MY  IMMACULATE  HEART  WILL  BE  YOUR  REFUGE

AND THE WAY THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO GOD (6/13/1917)

Sep 25, 2008 –  Thursday of 25th Week in Ordinary Time       DAILY LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: "Who is this about whom I hear such things?" UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): Prayer Day Called to Defeat Aussie Abortion Bill SAINT OF THE DAY St. Elzear and Blessed Delphina  GENERAL MARIOLOGY The History and Nature of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: Object of the Devotion  DIVINE MERCY A Sword In The Spiritual Struggle  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: On Paul and the Other Apostles   Monthly Index

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

Thursday (9/25): "Who is this about whom I hear such things?" Scripture:  Luke 9:7-9 7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by some that Eli'jah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen. 9 Herod said, "John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And he sought to see him. Meditation: Who do you most admire? People with power, influence, fame or wealth? Scripture warns us of such danger (see Proverbs 23:1-2). King Herod had respected and feared John the Baptist as a great prophet and servant of God. John, however did not fear to rebuke Herod for his adulterous affair with his brother's wife. Herod, however, was more of a people pleaser than a God pleaser. Herod not only imprisoned John to silence him, but he also beheaded him simply to please his family and friends. Now when reports of Jesus' miracles and teaching reach Herod's court, Herod becomes very troubled in conscience. He thinks that John the Baptist has risen from the dead! Herod sought to meet Jesus more out of curiosity and fear than out of a sincere desire to know God's wisdom and truth. Who is most influential in your life? And who do you most want to be like? We naturally look up to other people we want to imitate. If we truly want to be like God and to live as his sons and daughters, then it greatly helps us to have models and examples of godly people who show us how to live in the power of God's love and holiness.God's grace frees us from the tyranny of fear and the pressure to please others rather than to please God. Do you allow God's grace to fill you with faith and courage to choose what is good and pleasing to him and to reject whatever would keep you from embracing his love and will for your daily life? "Heavenly Father, form in me the likeness of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and deepen his life within me that I may be like him in word and in deed. Increase my eagerness to do your will and help me to grow in the knowledge of your love and truth." Psalm 90:3-6, 12-16 3 Thou turnest man back to the dust, and sayest, "Turn back, O children of men!" 4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on thy servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let thy work be manifest to thy servants, and thy glorious power to their children. RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

Prayer Day Called to Defeat Aussie Abortion Bill Melbourne Prelate Says Measure Is Unprecedented Attack   MELBOURNE, Australia, SEPT. 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Melbourne has declared a Day of Intercession in an attempt to stop the Abortion Law Reform Bill from being passed and put into effect as early as next month. Archbishop Denis Hart released a pastoral letter last week regarding the bill, which passed the Legislative Assembly on Sept. 11. "Make no mistake about it," he said, "the bill goes beyond codifying current clinical practice, as its proponents claim, and will set an unfortunate precedent which other states may follow. The archbishop's letter includes a list of consequences of the bill, some of which violate the right to conscientious objection. For example, it "compels a pharmacist or nurse employed or engaged in a public or private hospital or day-procedure center, if directed in writing by a doctor, to administer or to supply a drug to cause an abortion to a female who is more than 24 weeks pregnant." It also "imposes a legal obligation on doctors and nurses, notwithstanding their conscientious objection, to perform an abortion on a female in an emergency where it is deemed that the abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman." Archbishop Hart said the bill "is seriously flawed as much by what it omits as by what it contains." He lamented that it fails to ban partial-birth abortions, to include informed consent provision, or "to safeguard the health of women by permitting abortions to be performed by doctors who have no qualifications or training in obstetrics." Freedom of religion The archbishop of Melbourne called the bill "an unprecedented attack on the freedom to hold and exercise fundamental religious beliefs." He explained: "It makes a mockery of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and the Equal Opportunity Act in that it requires health professionals with a conscientious objection to abortion to refer patients seeking an abortion to other health professionals who do not have such objections. It also requires health professionals with a conscientious objection to abortion to perform an abortion in whatever is deemed an emergency. [...] "As one commentator has put it, it is an insidious irony that this coercion of conscience is being carried out in the name of choice. Parliamentarians are being afforded the opportunity to exercise their consciences to remove the right of health professionals to exercise theirs." Archbishop Hart also warned that the bill would put Catholic hospitals in a "vulnerable position." "Catholic hospitals will not perform abortions and will not provide referrals for the purpose of abortion," he affirmed. "If this provision is passed it will be an outrageous attack on our service to the community and contrary to Catholic ethical codes. [...] This bill poses a real threat to the continued existence of Catholic hospitals. [...] This is a significant issue for the community at large having regard to the fact that Catholic hospitals account for approximately one third of all births and are seen by many as their hospitals of choice." Discounting the Church The prelate further expressed his dismay that the "Victorian Law Reform Commission created a false dichotomy in relation to conscientious objections, a dichotomy between 'adequate justification' and 'mere prejudice.' This was subsequently relied upon in debate in the Legislative Assembly. The position of the Church is postulated as 'mere prejudice' and without 'adequate justification.'" Archbishop Hart questioned how 2,000 years of consistent teaching could be classified as "mere prejudice." "The argument itself smacks of prejudice, is a direct attack on religious expression and unworthy of a place in a contemporary mature state which values diversity of thought," he stated. Finally, the prelate announced that Sunday, Oct. 5, would be a Day of Intercession dedicated to the defeat of the bill. He invited the faithful not only to join in the day of prayer, but also to contact the members of the Legislative Council to express their pro-life concerns. RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

September 25, 2008 St. Elzear and Blessed Delphina (1286-1323) (1283-1358)  This is the only Franciscan couple to be canonized or beatified formally. Elzear came from a noble family in southern France. After he married Delphina, she informed him that she had made a vow of perpetual virginity; that same night he did the same. For a time Elzear, Count of Ariano, was a counselor to Duke Charles of Calabria in southern Italy. Elzear ruled his own territories in the kingdom of Naples and in southern France with justice. Elzear and Delphina joined the Secular Franciscans and dedicated themselves to the corporal works of mercy. Twelve poor people dined with them every day. A statue of Elzear shows him curing several people suffering from leprosy. Their piety extended to the running of their household. Everyone there was expected to attend Mass daily, go to confession weekly and be ready to forgive injuries. After Elzear’s death, Delphina continued her works of charity for 35 more years. She is especially remembered for raising the moral level of the king of Sicily’s court. Elzear and Delphina are buried in Apt, France. He was canonized in 1369, and she was beatified in 1694. Comment: Like Francis, Elzear and Delphina came to see all creation as pointing to its source. Therefore, they did not try ruthlessly to dominate any part of creation but used all of it as a way of returning thanks to God. Though childless, their marriage was life-giving for the poor and the sick around them. Quote: St. Bonaventure wrote: "Francis sought occasion to love God in everything. He delighted in all the works of God's hands and from the vision of joy on earth his mind soared aloft to the life-giving source and cause of all. In everything beautiful, he saw him who is beauty itself, and he followed his Beloved everywhere by his likeness imprinted on creation; of all creation he made a ladder by which he might mount up and embrace Him who is all-desirable" (Legenda Major, IX, 1).   RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

The History and Nature of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary The following article by Fr. Louis Verheylezoon, S.J., represents a classical treatment of the history and nature of devotion to Our Lady’s most Immaculate Heart. – Asst. Ed.  (continued) Object of the Devotion The object of the Devotion, i.e. that which we intend specially to honor in the Blessed Virgin, is commonly regarded as her physical Heart, considered as a symbol of her love for God and for men. This object is indicated in the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (May 4th, 1944), whereby the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was extended to the universal Church. "By this cult," we read there, "the Church renders to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary the honor which is due to her, since, under the symbol of this Heart, she pays homage to her eminent holiness, and particularly to her ardent love for God and her Son Jesus, and to her maternal love for men, redeemed by the Blood of God." (4) In this way it was already considered by the Consultors of the same Congregation, who approved the devotion in 1857. (5) It should be noted, however, that in the Office and Mass approved of on that occasion, mention is almost solely made of her love for God. The actual Mass and Office now in use emphasize her love for men, and arouse especially our trust in her intercession. At Lauds, the Church bids us say: "O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of graces, hope of the human race, hear us Thy sons, who cry to Thee." The Introit of the Mass applies to the Heart of Mary what St. Paul says of Christ: "Let us come with confidence to the Throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and may find grace for a timely help" (Heb. 4:16). The Gospel is the passage of St. John (Chapter 19), where Jesus gives John as son to His Mother, and Mary as Mother to John, and where, according to the Fathers of the Church, Mary is appointed to be the Mother of all Christians. And the lessons of the third Nocturn, derived from the book by the Father of the Church, St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J., on the words of Christ on the cross, afford a magnificent commentary on this text, and dwell on the love of Mary towards men and on the special protection upon which the devout clients of Mary may rely. The formal object then of the devotion—at least its essential object—is the love of the Blessed Virgin for God, for her Divine Son Jesus, and for men. Yet, just as in the devotion to the Heart of Jesus, the faithful, with the approval of the Church, extend the object of the devotion, and include in it not only the love of the Heart of Mary, but also her whole inner life, her virtues, especially her love of purity and her humility, and all her affections, particularly her sorrows. And not without reasons. For the Heart is, as we have seen, not only the symbol of love, but also of the whole affective and moral life. Moreover, Mary's inner life was entirely under the influence of the love of God; all her affections and all her virtues were nothing else but different forms of her love. Thus her whole inner life is the secondary object of the devotion. This symbolism appears clearly in the manner in which the Heart of Mary is usually represented, i.e. surrounded with roses, symbol of her virtues, and pierced with a sword, symbol of her sorrows. But the physical Heart of Mary, considered as a symbol, is not the whole object of the devotion. What we call her spiritual Heart, that is, the unity formed by the faculties of the soul which concur to the production of her love and of her entire inner life, also forms part of it. In fact, we say of this Heart that it bears us a truly maternal love, that it is full of mercy for sinners, that it loves purity, etc. These qualities, however, do not appertain to Mary's physical Heart, but to her spiritual Heart. The latter, then, forms part of the object of the devotion, as symbol, principle and seat of her love and of her whole inner life. The complete object of the devotion is, therefore, the total Heart of Mary, that is, the whole formed by her physical Heart and her spiritual Heart, considered at once as symbol, principle and seat of her love and of her entire inner life. It is evident that, just as in the devotion to the Heart of Jesus, the final and ultimate and at the same time principal object of the devotion is the person of Mary herself. Through her Heart, our homage is directed to her person. Hence, devotion to the Heart of Mary is nothing else but a special form of devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It considers Mary in her Heart, and in her Heart it sees and honors her affections, her virtues, principally her love, with which it is closely connected and of which it is the living symbol. (to be continued)    RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Dairy from St. Faustina On Silence, Solitude A Sword In The Spiritual Struggle I feel dislike for all things that the world holds in esteem. With all my soul I desire silence and solitude (Diary, 432). Silence is a sword in the spiritual struggle. A talkative soul will never attain sanctity (Diary, 477). When I am asleep I offer Him every beat of my heart; when I awaken I immerse myself in Him without saying a word(Diary, 486). In the sufferings of soul or body, I try to keep silence, for then my spirit gains the strength that flows from the Passion of Jesus (Diary, 487). RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

On Paul and the Other Apostles "He Insists on Fidelity to What He Himself Has Received"   VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered during today's general audience in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father continued today the cycle of catecheses dedicated to the figure and thought of St. Paul. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I would like to speak about the relationship between St. Paul and the apostles who preceded him in the following of Jesus. These relationships were always marked by profound respect and by the frankness that in Paul stemmed from the defense of the truth of the Gospel. Although he was practically a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, he never had the opportunity to meet him during his public life. Because of this, after the dazzling light on the road to Damascus, he saw the need to consult the first disciples of the Master, who had been chosen by [Christ] to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. In the Letter to the Galatians, Paul elaborates an important report on the contacts maintained with some of the Twelve: above all with Peter, who had been chosen as Cephas, Aramaic word that means rock, on which the Church was built (cf. Galatians 1:18), with James, the "Lord's brother" (cf. Galatians 1:19), and with John (cf. Galatians 2:9). Paul does not hesitate to acknowledge them as the "pillars" of the Church. Particularly significant is the meeting with Cephas (Peter), which took place in Jerusalem. Paul stayed with him for 15 days to "consult him" (cf. Galatians 1:19), that is, to be informed on the earthly life of the Risen One, who had "seized" him on the road to Damascus and was changing his life radically: from persecutor of the Church of God he became evangelizer of faith in the crucified Messiah and Son of God, which in the past he had tried to destroy (cf. Galatians 1:23). What type of information did Paul obtain on Jesus in the three years after the encounter of Damascus? In the First Letter to the Corinthians we find two passages, which Paul had learned in Jerusalem and which had been formulated as central elements of the Christian tradition, the constitutive tradition. He transmits them verbally, exactly as he has received them, with a very solemn formula: "I delivered to you ... what I also received." He insists, therefore, on fidelity to what he himself has received and transmits faithfully to the new Christians. They are constitutive elements and concern the Eucharist and the Resurrection. They are texts already formulated in the [decade of] the 30s. Thus we come to the death, burial in the heart of the earth and resurrection of Jesus (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Let's take one at a time: the words of Jesus in the Last Supper (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25) really are for Paul the center of the life of the Church. The Church is built from this center, being in this way herself. In addition to this Eucharistic center, from which the Church is always reborn -- also for all Paul's theology, for all his thought -- these words have a notable impact on Paul's personal relationship with Jesus. On one hand, they attest that the Eucharist illumines the curse of the cross, changing it into a blessing (Galatians 3:13-14), and on the other, they explain the breadth of the very death and resurrection of Jesus. In his letters, the "for you" of the institution becomes the "for me" (Galatians 2:20), personalized, knowing that in that "you" he himself was known and loved by Jesus and, on the other hand, "for all" (2 Corinthians 5:L14): this "for you" becomes "for me" and "for the Church" (Ephesians 5:25), that is, also "for all" of the expiatory sacrifice of the cross (cf. Romans 3:25). By and in the Eucharist, the Church is built and recognizes herself as "Body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:27), nourished every day by the strength of the Spirit of the Risen One. The other text, on the Resurrection, transmits to us again the same formula of fidelity. St. Paul wrote: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve" (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Also in this tradition transmitted to Paul he again mentions the expression "for our sins," which underlines the gift that Jesus has made of himself to the Father, to deliver us from sin and death. From this gift of himself, Paul draws the most moving and fascinating expressions of our relationship with Christ: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). It is worthwhile to recall the commentary with which the then Augustinian monk Martin Luther accompanied these paradoxical expressions of Paul: "This is the grandiose mystery of divine grace toward sinners: by an admirable exchange our sins no longer are ours, but Christ's, and the righteousness of Christ is no longer Christ's but ours" (Commentary on the Psalms from 1513-1515). And so we have been saved. In the original kerygma -- proclamation -- transmitted from mouth to mouth, it is worth pointing out the use of the verb "has risen," instead of "rose" which would have been more logical, in continuity with "died" and "was buried." The verbal form "has risen" has been chosen to underline that Christ's resurrection affects up to the present the existence of believers: We can translate it as "has risen and continues to be alive" in the Eucharist and in the Church. Thus all the Scriptures attest to the death and resurrection of Christ, because -- as Hugh of Saint Victor wrote -- "the whole of divine Scripture constitutes only one book, and this book is Christ, because the whole of Scripture speaks of Christ and finds its fulfillment in Christ" (De Arca Noe, 2, 8). If St. Ambrose of Milan can say that "in Scripture we read Christ," it is because the Church of the origins has reread all Israel's Scriptures starting from and returning to Christ. The enumeration of the Risen One's apparitions to Cephas, to the Twelve, to more than 500 brethren, and to James closes with the reference to the personal apparition received by Paul on the road to Damascus: "Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me" (1 Corinthians 15:8). Because he had persecuted the Church of God, he expresses in this confession his unworthiness to be considered an apostle, at the same level as those who preceded him: but God's grace has not been in vain in him (1 Corinthians 15:10). Hence, the boastful affirmation of divine grace unites Paul with the first witnesses of Christ's resurrection. "Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you have believed" (1 Corinthians 15:11). The identity and unity of the proclamation of the Gospel is important: both they and I preach the same faith, the same Gospel of Jesus Christ dead and risen who gives himself in the most holy Eucharist. The importance that he bestows on the living Tradition of the Church, which she transmits to her communities, demonstrates how mistaken is the view of those who attribute to Paul the invention of Christianity: Before proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he encountered him on the road to Damascus, and met him in the Church, observing his life in the Twelve, and in those who had followed him on the roads of Galilee. In the next catecheses we will have the opportunity to go more profoundly into the contributions that Paul has made to the Church of the origins; however, the mission received on the part of the Risen One in order to evangelize the Gentiles must be confirmed and guaranteed by those who gave him and Barnabas their right hand, in sign of approval of their apostolate and evangelization, and of acceptance in the one communion of the Church of Christ (cf. Galatians 2:9). We understand, therefore, that the expression -- "[f]rom now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer" (2 Corinthians 5:16) -- does not mean that his earthly life has little relevance for our maturing in the faith, but that from the moment of the Resurrection, our way of relating to him changes. He is, at the same time, the Son of God, "who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead," as St. Paul recalls at the beginning of the Letter to the Romans (1:3-4). The more we try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth on the roads of Galilee, so much the more will we understand that he has taken charge of our humanity, sharing in everything except sin. Our faith is not born from a myth or an idea, but from an encounter with the Risen One, in the life of the Church.     RETURN TO TOP

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