A Penitent Blogger

Imagine

2008-07-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

Some decades ago, a popular music composer opened a song with these words:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

The naiveté is tragic: “people living for today”, without hope for heaven or fear of hell, include the decadent, the irresponsible, suicidal spree killers, and the list goes on and on.

The composer himself would be shot dead on a sidewalk by a “fan.”

May God have mercy on all our souls.

Saint Paul gives us a very different roadmap in today’s second reading (Romans 8:9, 11-13):

For if you live according to the flesh,
you will die,
but if by the Spirit
you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.

Imagine all the people
living for ever
because they live today in Christ
because they do today what is truly good

Catholic Carnival

2008-07-05T10:21:00.001-04:00

This past week's Catholic Carnival - a collection of posts from various Catholic blogs - was at Building the Ark.

Instant gratification is too slow

2008-07-05T09:53:00.000-04:00

Today’s first reading (Amos 9:11-15) contains this intriguing prophecy of a messianic future:

Yes, days are coming,
says the LORD,
When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the vintager, him who sows the seed.

Shallow and stupid people in today’s world look for instant gratification.

“Wiser” people in today’s world know that the quest for instant gratification is a destructive trap.

People of faith know that all the gratifications of this world are destructive traps and that even the allurements that bait these traps are ultimately unsatisfying and tepid in comparison to the glory God prepares for his faithful ones by his grace.

The metaphor of Amos’ prophecy reminds us that the infinite satisfaction, joy, and contentment of God’s grace is faster and greater than anything the world can offer.

In heaven, glory upon glory will be given to us, faster than we can imagine.

The worldly phenomenon of instant gratification will seem laughably slow and horrifically inadequate.

In and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God extends to us now the gift of his grace, so that we may be faithful to him in all of the ups and downs of our life in this world and that when he himself calls us home we may enjoy the infinite and eternal happiness he prepares for us.

The cure

2008-07-05T08:51:00.001-04:00

Young Doctor Zaccaria was bright – he became a doctor at the age of 22 – but he quickly saw that even his state-of-the-art medical training was useless in the face of what was afflicting his patients and the community where they lived.

He realized that the only real cure, the only real answer to the people’s deepest affliction, was Jesus Christ crucified and risen.

He entered the seminary and became a priest. He did more than just preach to the people who came to church. He walked through the streets of the nearest large city, crucifix in hand, and preached Christ to the people.

He spent himself thoroughly and quickly in the service of Christ and died at the age of 37 on this very day in 1539. St. Anthony Zaccaria was canonized in 1897.

(from an earlier post)

Taking care of business

2008-07-04T10:04:00.001-04:00

In today’s first reading (Amos 8:4-6, 9-12), people are condemned essentially for putting commerce and profit ahead of faith and justice.

In our own day-to-day lives, where do our priorities and loyalties lie?

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me - a sinner.

Her husband slept around

2008-07-04T08:36:00.000-04:00

Elizabeth knew this, but she was able to take care of herself and she had strong reasons to hope for his conversion and reform. So she stayed, maintaining a life of prayer, of service to the needy, and of loving care for their two children.

Sometime after her son was grown, he grew suddenly and violently resentful of his father’s attentiveness to his children from other relationships. A war erupted between them, but Elizabeth put herself in harm’s way and was able to reconcile them.

Shortly thereafter, her husband died, after repenting of his sinful ways. Her children were now grown, so Elizabeth felt able to retire to a life of fulltime prayer and service.

But there would not yet be peace for this peacemaker. Some years later, there came word that her granddaughter was being mistreated and neglected by her husband. Elizabeth’s son, the young lady’s father, again boiled over with rage and came against his son-in-law with great violence.

Now elderly and sick, Elizabeth again put herself in harm’s way and facilitated a peaceful resolution to the situation. In doing so, however, she broke her health entirely and died 672 years ago on this very day.

St. Elizabeth of Portugal, wife and mother of kings, was canonized in 1625.

(from an earlier post)

Believing Farther

2008-07-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

We know little of the Apostle Thomas: a few lines in the Gospels and ancient traditions. Much has been made of the incident that led to his being known as "Doubting Thomas". His uncertainties also seem apparent at the Last Supper:

Thomas said to him,
"Lord, we do not know where you are going.
How can we know the way?"

Jesus said to him,
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:5-6

But although he had moments when he wasn't entirely clear about what was happening, Thomas believed – in fact, one could say he believed farther than any of the Twelve.

Peter’s great confession of faith was to say to Jesus,
"You are the Christ! The Son of the living God!"

Thomas’ confession of faith was to say to Jesus,
"My Lord and my God!"

The Apostles preached around the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Far off in India, Christians have persisted for millennia in the faith they hold to have received from Saint Thomas the Apostle, in spite of heresies and invasions, and they venerate his tomb today.

Thomas may have had moments when he wasn't clear, but he found his way, or rather, the Way found him: he believed and he proclaimed Christ to the ends of the earth.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle.

We ourselves claim to believe as Thomas did. We too say to Christ, "My Lord and my God!"

Why do we not go farther than we do in proclaiming Christ?

(from an earlier post)

No justice, no prayer

2008-07-02T06:58:00.001-04:00

We cannot pray our way to heaven.

We need God’s grace: the grace of faith – a faith that manifests itself not just in fidelity to the truth, but in charity and justice.

This is the message of today’s first reading (Amos 5:14-15, 21-24):

I hate, I spurn your feasts, says the LORD,
I take no pleasure in your solemnities;
Your cereal offerings I will not accept,
nor consider your stall-fed peace offerings.
Away with your noisy songs!
I will not listen to the melodies of your harps.

But if you would offer me burnt offerings,
then let justice surge like water,
and goodness like an unfailing stream.

We may put great effort into our prayer and great skill in our worship, but without grace, without faith, and without justice, we fall short.

Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts,
be with you as you claim!

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.

Punishing the favorites

2008-07-01T09:48:00.000-04:00

In today’s first reading (Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12), God says this to the People of God:

You alone have I favored,
more than all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you
for all your crimes.

It may sounds strange to punish the favored, but it is true on a number of levels.

On one level, it is an instance of “where much is given, much is required.”

On another level, intensity of intimacy means intensity of feeling. The closer we are to God, the greater the joys when we are faithful, but also the greater the hurt when we offend.

May we always ask the Lord Jesus Christ for his grace, so that all hurts and offenses may be healed and that we may draw ever closer to him in faithfulness and love.

He entered the University at 15

2008-07-01T09:35:00.000-04:00

Two years later, he became a Franciscan. He would go on to be ordained and to teach philosophy and theology.

But God wanted him to do more.

In his mid-thirties, he volunteered for the Missions. He had barely arrived when he was bit by the wrong mosquito. His leg swelled, giving him a life-long limp. Still, he carried out his duties diligently.

He did so well that when the opportunity came for a renewed missionary effort at the edge of "civilization," he was chosen to lead it: even though he was already in his mid-fifties, lame and suffering from asthma.

He established twenty-one missions in that strange land, converting and educating thousands of people there. He had to work within a cultural and governmental system that was sometimes corrupt and prejudiced, but he himself was faithful, devout, and did great good. More and more people gathered around these missions and some of them became great cities that kept their religious names, such as San Francisco.

Father Junipero Serra died of tuberculosis in 1784 and is buried in Carmel, California. He was beatified by the great Pope John Paul II in 1988 and his memory is celebrated on this day.

(from an earlier post)

What shall we pray for this month?

2008-07-01T09:34:00.001-04:00

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for July is:

"That there may be an increase in the number of those who, as volunteers, offer their services to the Christian community with generous and prompt availability".

His mission intention is:

"That the World Youth Day held in Sydney, Australia, may awaken the fire of divine love in young people and make them sowers of hope for a new humanity".

The limits of self-reliance

2008-06-30T10:31:00.001-04:00

It is good to do good and to do it well.

It is good to develop the skills and the strengths we have received from God.

But today’s first reading (Amos 2:6-10, 13-16) reminds us that all of our human skills and strengths and talents, in the end, are not enough.

Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong man shall not retain his strength;
The warrior shall not save his life,
nor the bowman stand his ground;
The swift of foot shall not escape,
nor the horseman save his life.
And the most stouthearted of warriors
shall flee naked on that day,
says the LORD.

May we be prudent and faithful and do the best we can, but may we rely ultimately on the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

At first, they were not really noticed

2008-06-30T10:21:00.001-04:00

but soon there were more and more of them.

At first, they all looked like the other immigrants from the Middle East, but soon normal-looking people were found to have converted to this religion and were setting themselves apart from the mainstream of society.

They became the subject of rumors, ridicule, and investigations.

Then, a horrific criminal act laid waste to the center of the great city, killing many.

The focus quickly fell upon these outsiders.

They and their leaders were rounded up. Many were tortured and many were killed.

These first Christian martyrs of the Church of Rome remained true to their faith, rejoicing to share in the salvific sufferings of Christ, and helped stoke the fires of a spiritual awakening that would flourish when the empire that had sought to crush them was itself dust.

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the first martyrs of the Church of Rome.

(from an earlier post)

How will ours end?

2008-06-29T11:27:00.001-04:00

Today is the beginning of the Pauline year: a year declared by Pope Benedict in commemoration of Saint Paul the Apostle.

Today’s second reading (2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18) present us with the ending of Saint Paul’s life as he himself contemplates it and as he reflects on the life of ministry that he has lived.

The ending of our own lives – yours and mine – may or may not be near.

How would we sum up our lives if, God forbid, they should end right now?

May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ give us the grace to take the opportunity of this day and this year to make the changes that need to be made in our lives, fulfilling our responsibilities and our vocations, so that when the Lord calls us home we may be able to look back on our lives as Saint Paul did.

I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have competed well;
I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.

From now on
the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day,
and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

The Lord stood by me
and gave me strength,
so that through me
the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.

And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.

To him be glory forever and ever.
Amen.

The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

2008-06-29T08:39:00.000-04:00

The ancient Latin phrase resonates in magnificence, with a feeling of awe and power like the majestic columns of a mighty cathedral: Sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum - the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

Their origins were humble and they were slaughtered by the ruling regime almost as an afterthought, their deaths scarcely noted by the chroniclers of the day, but their work, their words, their blood, and their lives -- by the power of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shining through them -- became the foundation of Christendom itself. Now the city that had crushed them is dominated by their monuments.

O Roma felix! Duorum Principum es consecrata sanguine!

God would raise up other great saints, and He continues to do so, but even the greatest but stand on the shoulders of these giants. There would have been no Gregory the Great or John Paul the second without Peter the Rock. There would have been no Thomas Aquinas without Saul of Tarsus.

They were human beings like us and not without flaws, but none could be mightier. They held nothing back: once they were sent forth, they laid everything on the line for Christ, every day of their lives – all their hearts, all their strength, all their talents, their freedom, and even their life's blood – everything went for Christ. They were exalted, yes, but only because they served humbly, lovingly, and forcefully.

If we’re looking for role models in our lives as we seek to make a difference in this world, we could not do better that the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, whose memory is celebrated on this day: the beginning of the Pauline year - the special commemoration of Saint Paul.

(adapted from an earlier post)

God, dead children, and blame

2008-06-28T05:51:00.001-04:00

The words from the book of Lamentations in today’s first reading (2:2, 10-14, 18-19) are extremely hard.

The words begin by ascribing anger and destruction to God and they go on to describe the most pitiful deaths of infants and children.

They faint away like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
And breathe their last
in their mothers’ arms.

The blame for the deaths of these children lies fully at the feet of their nation’s leaders who forsook both prudence and faithfulness, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and the ravaging of the land by the armies of Babylon.

Such stupidity, irresponsibility, and disrespect would make anyone angry, even God, as this reading reminds us (although the wrath of an infinitely just and merciful God should not be confused with the wrath of human beings).

The inspired writer also knew that it was the army of Babylon that physically tore down Judah’s fortresses, but he also knew (and so he writes) that God let all of it happen: both the stupidity and the resulting destruction.

Why did God let it happen? Why did he let these children die because of the sins and geopolitical blunders of their parents and their leaders?

The obvious answer – because of his gift of free will – may not feel comforting or at all satisfactory, even though it is true.

The ultimate answer, the full answer, the comforting answer can only be found in the infinite will and wisdom and love of God.

Sinful and finite, our taking the path to that wisdom and the embracing of that will may sometimes be hard, even with God’s grace, but it is the only way that leads to peace and to the recognition of the infinite good that may be found beyond all tears.

Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord...

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.

Turkish Religious Leader in France

2008-06-28T04:40:00.000-04:00

The city of Lyons experienced a great influx of immigrants from what Westerners today call Turkey.

The immigrants brought their religion with them and caused a great deal of suspicion and friction.

The authorities cracked down and many were martyred, including the man who had led the immigrants for a quarter of a century.

He was the bishop. His name was Irenaeus.

He had served well, rebuilding the local church community and writing powerfully against the recycled pagan mysticism known as Gnosticism that was enjoying popularity inside and outside the Church.

Irenaeus' greatest work Adversus Haereses is still widely read. He also played a critical role in Scripture scholarship.

St. Irenaeus died in 202 and his memory is celebrated on this day.

(adapted from an earlier post)

Burke to Supreme Earthly Tribunal

2008-06-27T06:17:00.004-04:00

The Holy Father today named Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, up to now Archbishop of Saint Louis, Missouri (USA), as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

The Holy Father named Cardinal Agostino Vallini, who had been the Prefect, as his Vicar for the Diocese of Rome (replacing the retiring Cardinal Camillo Ruini).

A world dissolving in ashes

2008-06-27T06:12:00.002-04:00

In yesterday’s first reading, the people of God and the holy city of Jerusalem were utterly devastated.

In today’s first reading (2 Kings 25:1-12), it gets even worse.

He burned the house of the LORD,
the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem;
every large building was destroyed by fire.

Then the Chaldean troops
who were with the captain of the guard
tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,
led into exile the last of the people
remaining in the city...

It is difficult for us to put ourselves fully and emotionally in that total disaster. How would we feel to have everything in our lives, including all the things that we consider sacred and all the things were consider absolutely secure, to be destroyed and turned to ash.

The opening words of the Dies Irae come to mind:

Dies irae, dies illa
solvet saeclum in favilla...

"A day of wrath, that day --
The world will dissolve in ashes..."

But no matter what terrible things may befall us, our hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the dead, is stronger still.

Recordare Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuae viae,
ne me perdas illa die.

"Remember, O dear Jesus,
That I am the cause of Thy journey.
Do not lose me on that day."

The new bishop was greeted with protests

2008-06-27T05:32:00.001-04:00

Many were upset with this African gentleman becoming the bishop and the disagreements grew very heated.

The bishop's earliest decisions did not help matters. One of the decisions he made in the interests of protecting his flock would be denounced as a gross violation of justice.

He was personally a holy man. He was also very intelligent and he meant well, but his impulsiveness sometimes betrayed him.

Nonetheless, the Pope thought he was just the man to handle a very high-profile controversy. Sure enough, the controversy was not resolved pleasantly, but the bishop's dramatic defense of the faith was admired by the Church everywhere.

Cyril, bishop of Alexandria in Egypt and Doctor of the Church, is said to have died on this very day in the year 444.

(from an earlier post)

The end of all earthly safety

2008-06-26T07:06:00.001-04:00

It is the ultimate nightmare.

The military forces of the nation have been defeated.

The capital city has been overrun.

The holiest of places has been seized and ransacked by violent men of another religion.

And the people have been rounded up and carted away to slavery.

This nightmare is recounted in today’s first reading (2 Kings 24:8-17): the fall of Jerusalem, the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity, the greatest catastrophe to devastate the People of God in Old Testament times.

May God forbid that any of us should ever suffer anything as catastrophic in our own lives.

But, even more, may God give us the grace to endure any evil that may befall us and to live secure in spirit and faithful in all things no matter what.

Go back and read

2008-06-25T08:28:00.002-04:00

In today’s first reading (2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3), the book of the law has been found in the temple and is read to the King and then all the people of Jerusalem.

It is a pivotal moment: when they realize how far they have fallen and when they resolve to embrace the ways of the Lord in a new and fuller way.

Perhaps this is the time for such a moment for you and me.

Perhaps this is the time when we go back and, for example, read the Gospel according to Saint Matthew at one sitting, or begin a program of reading the entire Catechism bit by bit and day by day.

This can be a time of special grace for us.

A time to go back and read.

Catholic Carnival

2008-06-24T20:28:00.001-04:00

This week's Catholic Carnival - a collection of posts from various Catholic blogs - is online at a Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars.

Family

2008-06-24T06:49:00.001-04:00

Today’s Gospel (Luke 1:57-66, 80 – omitting the Benedictus) gives us different examples of family life, good and not so good.

On the one hand, there is family-based pressure that attempts to discourage following the will of God.

On the other hand, the family is the environment in which Saint John the Baptist grows and becomes “strong in spirit.”

Wife, husband, parent, child, sister, brother, close relative, or family friend, what kind of family life do you and I foster?

And they made signs to his father...

2008-06-24T06:28:00.000-04:00

...inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John."

And they all marveled.

And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God....

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke
by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we,
being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him
all the days of our life.

And you, child,
will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
when the day shall dawn upon us from on high
to give light
to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."

(Luke 1:62-64, 67-79)

Today the Church celebrates the birth of St. John the Baptist

(from an earlier post)