This Lent.."Fix your eyes on Jesus."

The following reflection is taken from the Sermones of Saint Anthony of Padua, published in Saint Anthony: Herald of the Good News (translated by Fr. Claude M. Jarmak OFM Conv., Conventual Franciscan Friars, Ellicott City, Maryland, 1995).

Just a Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of God be lifted up, that all who believe may have eternal life in him (Jn 3:14-15).

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert.” In the Book of Numbers, we read that God sent poisonous snakes to bite the people who had murmured against Him. Then the Lord commanded Moses: “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover” (Num 21:18). The bronze serpent symbolizes Christ, God and man. Bronze, which does not deteriorate with age, signifies Jesus’ divinity; the serpent symbolizes His humanity, which was indeed raised up on the wood of the cross as the sign of our salvation.

Let us raise our eyes and “Keep them fixed on Jesus” (Heb 12:2), the author of our redemption. Let us contemplate our Lord, pierced with nails and suspended from the Cross. But lo, as Moses says in Deuteronomy (28:66), “Your life will hang before you, and you will not believe your life?” He does not say, “living life” but “hanging life”. What is more precious that a person’s life? The life of the body is the soul, and the life of the soul is Christ. Your very life hangs from the Cross. How can you not suffer with Him? How can you not partake in His sufferings? Christ hangs from the Cross before you to invite you to share in His sufferings as written in the Lamentations: “Come, all of you who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering” (1:12).

“Your life hangs before you” on the Cross so that you might see yourself as in a mirror, examining and scrutinizing yourself in it. You can see how serious were your wounds that they could not be healed by any other medicine except by the blood of the Son of God. If you pause to reflect profoundly, you will realize how sublime is your dignity, and how excellent your worth, which demanded so high a price.

You cannot better appreciate your worth than by looking into the mirror of the Cross of Christ; there you will learn how you are to deflate your pride, how you must mortify the desires of the flesh, how you are to pray to your Father for those who persecute you, and to commend your spirit into God’s hands. But, sad to say, what happens to us is what Saint James writes: “A man who listens to God’s word but does not put it into practice, is like a man who looks into a mirror at the face he was born with; he looks at himself then goes off and promptly forgets what he looks like” (1:23-24). In the same way, we look at the Crucified and recognize the image of our redemption, but grieve little. As soon as we turn our eyes away, we divert our hearts and return to vain worldly amusements.

St Joseph, A Timeless Example

In Luke’s gospel, the archangel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary with the annunciation that she is to be the mother of God’s Son. In Matthew’s gospel, it is St. Joseph who is the recipient of such Good News. Our Lady responds with her unreserved ‘yes’. St. Joseph, on the other hand, says nothing; instead he simply ‘did as the angel of the Lord commanded him’ (Mt 1:24). In his Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (‘Guardian of the Redeemer’) on the life of St. Joseph, Pope John Paul II noted that “this first ‘doing’ became the beginning of ‘Joseph’s way’. The Gospels do not record any word ever spoken by Joseph. But the silence of Joseph has its own special eloquence” (n. 17). St. Joseph was a man of great faith, not speaking his own words, but listening to the word of the Living God. He listens in silence, and is ready to put into action the word he hears.

St. Joseph proved himself a just man in the silence of his relationship with Mary. At the time of the Annunciation, they were betrothed, but were as yet not living together. Their union had not been consummated by sexual union since it is stressed that Mary was a virgin. With this in mind, the news of her pregnancy is unsettling for St. Joseph. Using his own logic he could only assume that she had been unfaithful to him. And yet he does not react with righteous anger, pointing the finger, or the need to defend his reputation. Instead, we are told that “Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly” (Mt 1:19).

He was resolved to carry out this plan when he was visited by the angel in a dream who reassured him of the divine origins of Mary’s unborn child. St. Joseph’s response to the angel’s intervention was one of obedient openness to the will of God. Although he could hardly have conceived the magnitude of the mystery that confronted him, “he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). “He took her in all the mystery of her motherhood,” wrote John Paul. “He took her together with the Son who had come into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way he showed a readiness of will like Mary’s with regard to what God asked of him through the angel” (ibid., n. 3).

St. Joseph also took the Virgin Mary as his wife in the knowledge that she had consecrated herself to the Lord. “From the moment of the Annunciation, Mary knew that she was to fulfil her virginal desire to give herself exclusively and fully to God precisely by becoming the Mother of God’s Son” (ibid., n. 18). This is not the usual way of marriages. Sexual intimacy is a natural and integral part of the marriage union. To get around the ‘unnaturalness’ of Joseph and Mary’s marriage, it has often been suggested that St. Joseph was an old man, whose union with the Blessed Virgin was therefore more like a guardian than a husband. However, I don’t think that such an explanation is necessary. Indeed, it somehow diminishes St. Joseph’s virtue, and neglects the power of God’s Spirit active in his life. John Paul wrote: “Joseph, in obedience to the Spirit, found in the Spirit the source of love, the conjugal love which he experienced as a man. And this love proved to be greater than this ‘just man’ could ever have experienced within the limits of his human heart” (ibid., n. 19). His need for human love and intimacy was not nullified, but was supplied by God’s Spirit working in his life.

It is the same for those of us who profess a vow of celibate chastity. We do not profess chastity because sex is bad. Rather, a life of consecrated chastity acts as “a witness to the power of God’s love manifested in the weakness of the human condition” (Vita Consecrata, n. 88). Like St. Joseph, who in his chaste union with the Virgin Mary experienced a love greater than he could ever have imagined within the limits of his human heart, the consecrated person attests “that what many have believed impossible becomes, with the Lord’s grace, possible and truly liberating. Yes, in Christ it is possible to love God with all one’s heart, putting him above every other love, and thus to love every creature with the freedom of God!” (ibid.). John Paul adds that “this testimony is more necessary than ever today, precisely because it is so little understood by our world. It is offered to everyone – young people, engaged couples, husbands and wives and Christian families – in order to show that the power of God’s love can accomplish great things precisely within the context of human love. It is a witness which also meets a growing need for interior honesty in human relationships” (ibid.).

St. Joseph is therefore a timeless example for us to contemplate. The virtues that he witnessed to – his faithfulness, integrity and chastity – are qualities not much esteemed in our contemporary society. But for us, as men and women who are conformed to Christ, they are necessary virtues. By nurturing these values in our lives, we too, like St. Joseph, act as silent witnesses to the world. Being open to the action of God’s grace in our lives, we too, like him, will be just in our way of living.

St. Joseph, pray for us!

M.I. Prayer Intentions February 2012

Immaculate Virgin Mary, my Mother, I consecrate myself to you this day and forever so that you may dispose of me as you wish for the salvation of souls. I ask you only, my Queen and Mother of the Church, that I may co-operate faithfully with your mission in the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. I offer to you, Immaculate Heart of Mary, all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day:

That the dignity of each person be valued and loved, even in sorrow and suffering.


O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for all who do no have recourse to you, especially for the enemies of the Holy Church and those recommended to you.

Amen

A Moment With Brother: Friday Penance

From time to time, readers of our humble publication, The Little Troubadour, write in for advice of the friars. Their questions or troubles often concern things that affect us all. Over the past year I have dedicated some space in our magazine to answer these questions. I thought it might be helpful to share them here as well.




Barbara from Sydney wrote and asked:


“Brother, are we still supposed to give up meat on Fridays? I thought this was now optional except for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.”




Dear Barbara,


The canon law of the Church states in Can 1251: “abstinence from meat, or some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays unless a solemnity should fall ...”. This means that the Church has given the responsibility to the bishops of each country determine whether abstinence from meat is obligatory or optional. In a country like ours, where the bishops have indeed made Friday abstinence optional, Catholics who do not abstain from meat are still obliged to perform some form of penance. Except when Friday is celebrated as a solemnity (such as Christmas, All Saints, the Assumption etc.), each Friday is a day of penance. The Church through the Catechism teaches that “the seasons and the days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (lent and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice” (CCC, 1438).


Some countries still prescribe abstinence from meat products on Fridays, while in Australia (as we have mentioned) it has become optional (other than Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and ember days – special days of prayer and penance on the first Fridays of March and September). Many Catholics in Australia still observe the praiseworthy practice of meatless Fridays including religious orders such as our own. The practice points to the fact that on Fridays we are called to remember the sufferings (the Passion) of our Lord for our salvation and to offer up a sacrifice out of love for Christ. It is an act to show that we are sincere in our sorrow for sins, our own and those of the world. It is an act of reparation, such as what we offer to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on First Fridays. Our Lord suffered and died for each one of us. Our acts of penance show our love and our gratitude to Jesus, as well as our sorrow for sin and humanity’s indifference towards our Lord’s suffering for our salvation. Sadly, it seems, many Catholics have forgotten this.


The bishops of Australia therefore remind us: “Friday is a traditional day of penance and should be marked by:(1) Prayer – participating in the Eucharist, family prayer, visiting a Church, reading the Scriptures, making the Way of the Cross (Stations), praying the Rosary; (2) Self denial – abstaining from meat, sweets or dessert, giving up entertainment to spend time with the family, limiting food and drink in support of the poor; (3) Helping others – giving special attention to someone who is poor, sick elderly lonely or overburdened.” Personally, I think it would be good to try something from each category. Let’s remember that these beautiful practices of our faith are given to help us to draw closer to Christ our Lord, so that we can grow in love of Him and our neighbor, and come to salvation.


Finally, I offer some beautiful words from St. Clement of Rome: “Let us fix our eyes on Christ’s blood and understand how precious it is to His Father, for, poured out for our salvation, it has brought to the whole world the grace of repentance.”

God love you,
Br. Louis Mary

Thoughts on Today's Liturgy of the Word: Vocational Discernment

I usually don't write anything about my homilies, firstly because (mea culpa) I rarely write them.  But today's readings for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B (1 Samuel 3:3-10.19,Psalm 39; 1 Corinthians 6; John 1:35-42) reminded me of an important part of vocation discernment, i.e. the role of the intermediary. 

Let me explain: In the reading from the First Book of Samuel, Samuel is called three times by the Lord. He has no idea it is the Lord calling him, and it isn't until  Eli, who is High Priest, comes to this realisation, that Samuel is able to say "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Eli helps Samuel to discern that this is the Lord speaking to him, and only then is Samuel able to really communicate with the Lord. 

The same happens in the Gospel reading.  "As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus." Would the disciples have followed the Lamb of God without the direction, the "mediation" of John the Baptist?  Sure the Synoptic Gospels give a different account of the call of the 12, but here, in John's version, it is John the Baptist's discernment of the will of God for these two disciples that inspires them the follow the Lamb. 

Eli and John the Baptist are intermediaries. 

What does that mean for us? 

That we too are called at times to do the same. 

Continuing with this theme of vocation I think it is so important for parents to be intermediaries.  That is, they are in a privileged position to help their children discern their vocation.  Rather that having the attitude of "no, you're not being called to the Priesthood or Religious Life," mums and dads need to foster in their children good discernment. "What is God calling you to do?" "How is God calling you?" "Go, and tell the Lord, Speak, your servant is listening."  Wouldn't this be a great way for parents to help their children discern the will of God in their lives.

And let us not forget the role of the priest, especially your Parish Priest, in helping to discern God's will.  We can help in such discernment, be it vocation to marriage, to the Priesthood and/or Religious Life.  We too needed the help of intermediaries.  I had my Parish priest and other friars to show me how God was calling me.  Up until then I was like Samuel, hearing a voice speaking to me, but unable to recognise it as God's voice.  Thank God that "Eli" was there for me!

We are called to be Eli and John the Baptist.  Let us ask the Good Lord for the humility to take on this role to bring others to such discernment, whatever it may be.

(Fr.Benedict M. LaVolpe OFM Conv, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 14, 2012)

Pope Benedict: Homily on the Epiphany

Here is the full translation in English of Pope Benedict's homily at the Mass for the Epiphany of our Lord celebrated in St Peter's Basilica on Friday January 6th:

"Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The Epiphany is a feast of light. “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Is 60:1). With these words of the prophet Isaiah, the Church describes the content of the feast. He who is the true light, and by whom we too are made to be light, has indeed come into the world. He gives us the power to become children of God (cf. Jn 1:9,12). The journey of the wise men from the East is, for the liturgy, just the beginning of a great procession that continues throughout history. With the Magi, humanity’s pilgrimage to Jesus Christ begins – to the God who was born in a stable, who died on the Cross and who, having risen from the dead, remains with us always, until the consummation of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). The Church reads this account from Matthew’s Gospel alongside the vision of the prophet Isaiah that we heard in the first reading: the journey of these men is just the beginning. Before them came the shepherds – simple souls, who dwelt closer to the God who became a child, and could more easily “go over” to him (Lk 2:15) and recognize him as Lord. But now the wise of this world are also coming. Great and small, kings and slaves, men of all cultures and all peoples are coming. The men from the East are the first, followed by many more throughout the centuries. After the great vision of Isaiah, the reading from the Letter to the Ephesians expresses the same idea in rather sober and simple terms: the Gentiles share the same heritage (cf. Eph 3:6). Psalm 2 puts it like this: “I shall bequeath you the nations, put the ends of the earth in your possession” (v. 8).
The wise men from the East lead the way. They open up the path of the Gentiles to Christ. During this holy Mass, I will ordain two priests to the episcopate, I will consecrate them as shepherds of God’s people. According to the words of Jesus, part of a shepherd’s task is to go ahead of the flock (cf. Jn 10:4). So, allowing for all the differences in vocation and mission, we may well look to these figures, the first Gentiles to find the pathway to Christ, for indications concerning the task of bishops. What kind of people were they? The experts tell us that they belonged to the great astronomical tradition that had developed in Mesopotamia over the centuries and continued to flourish. But this information of itself is not enough. No doubt there were many astronomers in ancient Babylon, but only these few set off to follow the star that they recognized as the star of the promise, pointing them along the path towards the true King and Saviour. They were, as we might say, men of science, but not simply in the sense that they were searching for a wide range of knowledge: they wanted something more. They wanted to understand what being human is all about. They had doubtless heard of the prophecy of the Gentile prophet Balaam: “A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel” (Num 24:17). They explored this promise. They were men with restless hearts, not satisfied with the superficial and the ordinary. They were men in search of the promise, in search of God. And they were watchful men, capable of reading God’s signs, his soft and penetrating language. But they were also courageous, yet humble: we can imagine them having to endure a certain amount of mockery for setting off to find the King of the Jews, at the cost of so much effort. For them it mattered little what this or that person, what even influential and clever people thought and said about them. For them it was a question of truth itself, not human opinion. Hence they took upon themselves the sacrifices and the effort of a long and uncertain journey. Their humble courage was what enabled them to bend down before the child of poor people and to recognize in him the promised King, the one they had set out, on both their outward and their inward journey, to seek and to know.
Dear friends, how can we fail to recognize in all this certain essential elements of episcopal ministry? The bishop too must be a man of restless heart, not satisfied with the ordinary things of this world, but inwardly driven by his heart’s unrest to draw ever closer to God, to seek his face, to recognize him more and more, to be able to love him more and more. The bishop too must be a man of watchful heart, who recognizes the gentle language of God and understands how to distinguish truth from mere appearance. The bishop too must be filled with the courage of humility, not asking what prevailing opinion says about him, but following the criterion of God’s truth and taking his stand accordingly – “opportune – importune”. He must be able to go ahead and mark out the path. He must go ahead, in the footsteps of him who went ahead of us all because he is the true shepherd, the true star of the promise: Jesus Christ. And he must have the humility to bend down before the God who made himself so tangible and so simple that he contradicts our foolish pride in its reluctance to see God so close and so small. He must devote his life to adoration of the incarnate Son of God, which constantly points him towards the path.
The liturgy of episcopal ordination interprets the essential features of this ministry in eight questions addressed to the candidates, each beginning with the word “Vultis? – Do you want?” These questions direct the will and mark out the path to be followed. Here I shall briefly cite just a few of the most important words of this presentation, where we find explicit mention of the elements we have just considered in connection with the wise men of today’s feast. The bishops’ task is praedicare Evangelium Christi, it is custodire et dirigere, it is pauperibus se misericordes praebere, it is indesinenter orare. Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, going ahead and leading, guarding the sacred heritage of our faith, showing mercy and charity to the needy and the poor, thus mirroring God’s merciful love for us, and finally, praying without ceasing: these are the fundamental features of the episcopal ministry. Praying without ceasing means: never losing contact with God, letting ourselves be constantly touched by him in the depths of our hearts and, in this way, being penetrated by his light. Only someone who actually knows God can lead others to God. Only someone who leads people to God leads them along the path of life.
The restless heart of which we spoke earlier, echoing Saint Augustine, is the heart that is ultimately satisfied with nothing less than God, and in this way becomes a loving heart. Our heart is restless for God and remains so, even if every effort is made today, by means of most effective anaesthetizing methods, to deliver people from this unrest. But not only are we restless for God: God’s heart is restless for us. God is waiting for us. He is looking for us. He knows no rest either, until he finds us. God’s heart is restless, and that is why he set out on the path towards us – to Bethlehem, to Calvary, from Jerusalem to Galilee and on to the very ends of the earth. God is restless for us, he looks out for people willing to “catch” his unrest, his passion for us, people who carry within them the searching of their own hearts and at the same time open themselves to be touched by God’s search for us. Dear friends, this was the task of the Apostles: to receive God’s unrest for man and then to bring God himself to man. And this is your task as successors of the Apostles: let yourselves be touched by God’s unrest, so that God’s longing for man may be fulfilled.
The wise men followed the star. Through the language of creation, they discovered the God of history. To be sure – the language of creation alone is not enough. Only God’s word, which we encounter in sacred Scripture, was able to mark out their path definitively. Creation and Scripture, reason and faith, must come together, so as to lead us forward to the living God. There has been much discussion over what kind of star it was that the wise men were following. Some suggest a planetary constellation, or a supernova, that is to say one of those stars that is initially quite weak, in which an inner explosion releases a brilliant light for a certain time, or a comet, etc. This debate we may leave to the experts. The great star, the true supernova that leads us on, is Christ himself. He is as it were the explosion of God’s love, which causes the great white light of his heart to shine upon the world. And we may add: the wise men from the East, who feature in today’s Gospel, like all the saints, have themselves gradually become constellations of God that mark out the path. In all these people, being touched by God’s word has, as it were, released an explosion of light, through which God’s radiance shines upon our world and shows us the path. The saints are stars of God, by whom we let ourselves be led to him for whom our whole being longs. Dear friends: you followed the star Jesus Christ when you said “yes” to the priesthood and to the episcopacy. And no doubt smaller stars have enlightened and helped you not to lose your way. In the litany of saints we call upon all these stars of God, that they may continue to shine upon you and show you the path. As you are ordained bishops, you too are called to be stars of God for men, leading them along the path towards the true light, towards Christ. So let us pray to all the saints at this hour, asking them that you may always live up to this mission you have received, to show God’s light to mankind."

Source: Vatican Radio

On the Epiphany

The Magi,the three wise men, were not men of faith.

Yet they followed the star, they came to find the Christ Child, to pay homage, to bear gifts of significance.

Why did they travel afar?

They came in trust. They had trust.

How much more should we, we people of faith, trust?

Do we put our complete trust in Our Lord or do we trust Him only when things go our way?

Let us learn a lesson from the Magi.

Let us trust Our Lord in the times of frankincense, in the times of gold...and yes, even in the times of myrrh.

(From a homily on the Epiphany, January 8, 2012, St Joseph's, Springvale, Fr Benedict M. LaVolpe, OFM Conv)