Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 06-17-14

St. Emily De Vialar

Feast Day: June 17
Born: 1797 :: Died: 1856

Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emily de Vialar was born at Gaillace, Albi in southern France. She was the only daughter of Baron James Augustine de Vialar and Antoinette. Her wealthy parents sent her to school in Paris but at the age of fifteen, she returned to her small town of Gaillac when her mother died.

Fifteen-year-old Emily would be good company for her father. Mr. de Vialar was interested in finding a suitable husband for his daughter. He became very angry when Emily flatly refused to marry because she wanted to be a religious sister and give her life to God.

When Emily was twenty-one, a new priest, Father Mercier, arrived in Gaillac. Emily went to him for direction as she wanted to help the poor and the sick. Father Mercier helped her set up an out-patient service right on the terrace of the de Vialar home.

Emily's father was upset by all the bother and this tense situation between Emily and her father existed for fifteen years. Then Emily's grandfather, the Baron de Portal, died leaving Emily a large fortune. At last she could have the independence she needed to begin her great work for God.

With the help of Father Mercier, Emily bought a large house in her hometown. She and three other women began a religious order. They designed a habit and chose the name “Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition”.

The archbishop blessed their congregation and ministry. These sisters would be care for the sick and poor, and educate children. Twelve young women joined the group within three months. Sister Emily pronounced her vows in 1835 along with seventeen other sisters.

The Sisters of St. Joseph started branch convents. In 1847, the sisters went to Burma and in 1854, to Australia. In forty years, Mother Emily saw her congregation grow from the patio of her home in Gaillac, France, to some forty convents around the world.

Mother Emily wrote many letters which showed her great love for God, for his Church and for people. She saw in her heart people everywhere who needed the truth of the Gospel and the love that Christ brings. She asked Jesus for the strength she needed to continue her mission. Mother Emily's died on August 24, 1856.

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Tuesday, June 17

Liturgical Color: Green

Today the Church honors St. Albert
Chmielowski. He came from a wealthy
family and had a promising career as an
artist, but he gave it all up to work with
the homeless, whom he felt were ignored
by society. St. Albert died in 1916.

Day 184 - The "Church in miniature"? // What are Sacramentals?

What does it mean to say that the family is a "Church in miniature"?

What the Church is on a large scale, the family is on a small scale: an image of God's love in human fellowship. Indeed, every marriage is perfected in openness to others, to the children that God sends, in mutual acceptance, in hospitality and being for others.

Nothing in the early Church fascinated people more about the "New Way" of the Christians than their "domestic churches". Often someone "believed
in the Lord, together with all his household; and many ... believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8). In an unbelieving world, islands of living faith were formed, places of prayer, mutual sharing, and cordial hospitality. Rome, Corinth, Antioch, the great cities of antiquity, were soon permeated with domestic churches that were like points of light. Even today families in which Christ is at home are the leaven that renews our society.

Sacramentals are sacred signs or sacred actions in which a blessing is conferred.

Examples of sacramentals are holy water, the consecration of a bell or an organ, the blessing of a house or an automobile, the blessing of throats on the feast of St. Blaise, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday, palm branches on Palm Sunday, the Easter candle, and the blessing of produce on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (YOUCAT questions 271-272)

Dig Deeper: CCC section (1667-1672) and other references here.

Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1066 - 1690)

Section 2: The Seven Sacraments of the Church (1210 - 1690)

Chapter 4: Other Liturgical Celebrations (1667 - 1690)

Article 1: Sacramentals (1667 - 1679)

1667

"Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy."¹⁷³

173.

SC 60; Cf. CIC, can. 1166; CCEO, can. 867.

The characteristics of sacramentals ⇡

2157
699
(all)

1668

Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops' pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism).

2626
784
(all)

1669

Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a "blessing," and to bless.¹⁷⁴ Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).¹⁷⁵

174.

Cf. Gen 12:2; Lk 6:28; Rom 12:14; 1 Pet 3:9.

175.

Cf. SC 79; CIC, can. 1168; De Ben 16,18.

1128
2001
(all)

1670

Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God."¹⁷⁶

176.

SC 61.

Various forms of sacramentals ⇡

1078
(all)

1671

Among sacramentals blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father "with every spiritual blessing."¹⁷⁷ This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross of Christ.

177.

Eph 1:3.

903
923
925
(all)

1672

Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which are intended for persons — not to be confused with sacramental ordination — are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects.

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 5
43.	You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy.	Audistis quia dictum est : Diliges proximum tuum, et odio habebis inimicum tuum.	ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου και μισησεις τον εχθρον σου
44.	But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:	Ego autem dico vobis : Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite his qui oderunt vos, et orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos :	εγω δε λεγω υμιν αγαπατε τους εχθρους υμων ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
45.	That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.	ut sitis filii Patris vestri, qui in cælis est : qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos : et pluit super justos et injustos.	οπως γενησθε υιοι του πατρος υμων του εν [τοις] ουρανοις οτι τον ηλιον αυτου ανατελλει επι πονηρους και αγαθους και βρεχει επι δικαιους και αδικους
46.	For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this?	Si enim diligitis eos qui vos diligunt, quam mercedem habebitis ? nonne et publicani hoc faciunt ?	εαν γαρ αγαπησητε τους αγαπωντας υμας τινα μισθον εχετε ουχι και οι τελωναι το αυτο ποιουσιν
47.	And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this?	Et si salutaveritis fratres vestros tantum, quid amplius facitis ? nonne et ethnici hoc faciunt ?	και εαν ασπασησθε τους φιλους υμων μονον τι περισσον ποιειτε ουχι και οι τελωναι ουτως ποιουσιν
48.	Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.	Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester cælestis perfectus est.	εσεσθε ουν υμεις τελειοι ωσπερ ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις τελειος εστιν

43. You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.
44. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;
45. That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the Publicans do the same?
47. And if you salute your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Publicans do so?
48. Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.

GLOSS. The Lord has taught above that we must not resist one who offers any injury, but must be ready even to suffer more; He now further requires us to show to them that do us wrong both love and its effects. And as the things that have gone before pertain to the completion of the righteousness of the Law, in like manner this last precept is to be referred to the completion of the law of love, which, according to the Apostle, is the fulfilling of the Law.

AUG. That by the command, You shall love your neighbor, all mankind were intended, the Lord showed in the parable of the man who was left half dead, which teaches us that our neighbor is every one who may happen at any time to stand in need of our offices of mercy; and this who does not see must be denied to none, when the Lord says, Do good to them that hate you.

ID. That there were degrees in the righteousness of the Pharisees which was under the old Law is seen herein, that many hated even those by whom they were loved. He therefore who loves his neighbor, has ascended one degree, though as yet he hates his enemy; which is expressed in that, and shall hate your enemy, which is not to be understood as a command to the justified, but a concession to the weak.

ID. I ask the Manichaeans why they would have this peculiar to the Mosaic Law, that was said by them of old time, you shall hate your enemy? Has not Paul said of certain men that they were hateful to God? We must inquire then how we may understand that, after the example of God, to whom the Apostle here affirms some men to be hateful, our enemies are to be hated; and again after the same pattern of Him who makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, our enemies are to be loved. Here then is the rule by which we may at once hate our enemy for the evil's sake that is in him, that is, his iniquity, and love him for the good's sake that is in him, that is, his rational part. This then, thus uttered by them of old, being heard, but not understood, hurried men on to the hatred of man, when they should have hated nothing but vice. Such the Lord corrects as He proceeds, saying, I say to you, Love your enemies. He who had just declared that He came not to subvert the Law, but to fulfill it, by bidding us love our enemies, brought us to the understanding of how we may at once hate the same man for his sins whom we love for his human nature.

GLOSS. But it should be known that in the whole body of the Law it is nowhere written, You shall hate your enemy. But it is to be referred to the tradition of the Scribes, who thought good to add this to the Law, because the Lord bade the children of Israel pursue their enemies, and destroy Amalek from under Heaven.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. As that, You shall not lust, was not spoken to the flesh, but to the spirit, so in this the flesh indeed is not able to love its enemy, but the spirit is able; for the love and hate of the flesh is in the sense, but of the spirit is in the understanding. If then we feel hate to one who has wronged us, and yet will not to act upon that feeling, know that our flesh hates our enemy, but our soul loves him.

GREG. Love to an enemy is then observed when we are not sorrowful at his success, or rejoice in his fall. We hate him whom we wish not to he bettered, and pursue with ill wishes the prosperity of the man in whose fall we rejoice. Yet it may often happen that without any sacrifice of charity, the fall of an enemy may gladden us, and again his exaltation make us sorrowful without any suspicion of envy; when, namely, by his fall any deserving man is raised up, or by his success any undeservedly depressed. But herein a strict measure of discernment must be observed, lest in following out our own hates, we hide it from ourselves under the specious pretense of another's benefit. We should balance how much we owe to the fall of the sinner, how much to the justice of the Judge. For when the Almighty has struck any hardened sinner, we must at once magnify His justice as Judge, and feel with the other's suffering who perishes.

GLOSS. They who stand against the Church oppose her in three ways: with hate, with words, and with bodily tortures. The Church on the other hand loves them, as it is here, Love your enemies; does good to them, as it is, Do good to them that hate you; and prays for them, as it is, Pray for them that persecute you and accuse you falsely.

JEROME; Many measuring the commandments of God by their own weakness, not by the strength of the saints, hold these commands for impossible, and say that it is virtue enough not to hate our enemies; but to love them is a command beyond human nature to obey. But it must be understood that Christ enjoins not impossibilities but perfection. Such was the temper of David towards Saul and Absalom; the Martyr Stephen also prayed for his enemies while they stoned him, and Paul wished himself anathema for the sake of his persecutors. Jesus both taught and did the same, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

AUG. These indeed are examples of the perfect sons of God; yet to this should every believer aim, and seek by prayer to God, and struggles with himself to raise his human spirit to this temper. Yet this so great blessing is not given to all those multitudes which we believe are heard when they pray, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

ID. Here arises a question, that this commandment of the Lord, by which He bids us pray for our enemies, seems opposed by many other parts of Scripture. In the Prophets are found many imprecations upon enemies; such as that in the 109th Psalm, Let his children be orphans (Ps 109:9). But it should be known, that the Prophets are wont to foretell things to come in the form of prayer or wish. This has more weight as a difficulty that John says, There is a sin to death, I say not that he shall pray for it (1 John 5:16); plainly showing that there are some brethren for whom he does not bid us pray; for what went before was, If any know his brother sin a sin, &c. Yet the Lord bids us pray for our persecutors. This question can only be resolved, if we admit that there are some sins in brethren more grievous than the sin of persecution in our enemies. For thus Stephen prays for those that stoned him, because they had not yet believed on Christ; but the Apostle Paul does not pray for Alexander though he was a brother, but had sinned by attacking the brotherhood through jealousy. But for whom you pray not, you do not therein pray against him. What must we say then of those against whom we know that the saints have prayed, and that not that they should be corrected (for that would be rather to have prayed for them), but for their eternal damnation; not as that prayer of the Prophet against the Lord's betrayer, for that is a prophecy of the future, not an imprecation of punishment; but as when we read in the Apocalypse the Martyrs' prayer that they may be avenged. But we ought not to let this affect us. For who may dare to affirm that they prayed against those persons themselves, and not against the kingdom of sin? For that would be both a just and a merciful avenging of the Martyrs, to overthrow that kingdom of sin, under the continuance of which they endured all those evils. And it is overthrown by correction of some, and damnation of such as abide in sin. Does not Paul seem to you to have avenged Stephen on his on his own body, as he speaks, I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection.

PSEUDO-AUG. And the souls of them that are slain cry out to be avenged; as the blood of Abel cried out of the ground not with a voice, but in spirit. As the work is said to laud tine workman, when he delights himself in the view thereof; for the saints are not so impatient as to urge what they know will come to pass at the appointed time.

CHRYS. Note through what steps we have now ascended here, and how he has set us on the very pinnacle of virtue. The first step is not to begin to do wrong to any; the second, that in avenging a wrong done to us we be content with retaliating equal; the third, to return nothing of what we have suffered; the fourth, to offer one's self to the endurance of evil; the fifth, to be ready to suffer even more evil than the oppressor desires to inflict; the sixth, not to hate him of whom we suffer such things; the seventh, to love him; the eighth, to do him good; the ninth, to pray for him. And because the command is great, the reward proposed is also great, namely, to be made like to God, You shall be the sons of your Father which is in heaven.

JEROME; For whoever keeps the commandments of God is thereby made the son of God; he then of whom he here speaks is not by nature his son, but by his own will.

AUG. After that rule we must here understand of which John speaks, He gave them power to be made the sons of God. One is His Son by nature; we are made sons by the power which we have received; that is, so far as we fulfill those things that we are commanded. So He says not, Do these things because you are sons, but, do these things that you may become sons. In calling us to this then, He calls us to His likeness, for He says, He makes His sun to rise on the righteous and the unrighteous. By the sun we may understand not this visible, but that of which it is said, To you that fear the name of the Lord, the Sun of righteousness shall arise (Mal 4:2); and by the rain, the water of the doctrine of truth; for Christ was seen, and was preached to good as well as bad.

HILARY; Or, the sun and rain have reference to the baptism with water and Spirit.

AUG. Or we may take it of this visible sun, and of the rain by which the fruits are nourished, as the wicked mourn in the book of Wisdom, The Sun has not risen for us (Wisdom 5:6). And of the rain it is said, I will command the clouds that they rain not on it (Is 5:6). But whether it be this or that, it is of the great goodness of God, which is set forth for our imitation. He says not, 'the sun,' but His sun, that is, the sun which Himself has made, that hence we may be admonished with how great liberality we ought to supply those things that we have not created, but received as a boon from Him.

ID.But as we laud Him for his gifts, let us also consider how He chastises those whom He loves. For not everyone who spares is a friend, nor everyone who chastises an enemy; it is better to love with severity than to use lenity wherewith to deceive.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. He was careful to say, On the righteous and the unrighteous, and not 'on the unrighteous as on the righteous'; for God gives all good gifts not for men's sake, but for the saints' sake, as likewise chastisements for the sake of sinners. In bestowing His good gifts, He does not separate the sinners from the righteous that they should not despair; so in His infliction not the righteous from sinners that they should be made proud; and that the more, since the wicket are not profited by the good things they receive, but turn them to their hurt by their evil lives; nor are the good hurt by evil things, but rather profit to increase of righteousness.

AUG. For the good man is not puffed up by worldly goods, nor broken by worldly calamity. But the bad man is punished in temporal losses, because he is corrupted by temporal gains. Or for another reason he would have good and evil common to both sorts of men, that good things might not be sought with vehement desire, when they were enjoyed even by the wicked; nor the evil things shamefully avoided, when even the righteous are afflicted by them.

GLOSS.To love one that loves us is of nature, but to love our enemy of charity. If you love them who love you, what reward have you? to wit, in heaven. None truly, for of each it is said, You have received your reward. But these things we ought to do, and not leave the other undone.

RABAN.If then sinners be led by nature to show kindness to those that love them, with how much greater show of affection ought you not to embrace those that do not love you? For it follows, Do not even the publicans do so? The publicans are those who collect the public imposts; or perhaps those who pursue the public business or the gain of this world.

GLOSS. But if you only pray for them that are your kinsfolk, what more has your benevolence than that of the unbelieving? Salutation is a kind of prayer.

RABAN. Ethnici, that is, the Gentiles, for the Greek word is translated 'gens' in Latin; those, that is, who abide such as they were born, to wit, under sin.

REMIG. Because the utmost perfection of love cannot go beyond the love of enemies, therefore as soon as the Lord has bid us love our enemies, He proceeds, Be you then perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. He indeed is perfect, as being omnipotent - man, as being aided by the Omnipotent. For the word ' as' is used in Scripture, sometimes for identity, and equality, as in that, As I was with Moses, so will I be with you (Joshua 1:5); sometimes to express likeness only as here.

PSEUDO-CHRYS.For as our sons after the flesh resemble their fathers in some part of their bodily shape, so do spiritual sons resemble their father God, in holiness.

Catena Aurea Matthew 5

Pantocrator, Christ Savior and Life Giver

Metropolitan Jovan Zograf, Iconographer

1384
Church of the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration, Zrze - Prilep

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for:June 17, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and 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

o Paella I

ACTIVITIES

o Instilling a Love of Learning

PRAYERS

o Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

o Prayer for Priests

· Ordinary Time: June 17th

· Tuesday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop and Confessor

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Gregory Barbarigo, canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1960. He was the Bishop of Bergamo and of Padua. St. Gregory was noted as a distinguished churchman and leading citizen whose charities were on a princely scale. He worked for unity of the Latin and Orthodox Churches.

St. Gregory Barbarigo

St. Gregory was born on September 16, 1625, and he died in 1697. His family lived in Venice and were held in high repute by the people there. He was the fourth son. He excelled in his studies at an early age and became interested in diplomacy and statesmanship. He knew Contarine, the Venetian ambassador, and went with him on at least one ambassadorial mission.

After he was ordained a priest in 1655, he organized care for the plague-stricken people of Rome. In 1657, Pope Alexander VII made him the first Bishop of Bergamo. He was a leader in promoting the reforms of the Council of Trent. He visited parishes, organizing the teaching of Christian doctrine and also worked with seminarians and clergy to raise their standards. His work was so respected that in 1660, he was made the Cardinal of Padua.

St. Gregory was extremely interested in higher education and worked for the development of seminaries and libraries. He established a printing press that printed pamphlets for Christians under Moslem rule. He was active in laboring to bring about a reunion with the Greek Church. St. Gregory took part in five papal Conclaves (for the election of the Pope) and was a candidate in three of them. It is recorded that his congregation thought him to be a man filled with wisdom.

Excerpted from St. Gregory Barbarigo Parish Website

Things to Do:

"In Italy it was above all the merit of St. Gregory Barbarigo, at the end of the 17th century to have labored indefatigably for the reorganization of the seminaries of Bergamo and Padua according to the norms laid down by the Council of Trent, keeping in mind all the time the spiritual and cultural needs of his time." Summi Dei Verbum Pope Paul VI Read this entire Apostolic Letter on the Occasion of the Fourth Centenary of the Establishment of Seminaries by the Council of Trent.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 5:43-48

11th Week in Ordinary Time

Love your enemies. (Matthew 5:44)

Can you picture finally getting to heaven, and the first person you meet is the one you liked least on earth? Imagine that! God loved that person and was calling him or her to perfection too. Or what about all the evil characters you’ve come across in the Bible—people like Pharaoh or Jezebel or King Herod? They don’t fall outside the scope of God’s loving intentions either. What God wants for you is what he also wants for your aggravating neighbor, as well as history’s worst tyrants—that they be “perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Here’s another surprise: Your enemy can help you move toward that impossible-sounding goal of perfection. Here’s how. Jesus’ command to be perfect appears right after his explanation of how to treat those who hate us: “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father” (5:44-45). In other words, if you want to be perfect, begin by loving your enemies.

Are you thinking, “That’s too hard”? Of course it is! Even when the call to perfection is narrowed down to this starting-point, it is beyond human powers—or it would be, if Jesus hadn’t suffered and died for us. But with the grace he has secured through his death and resurrection, we can follow his example of perfect love and start doing what he commands.

Try to cooperate with that grace today. Instead of harboring spiteful thoughts, say a short prayer for someone who provokes you. Think about whether there are other people you should be loving more than you do—not “enemies” exactly, but people you tend to take for granted, look down on, or dismiss as undeserving.

Start with those you live and work with. Pay attention to the thoughts that cross your mind as you read the newspaper or see a homeless person on the street. Ask God’s forgiveness when you discover your failures. Open your heart to receive the grace for a more generous attitude. Take advantage of every big and small invitation to love, and the perfection of the Father and the Son will begin to shine out in you.

“Thank you, Father, for creating me for love. Help me to accept your grace and take another step toward the perfection to which you are calling me.”

1 Kings 21:17-29; Psalm 51:3-6, 11, 16

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for June 17, 2014:

(Reader’s Tip) The most important thing for a long and happy marriage is to be friends with your spouse. You need to have a friend who always has your back, no matter what comes up.

Vultus Christi

Blessed Marie-Joseph Cassant

Tuesday, 17 June 2014 07:05

Where His Treasure Was, There Was His Heart

June 17th marks the feast of Blessed Marie-Joseph Cassant, a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Sainte-Marie-du-Désert beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 2004. Father Marie-Joseph died on June 17, 1903; he was twenty-five years old. Solemnly professed for three years, he had been a priest for only nine months. From childhood he wanted nothing else. “Where your treasure house is, there is your heart also” (Mt 6:21).

The Greatness of the Priesthood

In his last letter to his family, Father Marie–Joseph wrote, “For such a long time we hoped against hope to be able to have the whole family together after my ordination so as to share the joy of being present and receiving Communion together at my first Mass. The good Lord heard our deepest wishes. It now remains to us to thank Him and to enter more and more deeply into the greatness of the priesthood. Let us never dare to equate the Sacrifice of the Mass with earthly things.”

An Intercessor

Since 1903 more than 2200 persons from thirty different countries have attested to favours received through the intercession of Father Marie-Joseph. The catalogue of graces attributed to the young monk is impressive: conversions, reconciliations, cures, and comfort in uncertainties and doubts. My friend Father Jacob and I went in pilgrimage to his tomb in 1982 and prayed that both of us might become priests. I was ordained four years later.

Towards La Trappe

Father Marie-Joseph’s road to the priesthood was not an easy one. His parish priest judged him intellectually inadequate for theological studies. After tutoring him for fifteen months in French and Latin, he saw that the young Joseph was not suited for the diocesan seminary. He directed him instead to the Trappe of Sainte-Marie-du-Desert where the monks were ordained to the priesthood after a simpler course of studies, given that they had no pastoral responsibilities or outside ministry.

Thérèse and Marie-Joseph

Joseph entered “Le Desert” on December 5, 1894. Sister Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus et de la Sainte-Face, five years older than Joseph, had three years left in her Carmel of Lisieux. Their lives were in some ways similar. Although Thérèse had a stronger personality, both were led to find their strength in weakness. “More than ever, then, I delight to boast of the weaknesses that humiliate me, so that the strength of Christ may enshrine itself in me” (2 Cor 12:9).

A Victim-Priest

It is significant that Father Marie-Joseph belonged to the “Association of Victim Souls,” a movement of identification with the oblation of the Heart of Jesus, Priest and Victim. Saint Pius X (1835-1914), Blessed Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), Blessed Columba Marmion (1858-1923), Blessed Jacob Kern (1897-1924), and Blessed Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (1880-1954), were all members of the same Association. It was established by the Filles du Coeur de Jésus (Daughters of the Heart of Jesus) following the wishes of their foundress, Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil-Martiny, after her death. As a member of the Association, Father Marie-Joseph prayed, and signed, an Act of Oblation that the rest of his life was to illustrate and consummate.

Ecce venio!
Behold, I come, O good and gentlest Jesus,
Divine Lamb perpetually immolated upon our altars
for the salvation of the world.
I want to unite myself to Thee,
suffer with Thee,
and immolate myself like Thee,
in union with the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus.
To this end I offer Thee
the sorrows, humiliations, bitternesses, and crosses
that Thy Providence hath sown beneath my feet.
I offer them to Thee
for the intentions for which Thy most sweet Heart
offereth and immolateth Itself.
May my feeble sacrifice return in a shower of blessings
upon the Church, the Priesthood,
my homeland, and poor sinners, my brethren!
Deign Thou accept it by the hands of Mary Mediatrix
and in union with the immolations of her Immaculate Heart.
Amen.

Confidence in the Heart of Jesus

Frère Marie-Joseph was timid, fearful, and scrupulous at times, suffering from insecurities. It was by trusting obedience to his Novice Master, Père André Malet, that he began to grow in confidence in the Heart of Jesus. “My grace is enough for thee; my strength finds its full scope in thy weakness” (2 Cor 12:8). Confidence in the Heart of Jesus became his way. Echoing the words of the psalmist, he called the Eucharist “his one happiness on earth.” “What have I in heaven? And besides Thee what do I desire upon earth?” (Ps 72:25).

Humiliated

Even in the abbey, theological studies were not easy for Joseph. The monk charged with teaching him often humiliated him publicly for his stupidity, saying, “ You are totally limited! It is useless for you to study. You will not learn any more. To ordain you would be a dishonour to the priesthood.” Father André, his gentle and patient spiritual father, was always there to encourage Father Marie-Joseph, to set him again and again on the path of confidence in the Heart of Jesus.

A Priest Forever

Father Marie-Joseph was ordained on October 12, 1902 at twenty-four and a half years of age. Already tuberculosis was ravaging his young body. His abbot sent him home to his family for seven weeks of rest, hoping that his health might improve, but it was too late for that. Upon returning to the abbey, Father Marie-Joseph was sent to the infirmary. His lungs were irreparably damaged, his breathing difficult. As infirmarian he was given none other than the theology professor who had so harshly berated him.

His Last Communion

Father André remained close to his spiritual son, offering reassurance and comfort, helping him to trust in the love of the Heart of Jesus for him. On June 17, 1903, Father Marie-Joseph received Holy Communion for the last time and, a few moments later, passed into the contemplation of Christ face to face. The beautiful Collect composed for his liturgical memorial sums up his life:

O Lord, Glory of the lowly,
who didst inspire a burning love for the Eucharist in Blessed Joseph Mary,
and didst lead him through the Heart of Jesus into the desert;
grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession and example
we may prefer nothing to Christ,
that He may bring us to life everlasting.

The Mass Was His Life

The feast of Blessed Marie-Joseph Cassant, falling in the month of the Sacred Heart and on the day after the feast of Saint Lutgarde, invites us to follow him along the path of confidence in the Heart of Jesus and burning love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. For Blessed Marie-Joseph nothing equaled the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; the Mass became his life. At the hour of death his identification with Christ, priest and victim, was complete. Today, through Christ, with Him, and in Him, he makes priestly intercession in heaven for those who ask for it on earth.

Regnum Christi

We Are All Brothers and Sisters, Children of Our Heavenly Father.
2014-06-17

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Matthew 5: 43-48

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you present a message that is not easy for my fallen nature to accept. However, I believe in your words, and I trust in you because you alone have the words of eternal life. As I begin this moment of prayer, I turn to you as one in need. I want only to please you in all I do.

Petition: Lord, help me to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me.

1. True Love for Your Enemies: Nowhere does the radical newness of the Christian ethic stand out more clearly than in Christ’s simple phrase: “Love your enemies.” There are four words for “love” in Greek. Storge refers to the love between parents and children. Eros is the love of attraction between man and woman. Philia is the love of friendship. Finally, agape is love as goodwill, benevolent love that cannot be conquered, a love that wills only the good for the person loved. In his book, Love and Responsibility, Karol Wojtyla remarks that to love someone with truly benevolent love is to will God for them, since God is the supreme good of each human person. It is precisely love as agape that Christ asks from every one of his followers: “Pray for those who persecute you.”

2. “Children of Your Heavenly Father”: Why does Christ ask, even demand, of us such a radical form of love? Precisely because that is how God the Father loves each and every one of his sons and daughters, with no consideration of whether they are good or evil. “For he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” How much the world around us would change if those with whom we came into contact perceived in us a love like that of the Father of mercies! His love is absolutely without self-interest. He continues to love and pour forth his gifts even when he is not loved in return. Christ calls us to a lofty and challenging ideal, but one that is capable of transforming lives. What joy could be greater than to be true sons and daughters of our heavenly Father?

3. Seeking True Perfection Through Love: Why is Christ almost relentless in insisting that we must be perfect — and not just a human perfection, but as our heavenly Father is perfect? He knows that is the Father’s original plan for mankind, from the dawn of creation. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Christ is well aware that sin has darkened the divine image within us, that his call to perfect charity is not possible for our fallen human nature. But he is equally aware that by the power of his own death and resurrection, through the new life of the Holy Spirit whom he will send, God’s original plan for mankind will be restored. There can be no more powerful motive for hope, even in the midst of our own failures in charity and our human weaknesses.

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for your radical message, for the constant challenge it is to me, never allowing me to become complacent or self-satisfied. Help me to be a better witness of Christian charity so that the world will believe in you.

Resolution: I will pray for those with whom I am experiencing difficulties and do an act of charity for them.

Homily of the Day

June 17, 2014

The Old Testament and New Testament are very different. For the Jews, they were allowed to exact punishment on those who harmed them. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” “Stone the adulterer and the murderer.” And many other such laws are found in the Book of Leviticus. But the gospel says otherwise, “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” A bit shocking but Jesus said this. Shocking because it is humanly impossible to fulfill this word. The natural reaction of people who are unjustly treated or simply offended by others is to fight back, to retaliate. So why does Jesus give us such a hard “rule” to follow?

The answer to this question is that Jesus wants us to be happy. He knows that if we forgive our enemies, we will be happy. Why?

Because our hearts were created to love others. And the highest form of love is to forgive the faults of others. So how do we do this? Let us start with people in our families. Love them, forgive the small and big slights we receive from them every day. It is also easier to forgive those who sin against us out of ignorance or stupidity and not out of malice. We must ask God to expand our hearts’ capacity to love. We should also meditate on our own sins and on how much God has forgiven us. Then we might find it easier to forgive. But towards those who maliciously persecute us, Jesus invites us to understand them. This means to believe that they are either so scarred in life by previous hurts or so misguided to believe that they are right to mistreat us. We need to be very humble and aware of our own sins in order to excuse such men. Praying for them also helps us to understand them, to love them. With God’s grace we might just start loving our enemies.

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 4

<< Tuesday, June 17, 2014 >>

1 Kings 21:17-29
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Psalm 51:3-6, 11, 16

Matthew 5:43-48
Similar Reflections

LORD, HAVE MERCY

"Then the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, 'Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before Me?' " —1 Kings 21:28-29

The Lord is so merciful that, when we even begin to repent, He pours out His merciful love. Ahab was the most wicked man that had ever lived up to that time (1 Kgs 21:25). He had murdered Naboth just for a garden site. He would fit in well with Stalin or Hitler. Nonetheless, when Elijah prophesied the downfall of Ahab and his family, Ahab "tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued" (1 Kgs 21:27). The Lord was pleased with Ahab's humility and fasting. He promised: "Since [Ahab] has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his time" (1 Kgs 21:29).

When one of the criminals crucified next to Jesus stopped blaspheming the Lord and asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus with His dying breath promised the man paradise with Him that day (Lk 23:43).

Jesus died to meet the demands of justice. Now He wants to do nothing but extend mercy to us. Let the Lord give you what you don't deserve: forgiveness, love, and mercy.

Prayer: Jesus, may I not waste Your death on the cross for me (see Gal 2:21).

Promise: "My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove that you are sons of your heavenly Father, for His sun rises on the bad and the good, He rains on the just and the unjust." —Mt 5:44-45

Praise: Rhonda had an abortion. She repented and turned to Jesus. Now she is happily married with six children.

Prayer for Life

Dearest Lady of Guadalupe, fruitful Mother of Holiness, teach me your ways of gentleness and strength. Hear my prayer, offered with deep-felt confidence to beg this favor...

O Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to thee under the glorious Aztec title of "Guadalupe"--the Virgin who crushed the serpent.

Queen of Martyrs, whose Immaculate Heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across my pathway. Invoke the Holy Spirit of Wisdom to fortify my will to frequent the Sacraments so that, thus enlightened and strengthened, I may prefer God to all creatures and shun every occasion of sin.

Help me, as a living branch of the vine that is Jesus Christ, to exemplify His Divine charity always seeking the good of others. Queen of Apostles, aid me to win souls for the Sacred Heart of my Savior. Keep my apostolate fearless, dynamic and articulate, to proclaim the loving solicitude of Our Father in Heaven so that the wayward may heed His pleading and obtain pardon, through the merits of your merciful Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.