J.M.J.
We Love You, O Mother!: Saint Peter Louis Marie Chanel, Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Tuesday, April 28, 2020
J.M.J.
With what great love for God and His Holy, Ever-Virgin Mother do we lift our hearts and voices in gratitude for His astounding mercy.
O Mother Mary, Please Preserve Our Catholic Schools!: Monday, April 27, 2020
J.M.J.
Dear Mother in Heaven, please keep our Catholic Schools strong and faithful.
Father Stravinskas comments on an important, recent gathering.
To Thee Do We Cry: Saint Mark, Saturday, April 25, 2020
J.M.J.
What excellent news. Thank You, Lord!
O Lady, Please Bless the People of Ireland!: Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Friday, April 24, 2020
J.M.J.
Zealous Priest in Ireland
Blesses His Flock,
COVID-19 notwithstanding
Jack Beresford
The Irish Post
April 22, 2020
For three-and-a-half days, Fr Richard Gibbons, the rector of Knock Shrine in Mayo, has been driving around the local region, blessing the homes of local people far and wide.
Equipped with copious amounts of Holy Water, a Bible and his white cassock, Fr Gibbons visited some 58 townlands between Tuesday and Friday of last week.
Eager to offer some support and solace to the many believers unable to attend church under the current government lockdown restrictions, Fr Gibbons had originally intended to bless the Holy water fonts located in the parish.
However, he began to notice that wherever he went local people would come to their windows or doors in hope more than expectation.
After blessing a few of the houses on his route, word began to get round, prompting Father Gibbons to embark on a systematic blessing of the entire region.
“It took three and a half days to do, but the weather was fantastic and I had the time to do it as well,” he told the Irish Mirror.
All told, Father Gibbons reckons he blessed 1,000 homes in the local area.
“The main idea was to help the people understand that we haven’t forgotten them and [we knew] that they’d like to see me in person as well,” he said.
He added: “I blessed every single house but if I saw somebody outside of the house or near it or farmers in their land I’d talk to them and just say hello and ask them how they were doing and that kind of thing.”
“Even with the social distancing there’s nothing to beat a face to face or a person to person connection and they really do appreciate it.”
A much-loved key worker in the community, Fr Gibbons once told The Journal: “The joy that comes from truly Christian living comes alive each day we offer to people our hope, our presence, our prayers and even our laughter.”
Queen of Heaven, Please Preserve Us!: Saint George, Saint Adalbert, Thursday, April 23, 2020
J.M.J.
From Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999), pages 146-147
"A Train Pass Issued to Father Karol Wojtyla (Saint John Paul II) & A Remarkable Story"
In early August 1958, as his friends Stanislaw and Danuta Rybicki awaited the birth of their first child, Father Karol Wojtyla began a two-week Srodowisko kayaking trip on the River Lyne in northeastern Poland. Organized by “Admiral” Zdzislaw Heydel, the flotilla of kayaks had traveled fifteen miles or so the first day. The vacationers then camped along the riverbank, played soccer, and talked around the campfire. Heydel had left behind in Krakow a detailed daily schedule, so that mail from children and friends who couldn’t join the trip could be forwarded to local post offices where the kayakers could pick it. On August 5, which happened to be the day Stanislaw Rybicki, Jr., was born, Wojtyla got a letter ordering him to report immediately to the Primate, Cardinal Wyszynski, in Warsaw.
They took off in two kayaks, Wujek alone in one, Zdzsislaw Heydel and Gabriel Turowski in another. Turowski, an immunologist, was known to his friends as “Gapa” (dumbbell or dummy) because he would play dumb when State Security called him in for interrogation after his annual refusal to participate in May Day demonstrations. The three men pulled off the river at a spot along the road to Olsztynek, the nearest railroad station, and left the kayaks under a bridge. “Admiral” Heydel tried to flag down a passing car. A milk truck stopped, and Heydel said they’d pay for the gas if the driver got them to Olsztynek. Wujek climbed into the back and sat amid the milk containers. When they got to the station in Olsztynek he slipped into the men’s room, put on a cassock, and, as Turowski later put it, “left the men’s room a priest again.”
When Father Karol Wojtyla arrived in the Primate’s office, Cardinal Wyszynski informed him that, on July 4, Pope Pius XII had named him titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary to Archbishop Baziak, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Krakow. Wojtyla accepted the nomination and went straight to the Ursuline convent in the capital, where he knocked on the door and asked if he could come in to pray. The sisters didn’t know him, but his cassock was a sufficient passport. They led him to their chapel and left him alone. After some time, the nuns began to worry and quietly opened the door of the chapel to see what was happening. Wojtyla was prostrate on the floor in front of the tabernacle. Awestruck, the sisters left, thinking that perhaps he was a penitent. Some hours later they came back. The unknown priest was still prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament. It was late, and one of the nuns said, “Perhaps Father would like to come to supper…?” The stranger answered, “My train doesn’t leave for Krakow until after midnight. Please let me stay here. I have a lot to talk about with the Lord….”
Having settled matters with the Lord, Father Wojtyla went to talk things over with Archbishop Baziak, who presumably expected his new auxiliary bishop to remain in town. Wojtyla told the archbishop that he had to get back to the River Lyne to celebrate Sunday Mass for his friends. Heydel and Turowski met him on the road to Olsztynek, at the bridge where they had flagged down the truck, and they kayaked back to the campsite. His old friends, stunned by the news, wondered what they should call him. Don’t worry, he said, “Wujek will remain Wujek.”
www.papalartifacts.com
O Holy Mother, Teach Me to Pray the Holy Mass!: Wednesday, April 22, 2020
J.M.J.
From Testimony by Stanisław Cardinal Dziwisz (Warsaw: TBA Publisher, 2007)
THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF BISHOP KAROL WOJTYŁA (Saint John Paul II)
A moment of silence, silentium always preceded each holy Mass. When he was going by car to visit a parish or to participate in the holy Mass, then he was always silent, he did not waste any time for chatting. He was always concentrated, deeply in meditation and prayers. Before the celebration of the Blessed Sacrifice, he was spiritually preparing himself and then after the liturgy, kneeling in great concentration, he spent fifteen minutes to give thanks. During the Mass, he drew attention to the way he spoke individual words and made gestures, so the message and symbolism could be clear. Those who were present at the Eucharist felt that they were participating in the mystery. In celebrating the Most Holy Sacrifice, he wanted to be in communion with others. Both in the private chapel and outside, in the parish or in the cathedral he was inviting other people to participate. He wanted to be faithful to the principle that the Holy Mass should not be celebrated by the priest himself, but with people of God, who are participating in it: through Christ and with Christ.
www.fjp2.com
Mother of the Most Holy Eucharist, Pray For Us!: Saint Anselm, Tuesday, April 21, 2020
J.M.J.
From A Place For Everybody by Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki (Krakow: Znak Publishing House: 2013)
From A Place For Everybody by Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki (Krakow: Znak Publishing House: 2013)
THE HOLY FATHER (Pope JOhn Paul II) WAS CASTING A GREAT INVISIBLE NET OF GOOD
John Paul II has often said that the Church lives through the Eucharist. His last message was about the Eucharist. The last words are, after all, a testament. The words: “Ecclesia de Eucharistia”! are the Pope’s testament. The Pope began or finished the Eucharist at a common table. There was something else. Just as Christ gives Himself in the Eucharist, explains Archbishop Krajewski, so the Holy Father, after each meal, asked the sisters to pass everything that was left to others, especially those who were on duty. They brought these gifts from the Papal table to their homes, invited family members and friends, celebrated – also at the table – joyful moments. I myself often participated in this gift. How great invisible net of good was the Holy Father casting! It was a real celebration of God’s kindness and love; the same as then on Holy Thursday during the dinner with a dozen priests. Like every day during breakfast, lunch, dinner. Like every day during the morning Eucharist, which he also shared with the invited guests.
www.fjp2.com
“What have you done with me? But, Totus Tuus”: Monday, April 20, 2020
J.M.J.
From He Liked Tuesdays The Most by Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki (Krakow: M Publishing House 2008)
THE POPE (John Paul II) WAKES UP AFTER SURGERY AND….
– And he can not speak, he is weak. With a gesture, he asks us for a piece of paper and a pen. He is writing something. We are reading it: “What have you done with me? But, Totus Tuus”
– “But” was also on a piece of paper?
– Yes. I remember when I saw this text, at first I couldn’t believe that the Holy Father was writing something like this as I took it as an accusation. Why? What did you do with me? Before the operation, we told him that everything will be okay. I thought, the Holy Father now has regrets that we have urged him. I was sad. I still could not believe it, as the Holy Father had never said anything like this before. He never did anything like that before. And, then I saw the other words: “But, Totus Tuus”. And that explained everything to me. Then, everything was clear.
– How did the Holy Father behave then? Did he try to write something else? Did he try to tell you something?
– He had trouble speaking, he could not speak. So there were only greeting gestures, gestures that the operation took place here. He was pointing to a tube. And, he prayed. We prayed together – Rosary, breviary, litanies. We were celebrating together a holy Mass by the bed.
– Did he suffer a lot?
– These were difficult moments, as the Holy Father had to learn to eat all over again. And it was not easy, as he had a tube in his trachea. It was hurting him. Besides that, it was necessary to practice the voice so that he could speak at least a little. He practiced with a speech therapist. I know that these exercises were painful for him too.
– Nevertheless, he went to the window of the clinic three times to greet the faithful…
– Twice on the Angelus prayer, once during the general audience on Wednesday, March 9th (2005). He did not say anything, but he blessed. And, then he even smiled a little.
www.fjp2.com
O Mother, Your Son is Mercy's Personification!: Divine Mercy Sunday, April 19, 2020
J.M.J.
Divine Mercy Sunday
Second Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2000
during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
Homily of Pope John Paul II
during the Canonization Mass
of Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska
Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City
1. "Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius"; "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His steadfast love endures for ever" (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of Easter, as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm; from the lips of the risen Christ, Who bears the great message of divine mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20: 21-23).
Before speaking these words, Jesus shows His hands and His side. He points, that is, to the wounds of the Passion, especially the wound in His Heart, the source from which flows the great wave of mercy poured out on humanity. From that heart Sr Faustina Kowalska, the blessed whom from now on we will call a saint, will see two rays of light shining from that heart and illuminating the world: "The two rays", Jesus Himself explained to her one day, "represent blood and water" (Diary, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, p. 132).
2. Blood and water! We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a solider on Calvary pierced Christ's side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it (cf. Jn 19: 34). Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the Cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents not only Baptism but also the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 3: 5; 4: 14; 7: 37-39).
Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified: "My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified", Jesus will ask Sr Faustina (Diary, p. 374). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit Who, in the Trinity, is the Person-Love. And is not mercy love's "second name" (cf. Dives in misericordia, n. 7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its immense capacity for forgiveness?
Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted His message of mercy to her. Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people, know well how necessary was the message of mercy.
Jesus told Sr Faustina: "Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time.
3. What will the years ahead bring us? What will man's future on earth be like? We are not given to know. However, it is certain that in addition to new progress there will unfortunately be no lack of painful experiences. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium.
However, as the Apostles once did, today too humanity must welcome into the upper room of history the risen Christ, Who shows the wounds of His Crucifixion and repeats: Peace be with you! Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit Who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father's love and of fraternal unity.
4. It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called "Divine Mercy Sunday". In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that "man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called "to practice mercy' towards others: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Mt 5: 7)" (Dives in misericordia, n. 14). He also showed us the many paths of mercy, which not only forgives sins but reaches out to all human needs. Jesus bent over every kind of human poverty, material and spiritual.
His message of mercy continues to reach us through His hands held out to suffering man. This is how Sr Faustina saw Him and proclaimed Him to people on all the continents when, hidden in her convent at £agiewniki in Kraków, she made her life a hymn to mercy: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.
5. Sr Faustina's canonization has a particular eloquence: by this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.
In fact, love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters are inseparable, as the First Letter of John has reminded us: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments" (5: 2). Here the Apostle reminds us of the truth of love, showing us its measure and criterion in the observance of the commandments.
It is not easy to love with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. Looking at Him, being one with His fatherly Heart, we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and sisters, with an attitude of unselfishness and solidarity, of generosity and forgiveness. All this is mercy!
To the extent that humanity penetrates the mystery of this merciful gaze, it will seem possible to fulfil the ideal we heard in today's first reading: "The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather everything was held in common" (Acts 4: 32). Here mercy gave form to human relations and community life; it constituted the basis for the sharing of goods. This led to the spiritual and corporal "works of mercy". Here mercy became a concrete way of being "neighbor" to one's neediest brothers and sisters.
6. Sr Faustina Kowalska wrote in her Diary: "I feel tremendous pain when I see the sufferings of my neighbors. All my neighbors' sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all their sorrows to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbor" (Diary, p. 365). This is the degree of compassion to which love leads, when it takes the love of God as its measure!
It is this love which must inspire humanity today, if it is to face the crisis of the meaning of life, the challenges of the most diverse needs and, especially, the duty to defend the dignity of every human person. Thus the message of divine mercy is also implicitly a message about the value of every human being. Each person is precious in God's eyes; Christ gave His life for each one; to everyone the Father gives His Spirit and offers intimacy.
7. This consoling message is addressed above all to those who, afflicted by a particularly harsh trial or crushed by the weight of the sins they committed, have lost all confidence in life and are tempted to give in to despair. To them the gentle face of Christ is offered; those rays from His Heart touch them and shine upon them, warm them, show them the way and fill them with hope. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer "Jesus, I trust in You", which Providence intimated through Sr Faustina! This simple act of abandonment to Jesus dispels the thickest clouds and lets a ray of light penetrate every life. Jezu, ufam tobie.
8. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (Ps 88 [89]: 2). Let us too, the pilgrim Church, join our voice to the voice of Mary most holy, "Mother of Mercy", to the voice of this new saint who sings of mercy with all God's friends in the heavenly Jerusalem.
And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of divine mercy; help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred and opening individuals and nations to the practice of brotherhood. Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope: Christ Jesus, I trust in You! Jezu, ufam tobie!
© Copyright 2000 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Heavenly Help from the Mother of God: Saturday in the Octave of Easter, April 18, 2020
J.M.J.
Several titles from the Litany of Loreto
(or Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary) leap out at us during the COVID-19
pandemic. Our Lady is the Virgin most merciful, Health of the sick, Refuge of
sinners, Comforter of the afflicted and Help of Christians.
These five powerful ways to refer to Mary teach
us many truths. She looks upon our misery with compassion, restores vigor to
the ill, welcomes home those who have turned their backs against her Son, brings
solace to the overburdened and supports those who love and follow Christ.
Our Lady is concerned about the wellness
of the whole person—body, mind and spirit. She accepts the maternal duty, given
to her by God, to help us, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. And we
have a corresponding duty to ask her whom the Faithful have urgently invoked
for centuries to do what she does: lead us to her Son, the sure and only remedy
for all our needs.
Mary’s grace-filled relationship with her
Son makes this possible—and desirable. We want to be forgiven, healed,
embraced, consoled and aided. We wish to be made whole and prepared for
Paradise. She assists us and presents us to the Risen Lord.
Her indescribable kindness to us is a
pattern for our own outreach to our neighbors. The Church summons us, in
imitation of Our Lady, to be merciful. During the Extraordinary Jubilee of
Mercy a few years ago, Pope Francis reminded us that we should not try to be
merciful to others unless we do first acknowledge that God has treated us with
His unfathomable mercy.
To be merciful is our serious obligation in
charity and justice. The words of Saint Paul spring to mind: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil,
hold fast to what is good; love one another with
brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be
aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in
tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints,
practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13)
The Easter Season and the month of May
find us honoring the Ever-Virgin especially by praying the Holy Rosary,
particularly the Glorious Mysteries, meditating on the Litany of Loreto and
chanting or reciting the Regina Caeli—“Queen
of Heaven, rejoice. Alleluia.”
To venerate the Mother is to adore and
obey the Son. How the Mother of God delights in our single-hearted following of
Jesus! In The Virgin Mary (page
44), Father Raymond de Thomas de Saint-Laurent (1879-1949) repeats an
oft-quoted story regarding Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the
Church (1090-1153):
Saint
Bernard habitually greeted a statue of the Madonna in his monastery. Each time
he passed by he recited a Hail Mary. A legend says that one day the statue came
to life and Our Lady’s face lit up with a smile. She graciously inclined her
head to the saint and said, “And I greet you, Bernard.”
Our Lady exults in our fidelity to Christ.
We are truer disciples of Jesus by becoming better sons and daughters of His
Mother.
God willing, the current pestilence will
pass soon but, we hope, not before we have sincerely begged Our Blessed Mother—the
Virgin most merciful, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the
afflicted and Help of Christians—to pray for us and all the victims of COVID-19
and their loved ones. Let us do all that we can to be merciful by comforting
the sick and dying and encouraging their families as we thank Jesus through
Mary for the supernatural strength that comes to us.
Dear Mother, Please Ask Your Beloved Son to Stay with Us!: Friday in the Octave of Easter, April 17, 2020
J.M.J.
After His resurrection, Jesus showed Himself to His
disciples at various times and in various ways. One of the most poignant
manifestations of His risen glory is the revelation to the two disciples making
their way to Emmaus.
Christ approached these travelers and began to walk
with them. Mysteriously restrained from recognizing Jesus, the two were
incredulous that this “stranger” was unaware of the newsmaking events of the
past several days. Then, Jesus “interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself.” (Saint Luke 24:27)
Amazed by the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus, the
disciples uttered a cry of the heart that still reverberates in the souls of
believers everywhere: “Stay with us” (Saint Luke 24:29). Three short words sum
up the servants’ appeal to their Master.
Easter Sunday comes and goes. The greatest event in
human history is often relegated to a happy memory. The Resurrection may
sometimes be considered, albeit unintentionally, as a joyful occasion without
much practicality. After all, paying the bills or caring for a loved one who is
terminally ill is typical of the overwhelming concerns facing many, even devout
Christians.
All the more reason to imitate the stirring entreaty
of the Emmaus-bound disciples: “Stay with us.”
Only Christ—the Christ of the cross and the empty
tomb—can make sense of the trials that confront a person. “Stay with us” gives
God “permission” to remain in our lives through the invisible but, nevertheless,
real principle of grace.
A common concern expressed among those who arrange
retreats and spiritual endeavors for youth is the need for “follow-up.” A high
school boy or girl attends a weekend retreat and experiences an emotional
spiritual renewal. Then, this newfound vigor is crushed at the first sign of
temptation or turmoil. How may one enjoy a profound relationship with the Lord in
the midst of a hostile and unconvinced world?
Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.
(1893-1953), in his remarkable classic, Divine
Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior
Life for Every Day of the Year (Tournai: Desclée Company, 1964), wrote that
the soul that enjoys the state of grace need not worry whether God is present
to help with difficulties. “Hidden in the obscurity of faith, God draws near
our soul, makes Himself our traveling companion, and still more, lives in us by
grace.” (“141. Stay With Us,” page 423) True, one may feel, because he does not
understand the workings of the Lord, that God has abandoned him. But, “God is
there, God remains with us; it is for us to remain with Him.” (ibid.)
When Christ vanished before the eyes of the two
disciples after the breaking of the Bread, Cleophas and his unnamed companion
could have melted into lethargy. Their Master had left; they were seemingly by
themselves. But instead of becoming passive, they quickly journeyed to tell the
Eleven what had transpired. Although Jesus had temporarily departed, His
presence remained.
The Resurrection, a far cry from a one-day event, is a
life-changer. The happiness to be found in the Risen Lord remains with us
because of His abiding presence. Despite life’s difficulties and pain, the joy
of the Resurrection is always there for one who believes.
Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death. When we
pray, “Stay with us” (Saint Luke 24:29), we have the assurance that He has
heard us. For just as the stone was rolled away from His tomb, so will our own
burdens become manageable and even the road that leads us to Life.
O Glad Lady, Pray for Us!: Thursday in the Octave of Easter, April 16, 2020
J.M.J.
After forty days of intense prayer, fervent penance
and sincere charity to the needy, Easter Sunday arrives with a flourish. “He is
risen as He said, Alleluia!”
The Son of God and the Son of Mary has conquered the
weighty chains of sin and spiritual darkness. Death has been overcome; a reign
of peace and joy has been ushered into our world. Jesus Christ has risen from
the dead.
And this is why we rejoice: God has kept His promise.
He came through in the clutch and delivered. Everlasting life is now possible
again because of the Lord’s victory over the once foreboding grave.
Nevertheless, anguish still overcomes the hearts of
many this Easter. The mother who grieves for her AIDS-infected son, the husband
who wonders how he will support his young wife and children now that he has
been laid off, the child in Iraq who has known only hopelessness and
despair—sorrow permeates the souls of a legion of believers despite Easter
lilies, white vestments and newly-lit Paschal candles.
When I was a junior in high school, I heard a homily
during a daily Mass in the Chapel of our local Catholic high school that I
recall vividly years later. The priest, the Reverend Stephen G. Barnett, remarked that if Jesus Christ has truly
risen from the dead, then how can we not be joyful?
The priest’s point is well made. We are compelled to rejoice. Our corresponding
attitude must be that of profound gratitude and gladness, given the triumph of
Jesus over the tomb. No matter how heavy our crosses, we are to reflect the
happiness of the Church during this fifty-day Eastertide.
The authentic joy of Easter is perduring; it does not
disappear at the first sight of conflict or pain. Rather, it remains steadfast
through thick and thin and recalls for us the glory of the Risen Christ that dispells
the blindness instigated by Satan and the fallen angels.
Even though the disciples “had seen the Risen Lord,”
they were not free from trials and suffering. Yet, whenever they had to bear
their own personal Calvary, the disciples remembered the inimitable promise of
their Friend: “I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Saint Matthew 28:20) Misunderstandings (even among
the disciples themselves), physical hardships and merciless beatings could not
damper the “resurrection joy” experienced by the followers of Christ or erase
the pledge of Jesus to remain with them whatever the situation.
Contemporary disciples of the Messiah take comfort in
the abiding presence of Jesus in a world marred by sin. Nothing can diminish
what Jesus did nearly two millennia ago. He invites us to die with Him, but He
also invites us to live with Him—here on earth through divine grace and someday
in Heaven.
When the last Easter egg is discovered, the joy of
Easter continues unabated for the disciple of the Savior. The gladness of the
Resurrection changes lives. Christ’s victory gives hope to the lonely and
suffering. Jesus has fulfilled the first promise: to rise from the dead. Now, a
second guarantee has been established for His disciples: salvation for those
who accept His joy and who seek to walk in His steps.
Pope Saint John Paul II exclaimed:
“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!” Christ Jesus lives! How can
we not be joyful?
Mary is Our Mother of Mercy: Wednesday in the Octave of Easter, April 15, 2020
J.M.J.
HEEDING THE CALL
OF POPE FRANCIS:
THE EXTRAORDINARY
JUBILEE OF MERCY
Of all the things that
Pope Francis has said and done during his still brief Pontificate, his
insistence that we extend mercy to others as God has shown mercy to us remains
front and center.
It is no
wonder, then, that the Holy Father has announced for the Universal Church the
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that will begin
on Tuesday, December 8, 2015—the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception—and
extend through Sunday, November 20, 2016—the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, King of the Universe.
Pope Francis
writes, in his letter of September 1, 2015 to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the
President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New
Evangelization, that he wishes “that the Jubilee be a
living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost
tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus
testimony to it be ever more effective.”
This Holy Year of Mercy has as its special focus the words of Jesus, “Be
merciful, even as Your Father is merciful.” (Saint Luke 6:36)
While
indicating concrete directions for how all the Faithful, wherever they may be
and in whatever situation they may find themselves, may benefit from the
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Holy Father states: “I have asked the
Church in this Jubilee Year to rediscover the richness encompassed by the
spiritual and corporal works of mercy.”
Furthermore,
according to Pope Francis, “The experience of mercy, indeed, becomes visible in
the witness of concrete signs as Jesus Himself taught us.”
The
Faithful are encouraged to seek additional information about how the
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy will be commemorated, including how to obtain the
Jubilee Indulgence, from the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (www.iubilaeummisericordiae.va) as well as from their Local Bishops
and Pastors.
A Lasting Legacy Of Mercy
We,
the followers of Jesus Christ, have inherited a rich patrimony of mercy. The
virtue of mercy is well attested to in both Sacred Scripture and the Apostolic
Tradition.
Christ
Himself has summoned us to be merciful. Who of us can forget the parable of the
unmerciful servant? In his Gospel (18:21-35), Saint Matthew recounts Our Lord’s
words to Saint Peter and His disciples about the man who was forgiven but then
refused to grant that mercy to his neighbor who owed him money.
Centuries
ago, Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225?-1274) wrote in his Summa Theologica that mercy “takes its name ‘misericordia’ from denoting a man’s compassionate heart (miserum cor) for another’s unhappiness.”
The Angelic Doctor continued: “. . . Mercy signifies
grief for another’s distress.”
In the Dictionary of
Moral Theology published in 1962, Dom Gregory Manise, O.S.B., asserted: “Mercy, founded on compassion, differs from
compassion or the feeling of sympathy insofar as mercy implements this feeling
with a ready desire to render assistance—the essential element of mercy. The
works of mercy are the methods or actions which express this desire.”
Saint John Paul II (1978-2005), in his Encyclical Dives in Misericordia (November 30, 1980), joined in the analysis of
mercy. “Jesus Christ taught that man not only receives and experiences the
mercy of God, but that he is also called ‘to practice mercy’ towards others:
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ The
Church sees in these words a call to action, and she tries to practice mercy.
All the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount indicate the way of conversion
and of reform of life, but the one referring to those who are merciful is
particularly eloquent in this regard. Man attains to the merciful love of God,
His mercy, to the extent that he himself is interiorly transformed in the
spirit of that love towards his neighbor.”
May we be grateful for
the clear voice of the Church and that of her sons and daughters in enunciating
the pressing need that we have to be merciful as Jesus is merciful to us.
How
Do We Increase In The Virtue Of Mercy?
Look no further than the Seven
Sacraments of the Church. By our participation in the Sacraments of Penance and
the Most Holy Eucharist, our souls become more immersed in grace—the very life
of God.
Learn Sacred Scripture;
live the Teachings of the Church.
Embrace those
opportunities to feed the hungry, give drink to the
thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the
imprisoned, bury the dead, instruct the ignorant,
counsel the doubtful, admonish
sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted and
pray for the living and the dead.
Our
Mother Of Mercy
In his remarkable book, The Mother of the Savior and Our Interior
Life, Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964) addressed the
subject of Our Lady as the Mother of
Mercy. “The title of Mother of Mercy is one of Mary’s greatest. Mercy is
not the same thing as mere emotional pity. Mercy is in the will, pity is but a
good inclination of the sensibility. Pity, which does not exist in God Who is a
pure spirit, leads us to suffer in unison with our neighbor as if we felt his
suffering in ourselves. It is a good inclination but usually a timid one, being
accompanied by fear of harm to ourselves and often helpless to render effective
aid.”
Here comes Our Lady. She,
along with her Divine Son, Jesus, offers to us a pattern for our efforts to be
merciful. In fact, the Son and the Mother are the template for our attempts to
pardon others. “She teaches us, though, that if mercy is not justice it is not
opposed to it as injustice is, but unites itself to it and goes beyond it: most
of all in pardoning, for to pardon is to go beyond what is demanded by justice
in forgiving an offense.”
Father Garrigou-Lagrange
explained that Our Mother of Mercy, to whom Pope Francis has entrusted the
preparations for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, “reminds us too that God
often gives us His mercy more than we need, more than He is obliged in justice
to Himself to give; that He gives us more than we merit—the grace of Holy
Communion, for example, which is not merited.”
Reflect on how the
merciful Ever-Virgin is for us, in the words of the Litany of Loreto, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter
of the afflicted, Help of Christians.
Wait
No Longer
We desperately need God’s
Mercy. And our brothers and sisters desperately need that we extend it to them.
Pope Francis is profoundly aware of various “serious problems” today that call
forth mercy from us, especially that regarding the lack of respect for human
life.
Our sacred duty is before
us. Receive God’s mercy and convey it to everyone.
Nihil
Obstat: Christopher T. Burgwald, S.T.D.
Imprimatur: +Paul J. Swain,
D.D.
The Bishop of Sioux Falls
The Feast of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross
September 14, 2015
The Office of the Marian Apostolate
523 N. Duluth Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57104-2714
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