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October 13, 2008 –   Monday of  28th Week in Ordinary Time       DAILY LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: "This is an evil generation; it seeks a sign" UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): Prelates Protest Another Gay Marriage State SAINT OF THE DAY St. Margaret Mary Alacoque  GENERAL MARIOLOGY THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY - 13th Rose DIVINE MERCY On Happiness, Joy, Delight, Rejoice: Unsurpassable Happiness  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: Papal Homily at Canonization   Monthly Index

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

Monday (10/13):  "This is an evil generation; it seeks a sign" Scripture: Luke 11:29-32 29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it  except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nin'eveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to  hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nin'eveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Meditation: Do you pay attention to warning signs? Many fatalities could be avoided if people took the warning signs seriously. When the religious leaders demanded a sign from Jesus, he gave them a warning to avert spiritual disaster. It was characteristic of the Jews that they demanded "signs" from God's messengers to authenticate their claims. When the religious leaders pressed Jesus to give proof for his claims he says in so many words that he is God's sign and that they need no further evidence from heaven than his own person. The Ninevites recognized God's warning when Jonah spoke to them, and they repented. And the Queen of Sheba recognized God's wisdom in Solomon. Jonah was God's sign and his message was the message of God for the people of Nineveh. Unfortunately the religious leaders were not content to accept the signs right before their eyes. They had rejected the message of John the Baptist and now they reject Jesus as God's Anointed One (Messiah) and they fail to heed his message. Simeon had prophesied at Jesus' birth that he was "destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that inner thoughts of many will be revealed" (Luke 2:34- 35). Jesus confirmed his message with many miracles in preparation for the greatest sign of all – his resurrection on the third day. The Lord Jesus came to set us free from slavery to sin and hurtful desires. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit he pours his love into our hearts that we may understand his will for our lives and walk in his way of holiness. God searches our hearts, not to condemn us, but to show us where we need his saving grace and help. He calls us to seek him with true repentance, humility, and the honesty to see our sins for what they really are – a rejection of his love and will for our lives. God will transform us if we listen to his word and allow his Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Ask the Lord to renew your mind and to increase your thirst for his wisdom. James says that the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity (James 3:17). A double-minded person cannot receive this kind of wisdom. The single of heart desire one thing alone – God's pleasure. God wants us to delight in him and to know the freedom of his truth and love. Do you thirst for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14)? "Lord Jesus, give me a heart that loves what is good and in accord with your will and fill me with your wisdom that I my understand your ways. Give me the grace and the courage to reject whatever is evil and contrary to your will." Psalm 113:1-7 1 Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD! 2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore! 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised! 4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! 5 Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, 6 who looks far down upon the heavens and the earth? 7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap.   RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

Prelates Protest Another Gay Marriage State Connecticut Court Follows California, Massachusetts Lead   HARTFORD, Connecticut, OCT. 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Prelates from Connecticut lamented what they called a situation of just four people choosing to redefine the institution of marriage for their whole state. The bishops decried a 4-3 Connecticut Supreme Court vote on Friday that opens the state to becoming the third to allow same-sex marriages. Massachusetts and California already have redefined the legal understanding of marriage. A statement from the Connecticut Catholic Conference, offered "on behalf of the Catholic bishops, clergy, religious and laity of the state of Connecticut -- more than 1.3 million people," expressed disappointment "in this close 4-3 decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court, which imposes the recognition of same-sex marriage upon the people of Connecticut. This decision is in direct conflict with the position of our state legislature and courts of other states and is a terribly regrettable exercise in judicial activism." "Four people have not just extended a supposed civil right to a particular class of individuals, but have chosen to redefine the institution of marriage," the statement said. "The Connecticut Supreme Court has taken upon itself to make a determination that other courts throughout our nation have felt should be made through the political process. [...] "It appears our state Supreme Court has forgotten that courts should interpret laws and legislatures should make laws." The Catholic Conference further warned that the decision "raises a very real concern about the infringement on religious liberty and freedom of speech with the judicial imposition of same-sex marriage." "The real battle in this court case was not about rights, since civil unions provide a vast number of legal rights to same-sex couples, but about conferring and enforcing social acceptance of a particular lifestyle; a lifestyle many people of faith and advocates of the natural law refuse to accept," the statement affirmed. The Catholic Conference is now encouraging citizens to vote for a Constitutional Convention on election day, which they hope could pave the way for a definition of marriage as exclusively between a man and woman.   RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

October 13, 2008 St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)   Margaret Mary was chosen by Christ to arouse the Church to a realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus. Her early years were marked by sickness and a painful home situation. "The heaviest of my crosses was that I could do nothing to lighten the cross my mother was suffering." After considering marriage for some time, Margaret entered the Order of Visitation nuns at the age of 24. A Visitation nun was "not to be extraordinary except by being ordinary," but the young nun was not to enjoy this anonymity. A fellow novice (shrewdest of critics) termed Margaret humble, simple and frank, but above all kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction. She could not meditate in the formal way expected, though she tried her best to give up her "prayer of simplicity." Slow, quiet and clumsy, she was assigned to help an infirmarian who was a bundle of energy. On December 21, 1674, three years a nun, she received the first of her revelations. She felt "invested" with the presence of God, though always afraid of deceiving herself in such matters. The request of Christ was that his love for humankind be made evident through her. During the next 13 months he appeared to her at intervals. His human heart was to be the symbol of his divine-human love. By her own love she was to make up for the coldness and ingratitude of the world—by frequent and loving Holy Communion, especially on the first Friday of each month, and by an hour's vigil of prayer every Thursday night in memory of his agony and isolation in Gethsemane. He also asked that a feast of reparation be instituted. Like all saints, Margaret had to pay for her gift of holiness. Some of her own sisters were hostile. Theologians who were called in declared her visions delusions and suggested that she eat more heartily. Later, parents of children she taught called her an impostor, an unorthodox innovator. A new confessor, Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, a Jesuit, recognized her genuineness and supported her. Against her great resistance, Christ called her to be a sacrificial victim for the shortcomings of her own sisters, and to make this known. After serving as novice mistress and assistant superior, she died at the age of 43 while being anointed. "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus." Comment: Our scientific-materialistic age cannot "prove" private revelations. Theologians, if pressed, admit that we do not have to believe in them. But it is impossible to deny the message Margaret Mary heralded: that God loves us with a passionate love. Her insistence on reparation and prayer and the reminder of final judgment should be sufficient to ward off superstition and superficiality in devotion to the Sacred Heart while preserving its deep Christian meaning. Quote: Christ speaks to St. Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament" (Third apparition).  RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY FOR RENEWAL AND SALVATION By St. Louis Marie de Montfort     (continued)   Thirteenth Rose 41 Each word of the Lord's Prayer is a tribute we pay to the perfections of God. We honour his fecundity by the name of Father. Father, thou who throughout eternity dost beget a Son who is God like thee, eternal, consubstantial with thee, who is of the very same essence as thee; and is of like power and goodness and wisdom as thou art.... Father and Son, who, from your mutual love, produce the Holy Spirit, who is God like unto you; three persons but one God. Our Father. This means that he is the Father of mankind, because he has created us and continues to sustain us, and because he has redeemed us. He is also the merciful Father of sinners, the Father who is the friend of the just, and the glorious Father of the blessed in heaven. When we say Who art, we honour by these words the infinity and immensity and fullness of God's essence. God is rightly called "He who is;" that is to say, he exists of necessity, essentially, and eternally, because he is the Being of beings and the cause of all beings. He possesses within himself, in a supereminent degree, the perfections of all beings, and he is in all of them by his essence, by his presence and by his power, but without being bounded by their limitations. We honour his sublimity and his glory and his majesty by the words Who art in heaven, that is to say, seated as on thy throne, holding sway over all men by thy justice. When we say Hallowed be thy Name, we worship God's holiness; and we make obeisance to his kingship and bow to the justice of his laws by the words Thy kingdom come, praying that men will obey him on earth as the angels do in heaven. We show our trust in his Providence by asking for our daily bread, and we appeal to his mercy when we ask for the forgiveness of our sins. We look to his great power when we beg him not to lead us into temptation, and we show our faith in his goodness by our hope that he will deliver us from evil. The Son of God has always glorified his Father by his works, and he came into the world to teach men to give glory to him. He showed men how to praise him by this prayer, which he taught us with his own lips. It is our duty, therefore, to say it often, with attention, and in the same spirit as he composed it. (to be continued)  RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Dairy from St. Faustina On Happiness, Joy, Delight, Rejoice  Unsurpassable Happiness If there is a truly happy soul upon earth, it can only be a truly humble soul (Diary, 593). A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God. God defends the humble soul and lets Himself into its secrets, and the soul abides in unsurpassable happiness which no one can comprehend (Diary, 593). Happy is the soul that calls upon the mercy of the Lord (Diary, 598). My goal is God ... and my happiness is in accomplishing His will, and nothing in the world can disturb this happiness for me: no power, no force of any kind (Diary, 775). RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

Papal Homily at Canonization "The Ministry of Reconciliation Is a Ministry That Is Relevant"   VATICAN CITY, OCT. 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of parts of a pluri-lingual homily Benedict XVI gave today at a Mass he celebrated in St. Peter's Square. During the Mass he canonized four saints. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today four new saints are being proposed for the veneration of the universal Church: Gaetano Errico, Maria Bernarda Bütler, Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception and Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán. The liturgy presents them with the Gospel image of the guests who participate in the feast dressed in wedding garments. The image of the feast is in the first reading and in various other Bible passages: It is a joyous image because the feast accompanies a wedding celebration, the covenant of love between God and his people. The Old Testament prophets continually directed Israel's expectations toward this covenant. And in a time marked by trials of every sort, when problems threatened to discourage the people, the reassuring word of the prophet Isaiah comes forth: "On this mountain," he says, "the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines" (25:6). God will put an end to the sadness and shame of the people, who will finally live happily in communion with him. God will never abandon his people: this is why the prophet invites them to rejoice: "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us" (25:9). If the first reading exalts in God's fidelity to his promise, the Gospel, with the parable of the wedding feast, brings us to reflect on the human response. Some of those who were invited first rejected the invitation, because they are drawn by other interests; others scorned the king's invitation, provoking not only their own chastisement but that of the whole city. The king, however, is not discouraged and he sends his servants to find others to fill up the hall where the feast is taking place. Thus, the rejection of the invitation on the part of those who were first invited has as its effect the extension of the invitation to all, with a special predilection for the poor and the disadvantaged. This is what happened in the Pascal Mystery: The power of evil was defeated by the omnipotence of God's love. The risen Lord can now invite everyone to the feast of Easter joy, himself furnishing the guests with the wedding garments, the symbol of the gratuitous gift of sanctifying grace. But man must respond to God's generosity with free acceptance. This is precisely the generous path that was followed by those whom we are venerating today as saints. In baptism they received the wedding garment of divine grace. They kept it pure or purified it and made it bright in the course of their lives through the sacraments. Now they are joining in the heavenly wedding feast. The feast of the Eucharist, to which the Lord invites us every day and in which we must partake with the wedding garment of his grace, is the anticipation of that crowning feast in heaven. If it happens that this wedding garment is sullied or torn by sin, God's goodness does not reject us or leave us to our fate, but offers us the possibility, through the sacrament of reconciliation, of restoring the integrity of that wedding garment that is required for the feast. The ministry of reconciliation, therefore, is a ministry that is relevant. The priest Gaetano Errico, founder of the Congregazione dei Missionari dei Sacri Cuori di Gesù e di Maria, dedicated himself to this sacrament with diligence, assiduity and patience, never refusing it nor counting the cost. He thus entered among the group of other extraordinary priests who tirelessly made the confessional a place to dispense God's mercy, helping men to rediscover themselves, to fight against sin and make progress in the spiritual life. The street and the confessional were the two particular places of Gaetano Errico's pastoral work. The street was the place that permitted him to offer his customary invitation: "God loves you, when shall we meet?" and in the confession he made their encounter with the mercy of the heavenly Father possible. How many wounded souls did he heal in this way! How many people did he help to be reconciled with God through the sacrament of forgiveness! In this way St. Gaetano Errico became an expert in the "science" of forgiveness, and concerned himself with teaching it to his missionaries: "God, who does not wish the death of the sinner, is always more merciful than his ministers; so be as merciful as you can and you will find mercy with God!" [...] Mother María Bernarda, a well loved and well remembered figure especially in Colombia, deeply understood that the banquet the Lord has prepared for all peoples is represented in a very particular way in the Eucharist. There, Christ himself receives us as friends and gives himself for us at the table of the bread and of the word, entering into intimate communion with each one. This was the source and pillar of the spirituality of this new saint, as well as the missionary drive that led her to leave her homeland of Switzerland and open herself to other evangelizing horizons in Ecuador and Colombia. In the midst of the serious adversities that she had to face, including exile, she carried engraved on her heart the exclamation from the Psalm we heard today: "Though I walk through dark valleys, I fear no evil, for thou art with me." (Psalm 23:4). In this way, docile to the Word of God and following the example of Mary, she did as the servants of the Gospel that we heard: She went in every direction proclaiming that the Lord invites all to his banquet. In this way she brought others to participate in the love of God to which she had dedicated all of her life with fidelity and joy. "He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces" (Is 25:8). These words of the prophet Isaiah contain the promise which sustained Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception through a life of extreme physical and spiritual suffering. This exceptional woman, who today is offered to the people of India as their first canonized saint, was convinced that her cross was the very means of reaching the heavenly banquet prepared for her by the Father. By accepting the invitation to the wedding feast, and by adorning herself with the garment of God's grace through prayer and penance, she conformed her life to Christ's and now delights in the "rich fare and choice wines" of the heavenly kingdom (cf. Is 25:6). She wrote, "I consider a day without suffering as a day lost". May we imitate her in shouldering our own crosses so as to join her one day in paradise. The young Ecuadorian laywoman, Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán, offers us a perfect example of a prompt and generous response to the invitation that the Lord makes to us to participate in his love. And from a very young age, upon receiving the sacrament of confirmation, she clearly felt in her heart the call to live a life of sanctity and surrender to God. To assist with docility the action of the Holy Spirit in her soul, she always sought the counsel and guidance of good and expert priests, considering spiritual direction as one of the most effective means to reach sanctity. St. Narcisa de Jesús shows us a path to Christian perfection accessible to all faithful. Despite the abundant and extraordinary graces she received, her life developed in great simplicity, dedicated to her work as a seamstress and her apostolate as a catechist. In her passionate love for Jesus, that brought her to embark on a path of intense prayer and mortification, and to identify herself more and more with the mystery of the cross, she offers us an inviting testimony and a polished example of a life totally dedicated to God and neighbor. Dear brothers and sisters, let us thank the Lord for the gift of sanctity, that today shines in the Church with singular beauty. Jesus invites us all to follow him, like these saints, on the way of the cross, to inherit the eternal life that he, dying, made a gift to us. May their examples encourage us, their teachings orient and comfort us, their intercession sustain us in our daily toil, so that we too may one day share with them and all the saints the joy of the eternal feast in the heavenly Jerusalem. May Mary, the Queen of the Saints, whom we venerate with particular devotion during this month of October, obtain this grace for us. Amen.     RETURN TO TOP

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