By the end of my first month of seminary, two popes had died: Paul VI and John Paul I. By the end of my first year we had a pope who put his mind to building up the Church. By the end of my third year, he had been shot and it looked like we would be on our way to yet another pope. By my first year of theology, he had recovered and strengthened (albeit the "jealous disease" had begun), and gave me and my classmates a task: (08/SEP/1982) "Remember always that you have come to Rome in order to get to know Christ better. If you are humble, you will discover him in prayer, in the Sacred Scriptures, and in all your studies. Dear seminarians, in Rome you will have many splendid opportunities to open your hearts ever more to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and High Priest of salvation." I have tried to take that admonition to heart and live it everyday since. Christian wisdom, which the Church teaches by divine authority, continuously inspires the faithful of Christ zealously to endeavor to relate human affairs and activities with religious values in a single living synthesis. Under the direction of these values all things are mutually connected for the glory of God and the integral development of the human person, a development that includes both corporal and spiritual well-being.
Indeed, the Church's mission of spreading the Gospel not only demands that the Good News be preached ever more widely and to ever greater numbers of men and women, but that the very power of the Gospel should permeate thought patterns, standards of judgment, and norms of behavior; in a word, it is necessary that the whole of human culture be steeped in the Gospel. ...Furthermore, the Gospel is intended for all peoples of every age and land and is not bound exclusively to any particular culture. It is valid for pervading all cultures so as to illumine them with the light of divine revelation and to purify human conduct, renewing them in Christ. For this reason, the Church of Christ strives to bring the Good News to every sector of humanity so as to be able to convert the consciences of human beings, both individually and collectively, and to fill with the light of the Gospel their works and undertakings, their entire lives, and, indeed, the whole of the social environment in which they are engaged. In this way the Church carries out her mission of evangelizing also by advancing human culture. -- Sapientia Christiana, 1
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A successful lawyer and politician, he had a vision while being held hostage that called him out of that life into one of reformation, poverty, privation, and preaching. I am not sure how he got out of his marriage, perhaps his wife could just not put up with him anymore. We all want to label our time as the worst, and look back or forward to other times and call them the best. As Jesus reminds us though, times just are what they are and now is the moment we live. By the time John came on the scene, 1/3 of the population in Europe including almost half of the clergy had been wiped out by the Bubonic Plague, confusion over spiritual power was rampant because there were several claimants to the papal throne, religious orders were fragmenting and in serious need of reform with much internal opposition to reform, and the whole continent was locked in a century long war, Italy was made up of divided, contentious, and warring city-states constantly vying for power; many people had lost their way and many other had even given up on God. The world that would influence Machiavelli was being born. Atheism and political and secular contention with the Church is nothing new. Thinking about his life, what life do you think you would have been living at that time? What camp would you fall into when you looked at that world? I imagine that just like those times, people are the same now as they were then and the same thoughts and questions remain. They have the same doubts and fears, same hopes and dreams as we today. Would you still even believe in God? John leapt into his world, so similar to our own with seemingly no place to turn for stability or comfort and with its lack of Faith and the seeking of solace in pleasure or descending into darkness and hopelessness. Many were inspired by his preaching; they reformed their lives or turned toward Christ for the first time. While many flocked to his words, some may have been brought by forceful persuasion; hopefully the peace and mercy of Christ protected them and none were forced to convert and those that were fell back freely into following their own heart. We do not fight a war of Faithlessness, nor a war of hopelessness and stumbling Faith; even when those of the clergy and religious life seem to lose their way, we do not chastise and condemn but call all to the Truth in Love, a cure for hopelessness and a reminder of the power and beauty of Faith. John did that then and reminds us to do it today. And, technically, he has nothing to do with the swallows' migration path. Those who are called to the table of the Lord must glow with the brightness that comes from the good example of a praiseworthy and blameless life. They must learn from the eminent teacher, Jesus Christ. . .“You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Now a light does not illumine itself, but instead it diffuses its rays and shines all around upon everything that comes into its view. So it must be with the glowing lives of upright and holy clerics. By the brightness of their holiness they must bring light and serenity to all who gaze upon them. They have been placed here to care for others. Their own lives should be an example to others, showing how they must live in the house of the Lord.
-- Exhortation to Priests Some saints names ring a bell right a way with us, others maybe not. Antony's death was nothing special, his health declined and he died in his early 60's. In his lifetime though his name was known throughout the world - the confessor of royalty, builder of schools and libraries, reformer; large enough such that at least 15 assassination attempts were made on his life. Certainly one with a bit of notoriety. Most of us do not recognize his name though we have probably heard of the missionary order he started: the Claretians, or as he called them, the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who work still to serve the poor and under-served of the world. Many know the martyrs, servants, and teachers that he inspires. So like all of us, great and small, it is not just what we do in our lifetimes, but in the legacy of Christ's love we create by our lives of service to the Gospel whether or not anyone remembers our names. We are all saints, great and small, or at least striving to be saints. As All Saints Day approaches, let us recall the many saints whose names we do not know or know so well but who are part of the great cloud of witnesses who surround the throne of Christ crying out in praise and supplication for each of us - and today, Antony Mary Claret! Driven by the fire of the Holy Spirit, the holy apostles traveled throughout the earth. Inflamed with the same fire, apostolic missionaries have reached, are now reaching, and will continue to reach the ends of the earth, from one pole to the other, in order to proclaim the word of God. They are deservedly able to apply to themselves those words of the apostle Paul: "The love of Christ drives us on." [2 Corinthians 5:14]
The love of Christ arouses us, urges us to run, and to fly, lifted on the wings of holy zeal. The zealous man desires and achieves all great things and he labors strenuously so that God may always be better known, loved and served in this world and in the life to come, for this holy love is without end. Because he is concerned also for his neighbor, the man of zeal works to fulfill his desire that all men be content on this earth and happy and blessed in their heavenly homeland, that all may be saved, and that no one may perish for ever, or offend God, or remain even for a moment in sin. Such are the concerns we observe in the holy apostles and in all who are driven by the apostolic spirit. For myself, I say this to you: The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame; he deserves and works with all this strength to inflame all men with the fire of God's love. Nothing deters him: he rejoices in poverty; he labors strenuously; he welcomes hardships; he laughs off false accusations; he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate him by his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and by caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. -- L'Egosimo vinto, 60 Antonio is the first native-born Brazilian saint and a recent addition to the canon. There is not much exciting about his life; he entered the Franciscans and spent his life pretty much in the same place. He founded no churches or took on any important ecclesial offices. It is his selfless service which recommends him to us today; not for glory or power or notoriety did he serve and in fact understood the traps that could lead him into hubris and sin. In his role as confessor, let him guide us to understand our own weaknesses and seek out reconciliation in order to be in more perfect union with Christ and be his more perfect servant. Let us give thanks to God for the lasting benefits obtained through the powerful evangelizing influence that the Holy Spirit impressed upon so many souls through Frei Galvão. The Franciscan charism, lived out in the spirit of the Gospel, has borne significant fruits through his witness as an ardent adorer of the Eucharist, as a prudent and wise guide of the souls who sought his counsel, and as a man with a great devotion to the Immaculate Conception of Mary, whose "son and perpetual servant" he considered himself to be.
...The significance of Frei Galvão’s example lies in his willingness to be of service to the people whenever he was asked. He was renowned as a counselor, he was a bringer of peace to souls and families, and a dispenser of charity especially towards the poor and the sick. He was greatly sought out as a confessor, because he was zealous, wise, and prudent. It is characteristic of those who truly love that they do not want the Beloved to be offended; the conversion of sinners was therefore the great passion of our saint. Sister Helena Maria, the first religious sister destined to belong to the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, witnessed to what Frei Galvão had said to her: "Pray that the Lord our God will raise sinners with his mighty arm from the wretched depths of the sins in which they find themselves." May this insightful admonition serve as a stimulus to us to recognize in the Divine Mercy the path towards reconciliation with God and our neighbor, for the peace of our consciences. -- Benedict XVI's Canonization Homily, 2,3 Many holy people labor in obscurity and die senseless deaths. Does not really sound like the path to sainthood, does it? Jose studied medicine around the world at the most prestigious universities of the time but sought out the religious life. Eventually he discerned that was not his way. Instead he devoted himself as a lay religious physician, living a prayerful, celibate life devoted to God. He died when hit by a car while carrying medicines to a patient. Not a very exciting life and not a noble way to go. But what he did was exciting, and how he died was in service to the poor. That is how we should look at his life; not via the world's lens of fame, fortune, and show, but as the life of a servant. He lived as a figurative servant on the back stairways of the world, rushing about but unseen except momentarily by those he served. We have to ask ourselves if we are challenged by his life. Do we live the vocation we are called to even if it is not glamorous or involves immense amounts of self-sacrifice. Do we think of these things as needing reward or do we live them in quiet grace? Do we worry about death? Do we worry about our legacy? How many people surround us who live lives of quiet grace? How do we view them? How do we feel or think when they are gone? [His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
-- Matthew 19:10-12 The line between simple poverty and masochism may seem very thin. The spiritual practices of a person may seem harsh to some and laudable to others. The line is actually between scrupulosity and sanctity. Why is it that some fast and others do not? Why is it that some wear hair-shirts and others do not - yet all are saints? Spiritual practices are individual, and laudable if their source is Christ and not self-doubt, lack of self worth, or fear. To bind one's self to rigorous spiritual practices in order to pull oneself away from the appetites of the body and to place oneself in solidarity with the poor and sick, is a free act of will. And as such is obvious, as obvious as the over-scrupulous acts should be as a lack of will. True piety should attract, false piety should repel. Emilina was a lay Cistercian who practiced severe pieties, recited psalms, and had a deep commitment to prayer. She also apparently had the gift of prophecy. Unlike the “choir nuns” who were obliged to sing the Divine Office seven times each day, "lay sisters" were more like the support staff, aiding the community through their labor and sacrifice, by the work of their hands allowing the choir nuns the freedom to pray. Her many attributes attracted others and she lived a long life of service, counsel, patience, and humility which eventually brings her into the light of the face of God. As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
-- Luke 10:38-42 As is not always obvious, we know too little about certain Apostles. Simon was a "Zealot" ("Cananaean") - a nasty crowd of Jewish purists and Jude, was also known as Judas, whose name change and title, "Thaddaeus", help to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. So we attribute a zeal for Faith with Simon and a Catholic epistle to Jude, but they are attributions and not a true knowledge of these men who were close friends of Jesus. Only tradition ties their deaths together and so the fact that they share a day also points to our ignorance. But unlike so many saints, we at least know their names and can invoke their relationship with Jesus to our aid. Only John notes a request of his made to Jesus during the Last Supper: Thaddaeus says to the Lord: "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" It is a question of great present importance, which we also ask the Lord: Why has not the risen one manifested himself in all his glory to his adversaries to show that he is the victor? Why did God manifest himself only to the disciples? Jesus' answer is mysterious and profound.
The Lord says: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:22-23). This means that the Risen One must be seen, perceived, also with the heart, so that God can make his dwelling in him. The Lord does not appear as a thing. The Lord wishes to enter into our lives and because of this, his manifestation is a manifestation that implies and presupposes an open heart. Only thus do we see the Risen One. -- Benedict XVI - Wednesday General Audience, OCT. 2006 Slander can ruin a good man's reputation so that he can do no more good; something that should give us pause, nay should stay our hand when we seek to do harm through gossip or false testimony. Think of Jesus in his home town or at Gerasene or on the Cross; Paul and Peter as they traveled abroad. The desire to tear down what we do not understand and fear can often overcome reason and compassion. The light of devotion can often dispel shadows in our lives we wish best hidden. There is perhaps a bit of irony in his name, for one so self-less. It is through Eusebius that we know Narcissus' story, and it is quite a tale. Apparently he was pretty strict about religious observances which earned him some powerful enemies. Together these accused him a heinous crime of which he was acquitted but from which the damage was done and he stepped down from his office. Perhaps it was the reason perhaps not, perhaps the tale is apocryphal, perhaps it points to a truth within the story, but whatever the cause he became a hermit. One of the things we can thank him for is helping to decide that Easter would always fall on Sunday, regardless. The Liturgical Year cycle, with its sanctoral calendar, is an important part of our daily commitment to the life of Christ. We live in a world of sin, our world (gift that it is), our sin. We must be slow to judge if we judge at all, but we must always recognize sin for what it is. There are those who stumble and those who deliberately cause harm; we think neither above the mercy and salvation of God but we do not allow the sin to continue. We sinners must be challenged by our baptism to do good, confess and repent when necessary, and change our lives as if we were baptized into Christ Jesus. If we stumble, then we acknowledge our guilt. Conversion is a daily affair. We are constantly moving toward the Light, setting ourselves aside for God. We do not all have to become hermits but we must take on the mindset of one who has consecrated oneself to the Lord. Then amidst our sin and the sin of the world around us we can continue to serve and be Faithful. Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God. ...Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich; you have become kings without us! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we also might become kings with you. For as I see it, God has exhibited us apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and human beings alike. We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5,7-13 Marcellus' is not a story of pacifism, but the story of a man who recanted his soldierly duty to do homage to the idols of Rome. This was done knowing that the result was death. Throwing down his standard and declaring his devotion to Christ before his fellow soldiers broke his devotion to them in their minds. Imagine how they felt - his brothers in arms; he declared that he would no longer have their backs; devotion to the gods was devotion to them; he was a deserter! Deserters died. But the truth is that Marcellus transforms for us what it meant/means to be a soldier. It was not that he would not be devoted to them as a brother, have their backs, die with them if necessary for a just cause but that the devotion required to do those things did not just have to go to the Roman gods. Sometimes the peace of Christ requires of us to fight. Sometimes it is to fight for justice, sometimes it is to fight tyranny and oppression. Sometimes we fight with our words, money, talents; sometimes we fight with our lives. No greater love than this exists: that we should lay our life down for our friends. Marcellus does this - to further the salvation of the world and those he loved like brothers. The natural rights with which We have been dealing are, however, inseparably connected, in the very person who is their subject, with just as many respective duties; and rights as well as duties find their source, their sustenance and their inviolability in the natural law which grants or enjoins them…. Once this is admitted, it also follows that in human society to one man’s right there corresponds a duty in all other persons: the duty, namely, of acknowledging and respecting the right in question. For every fundamental human right draws its indestructible moral force from the natural law, which in granting it imposes a corresponding obligation. Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other.
-- Pacem in Terris, 28-30, John XXIII Often in the rush to the next thing we forget about the present moment. In the light of All Hallow's Eve we decorate and prepare costumes and purchase the treats we look forward to - and we forget about the day that takes place before the eve's vigil. There are many saints whose feast falls today and they should not go unnoticed, one of the most recent being María Isabel Salvat Romero. So today I focus on the little things, the things in between all of the big things. It is the little things, the everyday things that shape our lives. Little goods, little bads - they all add up. Alonso's life held many twists and turns and we might say that he had a full life by the time he died: student, businessman, husband, father, widower, religious - a pretty full plate. He also lost his father, which caused him to leave his studies to take up the family business; he lost his mother, his wife, two of his three children, which caused him to leave the life he knew to move in with his sisters to help raise his son; but he learn meditation and prayer and patience which, on the death of his last child, led him to consider the religious life. He wanted to be a Jesuit, but his lack of education kept him from ordination and when he tried it did not finish. Only his piety allowed him to become a lay-brother. There he took on the duties of porter, a job of many menial daily tasks: holding the door open, delivering the letters and packages that came to the college door, distributing alms to the needy who knocked there. At the same time he shared a room with Peter Claver and in his daily discussions advised him to his missionary journey to the Americas. There are many things this saint did everyday to lift us up and many are gathered into a Spiritual Works volume. In the shadow of the Saints he became one himself. Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say;
And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field, And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day. On Christ they do and on the martyr may; But be the war within, the brand we wield Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled, Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray. Yet God (that hews mountain and continent, Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment, Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more) Could crowd career with conquest while there went Those years and years by of world without event That in Majorca Alfonso watched the door. -- Gerard Manley Hopkins, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, Laybrother of the Society of Jesus |
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