J.M.J. I was privileged to serve as a
“Missionary of Mercy” during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Thanks to Pope
Francis and Bishop Swain, and thanks to those pastors who invited me to their
parishes for Masses, Confessions, Holy Hours, Missions and presentations. I
gave the Fall Lecture at Mount Marty College and spoke to various groups
(Knights of Columbus, Catholic Daughters of America, etc.) throughout our
Diocese. I also traveled as requested to five other Dioceses for Holy Year of
Mercy activities. Honoraria of
approximately $2,000 were received, which were submitted to the Diocesan
Finance Office.
The Mother of the Redeemer: Wednesday during the Octave of Easter, April 19, 2017 (The Centenary of Fatima)
J.M.J.
An Anniversary
Saint John Paul II wrote one encyclical
specifically about Our Lady, Redemptoris
Mater, dated March 25, 1987.
On this the thirtieth anniversary of its
publication, we especially recall The
Mother of the Redeemer for its
connection to the Marian Year of 1987.
Another important aspect of this
encyclical is its explanation of Marian mediation.
The Pontiff wrote: “In effect, Mary’s
mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood. It possesses a specifically
maternal character, which distinguishes it from the mediation of the other
creatures who in various and always subordinate ways share in the one mediation
of Christ, although her own mediation is also a shared mediation. In fact, while it is true that ‘no creature
could ever be classed with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer,’ at the same time ‘the
unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise among
creatures to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this unique
source.’ And thus ‘the one goodness of God is in reality communicated diversely
to his creatures.’” (38)
Being aware
of Our Lady’s motherhood and meditation allows us to understand better our need
to entrust ourselves to the Virgin-Mother. Again, the Bishop of Rome: “The
Marian dimension of the life of a disciple of Christ is expressed in a special
way precisely through this filial entrusting to the Mother of Christ, which
began with the testament of the Redeemer on Golgotha. Entrusting himself to
Mary in a filial manner, the Christian, like the Apostle John, ‘welcomes’ the
Mother of Christ ‘into his own home’ and brings her into everything that makes
up his inner life, that is to say into his human and Christian ‘I’: he ‘took
her to his own home.’ Thus the Christian seeks to be taken into that ‘maternal
charity’ with which the Redeemer’s Mother ‘cares for the brethren of her Son,’ ‘in whose birth and development she
cooperates’ in the measure of the
gift proper to each one through the power of Christ’s Spirit. Thus also is
exercised that motherhood in the Spirit which became Mary’s role at the foot of
the Cross and in the Upper Room.” (45)
Continuously,
we ask Mary to pray for us and for those entrusted to us. She is our Mother.
She is our Mediatrix. She is spes nostra—our
hope and that of the Mystical Body of Christ.
Mary, Exemplar of Obedience: Tuesday within the Octave of Easter, April 18, 2017 (The Centenary of Fatima)
J.M.J.
"Being obedient, Mary became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."
--Saint Irenaeus (+circa 202)
Kindly Mother, Please Help Me: Monday during the Octave of Easter, April 17, 2017 (The Centenary of Fatima)
J.M.J.
"Mary, assist me in my needs. Intercede for me with God in life and death. Show your maternal kindness. Present your children’s prayers to God Who chose you for His Mother."
--Childhood Prayer of St. John Neumann (1811-1860)
From “At the Cross Her Station Keeping” to “Queen of Heaven, Rejoice, Alleluia”: Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017 (The Centenary of Fatima)
J.M.J. During his seventy Marian discourses
given as his Wednesday General Audience addresses from 1995 to 1997, Saint John
Paul II, among many other matters, touched upon “the Blessed Virgin’s
association with Christ’s mission (that) reached its culmination in Jerusalem,
at the time of the Redeemer’s Passion and Death.” (April 2, 1997)
His Holiness continued: “In the Fourth Gospel, Saint John says that
‘standing by the Cross of Jesus were His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary
the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene’ (19:25). By using the verb ‘to stand’,
which literally means ‘to be on one’s feet’, ‘to stand erect’, perhaps the
Evangelist intends to present the dignity and strength shown in their sorrow by
Mary and the other women. The Blessed Virgin’s ‘standing erect’ at the foot of
the Cross recalls her unfailing constancy and extraordinary courage in facing
suffering. In the tragic events of Calvary, Mary is sustained by faith,
strengthened during the events of her life and especially during Jesus’ public
life. The Council recalls that ‘the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage
of faith and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the Cross’ (Lumen gentium, n.58).”
We can only
marvel at Our Sorrowful Mother’s complete and consistent devotion to Jesus. “Sharing
his deepest feelings, she counters the arrogant insults addressed to the
crucified Messiah with forbearance and pardon, associating herself with his
prayer to the Father: ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do’ (Lk
23:34). By sharing in the feeling of abandonment to the Father’s will expressed
in Jesus’ last words on the Cross: ‘Father into Your hands I commend My
Spirit!’ (ibid., 23:46), she thus
offers, as the Council notes, loving consent ‘to the immolation of this Victim
which was born of her’ (Lumen gentium,
n. 58).”
In the
final analysis, death and fear do not overcome, but rather life and trust.
After the Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday concludes, and for the duration of the
Eastertide, the Church replaces the Angelus
with the Regina Caeli, “inviting the
faithful to join in the spiritual joy of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer. The
Blessed Virgin’s gladness at Christ’s Resurrection is even greater if one
considers her intimate participation in Jesus’ entire life.”
V. Praised be the Most Blessed Sacrament. R. At Every Moment.: Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24, 2016 (The Centenary of Fatima)
J.M.J. Our Lady is the Ever-Virgin Mother of God who has shared Christ with us.
During this last day before Christmas, our hearts turn more than ever to the same Jesus Christ and His Coming among us.
He is still present among His brothers and sisters two thousand years after His initial appearance. We know that Christ is with us in several ways: through His Word proclaimed, by the ministry of His priests, whenever two or more gather in His Sacred Name and in a most unique and exalted fashion in the Most Holy Eucharist.
Christmas Eve affords us an excellent opportunity to reflect well on the Most Blessed Sacrament and to ask ourselves how we reverence the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
Jesuit Father Segundo Llorente (1906-1989) was an outstanding missionary to the faithful of Alaska. A brilliant and humble priest, Father Llorente spent himself in the service of the indigenous of Alaska for decades.
Years ago, in a meditation entitled "Strange Things Happen on the Night of Christmas," this Spanish religious offered his thoughts on the adoration due the Most Holy Eucharist. This powerful essay, which was published in the February 1998 newsletter of the Catholic Society of Evangelists, seems more pertinent now than when it first was penned.
--- --- --- ---
"Strange Things Happen on the Night of Christmas"
"A priest told me what happened to him once in his first parish.
"After the Midnight Mass on Christmas Day he personally locked the church. With the keys in his pocket he went to his room and had a good sleep.
"At 7:30 in the morning he got up and went back to the church intending to have one hour of prayer all to himself. He opened the side door leading to the sacristy, turned on a light and then turned on the lights for the church. As he opened the sacristy door and walked into the church, he literally froze. Strange people clad in the poorest of clothes occupied most of the pews and all were in total silence. No one so much as wiggled and nobody cared to look at him. A small group was standing by the Nativity Scene contemplating the manger in total silence.
"The priest recovered quickly and in a loud voice asked them how they got in. Nobody answered. He walked closer to them and asked again. 'Who let you in?' A woman answered totally unconcerned: 'Strange things happen on the night of Christmas.' And back to total silence.
"The priest went to check the main door and found it locked just as he had left it. He was now determined to get the facts and turned his face to the pews; but they were empty. The people had vanished.
"He kept this puzzle to himself for some time. Unable to hold it in any longer, he told me just what I have told you. Could I help with any plausible explanation? Let me hurry to say that the priest in question is a model of sanity and is as well educated academically as most of the priests I know, if not better.
"My explanation was and still is as follows. Those were dead people who were doing their purgatory, or part of it, in the church.
"It is safe to assume that we atone for our sins where we committed them. Those people were immersed in total silence. Why? Consider the irreverences committed before the Blessed Sacrament; how many people act out in church: chatting, giggling, and looking around. After Mass some people gather in small groups around the pews and turn the church into a market place with no regard for Christ's Real Presence in the tabernacle. Why did they vanish? They did not vanish. They simply became invisible; but they remained tied to their pews unable to utter one single word to atone for their disrespectful chatter while living.
"The Blessed Sacrament is no laughing matter. There is a price tag to all we do or say. In the end it is God Who gets the last laugh--so to speak. Those people had to give the Blessed Sacrament the adoration and respect that Christ deserves. For how long? Only God can answer that. Why did the priest see them? So he could pray for them and for all other Poor Souls detained in other churches. Why other priests do not see these people? Well, perhaps they already know in theory that souls can be detained in churches as well as anywhere else, so they do not need a miracle.
"Why were they clad in such poor clothes? To atone for their vanity while living. People often use clothes not so much to cover their nakedness but as a status symbol to impress others. But God is not impressed by, say, mink coats. Also people walk into church with hardly any clothes. In the summer months it is not unusual for people--mostly women--to go to receive Holy Communion in the most indecent clothing. The pastor may or may not put up with it; but God will have His day in court about this. Rags could be an appropriate punishment for these excesses."
--- --- --- ---
Absent an official declaration from the Church that the above episode recounted by Father Llorente is true, one may dismiss it. But the deeper meaning cannot be summarily rejected, namely, that the Sacred Heart of Emmanuel, Who comes to us, is really, truly and substantially present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and is to be "praised, adored and loved with grateful affection at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world, even until the end of time. Amen."
Hailing Mary at the End of the Day: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (The Centenary of Fatima)
J.M.J.
The Marian Antiphon at the Conclusion of Night Prayer
Ever since we began praying Night Prayer from The Liturgy of the Hours, we have chanted or recited some Marian Antiphon at its conclusion. There is much latitude about which Marian Antiphon is chosen. Traditionally, the Alma Redemptoris Mater has been used from the First Sunday of Advent until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2nd.
According to writings from Saints Irenaeus of Lyons, Epiphanius and Fulgentius, Herman the Cripple (1013–1054) authored this hymn, which is mentioned in The Prioress’sTale by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Both the Latin and the English versions are given to us in the Breviary. Here is the English text provided by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy for The Liturgy of the Hours currently in use.
Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again,
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before,
You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.
What a wealth of reflection as we turn our hearts to the Ever-Virgin at the end of the day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)