January 31, 1999Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
Excitement and enthusiasm abound today (Tuesday, January 26) as I prepare my part of the bulletin before leaving for the Kiel Center and the Youth Rally. Today's first reading for the feast of Sts. Timothy and Titus expresses well our hope that the visit of Pope John Paul II may help bring about a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon St. Louis, our Archdiocese and our parish members. For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you. The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather one that makes us strong, loving, and wise. (2 Tim 1:8; ).
Last Sunday's Gospel spoke about the call of the Apostles to be formed to be sent out as evangelists and reconcilers and instruments of healing. An evangelist is one who proclaims the good news of God's personal love and providential care. For the past weeks the communication media have been wonderful conveyors of good news by giving many stories about our Church and faith practices-from the contemplative Pink Sisters to the story behind devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Newspapers and TV have presented many of the Pope's homilies and addresses on Mexico, such as the following excerpt.
'May the continent of Hope also be the Continent of life,' the Pope said in a strong firm voice. 'This is our cry: life with dignity for all. For all who have been conceived in their mother's womb, for street children, for indigenous peoples and Afro-Americans, for immigrants and refugees, for the young deprived of opportunity, for the old, for those who suffer any kind of poverty or marginalization.'
He spoke forcefully with expression in a strong firm voice. He seemed to pause after the word 'old' and look up.
'No more violence, terrorism and drug trafficking,' he said. 'No more torture or other forms of abuse. There must be an end to the unnecessary recourse to the death penalty. No more exploitation of the weak, racial discrimination or ghettos of poverty. Never again.'
He called all of these things 'intolerable evils which cry out to heaven' and called Christians to a different way of living, and to a social commitment more in keeping with their faith.
He called on Catholics to rouse the consciences of men and women with the Gospel, in order to highlight their sublime vocation as children of God.'
The Mexicans gave the Pope a standing ovation late in the homily when he called the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Decmeber 12 to be celebrated throughout the American hemisphere. (St. Louis Post Dispatch, January 24, 1999).
In the book about Pope John Paul II entitled Crossing the Threshold of Hope, he reflects on a position that our modern world of great technology advances etc. has been greatly influenced by philosophers like Rene Descartes with his famous dictum -I think therefore I am. This thinking or rational aspect of being human is affirmed as our greatest gift of quality of human life. Pope John Paul II believes there is a higher gift or way of being fully human, namely I love, therefore I am, because according to divine revelation in Genesis, we are made in the image and likeness of God and the essence of God is love, as revealed especially in the New Testament, Gospel and letters of St. John. The Gospel this Sunday, Matthew's version of the Beatitudes expresses well this highest dimension of human life (mercy, peace, need for God, etc.). Living out the Beatitudes is reflected well in the life and ministry to the world of Pope John Paul II. Thanks be to God for his visit to our community.
What weather! Two spring-like days in mid- winter for the Papal visit. Not a miracle, but not blind fate either.
About 550 of our parishioners attended either the Youth Rally at Kiel, the Papal Mass in the Transworld Dome, the Cathedral Evening Prayer, the Airport Reception or Departure. They will tell you that they had a memorable faith experience. It was a pilgrimage, a retreat, a holyday, a holiday and a picnic all wrapped in one.
Many other parishioners were part of the parade route crowds or watched the events on television. For all who participated it was a renewal of personal faith, a renewal of community faith.
The logistics were formidable. There were some glitches in the returning buses. Our own parish car pooling went smoothly. Some new friends were made. We are grateful to all who went to represent our parish. Our thanks to the volunteer ushers and Communion Aides; to our youth group and their supervisors; and to Vernon Browning for his patient service in the distribution of tickets.
There were, of course, costs for such a production, and you are invited to help defray such expenses. The archdiocese has asked that each ticket recipient make a free will offering of $10.00. If you have not yet done so, please mark your offering Papal Visit when you place it in the collection or send it to the office. Even if you were not a ticket recipient, this is a way you can be a supporter of this great event of our church. Whatever you offer will be forwarded to the archdiocese to help with their enormous costs.
Big events are usually followed by a let down. No one can keep a high emotional state forever. But defining moments can strengthen and enrich the enduring convictions of our faith. Those two days of spring-like weather were a symbol of the challenge to make the Papal Visit of 1999 a Springtime of Faith.
Frs. Earl and Gilmary
THEME: THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: - Some keynote addresses lift people right up and off their chairs. The address, everyone agrees, was a real stem-winder. If indeed it was a real stem-winder, we ought to be able to run on its power and inspiration for a long time--beyond 24 hours. Today and for the following five Sundays we hear Jesus' inaugural address--the Sermon on the Mount. The words delivered here last for a lifetime and then some.
With the Holy Father's visit in St. Louis this past week, I would again like to share some of his words with you. The following is an excerpt from his encyclical entitled Evangelium Vitae which teaches forcefully about the importance of the sacredness of all human life:
38.1 Eternal life is therefore the life of God himself and at the same time the life of the children of God. As they ponder this unexpected and inexpressible truth which comes to us from God in Christ, believers cannot fail to be filled with ever new wonder and unbounded gratitude. They can say in the words of the Apostle John: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are...Beloved, we are God's children now; it does yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 Jn 3: 1-2).
38.2 Here the Christian truth about life becomes most sublime. The dignity of this life is linked not only to its beginning, to the fact that it comes from God, but also to its final end, to its destiny of fellowship with God in knowledge and love of him. In the light of this truth Saint Irenaeus qualifies and completes his praise of man: The glory of God is indeed, man, living man, but the life of man consists in the vision of God.
38.3 Immediate consequences arise from this for human life in its earthly state, in which, for that matter, eternal life already springs forth and begins to grow. Although man instinctively loves life because it is a good, this love will find further inspiration and strength, and new breadth and depth, in the divine dimensions of this good. Similarly, the love which every human being has for life cannot be reduced simply to a desire to have sufficient space for selfexpression and for entering into relationships with others; rather, it develops in a joyous awareness that life can become the place where God manifests himself, where we meet him and enter into communion with him. The life which Jesus gives in no way lessens the value of our existence in time; it takes it and directs it to its final destiny: I am the resurrection and the life...whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. (Jn 11:25-26).
Last week I spoke of what is ordinary for Christians who are Catholic. Practicing the liturgical life is normal and ordinary. Gathering around the sacraments whose center is Jesus is our way of giving glory, praise and thanksgiving to God. Without the Presence of Jesus our worship is empty. He is our high priest. It is only "with Him, through Him and in Him" that we can give true worship of God. We can, however, through our prayer bring the awareness of His presence with us within our daily lives. Through prayer we can talk to God as Father, Son and Spirit, anytime and anywhere. Through prayer and reading the scriptures we maintain our relationship to Him and improve all other relationships in our lives.
My dear family in Christ,
In the Gospel today we encounter the Lord Jesus as Teacher. He comes to us with a positive challenge. This is the Sermon on the Mount. Rather than give us do's and don'ts He calls us into the deeper experience of God's love and mercy.
Blessed are... Jesus came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but, rather, to fulfill them in His person. To be blessed in the context of the chosen people's experience meant nothing less than to have God's special care and attention.
The message of Jesus is to invite us into the wonders of the divine life if only we are open and receptive. That is, God never leaves any doubt that the minimum will not do. God loves us too much.
The Lord Jesus reflected in His life these Beatitudes - the poor in spirit, the sorrowing, the holy ones, the meek, the singlehearted, the peacemakers - and we, too, can put our trust in Him to show us the way to live them with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Ron
1. ZEPHANIAH 2:3;3:12-13.
In the first reading we hear the prophet promise peace to those who are humble and obey the commands of the Lord. God will not desert his people. He will always raise up faithful persons whose lives will reveal the divine love at work in the world.
APPLICATION: Truly humble people take refuge in the Lord. Those who set aside their pride and pursue the interest of God have a firm foundation for the future.
2. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-21.
One of the paradoxes of God's power is that
it is best revealed in human weakness. St. Paul reminds us that God chooses the weak and foolish to confound the strong and the wise. We have nothing to boast about in ourselves.
APPLICATION: Since God owes us nothing yet has given us everything, our response must be love and thankfulness in return.
3. MATTHEW 5:1-12.
Today's Gospel begins the Sermon on the Mount, the first of several discourses by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is here portrayed as the New Moses who will present the New Torah (Law) for the New Kingdom. He elaborates in seeming contradictions the blueprint for Christian living the attitudes that will bring us blessings.
APPLICATION: Think of Jesus' brave vision as inevitable, not impossible. Is it more absurd to accept how the world works than to dream of changing it?
Fr. Eugene R. Sinz
By: Joseph F. Pearce, C.O.
When a priest or an Eucharistic Minister offers the body or blood to the communicant saying, The Body of Christ or The Blood of Christ the proper response is Amen. Some people reply instead, Thank You, Praise Be God, or Praise Be Jesus. While none of these responses are wrong, they are incomplete. All of them fail to capture the true meaning of Amen. Amen proclaims our belief. It is equal to saying, I Believe. It also reveals our openness to God in our life. When we say Amen, we say, So Be It. When we say Amen, we are inviting Jesus intimately into our lives. Amen is an expression of our Thanksgiving, it is equivalent to saying, Thank You to God for sending Christ to save us from our sins. Amen is a close relative to Alleluia, a word of praise. So when one responds with Amen, they are thanking God and praising both God and Jesus all in one word. Amen captures all the possible feelings that are aroused in us when we realize that our Lord and Savior is coming to us in Holy Communion and is intimately joined to us in our reception.
The word "Permanent" in the title contrasts with "Transitional Deacon." All those who are preparing to be priests are first ordained transitional Deacons as they are Deacons "in transition" to ordination as priests. Obviously, Transitional Deacons are always unmarried since they proceed to Priestly ordination. Permanent Deacons can be married before ordination but may not marry after ordination. The training and the age of ordination to the Deaconiate is usually different for Transitional Deacons than for Permanent Deacons; formation for duties as priest with ordination often prior to age 30 is the case for Transitional Deacons while the formation of Permanent Deacons focuses on the Deaconal ministry and the candidate must have reached 35 years of age. In the Diocese of Charlotte there are 58 Permanent Deacons in active ministry. Deacons are ordained by the Bishop and promise obedience to him and his successors.
Never has any religious body undergone such a radical renewal in so short a time as has the Catholic Church since Vatican II. Ever since the Reformation in the sixteenth century, the church had tended to close in on itself, to distance itself from "the world." Efforts at reform of this stance were never very effective. While isolated movements and individuals sought change, their attempts were not universally supported by Church leaders.
Institutional change required the vision and insight of Pope John XXIII, who perceived the direction of the Spirit and, in 1959, announced that he would convene an ecumenical (world wide) council.
After preliminaries and much in-depth preparation, the pope called together all the bishops of the world and many Protestant and Orthodox observers for the Twenty-first Ecumenical Council. They met in Rome in four major sessions between 1962 and 1965.
Unlike other councils, whose aims were to proclaim doctrine and fend off heresy, Vatican II sought to make the Church meaningful and relevant to the twentieth century. The Council aimed to present the Church as a pastoral presence of Christ in the world and to work toward greater unity among all Churches. Openness, flexibility, change, and meaningfulness became the watchwords, expressed in Italian as aggiornamento, which means "updating" or "renewal."
This assembly was called "Vatican II" because the First Vatican Council, held in 1870, was never formally adjourned, due to the Franco-Prussian War.
The bishops were not always in agreement. Factions formed. Some thought the Church was not moving fast enough, while others saw no need for so much change. After four years of discussion, the culmination of the Council's work was expressed in the sixteen documents of Vatican II. These documents are the Council's official guidelines as to how the Church is to respond to its mission in the world today.
After two decades of implementing the documents, much change has taken place and still continues. The Council's efforts to put the faith within the grasp of ordinary people has brought a new life and vitality into the Catholic Church. The challenge remains to continue to develop a consistently deeper faith life, emphasizing the demands of the Spirit over legal demands and ritual exactness. Throughout this book, we will look at the Church in the light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. At times, we will regress to see where we have been in order to know where we are today.
The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time communicates to us this theme through the readings from Sacred Scripture: Embrace poverty of spirit and humility to have fulfilled in you the reign of God, brought to you by Jesus Christ.
This Word of God continues to show us how we become full of grace and truth in order to identify with the Incarnation of the Son of God in our lives and to share the presence and power of Jesus Christ with others.
The centerpiece of our reflection this weekend is the famous Beatitudes from the Gospel of St. Matthew. In each one of them we have to sell off something of value in our human context to obtain an even greater treasure. We let go of self-sufficiency and embrace poverty of spirit in order to gain the kingdom of heaven. We let go of making ourselves the center of attention, lording our opinions and directives over others, and judging others' behavior and intentions in order to enjoy the Lord's comfort, consolation, and compassion. We let go of human excesses and human conflict, so that we can actually see God, experience God, and know God as his children. We become blessed when we let go of whatever proves to be a burden to our relationship with God and enter into a new kind of interaction with God in which his way prevails.
The goal of our existence is to be at one with God individually and collectively through our identifying with Jesus Christ who bought our freedom with the price of his blood, who makes us holy through the Church, who shows us the right relationship with the Father through his own example, and who communicates God's point of view through his teaching and preaching.
The way we achieve this goal is through an ongoing processday by day, experience by experienceof letting go and taking on:
1) choosing to eliminate what is divisive and obstructive in our relationship with God and others, like preconceived notions, prejudged intentions, uncooperative behavior, intransigent traditions, and the list could go on and on;
2) filling our lives, then, with a new way of interacting, like collaboration and dialogue, shared responsibility and presuppositions of peace.
The kingdom of God does not fall into our laps; we have to seek it, as the prophet Zephaniah advises us. Once, however, we dispose ourselves to the reign of God within us and around us through our change of mind and activity, then truly we will be in Christ Jesus as St. Paul tells us.
Father Benet OFM
Year of God the Father
The year 1999, the third and final year of preparation for the Millennium, will be aimed at broadening the horizons of believers, so that they will see things in the perspective of Christ: in the perspective of the Father who is in heaven (cf. Mt 5:45), from whom the Lord was sent and to whom he has returned (cf. Jn 16:28).
This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (Jn 17:3). The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love for every human creature, and in particular for the prodigal son (cf. Lk 15:11-32), we discover anew each day. This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches to the whole of humanity.
The Jubilee, centered on the person of Christ, thus becomes a great act of praise to the Father: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (Eph 1:3-4).
Pope John Paul II
John Melchior Bosco, Patron of our Parish, died on January 31, 1888. This week-end we remember his death 111 years ago in Turin, Italy.
In his book "The Blessed Friend of Youth", author, Fr. Neil Boyton, S.J. wrote about the last two days that John Bosco spent on earth before entering eternal life.
"That evening a cable arrived from Ecuador, which announced the safe arrival of the last batch of Salesian missioners - the ones whom Don Bosco had blessed in December. Father Rua hastened to whisper the good news into the ear of Don Bosco. He opened his eyes and looked toward Heaven.
The death watch continued. Midnight struck. All but Father Rua and several of the Superiors retired. Don Bosco passed the dark silent hours motionless, except for his heavy sighing. The Divine Office of that night agreed with his slow agony. It was the Office of the Prayer of Jesus in the Garden.
January 31, 1888, had come. Shortly before two o'clock a change occurred. Father Rua put on his stole and resumed the Prayers for the Dying. The other Salesians were recalled. Quickly the room filled. Bishop Cagliero took the stole from Father Rua and, kneeling at the right side of the bed, whispered huskily into the ear of Don Bosco, "Father, your sons are here. We beg pardon for all the displeasure which, through our fault, you must have suffered. As a signal of pardon and your paternal love give us your Benediction once more. I will lift up your hand and pronounce the formula of Benediction."
Gently Bishop Cagliero took up the blessed hand;
helpless now to raise itself. It rose and fell and crossed, while he invoked the protection of Mary, Help of Christians, on Don Bosco's sons present and scattered over the continents of the world.
At three that morning arrived a telegram from the Vatican. It was from Leo XIII, sending "from the depths of our heart" the Apostolic Benediction "to our beloved son, Don Bosco, seriously ill."
Another hour and a half passed and then the Bishop read the "Proficiscere" - the "Depart, O Christian soul, out of this sinful world, in the name of God...of the Blessed Virgin Mary...of the Confessors and all the Saints of God; let peace come to thee this day, and let thy abode be in holy Sion; through Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Amen."
Singularly appropriate words for this happy death!
Don Bosco yet lingered. It seemed as though he wished to hear for the last time the sweet bells of his near-by Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians, ring out the Angelus. They did. The labored breathing ceased. There was a free breath and an easy one.
"Our Don Bosco is dying!" a voice called out. It was true. He had lived seventy-two years, five months, and fifteen days."
Forty-six years later on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1934, John Melchior Bosco was declared a saint in St. Peter's by Pope Pius XI who said in his homily, "He was one of those men who leave the mark of their genius wherever they are."
Happy Feast Day,
Fr. Pat
February 3rd
It is said that during the persecution of Christians by Licinius (320-324), the governor of Cappadocia imprisoned the saintly bishop in a cave outside Sebaste and that wild beasts came to him to be cured. It is also said that a mother came to the bishop, asking him to cure her son who was choking on a fish bone stuck in his throat, and the bishop saved the lad with a prayer and the sign of the cross. For that reason St. Blase is venerated as patron of those suffering from diseases of the throat. He was eventually condemned to death and was beheaded in 316. He is venerated in the East on February 11 and in the West on February 3. In many churches of the Latin rite two blessed candles are tied or held together in the form of a St. Andrew's cross and applied to the throat as the priest pronounces a special invocation to St. Blase to protect the individual against diseases of the throat. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Germany, St. Blase was invoked in cases of hemorrhage and ulcers.
Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit. Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with greater courage...Part of the plan laid out by God's providence is that we should fight strenuously against all sickness and carefully seek the blessings of good health, so that we may fulfill our role in human society and in the Church (Introduction to the Blessing of Sick in Roman Ritual)...In the United States the annual blessing of throats is a traditional sign of the struggle against illness in the life of the Christian. This blessing is ordinarily given on February 3, the Memorial of St. Blase. St. Blase was a bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fish bone in his throat. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat. ...The Blessing of Throats will be offered after the daily Mass on Wednesday, February 3: 6:30 AM, 8:00 AM and 8:45 AM.
Imitate Jesus' Love...Jesus asks us to follow Him and to imitate Him along the path of love, a love which gives itself completely to the brethren out of love for God: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (Jn. 15:12). The word as requires imitation of Jesus and of His love, of which the washing of the feet is a sign: If I, then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (Jn 13:14-15).
Jesus' way of acting and His words, His deeds, and His precepts constitute the moral rule of Christian life. Indeed, His actions, and in particular His Passion and death on the Cross, are the living Revelation of His love for the Father and for others. This is exactly the love that Jesus wishes to be imitated by all who follow Him. It is the new commandment: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another; By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn 13:34-35).
To imitate and live out the love of Christ is not possible for man by his own strength alone. He becomes capable of this love only by virtue of a gift received. As the Lord Jesus receives the love of His Father, so He in turn freely communicates that love to His disciples: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love (Jn 15:9). Christ's gift is His spirit, whose first fruit (Gal 5:22) is charity: God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Rom 5:5).
St. Augustine asks, Does love bring about the keeping of the commandments or does the keeping of the commandments bring about love? And he answers, But who can doubt that love comes first? For the one who does not love has no reason for keeping the commandments...
Love and life according to the Gospel cannot be thought of first and foremost as a kind of precept, because what they demand is beyond man's abilities. They are possible only as the result of a gift of God who heals, restores, and transforms the human heart by His grace: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (Jn 1:17). [VS n. 20, 22-23]
A woman was watching her favorite TV soap opera and crying. Her husband walked into the room and watched her for a moment. Becoming irritated by the way his wife was taking the soap opera to heart, he demanded, "How can you sit there and cry about the made-up troubles of people you've never even met?" She looked at him and replied, "The same way you can jump up and scream when some guy you've never met scores a touchdown."
In Jesus' Love,
Fr. John
