Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

11 September  2011

“Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine.  Has no one been found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner.” Lk. 19:17

Today’s Liturgy reminds us of the wonderful plans that God has given to man with the coming of His Son Jesus Christ.  In the Epistle (Gal. 3:16-22) St. Paul instructs the Galatians, who wanted Christians to observe the rituals of the  Jews,  of the promise of Abraham and his seed, the Messiah Jesus Christ. This Promise to Abraham came  before the Law (by 430 years) and was more important than the Law (the Ten Commandments) which was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai for the transgressions of the Jews (Cf. IICor.3:4-9).   Here we see again, as we did last Sunday, the inadequacy of the Sinai Law which was given by God to Moses to overcome the sinful transgressions of Israel.   Only in the New Testament through  faith in Jesus Christ and baptism have the Christians been delivered from sin.  We saw last Sunday how this blindness, on the part of the Jews, resulted in a lack of faith in the parable of the Good Samaritan where both the Levite and priest, both Jews, lacked the charity to care for the man who was attacked by robbers. In today’s Gospel (Luke 17:11-19), in which Jesus cures the ten lepers, we see the same grace given by faith in  the Samaritan who alone returns to give thanks and glory to Jesus.: “Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine?  Has no one been found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” Lk. 19: 17

Promise to Abraham

Dom Prosper Gueranger in his book, The Liturgical Year Vol. 13, comments on the hope that was given to Abraham when he was given the promise of the coming Messiah:  “Look up to heaven, and number the stars, if thou canst! So shall thy seed be! (Gen. 15:5) Abraham was almost a hundred years old, and Sara’s barrenness deprived him of all natural hope of posterity, when these words were spoken to him by God.  Abraham, nevertheless, believed God, says the Scripture, and it was reputed to him unto justice (cf. Gen. 15:6) And when, later on, that same faith would have led him to sacrifice, on the mount that son of the promise, his only hope, God renewed His promise, and added: ‘In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.’ Gen. 22:18  …His faith, firm and, at the same time, so simple, gave to God the glory  which He looks for from His creatures. …Following in Abraham’s steps (cf. Rom. 4:12), there have come those multitudes, born for heaven, the children of his faith….Truly, then, the benediction of Abraham has been poured forth on the Gentiles (cf. Gal. 3:14). Christ Jesus, the true Son of the Promise, the only seed of salvation, has, by faith in His Resurrection (cf. Rom. 4:24), assembled from every nation (cf. Gal. 3:28) them that are of good will (cf. Lk. 2:14), making them all one in Him, making them, like Himself children of Abraham (cf. Gal. 3:29), and, what is better still children of God. (cf. Gal. 4:5-7). Gueranger, p. 311-3

Children of the Promise Not the Law

St. Paul tells us in today’s epistle to recognize the Promise to Abraham in its fulfilment with Jesus Christ:  “The promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. He does not say, ‘And to his offsprings,’ as of many; but as of one, ‘And to thy offspring,’ who is Christ.’” Gal. 3:16    Dom Gueranger  comments on the effectiveness  of the  promised redeemer, Abraham’s offspring, compared to the Law of Sinai: “…St. Paul will declare the  transient character of that legislation, which came four hundred and thirty years after a promise which could not be changed; neither was such legislation to continue, when the time should come for that Son of Abraham to appear, from whom the world was waiting to receive  the promised benediction.” Gueranger p. 315  Similarly,  Dom Gueranger quotes the Abbot Rupert on the spiritual meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in relation to the law and promise:  “Abbot Rupert, ‘bears on the history of that Samaritan, whose name signifies keeper;  it is our Lord Jesus Christ who, by His Incarnation, comes to the rescue of man, whom the old Law was not able to keep from harm; and when Jesus leaves the world, He consigns the poor sufferer to the care of  the apostles and the apostolic men, in the house of the Church …Thus, the priest and the levite of the parable are a figure of the Law; and their passing by the half-dead man, seeing him, indeed, but without making an attempt to heal him, is expressive of what the Law did.  True, it did not go counter to God’s promises; but, of itself, it could justify no man.’…”  Gueranger, p. 315

Leprosy of Sin

The cure of the ten lepers by Jesus represents in a spiritual sense the delivery of men from the evils of sin.  Only, Jesus, the Promised one of Abraham, could  accomplish this because He              is  the Son  of God who alone can forgive sin. Dom Gueranger comments on the symbolic  meaning of the lepers in relation to the Promise and the Law:  “The Samaritan leper, cured of that hideous malady which is an apt figure of sin, in the company with nine lepers of Jewish nationality, represents the despised race of Gentiles, who were at first admitted, by stealth, so to say, and by extraordinary privilege, into a share of the graces belonging to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (cf. Mt. 15:24). The conduct of these ten men, on occasion of their miraculous cure, is in keeping with the attitude assumed by the peoples they typify, regarding the salvation offered to the world by the Son of God. It is a fresh demonstration of what the apostle says: ‘All are not Israelites that are of Israel; neither are all they who are the seed of Abraham, children; ‘but,’ says the Scripture (cf. Gen. 21:12), ‘in Isaac shall thy seed be called’; that  is to say, not they who are children of the flesh are children of God: but they that are the children of the promise are counted for the seed (cf. Rom. 9:6-8); they are born of the faith of Abraham, and are, in the eyes of the Lord, the true progeny….The lepers are made clean only while on their way to show themselves to the priests, ….That Law gave to the Sons of Aaron the power, not that of curing, but of discerning leprosy, and passing judgment on its being cured or not (cf. Lev. 13).  ” Gueranger, p. 323

Divine Power of the New Law

Dom Gueranger shows how the Law of Sinai has kept the Jews from recognizing the truth. “The time, however, has now come for a Law far above that of Sinai. It has a priesthood, whose judgments are not  to concern the state of the body, but, the pronouncing the sentence of absolution, are to effectually remove the leprosy of souls (sin). The cure which the ten lepers felt coming  upon them before they had reached the priests, ought to have sufficed to show them, in Jesus, the power of the new  priesthood, which had been foretold by the prophets (cf. Is. 66:21-23); the power which thus forestalls and surpasses the authority of the ancient ministration is sufficient evidence of the superior dignity of Him who exercises it… But the Jew is far from being ready to understand these great mysteries. And yet the Law had been given to him that it might serve him as a hand leading him to Christ, and without exposing him to err….Gratitude should have been uppermost in the heart of Juda; but pride took its place.  He was so taken up with the honour that had been put on him that it made him lose all desire for the Messiah… He laid it down as a dogma that no divine intervention can ever equal that made on Sinai; that every future prophet, everyone sent by God, must be inferior to Moses; that all possible salvation is in the Law, and that from it alone flows every grace….nine have not even the remotest thought of coming to their Deliverer to thank Him; these nine are Jews. Jesus, to their minds, is a mere disciple of  Moses, a bare instrument of favours, holding his commission from Sinai, and as soon as they have gone through the legal formality of their purification they take it that all their obligations to God are paid. The Samaritan, the despised Gentile, whose sufferings have given him that humility which makes the sinner clear-sighted, is the only one who recognizes God by His  divine works, and give Him thanks for His favours.”  Gueranger, p. 322-4

Sunday’s Offerings

There is no collection during Mass.  Please put your offerings for the needs of the monastery in the box at the main aisle  of the chapel.  Thank you for your kindness.  Remember, the message of St. Peter: “Charity covers a multitude of sins.” I Pt. 4:8

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

            We are mow in our second year of (as of 4^th July 2011) of adoration. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us how very special is the Holy Eucharist:  “O precious wonderful banquet that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness……No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it, sins are purged away, virtues are increased and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.”  “Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

The Catenians: Strengthening family through friendship and faith.

         The Plymouth Circle of the  Catenian Association will sponsor a lecture by Fr. Ian Ker on “Blessed John Cardinal Newman and the Second Vatican Council” at the Plymouth Cathedral of St. Boniface and Our Lady on Thursday, 29^th September at 7:30 PM. “…With his major biography of  Cardinal Newman some years ago, Dr. Ker has become a renowned scholar of Newman’s life, studies, teaching and theology.”  Admission is free.

Sister, please mention that coffee and tea are available in St. Joseph’s Hall after Mass.

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: Ten Made Clean first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

18 September  2011

“But I say: Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh…” Gal. 5:16-7

            In today’s liturgy, we are given passages from the scriptures which remind us of the great struggle we have in life between the flesh and the spirit.  In the Epistle (Gal. 5:16-24), St. Paul tells us that  those who give in to bodily desires will suffer the slavery of sin: “Now the works of flesh are manifest, which are immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, jealousies, anger, quarrels, factions, parties, envies, murders, drunkenness, carousing, and suchlike.” Gal. 5:19-21 But those who live according to the spirit and aim at adorning the soul will enjoy the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, modesty and continency.” Gal. 5:22  In today’s Gospel (Mt. 6: 24-33, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mt. 6:24  These two masters, “God and mammon,” are the same as the ‘spirit’ and the ‘flesh’; they represent the  basic struggle which all men have in life. As man is made up of body and soul and as the body knows through the senses and  the soul through the mind, there “arises in each person a double source of knowledge or appetite, that of the body and its passions which desire that good from the senses, and that of the soul, which wills the good known to the mind.” (The Preacher’s Encyclopedia, p. 106)  Both the Epistle and the Gospel give us the only resolution possible for those who follow Christ.   St. Paul tells us:  “And they who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal. 5:24  Jesus tells us not to worry about the desires of the body but seek the things of God: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be given you besides.” Mt. 6: 33

Joys of the Spirit

            For those who live  by the Spirit, there are the special joys of the spiritual life which only the Holy Spirit gives to His beloved spouses. Dom Prosper Gueranger in his book, The Liturgical Life Vol. 13, comments on how the Spirit fills His bride with His spiritual fruits:  “The bride, who came from the top of Sanir and Hermon that she might be crowned (cf. Cant. 4:8), knows not the servitude of Sinai (cf. Gal. 4:24-6), still less is she under the slavery of the senses.  On the mountain, where her tent is fixed for ever (cf. Is. 2:2), her Spouse, has broken the fetters of the Jewish Law, and that more galling chain which tied all people down—the network of sin that covered all the nations of the earth (cf. Is. 25:7).  She the bride is queen; her sons kings (cf. I Pt. 2:9), the milk whereon she feeds them (cf. Is. 66: 8-12) infuses liberty within them (cf. Gal. 4:31).  Filled with the holy Spirit, who is their glory and their strength (cf. Rom. 8:14, 26),  they have the Lord of hosts looking on them, as they bravely engage in battles such as princes should fight (cf. Eph. 4:8, 6:12).  Satan, too, has beheld their glorious struggles, and his kingdom has been shaken to its foundation (cf. Jn. 12:31).  Two Cities now divide the world between them (St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei); and the holy city, made up of vanquishers over the devil, the world and the flesh, is full of admiration and joy at seeing that the noblest of the nations flock to her (cf. Is. 60:5).  The law which reigns supreme within her walls is love, for the holy Spirit, who rules her happy citizens, takes them far beyond the injunctions or prohibitions of any law. Together with charity, there spring up joy, peace, and those other fruits, here enumerated by the apostle (cf. Gal. 5:22); they grow spontaneously from a soil which is saturated with the glad waters (cf. Ps. 64:11) of a stream, which is no other than sanctifying Spirit, who inundates the city of God” (cf. Ps. 45:5). Gueranger, p. 329-30.

“Born of the Spirit, they are Spirit”

            Dom Gueranger continues with the true liberty of the spiritual souls:  “Flesh and blood have had no share in their divine birth (cf. Jn. 1:12).  Their first birth being in the flesh, they were flesh, and did the works of death and ignominy mentioned in the Epistle, showing at every turn that they were from the slime of the earth (cf. Gen. 2:7); but, born of the Spirit, they are spirit (cf. Jn. 3:6), and do the works of the spirit, in spite of the flesh which is always part of their being (cf. II Cor. 10:3). For, by giving them, of His own life, the Spirit has emancipated them,  by the power of love, from the tyranny  of sin (cf. Rom 8:2) which held dominion over their members (cf. Rom. 7:28); and, having been grafted on Christ, they bring forth fruit unto God (cf. Rom. 7:4).” Gueranger, p. 330-1

Myrrh of Suffering

            Dom Gueranger reminds us that the joys of the spirit are not possible without suffering.  This is why St. Paul reminds us: “And they who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal. 5:24.  This is why Dom Gueranger speaks of the suffering which is offered to the bride  by her beloved spouse: “Even when the trials of purification are all over, the place of meeting is invariably that which the inspired Canticle calls the Mount of myrrh (cf. Cant. 4:6), which is but another name for suffering. Myrrh is the first fragrant herb  culled by the divine Word in the mystic garden; nay, it is the only one He expressly mentions.  Myrrh distils from the bride’s hands, and her fingers are full of it (cf. Cant. 5:5); her Spouse is the bouquet she clasps to her heart, but that bouquet is one of myrrh (cf. Cant. 1:12); and His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh (cf. Cant. 5:18).”  Gueranger, p. 335-6  Only those who share in the sufferings of Christ will share in His glory

“No man can serve two masters.” Mt. 6:24

If we wish to be united with God, as we have just seen in the Canticle of Canticles, then we need to serve God alone.  If we love the world, especially money which will bring us this world’s goods in abundance, we will be serving the world and not God. Dom Gueranger comments on the covetous man by quoting the Old Testament: “nothing is more wicked than the covetous man…; there is not a more wicked thing than to love money.”  Ecclus. 10:10 Too much solicitude for this world’s goods shows a want of trust in God.  This is what Jesus tells us of when he says:  “Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you of much more value than they?”  Mt. 6:25  In order to achieve union with God and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, even in this life, we need to be detached from everything in this life which  could prevent us from going  to God.  “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mt. 6:24  Those who “have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24) and seek God alone and His kingdom will be given  the fruits of the Holy Spirit in this life and the kingdom of heaven in the next life: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be given you besides.” Mt. 6: 33

“Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

We are now in second year (as of 4 July 2011) of  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us how very special is the Holy Eucharist:  “O precious wonderful banquet that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness……No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it, sins are purged away, virtues are increased and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.”  “Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: Walk in the Spirit first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

25 September  2011

“But fear seized upon all, and they began to glorify God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us,’ and ‘God has visited his people.’”

Lk. 7:16

            Today’s liturgy is dominated by the Gospel in which Jesus Christ, who is “the resurrection and the life” Jn. 11:25 raises the widow’s son from the dead.  This is the same Jesus who appears on our altars,  gives us life and  raises us from the dead. “It is important to stress this connection between the Gospel and the altar, because it is all very well to think of the Gospel as history in which we are taught divine truths which unite us to God. But there is more to it than that; we must love the Gospel by means of its mystical significance. When the Church chooses a passage of the Gospel to include in the Mass, she does so with the idea that, not only will it reveal  certain facts  to us about our religion, but also so that, through the whole sacrifice, sacraments, and prayers of the liturgy, we shall draw abundant fruit for our souls. We shall begin to live what we have heard.”  The Preacher’s Encyclopedia, Twelfth to Last Sundays after Pentecost, p. 152   In today’s Epistle (Gal. 5:25-26; 6: 1-10) St. Paul again emphasizes, as we saw in the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the conflict between the flesh and the spirit:  “For what a man sows, he will reap. For he who sows in the flesh also will reap corruption. But he who sows in the spirit will reap life everlasting.” Gal. 5: 8  The one hope that we all have is seen in today’s Gospel (Lk. 7:11-16) where Jesus raises “the only son of his mother” Lk. 7:12 in the town of Naim (means beautiful, delightful, pleasing).  Here we see the theme that runs through today’s liturgy:  “Whatever good there is in us is the fruit of His grace…Without Jesus we would abide in death; without Him we could never live the glorious life of the Spirit described by St. Paul in today’s Epistle.” Fr. Gabriel of St. Magdalen, OCD,  Divine Intimacy, p. 880

“…he who sows in the spirit will reap life everlasting.” Ga. 5: 8

Dom Prosper Gueranger in his The Liturgical Life, Vol. 13 comments on the spiritual life produced in our souls by the Holy Spirit:  “When the flesh has been subdued, we must beware of supposing that the structure of our perfection is completed. Not only must the combat be kept up after the victory, under penalty of losing all we have won, but we must also be on the watch, lest one or other of the heads of the triple concupiscence (the world, the flesh and the devil) take advantage of the soul’s efforts being elsewhere directed to raise itself against us, and sting us all the more terribly, because it is left to do just as it pleases.  The apostle warns us here of vain-glory, and well he may; for vain-glory is, more than other enemies always in a menacing attitude ready to in infuse its subtle poison even into acts of humility and penance…Would to God we could ever have ringing in our ears the saying of the apostle: “Whilst we have time, let us work good to all men” Gal. 6:10 …Then will man reap with joy what he shall have sown in tears (cf  Ps. 125:5); he failed not, he grew not weary of doing  good while in the dreary land of his exile; still less will he ever tire of the everlasting harvest which is to be in the living light of the eternal day.” Gueranger, p. 346, 348 & 349) “… he who sows in the spirit will reap life everlasting.” Ga. 5: 8

Jesus is our only Life

            “The thought that Jesus is our Life shines forth even more in the Gospel.  The Master meets the sad funeral procession of a young man. His mother is walking  beside the bier, weeping. ‘And the Lord, seeing her, had compassion on her, and said to her: ‘Weep not.’ And he came near and touched the bier… And He said: ‘Young man, I say to thee, arise…’ And He gave him to his mother.” (Lk. 7:13-4) Fr. Gabriel, p. 881  Jesus not only restores the son to life, but, in The  Commentary on the Gospel of Luke According to Cornelius a Lapide, He also restores  the souls of  all sinners to the life of grace:  “Allegorically, the widow is the Church, who mourns her dead sons—that is Christians who through mortal sin have been deprived of God’s grace, which is life, as it were, the soul of the soul—and by her tears begs forgiveness for them and the life of grace. Therefore, Christ 1. Halts the funeral procession, i.e., checks and restrains those passions which gain mastery over the young, so that the sinner may no longer follow them.  2. Touches the bier, i.e., the wood of the cross, sinners are moved by God to   repentance and filled with grace.  Hence, 3. The dead man sits up and begins to speak, i.e., begins to do good and to praise God, so that astonishment  seizes all those who witness such a great and godly chance and they glorify God with one voice. So St. Ambrose, Euthymius, Theophylact, and Bede (in loco), as St. Augustine (serm. 44 de Verbis Domini).  We have a living example of this in St. Monica, who as a widow mourned unceasingly for her son, Augustine, who was dead in heresy and wantonness, and she recalled him by her prayers and tears to such holiness of life that he became an eminent doctor of the Church, as he himself relates in his Confessions. Again, more particularly, the widow is the Church, the son—the people of the gentiles barred by the plank of   concupiscence—and as the wood which brought death and to which it has grown accustomed—and as it were enclosed in bier, i.e., by the wood of the cross, Christ restored to life.”  a Lapide, p. 377.

The miracle of the soul’s conversion

            In another spiritual interpretation of this miracle (tropologically), from a moral point of view, Cornelius a Lapide sees how pastors of the Church should act towards sinners:  “Tropologically, in the example of this widow we see how a pastor or a rector or a confessor should act when any of his weak spiritual children should happen to fall into mortal sin and are being borne to the grave of everlasting despair. He should follow the funeral procession with his fellow citizens, i.e., with weeping, wailing, and much lamentation, for thus his soul will receive comfort from the Lord who: 1. Touching the bier will cause the pallbearers to stand still, i.e., will put an end to lusts;  2. Will recall the dead to life; and 3. Will raise him up to the practice of the virtues, so that he may speak and confess his sins and proclaim the loving kindness of God.  Thus at last he is restored to the Church, his mother, whose past sorrow will be eclipsed by her present joy, and thus also many will marvel and be led to extol the goodness of God.” A Lapide, p. 337-8.

Spiritual Meaning of Jesus’ Miracles of raising the dead to life

            Cornelius a Lapide sees in the three people whom Jesus raised from the dead a spiritual  (moral or tropological) significance.  “We read that Christ raised three people to life. 1. The daughter of the ruler of the synagogue in the house, i.e. one who sins in the thoughts and intention. 2. The son of the widow at the gate, i.e. one who manifests his sinful intention in words, and misleads others. 3. Lazarus in the tomb, i.e. the consummate sinner who by repeating an action has contracted the habit of sin, so that he lies as it were buried in sin without hope of salvation or resurrection. The first, Christ raised  to life by secret prayer apart from others; the second by a command;  the third by crying with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ Jn. 11:43  This is because a sin in thought only is easily cured; more difficult is a sin in speech; and the most difficult is the sin that is actually and repeatedly committed, in which a person lies as though asleep, indeed as though dead and buried. Hence it is necessary for Christ to cry aloud in a mighty voice to the sinner’s heart, so that he may come to his senses.” a Lapide, p. 378  In Jesus’ three miracles of raising the dead, there is also a spiritual meaning of the increased seriousness of sins of the thought, word and deed.

“If anyone eat of this bread, he will live forever;…” Jn. 6:51

How blessed we are when we come to Holy Mass and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  Jesus comes to give us life everlasting.  He promised us this when He said: “I am the living bread that has come down heaven. If anyone eat of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of world.”  Jn. 6: 51-2  This is one of Jesus’ most important promises; He promises us life everlasting when we come to receive His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist at Mass.  Even if we are spiritually dead through mortal  sin, He will raise us up, like He did with the only son of widow of Naim,  by forgiving our sins in the sacrament of Penance through the priests of His Church.  How blessed are those who live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ for they will  have life everlasting.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow!”

(Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2,  176-185)

This week here at Lanherne, we have had sorrow that  Fra George M. Flahive, FI has left us to go to Italy to learn Italian in preparation for  his studies for the priesthood next year.  This week, we also  have had joy that  Fra Rosario M. Ebanks, FI is returning to his homeland (England) to  spend this year in our community  here in Lanherne.  How much of life is filled with joy and sorrow combined!  The great English playwright, William Shakespeare, understood this aspect of life.  How much Catholic theology is in his plays.  Recently, the English author Joseph Pearce wrote a book on Shakespeare’s Catholic identity called The Quest for Shakespeare. One reviewer, Peter Kreeft, PH.D. of Boston College, said this of Pearce’s book: “In his book Pearce will trace the consequences of Shakespeare’s Catholicism in his plays. In this book, he proves it historically.  I mean proves in  it. (Pearce would make a formidable lawyer.) The evidence is simply overwhelming.”

The Catenians: Strengthening family through friendship and faith.

         The Plymouth Circle of the  Catenian Association will sponsor a lecture by Fr. Ian Ker on “Blessed John Cardinal Newman and the Second Vatican Council” at the Plymouth Cathedral of St. Boniface and Our Lady on Thursday, 29^th September at 7:30 PM. “…With his major biography of  Cardinal Newman some years ago, Dr. Ker has become a renowned scholar of Newman’s life, studies, teaching and theology.”  Admission is free.

“Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

We are now in our second year of (as of 4 July 2011) of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us how very special is the Holy Eucharist:  “O precious wonderful banquet that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness……No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it, sins are purged away, virtues are increased and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.”  “Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: God has visited his people. first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

2 October 2011

“For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” Lk. 14:11

In today’s liturgy, we are given passages which celebrate the incredible riches of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the Epistle (Ephesians 3:13-21), St. Paul, although he is in chains in Rome, celebrates “the unfathomable riches of Christ.” Eph. 3:8 Today’s Gospel ( Luke 14:1-11), we see the miraculous power of Jesus in curing the man with dropsy and his divine wisdom in counteracting the pride of the Pharisees with the “Parable of Choosing the Lowest Place at Table.” Only divine wisdom could have challenged the Pharisees in their custom of choosing the first place for themselves at banquets. By telling them to humble themselves and pick the lowest place at table, Jesus rebukes them for their pride in attacking Him for curing the man of dropsy on the Sabbath. He also reveals their own covetousness for honours and esteem before men. In teaching them of the need for humility, Jesus is revealing the importance of humility in order to enter the heavenly kingdom He has prepared for them. Earlier, in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul had extolled this wonderful plan of God for all mankind: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing on high in Christ. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish in his sight in love.” Eph. 1: 3-4 In today’s Epistle, St. Paul praises the blessed calling of all Christians: “…and to have Christ dwelling through faith in your hearts: so that being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled unto all fullness of God.” Eph. 3: 17-19

The Mystery of Christ Dwelling in Man

Dom Prosper Gueranger in his book, The Liturgical Life Vol. 11 comments on the plenitude of God which is given to the soul who believes in Jesus Christ. “For, God alone, as he tells us in the music we have just heard, can strengthen in us the inward man enough to make us understand, as the saints do, the dimensions (‘breadth, length, height and depth’) of the great mystery of Christ ‘dwelling’ in man, and ‘dwelling’ in him for the purpose of ‘filling him with the plenitude of God.’ Therefore is it, that falling on his knees before him from whom flows every perfect gift, and who has begotten us in truth by his love (cf. Jas. 1:17-8), our apostle (Paul) asks God to open, by faith and charity, the eyes of our heart, that we may be able to understand the splendid riches of the inheritance He reserves to His children, and the exceeding greatness of the divine power used in our favour, even in this life.” Gueranger, p. 359 The Holy Spirit opens to us the riches of God’s grace for those who will penetrate the mystery of the predestination to holiness in love for all those who will be “the praise of the glory of his grace.” (Eph. 1:6) Dom Gueranger comments on this high calling of the followers of Christ: “It is there that divine Wisdom reveals to the perfect that great secret of love, which is not known by the wise and the princes of this world—secret which the eye had not before seen, nor the ear heard, nor the heart even suspected as possible (cf. I Cor. 2: 6-9) …The world was not as yet existing (“before the foundation of the world” Eph. 1: 4), and already God saw us in His Word (Christ) (cf. Eph. 1:4); to each one among us, He assigned the place he was to hold in the body of His Christ (cf. I Cor. 12:12-31; Eph. 4:12-16)), already, His fatherly eye beheld us clad with that grace (cf. Eph. 1:6) which made Him well-pleased with the Man-God; and He predestinated us (cf. Eph. 1:4-5), as being members of this His beloved Son, to sit with Him, on His right hand, in the highest heavens.. It is from the voluntary and culpable death of sin (cf. Eph. 2:1-5) that he calls us to that life which is His own life… Let us then be holy for the sake of giving praise to the glory of such grace (cf. Eph. 1: 4, 6) …Thus, too, is to be wrought that mystery which, from all eternity, was the object of God’s eternal designs: the mystery, that is, of divine union, realized by our Lord Jesus uniting, in His own Person, in infinite love, both earth and heaven.” Gueranger, p. 361-2 Oh, how exalted is the calling of men to be Sons of God and “the praise of His glory” in heaven for all eternity.

The Heavenly Marriage Banquet

In a veiled way, the essential message of today’s Gospel is the practical fulfilment of what St. Paul is speaking about in today’s Epistle the predestination of the elect to the heavenly marriage banquet. Dom Gueranger comments on this calling: “The wedding spoken of in today’s Gospel is that of heaven, of which there is a prelude given here below, by the union effected in the sacred banquet of Holy Communion. The divine invitation is made to all; and the invitation is not like that which is given on the occasion of earthly weddings, to which the bridegroom and bride invite their friends and relatives as simple witnesses to the union contracted between two individuals. In the Gospel wedding, Christ is the Bridegroom, and the Church is the bride (cf. Apoc. 19:7)…. But, for the attainment of all this—that is, that our Lord Jesus Christ may have that full control over the soul and its powers which makes her to be truly His, and subjects her to Him as the bride to her Spouse (cf. I Cor. 11:8-10) – it is necessary that all alien competition be entirely and definitively put aside.” Gueranger, p. 365.

Loss of Spiritual Ardour

In today’s Gospel, we see how Jesus stresses the importance of seeking God alone and not the honours of men in order to attain divine union. In a dramatic manner, as the Pharisees watch Him to see if He will break the Sabbath by curing the man with dropsy, Jesus not only cures the man with dropsy, but He reveals the serious sickness in the souls of the Pharisees. According to Dom Gueranger, quoting St. Ambrose, the man with dropsy represents “a morbid exuberance of humours, which stupefy the soul, and induce total extinction of spiritual ardour.” Gueranger, p. 367-6 Ven. Bede also shows that this loss of spiritual ardour is caused by lustful desires: “The dropsical man represents one who is weighed down by an overflowing stream of carnal pleasures, for it is a sickness named after the watery humour. But specifically the dropsical man is the covetous rich man who, the more he abounds in riches, the more ardently desires them, says St. Augustine.” The Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide, p. 540 Jesus cures the dropsical man of his covetousness for this world’s goods so that he can seek the riches of God. In reading the minds of the Pharisees, He also shows how His cure is just exactly what everyone else would do: “Which of you shall have an ass or a an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him up on the Sabbath.” Lk. 14: 5. The pride of the Pharisees has blinded them so that they condemn Jesus for delivering a man from sickness, even though they themselves would do the same for one of their own animals

“…he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”

Lk. 14:11

Dom Gueranger commenting on the evil attitude of the Pharisees tells us of the importance of humility if we are going to be accepted in the heavenly feast as Christ’s bride: “But, as above all, it is to the constant attitude of humility that he must especially direct his attention who would secure a prominent place in the divine feast of the nuptials.” Gueranger, p. 366 Jesus had spoken the “Parable of the First Seats at Table” to show that the Pharisees are ambitious and proud to presume to take the first places at a wedding banquet.“Now Christ demonstrates how unbecoming it is to vie for the first seat at table, and thereby he silently demonstrates, by way of analogy, how unbecoming ambition is in any matter whatsoever. For sin continues to be sin, although the matter may differ from one case to the next.” A Lapide, p. 341-2. Although Jesus is commenting on the ambition of seeking the first place, He is primarily teaching us all that the only way to the heavenly banquet table is one of humility. “For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” Lk. 14:11 Those who wrongfully desire the praise of men will not be worthy to enter the heavenly banquet as brides of Christ.

Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

“….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14) Pope Benedict XVI, “Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland.” 3 March 2010 We are now in our second year of adoration (as of 4 July 2011). . Please sign up as an adorer.

The Five First Saturdays

By 1925 Lucia, who was now 18, had become a postulant with the Sisters of St Dorothy at Pontevedra in Spain, and on Thursday 10 December, the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by the Child Jesus on a little cloud, appeared to her in her cell. Then Mary said: “My daughter, look at My Heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: Whoever Exalts Himself … first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

9 October   2011

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk in the manner worthy of  the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,…” Eph. 4:1-2

In today’s readings, the Church teaches us that the vocation of the Christian is to love God and one another.  It is the most exalted of vocations because it leads to union with God here on earth and the guarantee of our eternal union with God in heaven.  Dom Gueranger in his The Liturgical Year Vol. 11 sums up in the Epistle (Ephesians 4:1-6) St. Paul’s  teaching on the Church “…the dignity of her children. She beseeches them to correspond, in a becoming manner, to their high vocation. This vocation, this call, which God gives us is, as we have been so often told, the call, or invitation, made to the human family to come to the sacred nuptials  of divine union; it is the vocation given to us to reign in heaven with the Word, who has made Himself our Spouse, and our Head (cf. Eph. 2:5).” Gueranger, p. 374  “I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk in the manner worthy of  the calling with which  you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,…” Eph. 4:1-2   In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22: 34-46) Jesus  is tested by Pharisees about “which is the great commandment in the Law”  (Mt. 22:36).  He eludes their trap and repeats the Old Testament teaching on the need to love God  and one’s neighbour: “’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.’ (Deut. 6:5) This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ (Lev. 19:18) On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Mt. 22: 37-40   The “love” of which Jesus speaks is what St. Paul describes  as the practice of  “humility, meekness and patience.”

The Glorious Bond of Charity

Dom Gueranger tells us “what we must do to prove ourselves worthy of the high honour offered to us by the Son of God.  We must practise, among other virtues, these three—humility, mildness, and patience.  These are the means for gaining the end that is so generously proposed to us.  And what is that end?  It is the unity of that immense body, which the Son of God makes His, by the mystic nuptials He vouchsafes to celebrate with our human nature. This Man-God asks one condition from those whom He calls, whom He invites, to become, through the Church, His bride, bone of His bones and flesh of  His flesh (cf. Eph. 5:30).  This one condition is, that they maintain such harmony among them that it will make one body  and one  spirit of them all, the bond of peace.  ‘Bond most glorious!’ cries out St. John Chrysostom—‘bond most admirable, which unites us all with one another, and then, thus united, unites us with God.’ (Ep. Ad Eph., Hom. IX, 8)  The strength of this bond is the strength of the holy Spirit Himself, who is all holiness and love; for it is that holy Spirit who forms these spiritual and divine ties; He it is who, with the countless multitudes  of the  baptized, does the work which the soul does  in the human body—that is, gives it life, and unites all the members into oneness of person. It is by the Holy Ghost that young and old, poor and rich, men and women, distinct as all these are in other respects, are made one, fused, so to say, in the fire which eternally burns in the Blessed Trinity. But in  order that the flame of infinite love may thus draw into its embrace our regenerated  humanity, we must get rid of selfish rivalries, and grudges, and dissensions, which, so long as they exist among us, prove us to be carnal (cf. I Cor. 3:3), and, therefore, to be unfit material either for the divine flame to touch, or for the union which that flame produces.” Gueranger, p. 374-5

The Great Commandment

            In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22:34-46), we see how the Pharisees fail in their attempt to trick Jesus into denying the greatest commandment of the law.  “….they (the Pharisees) wanted to see if Jesus, who had declared Himself to be God, would not, consequently, make some addition to the commandment of divine love; and if He did they would be justified in condemning Him as having tried to change the letter of the law in its greatest commandment (St. Chrysostom, Hom. 77 in Matt.). Our Lord disappointed  them. He met their question by giving it a longer answer than they had asked for. Having first recited the text of the great commandment as given in the Scriptures, he continued the quotation, and, by so doing, showed them that He was not ignorant of the intention which had induced them to question Him.  He reminded them of the second commandment, like unto the first, the commandment of love of our neighbour, which condemned their intended crime of deicide (crucifixion of Jesus).  Thus were they convicted of loving neither their neighbour, nor God Himself, for the first commandment cannot be observed if the second, which flows from and  completes it, be broken.”  Gueranger, p. 380-1

Denial of Jesus’ Divinity

            Jesus not only shows how the Pharisees lack love of God and neighbour, but they also lack faith as they refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  Dom Gueranger shows how Jesus proves that they are blinded in their hatred of Him: “He (Jesus) put a  question, in His turn, to them, and they answer it by saying, as they were obliged to do, that the Christ was to be of the family of David; but if he  be his Son, how comes it that David calls Him his Lord, just as he calls God Himself, as we have it in Psalm 109 (Ps. 109:1: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool.’), where he celebrates the glories of the Messiah?  The only possible explanation is, that the Messiah, who in due time, and as Man, was to be born of David’s house, was God, and Son of God, even before time existed, according to the same psalm: ‘From my womb, before the day-star, I begot thee.’ Ps. 109:3 This answer would have condemned the Pharisees, so they refused to give it; but their silence was an avowal; and, before very long, the eternal Father’s vengeance (The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD) upon these vile enemies of His Son will fulfil the prophecy of making them His footstool in blood and shame: that time is to be the terrible day when the justice of God will fall upon the deicide city.” Gueranger, p. 381-2

Love of God Fulfils the Law

            Unlike the Jews who rejected Christ and the law, the Christians, by loving Jesus, fulfil the whole law.  Dom Gueranger contrasts the love of the Christians with the rejection of the Pharisees: “The Jews by rejecting Christ Jesus, sinned against both of the commandments which constitute charity, and embody the whole law; and we, on the contrary, by loving that same Jesus, fulfil the whole law. Jesus is the brightness  of eternal glory (cf. Heb. 1:3) one, by nature, with the Father and the Holy Ghost; He is the God whom the first commandment bids us love, and it is in Him also that the second has its truest  and adequate application….Nothing counts with God, excepting so far as it has reference to Jesus. As St. Augustine says (in Joan. Trace cx). God loves men only inasmuch as they either are, or may one day become members of His Son; it is His Son that He loves in them; thus He loves, with one same love though not equally, His Word, and the Flesh of His Word, and the members of His Incarnate Word. Now, charity is love—love such as it is in God, communicated to us creatures by the Holy Ghost.  Therefore, what we should love, by charity, both in ourselves, and in others, is the divine Word, either as being, or, according to another expression of the same St. Augustine, ‘that He may be’ in others and in ourselves.’(Serm. cclv., in dieb pasch.) ….The question is St. Augustine’s again (Epist. lxi). ‘Who can love Christ without loving, with Him, the Church, which is His body?  Without loving all His members? What we do—be it to the least, or be it to the worthiest, be it of evil, or of good—it is to Him we do it, for He tells us so (cf. Mt. 25: 40-45). Then let us love our neighbour as ourselves, because of Christ, who is in each of us, and who gives to us all union and increase of charity.’” (cf. Eph. 4:15, 16)  Gueranger, p.382-3

“Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

   “….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14)     Pope Benedict XVI, “Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland.” 3 March 2010   We are now in our second year of adoration (as of 4 July 2011).  Please sign up as an adorer.

The Five First Saturdays

By 1925 Lucia, who was now 18, had become a postulant with the Sisters of St Dorothy at Pontevedra in Spain, and on Thursday 10 December, the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by the Child Jesus on a little cloud, appeared to her in her cell. Then Mary said: “My daughter, look at My Heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”  If only we would do what Our Lady asks, we would be assured of eternal salvation.  Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we keep the Five First Saturdays!

The post first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

9 October   2011

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk in the manner worthy of  the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,…” Eph. 4:1-2

In today’s readings, the Church teaches us that the vocation of the Christian is to love God and one another.  It is the most exalted of vocations because it leads to union with God here on earth and the guarantee of our eternal union with God in heaven.  Dom Gueranger in his The Liturgical Year Vol. 11 sums up in the Epistle (Ephesians 4:1-6) St. Paul’s  teaching on the Church “…the dignity of her children. She beseeches them to correspond, in a becoming manner, to their high vocation. This vocation, this call, which God gives us is, as we have been so often told, the call, or invitation, made to the human family to come to the sacred nuptials  of divine union; it is the vocation given to us to reign in heaven with the Word, who has made Himself our Spouse, and our Head (cf. Eph. 2:5).” Gueranger, p. 374  “I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk in the manner worthy of  the calling with which  you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,…” Eph. 4:1-2   In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22: 34-46) Jesus  is tested by Pharisees about “which is the great commandment in the Law”  (Mt. 22:36).  He eludes their trap and repeats the Old Testament teaching on the need to love God  and one’s neighbour: “’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.’ (Deut. 6:5) This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ (Lev. 19:18) On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Mt. 22: 37-40   The “love” of which Jesus speaks is what St. Paul describes  as the practice of  “humility, meekness and patience.”

The Glorious Bond of Charity

Dom Gueranger tells us “what we must do to prove ourselves worthy of the high honour offered to us by the Son of God.  We must practise, among other virtues, these three—humility, mildness, and patience.  These are the means for gaining the end that is so generously proposed to us.  And what is that end?  It is the unity of that immense body, which the Son of God makes His, by the mystic nuptials He vouchsafes to celebrate with our human nature. This Man-God asks one condition from those whom He calls, whom He invites, to become, through the Church, His bride, bone of His bones and flesh of  His flesh (cf. Eph. 5:30).  This one condition is, that they maintain such harmony among them that it will make one body  and one  spirit of them all, the bond of peace.  ‘Bond most glorious!’ cries out St. John Chrysostom—‘bond most admirable, which unites us all with one another, and then, thus united, unites us with God.’ (Ep. Ad Eph., Hom. IX, 8)  The strength of this bond is the strength of the holy Spirit Himself, who is all holiness and love; for it is that holy Spirit who forms these spiritual and divine ties; He it is who, with the countless multitudes  of the  baptized, does the work which the soul does  in the human body—that is, gives it life, and unites all the members into oneness of person. It is by the Holy Ghost that young and old, poor and rich, men and women, distinct as all these are in other respects, are made one, fused, so to say, in the fire which eternally burns in the Blessed Trinity. But in  order that the flame of infinite love may thus draw into its embrace our regenerated  humanity, we must get rid of selfish rivalries, and grudges, and dissensions, which, so long as they exist among us, prove us to be carnal (cf. I Cor. 3:3), and, therefore, to be unfit material either for the divine flame to touch, or for the union which that flame produces.” Gueranger, p. 374-5

The Great Commandment

            In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22:34-46), we see how the Pharisees fail in their attempt to trick Jesus into denying the greatest commandment of the law.  “….they (the Pharisees) wanted to see if Jesus, who had declared Himself to be God, would not, consequently, make some addition to the commandment of divine love; and if He did they would be justified in condemning Him as having tried to change the letter of the law in its greatest commandment (St. Chrysostom, Hom. 77 in Matt.). Our Lord disappointed  them. He met their question by giving it a longer answer than they had asked for. Having first recited the text of the great commandment as given in the Scriptures, he continued the quotation, and, by so doing, showed them that He was not ignorant of the intention which had induced them to question Him.  He reminded them of the second commandment, like unto the first, the commandment of love of our neighbour, which condemned their intended crime of deicide (crucifixion of Jesus).  Thus were they convicted of loving neither their neighbour, nor God Himself, for the first commandment cannot be observed if the second, which flows from and  completes it, be broken.”  Gueranger, p. 380-1

Denial of Jesus’ Divinity

            Jesus not only shows how the Pharisees lack love of God and neighbour, but they also lack faith as they refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  Dom Gueranger shows how Jesus proves that they are blinded in their hatred of Him: “He (Jesus) put a  question, in His turn, to them, and they answer it by saying, as they were obliged to do, that the Christ was to be of the family of David; but if he  be his Son, how comes it that David calls Him his Lord, just as he calls God Himself, as we have it in Psalm 109 (Ps. 109:1: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool.’), where he celebrates the glories of the Messiah?  The only possible explanation is, that the Messiah, who in due time, and as Man, was to be born of David’s house, was God, and Son of God, even before time existed, according to the same psalm: ‘From my womb, before the day-star, I begot thee.’ Ps. 109:3 This answer would have condemned the Pharisees, so they refused to give it; but their silence was an avowal; and, before very long, the eternal Father’s vengeance (The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD) upon these vile enemies of His Son will fulfil the prophecy of making them His footstool in blood and shame: that time is to be the terrible day when the justice of God will fall upon the deicide city.” Gueranger, p. 381-2

Love of God Fulfils the Law

            Unlike the Jews who rejected Christ and the law, the Christians, by loving Jesus, fulfil the whole law.  Dom Gueranger contrasts the love of the Christians with the rejection of the Pharisees: “The Jews by rejecting Christ Jesus, sinned against both of the commandments which constitute charity, and embody the whole law; and we, on the contrary, by loving that same Jesus, fulfil the whole law. Jesus is the brightness  of eternal glory (cf. Heb. 1:3) one, by nature, with the Father and the Holy Ghost; He is the God whom the first commandment bids us love, and it is in Him also that the second has its truest  and adequate application….Nothing counts with God, excepting so far as it has reference to Jesus. As St. Augustine says (in Joan. Trace cx). God loves men only inasmuch as they either are, or may one day become members of His Son; it is His Son that He loves in them; thus He loves, with one same love though not equally, His Word, and the Flesh of His Word, and the members of His Incarnate Word. Now, charity is love—love such as it is in God, communicated to us creatures by the Holy Ghost.  Therefore, what we should love, by charity, both in ourselves, and in others, is the divine Word, either as being, or, according to another expression of the same St. Augustine, ‘that He may be’ in others and in ourselves.’(Serm. cclv., in dieb pasch.) ….The question is St. Augustine’s again (Epist. lxi). ‘Who can love Christ without loving, with Him, the Church, which is His body?  Without loving all His members? What we do—be it to the least, or be it to the worthiest, be it of evil, or of good—it is to Him we do it, for He tells us so (cf. Mt. 25: 40-45). Then let us love our neighbour as ourselves, because of Christ, who is in each of us, and who gives to us all union and increase of charity.’” (cf. Eph. 4:15, 16)  Gueranger, p.382-3

“Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

   “….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14)     Pope Benedict XVI, “Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland.” 3 March 2010   We are now in our second year of adoration (as of 4 July 2011).  Please sign up as an adorer.

The Five First Saturdays

By 1925 Lucia, who was now 18, had become a postulant with the Sisters of St Dorothy at Pontevedra in Spain, and on Thursday 10 December, the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by the Child Jesus on a little cloud, appeared to her in her cell. Then Mary said: “My daughter, look at My Heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”  If only we would do what Our Lady asks, we would be assured of eternal salvation.  Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we keep the Five First Saturdays!

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: Love God and One Another first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

16 October 2011

“… that you lack no grace, while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 1: 7

Dom Prosper Gueranger in his book on the liturgy, The Liturgical Life Vol. 11, tells us that today’s readings contain a most important truth of the Second Coming of Christ. This truth filled the early Church with both hopeful joy and fearful anxiety: “The last coming of the Son of Man is no longer far off! The approach of that final event, which is to put the Church in full possession of her divine Spouse, redoubles her hopes; but the last judgment, which is also to pronounce the eternal perdition of so great a number of her children, mingles fear with her desire; and these two sentiments of hers will henceforth be continually brought forward in the holy liturgy. It is evident that expectation has been, so to say, an essential characteristic of her existence… This explains how it is that the apostles, the interpreters of the Church’s aspirations, are continually recurring to the subject of the near approach of our Lord’s coming. St. Paul has just been telling us, and that twice over in the same breath, that the Christian is who waiteth for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the day of His coming… ‘The Lord delayeth not His promise, as some imagine; but dealeth patiently, for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance. But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence; and the elements shall be melted with heat; and the earth, and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up…’” Gueranger, p. 396-8 This is why St. Paul in today’s Epistle (I Cor. 1:4-7) wants us always to be ready: “… that you lack no grace, while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 1: 7 This is also why the Church includes in today’s Gospel (Mt. 9:1-8) Jesus’ miraculous cureof the paralytic whose bodily paralysis reveals the more important sickness of his soul: “Take courage, son, thy sins are forgiven thee.” Mt. 9:2 Only with the forgiveness of sins could the members of the early Church ever hope for eternal salvation at the Second Coming of Jesus.

“…he made an evening sacrifice to the Lord.”

These words of today’s Offertory Antiphon show how the preceding Epistle corresponds to the Gospel (Mt. 9:1-8). The Scribes and Pharisees have become evil in their role as the teachers of the Mosaic Law and have not taught the people truthfully. Quoting the Abbot Rupert, Dom Gueranger comments on their false teachings: “Let him not imitate those men, who unworthily sat on the chair of Moses; but let him follow the example of Moses himself, who in the Offertory and its verses, presents the heads of the Church with such a model of perfection. Pastors of souls ought, on no account to be ignorant of the reason why they are placed higher than other men: it is not so much that they may govern others, as that they may serve them.’” (Rupert, Div. Off., xii. 18) Although they were his successors, the Scribes and Pharisees lack the true spirit of Moses. This is why they reject Jesus and refuse to see how His miraculous cure of the paralytic is a sign that He is God and can forgive sins.

“Thy sins are forgiven thee…” Mt. 9: 2

The Church placed today’s Gospel on the forgiveness of sins in the Sunday following the Ember Days of September because this was the time for the ordination of priests who are the ministers of reconciliation. Only the hard-hearted Pharisees could find fault with Jesus in the tender account of this miracle in which He cures a paralytic: “And behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a pallet. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; thy sins are forgiven thee.’ And behold, some of the Scribes said within themselves, ‘This man blasphemes.’ And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you harbour evil thoughts in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins’ Mt. 9:2-3 (In St. Luke’s Gospel (cf. Lk.5:18-26), the paralytic is let down from the rooftop by his four friends.) In his commentary on this passage, Dom Gueranger says: “From the very beginning of Christianity, heretics had risen up denying that the Church had the power, which her divine Head gave her, of remitting sin. Such false teachings would irretrievably condemn to spiritual death an immense number of Christians, who, unhappily, had fallen after their Baptism, but who, according to Catholic dogma, might be restored to grace by the sacrament of Penance. With what energy, then would our mother Church defend the remedy which gives life to her children! She uttered her anathemas upon, and drove from her communion, those Pharisees of the new law, who, like their Jewish predecessors, refused to acknowledge the infinite mercy and universality of the great mystery of the Redemption….The outward cure of the paralytic was both the image and the proof of the cure of his soul, which previously had been in a state of moral paralysis; but he himself represented another sufferer, viz., the human race, which for ages had been victim to the palsy of sin. Our Lord had already left the earth, when the faith of the apostles achieved this, their first prodigy, of bringing to the Church the world grown old in its infirmity. Finding that the human race was docile to the teaching of the divine messengers, and was already an imitator of their faith, the Church spoke as a mother, and said: ‘Be of good heart, son! Thy sins are forgiven thee!’ At once, to the astonishment of the philosophers and sceptics, and to the confusion of hell, the world rose up from its long and deep humiliation; and, to prove how thoroughly his strength had been restored to him, he was seen carrying on his shoulders, by the labour of penance and the mastery over his passions, the bed of his old exhaustion and feebleness, on which pride, lust, and covetousness had so long held him. From that time forward, complying with the word of Jesus, which was also said to him by the Church, he has been going on towards his house, which is heaven, where eternal joy awaits him! And the angels, beholding such a spectacle of conversion and holiness (cf. Lk. 5:26), are in amazement, and sing glory to God, who gave such power to men.” Gueranger, p. 404-5 How grateful we should be to God for forgiving our sins!

“…that you lack no grace, while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 4:7

Fr. Gabriel of St. Magdalen, OCD in his book of meditations, Divine Intimacy, sums up the great blessings which come from Jesus Christ: “Yes, every grace, every gift comes to us from Jesus, and through them our person and our life are sanctified. By means of sanctifying grace, He sanctifies our soul; through the infused virtues, He sanctifies our faculties; and by actual grace, He sanctifies our activity, enabling us to act supernaturally. Yet even this does not satisfy his liberality: He is not content with setting us on the road to God, supernaturalized by grace and the virtues, but He wishes to substitute His divine way of acting for our human way; therefore, He enriches us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which make us capable of being moved by God Himself. All this is the gift of Jesus to us, the fruit of His Passion….It seems as if Jesus, the true Son of God, is not jealous of His divinity or His prerogatives, but seeks every possible means to make us share by grace what He possesses by nature. How true it is that the characteristic of love is to give oneself and to place those one loves on a plane of equality with oneself!” Fr. Gabriel, p. 944-5 How true are the words of St. Paul in today’s Epistle: “… that you lack no grace, while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 1: 7

“Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

“….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14) Pope Benedict XVI, “Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland.” 3 March 2010 We are now in our second year of adoration (as of 4 July 2011). Please sign up as an adorer.

The Five First Saturdays

Our Lady told Sr. Lucia in 1925 “…I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.” If only we would do what Our Lady asks, we would be assured of eternal salvation. Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we keep The Five First Saturdays!

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: The 2nd Coming first appeared on AirMaria.com.

19^th Sunday After Pentecost

23 October 2011

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Mt. 22:14

In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22:1-14), we  see the continuation of  Jesus’ parables in which He explains how the Kingdom of  Heaven is made available to men, but they, for  various reasons, do not accept the invitation of God. In today’s parable of the “Marriage Feast,” we see how the King gives a marriage feast for his son and invites guests to it. According to Bl. Don Columba Marmion, OSB, this marriage feast by the king is actually the marriage feast of the Son of God who takes upon Himself a human nature. Pope St. Gregory the Great comments on the “Marriage Feast”:  “…that the King made a marriage for His Son, in that, by the mystery of the Incarnation, He united the Church to Him. The womb of the Virgin was the nuptial-chamber of that Bridegroom, of whom the psalmist says (Ps. 18:6): ‘He hast set His tabernacle in the sun: and He, as a Bridegroom, cometh out of His bride-chamber.’” Gueranger, The Liturgical Life, Vol. 11,  p. 419-20  In the  Epistle to Ephesians,  not in today’s Epistle  (Eph.4:23-28), St. Paul writes about the Church being the bride of Christ: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, cleansing her in the bath of water by means of his word; in order that he might present to himself the Church in all her glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:25-7. The Church, that is all the souls united to Jesus Christ in baptism, is the bride of Christ who will be brought to the heavenly “marriage feast….without spot or wrinkle” at the end of their lives.

 Holiness of union of love in God

In his commentary on today’s Epistle   Dom Prosper Gueranger writes in The Liturgical Life Vol. 11 about the holiness in the Blessed Trinity: “Let us call to mind how the holiness, which is in God, is His very truth living and harmonious, which is no other than the admirable concert of the Three divine Persons, united in love. We have seen that holiness, as far as it exists in us men, is also union, by infinite love, with the eternal and living Truth. The Word took a Body unto Himself in order to manifest in the Flesh this sanctifying and perfect truth ( cf. Jn. 1:14), of which He is the substantial expression ((cf. Heb. 1:3).  His Humanity, sanctified directly by the plenitude of the divine life  and truth, which dwell within Him (cf. Col. 2: 3, 9, 10), became the model, as well as the means, the way, of holiness to every creature ((cf. Jn. 14:6)….In Jesus, as the complement of His Incarnation, Wisdom aspires at uniting with herself all the members, also, of that human race, of which He is the Head (cf. Eph. 1:10), and First-born (cf. Col. 1:15-20); by Him the Holy Ghost, whose sacred fount He is (cf. Jn. 4:14), pours Himself out upon man, whereby to adapt him to his sublime vocation, and to consummate, in infinite love (which is Himself), that union of every creature with the divine Word. Thus it is that we verily partake of that life of God, whose existence  and holiness  are the knowledge and love of His own Word; thus it is that we are sanctified in truth (cf. Jn. 17:17) by the participation of that very holiness  wherewith God is holy by nature.” Gueranger, p. 412

“…and put on the new man which has been created according to God in justice, and holiness of truth.” Eph. 4:23

            St. Paul, in urging his followers to put on the new man in truth, shows us that the unifying principle in Jesus Christ for all of His members is the Holy Spirit of  truth and love. Dom Gueranger comments on  this unifying principle: “’May they all be one, as Thou, Father,  in Me, and I in Thee, said Jesus to His eternal Father, that they also may be one in us. I have given unto them the glory (that is to say, the holiness) which Thou hast given unto me, that they may be one as we also are one; I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be consummated (that is, be made perfect) in unity.’” (cf. 17:21-28) …By that sublime prayer, He explained what He had previously been saying: ‘I sanctified Myself for them, that they, also may sanctified in truth.’” (cf. Jn. 17:19) Gueranger, p.413

“…bond of peace”

            In the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes about being faithful to one’s calling: “…with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love careful to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit.” Eph. 4:2-4  This  unity of the Spirit is, according to Dom Gueranger, the principle for all: “It is the crowning of the sublimest vocations  in the order of grace as well as the foundation and reason of all God’s commandments; so truly so, indeed, that, if we are commanded to abstain from lying, and to speak the truth to them that live with us, the motive is that we are members one of another.”  Gueranger, p. 413-4  This is why St. Paul in today’s Epistle tells us: “Wherefore, put away lying and speak truth each one with his neighbour, because we are members of one  another. ‘Be angry and do not sin.’ (Ps. 4:5);  do not let the sun go down upon your anger: do not give place to the devil. He who was wont to steal, let him steal no longer, but rather let him labour, working with his hands at what is good, that he may have something to share with him who suffers need.”  Eph. 4:25-8  Only those who keep “the bond of peace” with one another can belong to Christ and enter the heavenly “marriage feast.”

Heavenly Marriage Feast

            Today’s Gospel is similar to the Gospel of Second Sunday after Pentecost (Lk. 14:16-24) which has “The Great Supper” to which many were invited.  St. Matthew’s “Marriage Feast” is fuller in details with a revelation of the true aim of the Church.  Dom Gueranger, in comparing the two gospels, says: “The certain man who made a great supper, and invited many, has become the King, who makes a marriage feast for His Son, and, in this marriage, gives us an image of the kingdom of heaven. The world’s history, too, has been developing, as we gather from the terms respectively used by the two Evangelists. Those who were first invited, and contented themselves with declining the kindness of the Master of the house, have grown in their impious ingratitude; laying hands on the messengers sent them by the loving kindness of the King, they treat them with contumely, and put them to death!  We have seen the merited punishment inflicted on these deicides, by this Man, who was God Himself, the Father of Israel, now become King of the Gentiles: we have  seen how He sent his armies to destroy them and burn their city. And now at last, in spite of the refusal of the invited of Juda, in spite of the treacherous opposition put them against the celebration of the nuptials of the Son of God, all things are ready for the marriage, and the banquet-hall is filled with guests.” Gueranger, p.417

Wedding Garment of Sanctifying Grace

The spiritual meaning of the “Parable of the Marriage Feast” contains the need for sanctifying grace to enter the heavenly “marriage feast.” All have been invited from the highways and crossroads of the land.  When the King enters, he notices one without a wedding garment. This wedding garment signifies the need on the part of the soul to have sanctifying grace. In the spiritual sense, the man has not kept the “bond of peace” because he has not kept the Commandments and has offended God  and his neighbour by his sins; therefore, the king has his hands and feet bound and casts him out into the darkness “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mt. 22:13   As we can see from today’s parable of  the “Marriage Feast,” “…many are called, but few are chosen.” Mt. 22:14   All have the invitation, but not all accept the invitation.  It is they who refuse to come either by rejecting Jesus Christ or by refusing to  repent after disobeying God’s Commandments.  We can be assured that we will be chosen for the heavenly “marriage feast” if we persevere in “the bond of peace” with love of God and our neighbour.

Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

   “….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14)     Pope Benedict XVI, “Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland.” 3 March 2010   We are now in our second year of adoration (as of 4 July 2011\0.  Please sign up as an adorer.

Sunday’s Offerings

There is no collection during Mass.  Please put your offerings for the needs of the monastery in the box at the main aisle  of the chapel.  Thank you for your kindness.  Remember, the message of St. Peter: “Charity covers a multitude of sins.” I Pt. 4:8

The Five First Saturdays

Our Lady told Sr. Lucia in 1925 “…I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”  If only we would do what Our Lady asks, we would be assured of eternal salvation.  Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we keep The Five First Saturdays! 

After Mass, we will have the veneration of  the skull of St. Cuthbert  who celebrated the Holy Mass here in this monastery when it belonged to the Arundells.

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: For many are called first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Last Sunday of October

30 October 2011

Feast of Christ the King

 “The Lamb that  was slain is worthy to receive power  and divinity and  wisdom and power and honour: to Him be glory and empire for ever and ever.”  Rev. 5:12 &  1:6

Firstborn of  All Creatures

Jesus is the firstborn of all creatures.  He gives the Father the greatest glory as Man because He is true God and loves the Father infinitely as God, the Son.   This is why the Father is so pleased with His Son.  Christ is the King for all eternity because He has given Himself for our ransom and has won for us our eternal salvation: “The Lord will reign forever and will give his people the gift of peace.” Ps. 28: 10-11  Jesus Christ is the “Son of Man” as He is both God and man.  He is the first-born of all creatures because He gives the Father the greatest glory.   This is why He is the “King of Kings” and the “Lord of Lords.”  He is Christ the King of all nations and tribes: “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of  his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For in him were created all things in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and invisible…” Col. 1: 13-16

He Has Redeemed Us

“(Jesus Christ) faithful witness, first-born of the dead and ruler of the Kings of the earth.”  Rev. 1:5.  He is the faithful witness who has given His life and “washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Rev. 1:5   All creation looks to Him as He is the “Alpha and Omega,” (Rev. 1:8) the beginning and the end of all things.  All things are measured by His great sacrifice for He has conquered death and redeemed us of our sins.  “To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.”  Rev. 1:6

Jesus Christ is King, Priest and Victim

The Preface for the Feast of  Christ the King (Ordinary Form) echoes the theme of Christ’s Kingship: “that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to Thee, holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God:  Who with the oil of gladness didst anoint Thine  only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ as Priest for ever and King of all.” (Preface)     Jesus is our eternal High Priest and King of  Kings forever. “that offering Himself on the altar of the Cross a stainless Victim to appease Thee, He might accomplish the mysteries of man’s redemption…” (Preface)  He is not only our King, but He is also our Priest who has sacrificed Himself for our sins.  By His sacrifice, we are redeemed for His eternal kingdom in heaven: “and that subjecting all creatures to His sway, He might present to Thine infinite Majesty a universal and eternal Kingdom; a Kingdom of truth and life; a Kingdom of holiness and grace: a kingdom of  justice and peace.” (Preface)  This is why St. Paul told us that if we are going to belong to Christ’s Kingdom in heaven, then we must be “without spot or wrinkle.” (Eph. 5: 27) 

Tragic Choice of  Modern Man

Tragically, the nations of the world have rejected the Kingship of Christ with their immoral laws in opposition to God’s Divine laws.  Many nations today have legalized practices which are opposed to the Ten Commandments: abortion, divorce, contraception, same sex marriages, and euthanasia.    With  these sins against God’s Commandments, the world has chosen Satan, the Prince of this World, as their leader (king). This choice can only lead to tragedy for all of us in this world.  People no longer believe in truth and think that they can do what they want; they no longer believe in the eternal truths of  heaven, hell and judgment; they deny the Church’s teachings on life and marriage and fail to procreate the children that God wishes to give the world. “Without a deep reverence for the sacredness of life, humanity places itself on the path of self-destruction.” (Bishop Sean O’Malley of  Fall River, Ma. USA, In Vitro Fertilization)   

Christ the King Must Reign in Our World and in Us All

When Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his decree,  “Quas Primas,” he wanted to remind us  Jesus Christ must reign as King in our minds, our hearts and in our wills if we want peace and happiness in this world.  “He must reign in our minds which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires  and love God above all things, and cleave to Him alone.  He must reign in our bodies and in our members which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”(#21)   Jesus has created us, He has redeemed us, He has sanctified us with His Flesh and Blood, He governs us with love and protection, and He has prepared a place for us in His heavenly Kingdom if  we are faithful to His commandments. He will come to judge us in His glory and power.  If we choose Him as our King today, we need not fear that He will refus us  His kingdom in Heaven for all eternity.

 Feast of All Saints

 Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Holyday of Obligation

Holy Mass is at 10:00 A. M.

Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix

First Saturday:  5 November 2011

9:30 AM- Tea and coffee: St. Joseph’s Hall)

10:00 AM- First Conference:

Marian Vow of   Total Consecration 

11:30 AM-  Holy Mass in the chapel

12:30 PM- Lunch  (Bring your own); Tea supplied

1:30 PM-  Quiet Time:  Adoration,             Confession, Rosary & Divine Mercy Chaplet

3:10 PM-  Benediction

3:30 PM-  Second Conference: Marian Vow

4:15-4:30 PM-  Tea and Departure

The Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix (Our Lady) is to bring all souls to her Son, Jesus Christ, King of all creation.  Our Lady will destroy all His enemies (Cf. Genesis 3:15) that is those who are opposed to Christ with laws against His Commandments.  On November 9, 1976 Karol Cardinal Wojtla, the future Pope John Paul II, spoke at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, Pa., USA:  “We are now standing in face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through.  I do not think that the wide circles of American society or the wide circles of  the Christian community realize this fully.  We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the Anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-gospel.”

Souls in Purgatory:  November in the month in which we remember the poor souls in Purgatory who cannot help themselves.   They rely on us to shorten their time of purification. Wednesday, 2 November is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed or All Souls Day.  Mass is at 7:30 AM as usual.

All-Souls Lists:  Please put the names of those who have died on the All-Souls list, and we will include them in our Masses during the month of November .  

Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

   “….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14)     Pope Benedict XVI, Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland. 3 March 2010   We are now in our second year of  adoration (as of 4 July 2011)  Please sign up as an adorer.

The Five First Saturdays

Next Saturday, 5 November is the First Saturday of November. Our Lady told Sr. Lucia in 1925 “…I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”  If only we would do what Our Lady asks, we would be assured of eternal salvation.  Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we keep The Five First Saturdays! 

After Mass, we will have the veneration of  the skull of St. Cuthbert  who celebrated the Holy Mass here in this monastery when it belonged to the Arundells.

The post Written Homilies – Fr. George: Jesus Firstborn of All Creatures first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Last Sunday of October

30 October 2011

Feast of Christ the King

 “The Lamb that  was slain is worthy to receive power  and divinity and  wisdom and power and honour: to Him be glory and empire for ever and ever.”  Rev. 5:12 &  1:6

Firstborn of  All Creatures

Jesus is the firstborn of all creatures.  He gives the Father the greatest glory as Man because He is true God and loves the Father infinitely as God, the Son.   This is why the Father is so pleased with His Son.  Christ is the King for all eternity because He has given Himself for our ransom and has won for us our eternal salvation: “The Lord will reign forever and will give his people the gift of peace.” Ps. 28: 10-11  Jesus Christ is the “Son of Man” as He is both God and man.  He is the first-born of all creatures because He gives the Father the greatest glory.   This is why He is the “King of Kings” and the “Lord of Lords.”  He is Christ the King of all nations and tribes: “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of  his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For in him were created all things in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and invisible…” Col. 1: 13-16

He Has Redeemed Us

“(Jesus Christ) faithful witness, first-born of the dead and ruler of the Kings of the earth.”  Rev. 1:5.  He is the faithful witness who has given His life and “washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Rev. 1:5   All creation looks to Him as He is the “Alpha and Omega,” (Rev. 1:8) the beginning and the end of all things.  All things are measured by His great sacrifice for He has conquered death and redeemed us of our sins.  “To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.”  Rev. 1:6

Jesus Christ is King, Priest and Victim

The Preface for the Feast of  Christ the King (Ordinary Form) echoes the theme of Christ’s Kingship: “that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to Thee, holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God:  Who with the oil of gladness didst anoint Thine  only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ as Priest for ever and King of all.” (Preface)     Jesus is our eternal High Priest and King of  Kings forever. “that offering Himself on the altar of the Cross a stainless Victim to appease Thee, He might accomplish the mysteries of man’s redemption…” (Preface)  He is not only our King, but He is also our Priest who has sacrificed Himself for our sins.  By His sacrifice, we are redeemed for His eternal kingdom in heaven: “and that subjecting all creatures to His sway, He might present to Thine infinite Majesty a universal and eternal Kingdom; a Kingdom of truth and life; a Kingdom of holiness and grace: a kingdom of  justice and peace.” (Preface)  This is why St. Paul told us that if we are going to belong to Christ’s Kingdom in heaven, then we must be “without spot or wrinkle.” (Eph. 5: 27) 

Tragic Choice of  Modern Man

Tragically, the nations of the world have rejected the Kingship of Christ with their immoral laws in opposition to God’s Divine laws.  Many nations today have legalized practices which are opposed to the Ten Commandments: abortion, divorce, contraception, same sex marriages, and euthanasia.    With  these sins against God’s Commandments, the world has chosen Satan, the Prince of this World, as their leader (king). This choice can only lead to tragedy for all of us in this world.  People no longer believe in truth and think that they can do what they want; they no longer believe in the eternal truths of  heaven, hell and judgment; they deny the Church’s teachings on life and marriage and fail to procreate the children that God wishes to give the world. “Without a deep reverence for the sacredness of life, humanity places itself on the path of self-destruction.” (Bishop Sean O’Malley of  Fall River, Ma. USA, In Vitro Fertilization)   

Christ the King Must Reign in Our World and in Us All

When Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his decree,  “Quas Primas,” he wanted to remind us  that Jesus Christ must reign as King in our minds, our hearts and in our wills if we want peace and happiness in this world.  “He must reign in our minds which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires  and love God above all things, and cleave to Him alone.  He must reign in our bodies and in our members which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”(#21)   Jesus has created us, He has redeemed us, He has sanctified us with His Flesh and Blood, He governs us with love and protection, and He has prepared a place for us in His heavenly Kingdom if  we are faithful to His commandments. He will come to judge us in His glory and power.  If we choose Him as our King today, we need not fear that He will refuse us  His kingdom in Heaven for all eternity.

 Feast of All Saints

 Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Holyday of Obligation

Holy Mass is at 10:00 A. M.

Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix

First Saturday:  5 November 2011

9:30 AM- Tea and coffee: St. Joseph’s Hall)

10:00 AM- First Conference:

Marian Vow of   Total Consecration 

11:30 AM-  Holy Mass in the chapel

12:30 PM- Lunch  (Bring your own); Tea supplied

1:30 PM-  Quiet Time:  Adoration,             Confession, Rosary & Divine Mercy Chaplet

3:10 PM-  Benediction

3:30 PM-  Second Conference: Marian Vow

4:15-4:30 PM-  Tea and Departure

The Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix (Our Lady) is to bring all souls to her Son, Jesus Christ, King of all creation.  Our Lady will destroy all His enemies (Cf. Genesis 3:15) that is those who are opposed to Christ with laws against His Commandments.  On November 9, 1976 Karol Cardinal Wojtla, the future Pope John Paul II, spoke at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, Pa., USA:  “We are now standing in face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through.  I do not think that the wide circles of American society or the wide circles of  the Christian community realize this fully.  We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the Anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-gospel.”

Souls in Purgatory:  November in the month in which we remember the poor souls in Purgatory who cannot help themselves.   They rely on us to shorten their time of purification. Wednesday, 2 November is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed or All Souls Day.  Mass is at 7:30 AM as usual.

All-Souls Lists:  Please put the names of those who have died on the All-Souls list, and we will include them in our Masses during the month of November .  

Could you not, then, watch one hour with Me?…” Mt. 26:40

   “….  Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organise periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part…” (#14)     Pope Benedict XVI, Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland. 3 March 2010   We are now in our second year of  adoration (as of 4 July 2011)  Please sign up as an adorer.

The Five First Saturdays

Next Saturday, 5 November is the First Saturday of November. Our Lady told Sr. Lucia in 1925 “…I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”  If only we would do what Our Lady asks, we would be assured of eternal salvation.  Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we keep The Five First Saturdays! 

After Mass, we will have the veneration of  the skull of St. Cuthbert  who celebrated the Holy Mass here in this monastery when it belonged to the Arundells.

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