Information: St. Boniface

Feast Day:	June 5
Born:	673-680 at Crediton, Devonshire, England
Died:	5 June 754 at Dokkum, Freisland
Patron of:	brewers; file cutters; tailors

St. Boniface

Feast Day: June 05
Born: (around) 675 :: Died: 754

This great apostle of Germany was born in Wessex in England. When he was small, some missionaries stayed a while at his home. They told the boy all about their work. They were so happy and excited about bringing the Good News to people. Boniface decided in his heart that he would be just like them when he grew up.

While still young, he went to study at a monastery school in Exeter. When he grew up, he became a popular teacher. Then after he was ordained a priest, he was a powerful preacher because he was so full of enthusiasm.

Boniface wanted everyone to know about and love Jesus and his Church. With the blessings of Pope St. Gregory II, he went as a missionary to the western part of Germany. St. Albinus, St. Abel and St. Agatha also helped him. Boniface preached with great success. He was gentle and kind. He was also a man of great courage.

Once, to prove that the pagan gods were false, he boldly went to a huge oak tree called the "oak of Thor." The pagans believed it was sacred to their gods. In front of a large crowd, Boniface took of his shirt and hacked the huge tree a few times with an axe bringing it down with a crash. Boniface stood on the trunk, and asked, "How stands your mighty god? My God is stronger than he." The pagans who expected their gods to punish Boniface for this act, realized that their gods were false when nothing happened to Boniface.

Everywhere he preached, people accepted Jesus, were baptized and joined the Church. In his lifetime, Boniface converted many people. He destroyed statues and temples of the pagan gods, and built churches and monasteries in those places.

In 732, the new pope, St. Gregory III made Boniface an archbishop and gave him another mission territory. It was Bavaria, which is part of Germany today. He and some companions went there to teach the people about the true faith. Here, too, the holy bishop was very successful.

Then, one day, he was at Freisland in Holland, preparing to confirm some converts. A group of fierce warriors swooped down on the camp. Boniface would not let his companions defend him. "Our Lord tells us to repay evil with good," he said. "The day has come for which I have waited so long. Trust in God and he will save us."

The Barbarians attacked, and Boniface was the first one killed and fifty-two newly converted Christians were also killed. He died a martyr on June 5, 754. As he wished, he was buried at the famous monastery he had started at Fulda, Germany.

Catholic

Almanac:

Wednesday, June 5
Liturgical Color: Red
Today the Church honors the Franciscan Martyrs of China. These missionaries and their converts were victims of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, as Chinese forces tried to wipe out Western influence in their country.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: June 05, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord, that we may firmly hold the faith he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood and confidently profess it by our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

Ordinary Time: June 5th

Memorial of St. Boniface, bishop and martyr

Old Calendar: St. Boniface

St. Boniface, a monk of Exeter in England, is one of the great figures of the Benedictine Order and of the monastic apostolate in the Middle Ages. Gregory II sent him to preach the Gospel in Germany. He evangelized Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia and became Archbishop of Mainz. He well earned the title of Apostle of Germany, and Catholic Germany in our own times still venerates him as its father in the faith. He was put to death by the Frisians at Dokkum in 754 during the last of his missionary journeys. The famous abbey of Fulda, where his body lies, has remained the national shrine of Catholic Germany.

St. Boniface
A Benedictine monk was chosen by divine Providence to become Germany's great apostle and patron. Boniface's first missionary endeavor proved unsuccessful (716). Before attempting a second he went to Rome and received papal authorization (718). Under the holy bishop Willibrord he converted Frisia within a period of three years. On November 30, 722, Boniface was consecrated bishop by Pope Gregory II.

In 724 he turned his attention to the Hessian people, among whom he continued his missionary activity with renewed zeal. On an eminence near the village of Geismar on the Eder, he felled a giant oak that the people honored as the national sanctuary of the god Thor. Boniface used the wood to build a chapel in honor of St. Peter. This courageous act assured the eventual triumph of the Gospel in Germany.

The resident clergy and the priests dwelling at the court, whose unworthy lives needed censure, were constantly creating difficulties. Nevertheless Boniface continued to labor quietly, discreetly. He prayed unceasingly, put his trust in God alone, recommended his work to the prayers of his spiritual brothers and sisters in England. And God did not abandon him. Conversions were amazingly numerous. In 732 Gregory III sent him the pallium, the insignia of the archiepiscopal dignity. Boniface now devoted his time and talent to the ecclesiastical organization of the Church in Germany. He installed worthy bishops, set diocesan boundaries, promoted the spiritual life of the clergy and laity, held national synods (between 742 and 747), and in 744 founded the monastery of Fulda, which became a center of religious life in central Germany. In 745 he chose Mayence for his archiepiscopal see, and affiliated to it thirteen suffragan dioceses. This completed the ecclesiastical organization of Germany.

The final years of his busy life were spent, as were his earlier ones, in missionary activity. Word came to him in 754 that a part of Frisia had lapsed from the faith. He took leave of his priests and, sensing the approach of death, carried along a shroud. He was 74 years of age when with youthful enthusiasm he began the work of restoration, a mission he was not to complete. A band of semi-barbarous pagans overpowered and put him to death when he was about to administer confirmation to a group of neophytes at Dockum.

Patron: Brewers; Tailors; Germany; Prussia.

Symbols: Axe; book; raven; scourge; sword; sword piercing heart; Bible transfixed by sword; fallen oak; book and pen; club; fox; axe and fallen oak of Thor.

Things to Do:

One tradition about Saint Boniface says that he used the customs of the locals to help convert them. There was a game in which they threw sticks called kegels at smaller sticks called heides. Boniface bought religion to the game, having the heides represent demons, and knocking them down showing purity of spirit. You might use your ingenuity to imitate this game for your children and tell them the story of St. Boniface.
When reading more about St. Boniface, you will discover that his baptized name was Winfrid. He took the name Boniface either when he took religious profession as a Benedictine, or when Pope Gregory II consecrated him as a regional bishop. More details can be found at Catholic Encyclopedia's entry.
St. Boniface was the uncle of St. Walburga. St. Boniface worked with many other canonized saints in his evangelization of Germany. Find out which saints these were.
Patron Saints Index provides several letters to and from Saint Boniface.
St. Boniface, although an Englishman, planted the seeds of the Catholic Faith in Germany (at that time "Germany" included the domains of the Frankish monarchs, present-day Belgium and the Netherlands), and now Germany calls St. Boniface her patron. Bake some special German cookies or treat and learn some of the religious customs that come from this country.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17

Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

“The prayer of these two suppliants was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God.” (Tobit 3:16)

Sometimes circumstances can push us over the edge. Things are going great for us until we’re suddenly stricken by a serious illness or a bad accident, and then life becomes burdensome. We may start to question whether God really cares for us, or we may even wonder what we have done that has caused him to single us out for punishment. In these situations, even the best of us can lose our perspective, and we may even get mad at God and cry out, “What are you trying to do to me?”

Tobit and his daughter-in-law Sarah were certainly among the best. Both loved the Lord with all their heart, and yet both met with terrible suffering. Tobit went blind for four years, and Sarah lost seven husbands in a row to demonic attacks. Not only that, they were misunderstood and ridiculed by members of their own households. They had pretty good reasons to dissolve into self-pity if they wanted to!

However, neither Tobit nor Sarah blamed their problems on God. Both began their prayers by praising and blessing him, thanking him for his righteousness. Their hearts were not bitter, and they sought to be delivered from this world only because they wanted so much to be with the Lord. They were more interested in God’s will than in their own healing—nevertheless, they were healed anyway!

The story of Tobit and Sarah can help us when we face our own misfortunes. Whenever trials or difficulties come our way, it is our response that makes all the difference. Like these two Old Testament heroes, we need to turn to God for help and grace. Like them, our first step should be to worship the Lord, simply thanking him for who he is and what he has already done in our lives. Then, having established our faith in him, we can humbly ask for his help, knowing that whatever he gives us will bring us closer to his side. Every day, we can cast our cares on the Lord, confident that he will care for us (1 Peter 5:7).

“Father, rather than asking ‘Why me,’ I want to thank you for your greatness and majesty today. I want to entrust my burdens to your care, knowing that you have a perfect plan for my life.”

Psalm 25:2-9; Mark 12:18-27

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 12
18.	And there came to him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying:	Et venerunt ad eum sadducæi, qui dicunt resurrectionem non esse : et interrogabant eum, dicentes :	και ερχονται σαδδουκαιοι προς αυτον οιτινες λεγουσιν αναστασιν μη ειναι και επηρωτησαν αυτον λεγοντες
19.	Master, Moses wrote unto us, that if any man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed to his brother.	Magister, Moyses nobis scripsit, ut si cujus frater mortuus fuerit, et dimiserit uxorem, et filios non reliquerit, accipiat frater ejus uxorem ipsius, et resuscitet semen fratri suo.	διδασκαλε μωσης εγραψεν ημιν οτι εαν τινος αδελφος αποθανη και καταλιπη γυναικα και τεκνα μη αφη ινα λαβη ο αδελφος αυτου την γυναικα αυτου και εξαναστηση σπερμα τω αδελφω αυτου
20.	Now there were seven brethren; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no issue.	Septem ergo fratres erant : et primus accepit uxorem, et mortuus est non relicto semine.	επτα αδελφοι ησαν και ο πρωτος ελαβεν γυναικα και αποθνησκων ουκ αφηκεν σπερμα
21.	And the second took her, and died: and neither did he leave any issue. And the third in like manner.	Et secundus accepit eam, et mortuus est : et nec iste reliquit semen. Et tertius similiter.	και ο δευτερος ελαβεν αυτην και απεθανεν και ουδε αυτος αφηκεν σπερμα και ο τριτος ωσαυτως
22.	And the seven all took her in like manner; and did not leave issue. Last of all the woman also died.	Et acceperunt eam similiter septem : et non reliquerunt semen. Novissima omnium defuncta est et mulier.	και ελαβον αυτην οι επτα και ουκ αφηκαν σπερμα εσχατη παντων απεθανεν και η γυνη
23.	In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise again, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.	In resurrectione ergo cum resurrexerint, cujus de his erit uxor ? septem enim habuerunt eam uxorem.	εν τη αναστασει οταν αναστωσιν τινος αυτων εσται γυνη οι γαρ επτα εσχον αυτην γυναικα
24.	And Jesus answering, saith to them: Do ye not therefore err, because you know not the scriptures, nor the power of God?	Et respondens Jesus, ait illis : Nonne ideo erratis, non scientes Scripturas, neque virtutem Dei ?	και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις ου δια τουτο πλανασθε μη ειδοτες τας γραφας μηδε την δυναμιν του θεου
25.	For when they shall rise again from the dead, they shall neither marry, nor be married, but are as the angels in heaven.	Cum enim a mortuis resurrexerint, neque nubent, neque nubentur, sed sunt sicut angeli in cælis.	οταν γαρ εκ νεκρων αναστωσιν ουτε γαμουσιν ουτε γαμισκονται αλλ εισιν ως αγγελοι οι εν τοις ουρανοις
26.	And as concerning the dead that they rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?	De mortuis autem quod resurgant, non legistis in libro Moysi, super rubum, quomodo dixerit illi Deus, inquiens : Ego sum Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob ?	περι δε των νεκρων οτι εγειρονται ουκ ανεγνωτε εν τη βιβλω μωσεως επι του βατου ως ειπεν αυτω ο θεος λεγων εγω ο θεος αβρααμ και ο θεος ισαακ και ο θεος ιακωβ
27.	He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You therefore do greatly err.	Non est Deus mortuorum, sed vivorum. Vos ergo multum erratis.	ουκ εστιν ο θεος νεκρων αλλα θεος ζωντων υμεις ουν πολυ πλανασθε

18. Then come to him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
19. Master, Moses wrote to us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed to his brother.
20. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
21. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.
22. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
23. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
24. And Jesus answering, said to them, Do you not therefore err, because you know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God?
25. For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
26. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
27. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: you therefore do greatly err.

GLOSS. After that our Lord has prudently escaped the crafty temptation of the Pharisees, it is shows how He also confounds the Sadducees, who tempt Him; wherefore it is Said: Then come to him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection.

THEOPHYL. A certain heretical sect of the Jews called Sadducees denied the resurrection, and said that there was neither angel nor spirit. These then coming to Jesus, craftily proposed to Him a certain tale, in order to show that no resurrection should take place, or had taken place; and therefore there is added, And they asked him, saying, Master.

And in this tale they lay down that seven men had married one woman, in order to make men draw back from belief in the resurrection.

BEDE; And fitly do they frame such a fable in order to prove the madness of those who assert the resurrection of the body. Such a thing however might really have happened at some time or other among them.

PSEUDO-JEROME; But in a mystical sense: what can this woman, leaving no seed of seven brothers, and last of all dying, mean except the Jewish synagogue, deserted by the seven-fold Spirit, which filled those seven patriarchs, who did not leave to her the seed of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ? For although a Son was born to them, nevertheless He was given to us Gentiles.

This woman was dead to Christ, nor shall she be joined in the resurrection to any patriarch of the seven; for by the number seven is meant the whole company of the faithful. Thus it is said contrariwise by Isaiah, Seven women shall take hold of one man; that is, the seven Churches, which the Lord loves, reproves, and chastises, adore Him with one faith.

Wherefore it goes on: And Jesus answering, said to them, Do you not therefore err, not knowing the Scripture, neither the power of God!

THEOPHYL. As if He had said, you understand not what sort of a resurrection the Scriptures announce; for you believe that there will be a restoration of our bodies, such as they are now, but it shall not be so. Thus then you know not the Scriptures; neither again do you know the power of God; for you consider it as a difficult thing, saying, How can the limbs, which have been scattered, be united together and joined to the soul? But this in respect of the Divine power is as nothing.

There follows: For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven; as if He had said, There will be a certain heavenly and angelic restoration to life, when there shall be no more decay, and we shall remain unchanged; and for this reason marriage shall cease. For marriage now exists on account of our decay, that we may be carried on by succession of our race, and not fail; but then we shall be as the Angels, which need no succession by marriage, and never come to an end.

BEDE; We must here consider that the Latin custom does not answer to the Greek idiom. For properly different words are used for the marriage of men, and that of women; but here we may simply understand that, marry is meant of men, and given in marriage of women.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Thus then they do not understand the Scripture, in that in the resurrection, men shall be as the Angels of God, that is, no man there dies, no one is born, no infant is there, no old man.

THEOPHYL. In another way also they are deceived, not understanding the Scriptures; for if they had understood them, they should also have understood how by the Scriptures the resurrection of the dead may be proved; wherefore He adds, And as touching the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the took of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

PSEUDO-JEROME; But I say, in the bush, in which is an image of you; for in it the fire was kindled, but it did not consume its thorns; so my words set you on fire, but do not burn off your thorns, which have grown under the curse.

THEOPHYL. But I say, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As if He had said, The God of the living, wherefore He adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for He did not say, I have been, but I am, as if they had been present. But some one perhaps will say, that God spoke this only of the soul of Abraham, not of His body; to which I answer, that Abraham implies both, that is, soul and body, so that He also is the God of the body, and the body lives with God, that is, in God's ordinance.

BEDE; Or else; because after proving that the soul remained after death, (for God could not be God of those who did not exist at all,) the resurrection of the body also might be inferred as a consequence, since it had done good and evil with the soul.

PSEUDO-JEROME; But when He says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; by naming God thrice, He implied the Trinity. But when He says, He is not the God of the dead, by naming again the One God, he implies One Substance. But they live who make good the portion, which they had chosen; and they are dead, who have lost what they had made good. You therefore do greatly err.

GLOSS. That is, because they contradicted the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God.

Catena Aurea Mark 12

The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine

Barna da Siena 1340
Tempera on panel
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for June 5, 2013:

“Everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine.” (John 17:9) Although Jesus was addressing his Father with these words, they also apply to married couples. Are there any possessions that you are reluctant to share with your beloved?

Vultus Christi

Et quasi absconditus vultus ejus et despectus

By

Dom Mark

on June 5, 2013 7:03 AM |

CHAPTER VII. Of Humility

4 Feb. 5 June. 5 Oct.

The seventh degree of humility is, that he should not only call himself with his tongue lower and viler than all, but also believe himself in his inmost heart to be so, humbling himself, and saying with the prophet: "I am a worm and no man, the shame of men and the outcast of the people: I have been exalted, and cast down, and confounded." And again: "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy commandments."

The Abjection of Christ

Saint Benedict would have his monk live with the mystery of the abjection of Christ, the Suffering Servant, ever before his eyes. He quotes Psalm 21 depicting Our Lord in the humiliations of His Passion: "But I, poor worm, have no manhood left; I am a by-word to all, the laughing-stock of the rabble" (Psalm 21:6). Psalm 21 calls up Isaias' mysterious prophecy of the Passion of the Lord:

What credence for such news as ours? Whom reaches it, this new revelation of the Lord's strength? He will watch this servant of his appear among us, unregarded as brushwood shoot, as a plant in waterless soil; no stateliness here, no majesty, no beauty, as we gaze upon him, to win our hearts.

Nay, here is one despised, left out of all human reckoning; bowed with misery, and no stranger to weakness; how should we recognize that face? How should we take any account of him, a man so despised? Our weakness, and it was he who carried the weight of it, our miseries, and it was he who bore them.

A leper, so we thought of him, a man God had smitten and brought low; and all the while it was for our sins he was wounded, it was guilt of ours crushed him down; on him the punishment fell that brought us peace, by his bruises we were healed.

Strayed sheep all of us, each following his own path; and God laid on his shoulders our guilt, the guilt of us all. A victim? Yet he himself bows to the stroke; no word comes from him. Sheep led away to the slaughter-house, lamb that stands dumb while it is shorn; no word from him. Imprisoned, brought to judgement, and carried off, he, whose birth is beyond our knowing; numbered among the living no more!

Be sure it is for my people's guilt I have smitten him. Takes he leave of the rich, the godless, to win but a grave, to win but the gift of death; he, that wrong did never, nor had treason on his lips! Ay, the Lord's will it was, overwhelmed he should be with trouble.

His life laid down for guilt's atoning, he shall yet be rewarded; father of a long posterity, instrument of the divine purpose; for all his heart's anguish, rewarded in full. The Just One, my servant; many shall he claim for his own, win their acquittal, on his shoulders bearing their guilt.

So many lives ransomed, foes so violent baulked of their spoil! Such is his due, that gave himself up to death, and would be counted among the wrong-doers; bore those many sins, and made intercession for the guilty. (Isaias 53:1-12)

Seek Only Christ

The monk does does not seek abjection for abjection's sake; he seeks only Christ, and in finding Christ, he is led into the unfathomable depths of a God who empties Himself out, who, as Saint Paul says, "dispossesses Himself." One cannot say to the Bridegroom Christ, "Draw me after thee where thou wilt" (Song of Songs 1:3) without being led, step by step, in to the mystery of His abjection.

Yours is to be the same mind which Christ Jesus shewed. His nature is, from the first, divine, and yet he did not see, in the rank of Godhead, a prize to be coveted; he dispossessed himself, and took the nature of a slave, fashioned in the likeness of men, and presenting himself to us in human form; and then he lowered his own dignity, accepted an obedience which brought him to death, death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

Recognize That Face

The very humility that Christ freely embraced in His Passion perdures in the adorable Sacrament of the Altar. There we find Him dispossessed of Himself, hidden, unrecognized by the multitudes, silent, and covered by the fragile veil of the sacred species. Isaias' portrayal of the Suffering Servant is mystically fulfilled in the Sacred Host: "Here is one despised, left out of all human reckoning; bowed with misery, and no stranger to weakness; how should we recognize that face? How should we take any account of him, a man so despised?" (Isaias 53:3).

A monk who spends much time before the Sacred Host will ineluctably be drawn into the divine humility that It, at once, conceals and reveals. On this point our Constitutions say;

This chapter demonstrates clearly that our blessed father possessed this virtue fully, and that the Holy Ghost, who reposed in his heart in a manner altogether divine, filled him, according to the witness of Saint Gregory, with the spirit of all the just. It was from this wellspring of light that Saint Benedict drew forth those adorable perceptions by which he guides us to the perfect emptying-out of all that is fallen in us. To this end, he enjoins us to set up a mysterious ladder, by which we descend into our nothingness and raise ourselves to God. To Him do we sacrifice the life of the senses and of the fleshly mind, so as to live no more for creatures, nor for ourselves.

This is the true humility that our blessed father Saint Benedict teaches us, and that he himself so faithfully practiced, having learned it from our adorable Saviour who tells us to learn of Him, because He is meek and humble of heart, and in Saint Paul, who says, semetipsum exinanivit. Thus did Saint Benedict learn of Christ hidden and humiliated in His life on earth, even as He is today in our tabernacles. This is the state in which monks, made over in sacrifice to Christ, must contemplate Him if they would invigorate themselves in the practice of this virtue. The Fathers assure us that humility is the ground of the perfect Christian life, and that wheresoever grace is at work, it produces humility as a certain effect of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. It is the principal means of abiding in His love, and of becoming true repairers of His glory.

In the contemplation of the Eucharistic mystery we will find compelling reasons for our own self-emptying, for it is not possible to see God in a kind of nothingness without casting ourselves into it after Him. For who, seeing the Divine Majesty so humbled, would be able to endure that a worm of the earth rise up in pride?

Vultus Christi

Cardinal Piacenza to Seminarians

By

Dom Mark

on June 5, 2013 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Letter to Seminarians
on the Occasion of the Day for the Sanctification of Priests
The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

7 June 2013

Dearest Seminarians,

The Primacy of Grace in the Priestly Life

On the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate most significantly the day for the sanctification of priests and, as you are in the Seminary to respond in the most fitting way possible to your vocation, it is important for me to send you this letter, with great affection, so that you may feel involved and, as such, remember this important occasion.
We contemplate together today the origin of the divine vocation. The Holy Father has emphasised firmly the love in which those who are Priests of Christ and of the Church must participate. In his homily at his first Chrism Mass (28 March 2013), Pope Francis said "This I ask you: be shepherds, with the 'odour of the sheep'". By this striking image, the Successor of Peter invites us to have a strong and solid love for the People of God, a love which - as the same Pontiff has noted - is not fed from purely human sources, nor is it reinforced by techniques of self-persuasion. It is the personal encounter with the Lord; it is keeping alive the knowledge of having been called by Him, who gives the truly greater supernatural strength to be Priests in the image of the Good Shepherd of all, Christ Jesus. But in order to be such tomorrow, you have to prepare yourselves today. In very clear words, Pope Francis has referred to the primacy of grace in the priestly life: "It is not in soul-searching or constant introspection that we encounter the Lord: self-help courses can be useful in life, but to live our priestly life going from one course to another, from one method to another, leads us to become pelagians and to minimise the power of grace" (ibidem).

The Priestly Cross

For the disciple walking with Christ, walking in grace, means taking on with spiritual joy the weight of the priestly cross. We hear again the Holy Father teaching about this: "When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly" (Homily at the Holy Mass with the Cardinals, 14 March 2013). On the contrary, to live our ministry as a service to Christ crucified, prevents us from understanding the Church as a human organisation "a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord" (ibidem).

In the light of these first magisterial teachings of Pope Francis, I invite you to consider your life as a gift of God and, at the same time, a task which has been entrusted to you, not simply by men but - albeit by way of the necessary mediation by the Church - ultimately by the Lord himself, who has a plan for your life and for the lives of the brothers and sisters whom you will be called to serve.

The Liturgy Opens Heaven Wide Here on Earth

It is necessary to view the whole of our life in terms of a divine call, and also of a generous human response. This involves cultivating within ourselves the vocational sense, which interprets life as a continual dialogue with the Lord Jesus, risen and alive. In every age, Christ has called and continues to call men to follow him more closely by participating in his priesthood - that implies that, in every period of the history of the Church, the Lord has held a vocational dialogue with the faithful that He has chosen, so that they may be his representatives among the people of God, as well as mediators between heaven and earth, particularly in the celebration of the liturgy and the sacraments. In fact, one can say that the liturgy opens heaven wide here on earth.

Never Place Limits on the Plan that God Has for Us

On this basis, you are called through ordination - without any merit of your own - to be mediators between God and his people and to make possible the salvific encounter through the celebration of the divine mysteries. Notwithstanding your own limits, you have responded to this call with generosity and joy. It is important that you always keep alive the sense of youthfulness in your hearts: "We must live the faith with a young heart, always: a young heart, even at the age of seventy or eighty. Dear young people! With Christ, the heart never grows old" (Pope Francis, Homily for Palm Sunday, 24 March 2013, no. 3).
The youthfulness of the priestly spirit, firm in its vocation, is guaranteed by prayer, that is the continually maintained attitude of interior silence which favours listening to God every day. This continual opening of the heart happens, naturally, within a stability that - once the fundamental life decisions have been taken - is capable, with the help of grace, to remain faithful to the tasks which have been solemnly accepted, right up to the end of our earthly life. However, this necessary stability does not imply closing our ear to the ongoing call of God, because the Lord, while confirming us every day in our fundamental vocation, is always at the door of our heart knocking (cf. Acts 3:30), waiting for us to open it to Him with the same generosity with which we said to him our first "fiat", imitating the availability of the Ever Virgin Mother of God (cf. Lk. 1:38). We can, therefore, never place limits on the plan that God has for us and that he will communicate to us day after day, throughout the whole of our life.

From the Heart of God into the Heart of Man

This vocational openness also represents the most certain way to live evangelical joy. It is, in fact, the Lord who will make us truly happy. Our joy does not come from mundane satisfaction, which makes us briefly happy and quickly disappears, as St. Ignatius of Loyola noted in his first spiritual discernment (cf. Liturgy of the Hours, Office of Readings of 31 July, II Reading). Our joy is Christ! In the daily dialogue with Him, our spirit is reassured and continually renews our passion and our zeal for the salvation of souls.
This prayerful dimension of the priestly vocation reminds us of still more very important aspects. First among them is the fact that vocations grow not principally from a pastoral strategy, but above all through prayer. As Jesus taught: "Pray... the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest" (Lk. 10:2). Commenting on these evangelical words, Pope Benedict XVI noted: "We cannot simply 'produce' vocations; they must come from God. This is not like other professions; we cannot simply recruit people by using the right kind of publicity or the correct type of strategy. The call which comes from the heart of God must always find its way into the heart of man" (Meeting with Priests and Permanent Deacons of Bavaria. 14 September 2006). You, dear Seminarians, have been called by the Lord, but many people spread throughout the world have supported and are supporting your response with their prayers and their sacrifices. Be grateful for this and unite yourselves to these prayers and sacrifices to support other responses to vocations. To the primacy of prayer can then be added, as a channel of this divine grace, the sound, motivated and enthusiastic vocational pastoral action on the part of the Church. With regard to this ecclesial collaboration with the divine work of giving pastors to the People of God and the Mystical Body of Christ, it is appropriate to remember briefly a few matters that mark it out, that is: respect for priestly vocations, the witness of the lives of Priests, the specific work of Seminary formators.

Nurture the Seeds of Vocations

It is first of all necessary that the Church appreciates you for your priestly vocation, considering that the Community of the disciples of Christ cannot exist without the service of the sacred ministers. From this comes the care, attention and reverence for the priesthood. Secondly, vocations are highly favoured, as can be seen from the example and the care that the priests offer them. It would be difficult for an exemplary priest not to stimulate the question in the minds of young people: could I not also be called to a wonderful and happy life like this? Particularly in this way, Priests are channels through which God makes the divine call resound in the heart of those He has chosen. Priests then will nurture the seeds of vocation that begin to spring in the souls of the young, by means of sacramental Confession, spiritual direction, preaching and pastoral enthusiasm. I am sure that many of you will be witnesses to and beneficiaries of this.

The Church Needs Priests

I would, furthermore, like to say a word about the important role of those priests to whom the Bishops entrust your formation. The Seminary formators are called to continue and to deepen the care for priestly vocations, while they provide all the required help for the necessary personal discernment of every candidate. As to this, we must remember the two principles which must guide the evaluation of vocations: the friendly welcome and the just severity. While every prejudice as well as every rigorsim should be avoided in the treatment of seminarians, on the other hand it is of the greatest importance to guard carefully against laxism and carelessness in judgment. The Church certainly needs Priests, but not any kind of Priest! The love that welcomes must therefore accompany the truth which judges with clarity whether, for a particular candidate, the signs of a vocation and the human qualities necessary for a trustworthy response to it are present. The pastoral urgency of the Church cannot be permitted to bring about haste in conferring the sacred ministry. On the contrary, where there is doubt, it is better to take the time necessary and carry out appropriate evaluations, which will not exclude the dismissal of those candidates who are not able to offer sufficient guarantees.

Keep Persevering

My dearest Seminarians, with these brief comments, I have endeavoured to redirect our spiritual attention to the immense gift and to the absolutely free mystery of our special vocation. We entrust to the intercession of our most holy Mother Mary and of St. Joseph the gifts of fidelity and of perseverance in the divine call that, by pure grace, they may be bestowed upon us and that we may seek to respond to the divine generosity, which always sends pastors for the flock with renewed apostolic zeal. Keep persevering, always remembering that we show our love in this world by our fidelity.

I remember you each day in prayer with great affection, and I implore the Lord to send down his divine benediction upon you.

Mauro Cardinal Piacenza
Prefect
Congregation for the Clergy

Regnum Christi

Love the Ones You´re With

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

Father Edward McIlmail, LC

Mark 12:18-27

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone´s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled."

Introductory Prayer:Lord, I come before you humbly. As one who has frequently fallen into sin, I am aware of my weakness. Your great love, though, assures me that your grace can keep me on the path to holiness.

Petition:Lord, let me imitate you better in my dealings with my loved ones.

1. If We Only Understood the Power of God: We can be like the Sadducees. It´s not that we deny the resurrection of the dead. But we can live as if we don´t believe in the power of God. A rash of bad news can leave us on the verge of despair. We might ask: What´s the use? Evil seems to be winning on all sides. Families are breaking down. Pornography is rife. Materialism is rampant. Yet, the Almighty remains in charge. "Evil does not have the last word in the world," said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Dec. 22, 2005. We Christians are called to be witnesses to hope and joy. Does our life radiate joy? If not, why not?

2. Reading the Scriptures: The study of Scripture is, as it were, the "soul of sacred theology," says Vatican II (see Dei Verbum, 24). Our Lord, in effect, tells the Sadducees: "Because you don´t know Scripture, you don´t know me. You don´t know what I´m about ― my message of mercy, my call to repentance, my invitation to seek out the lost sheep." So many of Christ´s supposed followers spend their time criticizing the Church, the hierarchy, the parish and the school. They forget that Christ calls them to build up, not to tear down. If only they knew him better in Scripture. Where do I spend most of my energy day by day? Building up the Church and the community? Or nitpicking at the faults of its members?

3. Like the Angels in Heaven: Marriage is beautiful. It is a sacrament ― and an icon, so to speak, of the inner life of the Trinity. But it can bring only a relative happiness, at best. Its more transcendent goal is to lead spouses to heaven. In this world, expecting too much of a spouse (or anyone, for that matter) courts disappointment. Humans have weaknesses. Yet, they have their greatness, too. Could not that spouse, that family member, that colleague, be saints despite their flaws? Do we see those around us as potential saints? Do we encourage them in their path?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me see the greatness in people, their good qualities and their potential to be apostles. Let me see, too, how I can help them along the path to holiness.

Resolution:Today I will compliment someone on a genuine virtue they possess.

Destiny and Despair

by Food For Thought on June 5, 2013 ·

In today’s readings, Tobit’s family and that of Sarah’s are destined to be linked. God heals their pain and rescues them. Not only has Tobit been exiled to Assyria with other Israelites, but he also suffers what seemed to be a cruel and unjust accident. Sarah’s suffering is that she has married seven husbands, but a demon has slain each of them on their wedding night. She has to bear the pain and shame of this, and, like Tobit, wishes to die. But again, like Tobit, her faith in God does not waver.

We can all take heart from the stories of Tobit and Sarah. Like all of us, they had suffering and struggle to go through in their lives. But they never lost faith in God’s loving providence and their faith was eventually rewarded.

It is easy for us to give way to despair in times of trouble. We may see no way out of our problems and God may seem absent when we most need him. This is when we need to proclaim our faith that God loves us, cares for us, and wants to help us in our suffering. Something good can come out of misfortunes in ways that we cannot foresee. God hears our prayers for help, just as he heard those of Tobit and Sarah. He may not seem to answer at once or in the way that we would like him to answer our prayers, but we can be sure that He hears us and loves us.

One Bread, One Body

<< Wednesday, June 5, 2013 >>

St. Boniface

Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17
View Readings

Psalm 25:2-9

Mark 12:18-27

THE SCRIPTURES OR DARKNESS

"You are badly misled, because you fail to understand the Scriptures or the power of God." —Mark 12:24

How many people in our society, even in our churches, understand the Scriptures? How many are even trying to understand them? Never in history has the Bible been more available to the average person than today, but Biblical illiteracy continues to abound. We read millions of newspapers, magazines, and books daily; we're on-line constantly, nevertheless, most people, even Christians, have no hunger to receive nourishment from God's Word (see Jer 15:16). We are Biblically anorexic.

Our Biblical illiteracy and anorexia result in our being "badly misled" (Mk 12:24) and "very much mistaken" (Mk 12:27). We are deceived, self-deceived, brainwashed, duped, and manipulated. We need the light of God's Word (Ps 119:105) to come out of this darkness. We need the hammer of God's Word (Jer 23:29) to break our chains and set the captives free.

Because One Bread, One Body helps people "understand the Scriptures," this book is important. Pray for this book to reach as many people as possible as deeply as possible. Consider distributing One Bread, One Body to your city, parish, family, and friends. Obey the Lord in paying for this book. Let's lead those who are "badly misled" and "very much mistaken" out of the darkness and into the light.

Prayer: Father, may over a billion people understand and live the Scriptures for the first time next year.

Promise: "The prayer of these two suppliants was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God. So Raphael was sent to heal them both." —Tb 3:16

Praise: St. Boniface went to the monastery at age thirteen to be educated in the Faith. He was martyred while preparing candidates for Confirmation.