians to her Son.
Soon, people were crowding the little church in Pompeii to pray the Rosary before a picture of Mary, which he had found at a flea market. The church had to be enlarged, and Bartolo began raising funds for a magnificent basilica in honor of Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary. He also began a magazine called The Rosary and the New Pompeii, featuring articles explaining the faith. In order to live out the Gospel message, and not just write about it, Bartolo built an orphanage and a home for children whose parents were in prison.
Bartolo was often misunderstood and ridiculed by people who did not agree with him. As he grew older, he suffered from illness. But he never gave up trusting in the power of the Rosary to accomplish all that God asked of him. He spent the last years of his life in continual prayer.
On October 5, 1926, this holy layman died at the age of eighty-five, his rosary still in hand. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
The Rosary is a simple prayer, yet it brings us into contact with the deepest mysteries of our faith. We should make an effort to pray at least a part of the Rosary each day, so that we will often call to mind the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Rosary is a special homage to Mary, who is our Mother as well as Christ’s.
-Daughters of St Paul
Bartolo was born on February 11, 1841, in southern Italy. He received a good education from the Piarist Fathers. He later studied law, but the university he attended had little respect for Gospel values or the Church. Bartolo’s faith began to weaken, and in time he became interested in demonic rituals. Fortunately, Bartolo remained friends with a professor who was a devout Catholic and a deeply spiritual man. Together with a Dominican priest, this professor was able to bring Bartolo back to the practice of his Catholic faith.
Bartolo earned his law degree and became an attorney in his hometown. He began living a holy life of prayer and good deeds. He was especially devoted to praying the Rosary.
Bartolo went to Naples in order to help the poor in the city’s slums. He became tutor to the children of a wealthy widow. He traveled with her when she visited her properties, and he saw firsthand the poverty and ignorance of her tenant laborers. He knew that God was calling him to bring faith and hope to these people. He decided that the best way to present the faith to people who couldn’t read was to teach them to pray the Rosary. By meditating the mysteries of the Rosary, they would learn of the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord, and of Mary’s important role in leading Christians to her Son.
Soon, people were crowding the little church in Pompeii to pray the Rosary before a picture of Mary, which he had found at a flea market. The church had to be enlarged, and Bartolo began raising funds for a magnificent basilica in honor of Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary. He also began a magazine called The Rosary and the New Pompeii, featuring articles explaining the faith. In order to live out the Gospel message, and not just write about it, Bartolo built an orphanage and a home for children whose parents were in prison.
Bartolo was often misunderstood and ridiculed by people who did not agree with him. As he grew older, he suffered from illness. But he never gave up trusting in the power of the Rosary to accomplish all that God asked of him. He spent the last years of his life in continual prayer.
On October 5, 1926, this holy layman died at the age of eighty-five, his rosary still in hand. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
The Rosary is a simple prayer, yet it brings us into contact with the deepest mysteries of our faith. We should make an effort to pray at least a part of the Rosary each day, so that we will often call to mind the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Rosary is a special homage to Mary, who is our Mother as well as Christ’s.
-Daughters of St Paul
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Oct. 2, 2011: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Have you made out a will for yourself? No one wants to think of thepossibility of his or her own death, but it is important that our family andother loved ones are provided for when we die. Three years ago when I wasordained a priest, I received a packet from the diocese that included a requestto turn in a will to the diocese. Because I believed I was too young to write awill, it felt strange putting down on paper how I wanted my assets to bedistributed. Besides that, I don't own a house or a land or other valuables.Who would want to keep my rice cooker?
Have you ever given a thought as to what might be willed to you in thefuture? My parents live in a small house in Texas, and I know my sister and Iwill likely divide up that house when my parents pass from this world. I know mysister will likely want to keep all of mom's pots and pans, and I will want tokeep all our old photo albums. You can tell that I was thinking about the topicof Wills this week. I began to think about this topic when a parishioner handedme a Will that one of her friends wrote on behalf of God. It reads, "I amGod, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and I do make anddeclare this My Will on the 7th day of February 2004...I appoint the CatholicChurch as Executor of this succession...I bequeath to you the following:"What intrigued me was that I had never thought about God the Fatherputting into His Will, what I had inherited from Him. This "will" caught my attentionbecause the woman wrote it after surviving a near-fatal illness. She pondered, after a brush with death, not what she could have lost, but what she has already inherited. We, His beloved children inherited so much at the time of our birth, yet we do not realize it. As a priest, I deal with suffering, death, and selfishness of many people, and I see how the muck of daily life and our attraction to the dark side of humanity make us lose sight of all that has given to us. We need to ponder through daily prayer and reflection what the Father has already given us and work to make all that He has given us top priority in our lives. I believe that this will captures what should be our priority in our lives.
The will reads: I, God, bequeath to you the following;
- Creation. I have willed creation as a gift to you, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to you. (Catechism #299)
- A Desire for Me. Into your heart I have placed a desire for Me where only you will find truth and happiness. (Catechism #27)
- A Free Will. I confer on you the dignity of a person who can initiate and control your own actions. (Catechism #1730)
- A Savior/Brother/Friend - Jesus. I so loved you that I gave you My only Son so that all who believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) I proved My love for you in that while you were still a sinner My Son died for you. (Romans 5:8) Accept this privilege of no longer being called a slave but a friend. (John 15:15)
- The Holy Spirit. My Son has asked Me and I have given you another, Advocate, to be with you always. (John 14:16-17)
- The Church. It is in the Church that the fullness of the means of salvation has been deposited. It is her that by My grace you acquire holiness. (Catechism #824)
- Scripture. In Sacred Scripture, My Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, but as what it really is, My Word. (1 Thess 2:13). In the sacred books I come lovingly to meet you and talk with you. (Catechism #104)
- Mary, Your Mother. The Virgin Mary is clearly the mother of the members of Christ since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church. (Catechism #963)
- Sacraments. The sacraments are signs of grace, instituted by my Son and entrusted to the Church by which divine life is dispensed to you. You bear fruit when you receive them with the required dispositions. (Catechism #1131)
- The Kingdom. My Kingdom lies ahead of you. It was brought near in the Word incarnate, it was proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in My Son's death and resurrection. My Kingdom has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in your midst. (Catechism #2816)
- Eternal Life. My gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus your Lord. (Romans 6:23) I give you eternal life, and you shall never perish. No one can take you out of my hand. (John 10:28-30) Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven. (Luke 10:20)
Many of us may doubt andwonder if we have been given anything of worth from God. We may have theattitude of the tenants in the vineyard and cling onto all that we have or towhat we may inherit from this earthly world. On Monday I will preside at a funeralfor a woman who did not inherit much of anything in worldly terms; in fact, shelost much. At an early age, her mother and close relatives died. Only 20 yearsinto her marriage and her husband passed from this life. Her earthly life gaveher much sorrow, yet she knew she had inherited so much from our HeavenlyFather--her children, Jesus, the Church, Blessed Mother, the Sacraments, andmost importantly, her Eternal Life with the Father. What she has willed to herchildren and grandchildren is her life-long sacrificial love, her steadfastfaith, and her example of unconditional love. This is infinitely worth muchmore than the $700,000 willed the city of Boston to take care of a couple ofdogs and cats.
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