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March 14, 2009 -  Saturday of 2nd Week of Lent     LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: "I will arise and go to my father" UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): Papal Letter Called Unusual  SAINT OF THE DAY St. Maximilian  GENERAL MARIOLOGY Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, in the Papal Magisterium of Pope John Paul II  VII. The Reverser of the Curse DIVINE MERCY On God's Will God Never Violates Our Free Will  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: Pius X Society Response to Benedict XVI

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

"I will arise and go to my father" Scripture:  Luke 15:1-3,11-32 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3 So he told them this parable: 11 And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; 12 and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in  loose living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. 15 So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, `How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants."' 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced  him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; 23 and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry. 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. 27 And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, `Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I  might make merry with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' 31 And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'" Old Testament Reading: Micah 7:14-15,18-20 18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression  for the remnant of his inheritance?  He does not retain his anger for ever  because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion upon us, he will tread our iniquities under foot.  You will cast all our sins  into the depths of the sea. 20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.  (Micah 7:18-20) Meditation: How can you love someone who turns their back on you and still forgive them from the heart? The prophets remind us that God does not abandon us, even if we turn our backs on him (Micah 7:18). He calls us back to himself – over and over and over again. Jesus' story of the father and his two sons (sometimes called the parable of the prodigal son) is the longest parable in the gospels. What is the main point or focus of the story? Is it the contrast between an obedient and a disobedient son or is it between the warm reception given to a spendthrift son by his father and the cold reception given by the eldest son? Jesus contrasts the father's merciful love with the eldest son's somewhat harsh reaction to his errant brother and to the lavish party his joyful father throws for his repentant son. While the errant son had wasted his father's money, his father, nonetheless, maintained unbroken love for his son. The son, while he was away, learned a lot about himself. And he realized that his father had given him love which he had not returned. He had yet to learn about the depth of his father's love for him. His deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed on the husks of pigs and his reflection on all he had lost, led to his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father.  While he hoped for reconciliation with his father, he could not have imagined a full restoration of relationship. The father did not need to speak words of forgiveness to his son; his actions spoke more loudly and clearly! The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet symbolize the new life – pure, worthy, and joyful – of anyone who returns to God. The prodigal could not return to the garden of innocence, but he was welcomed and reinstated as a son. The errant son's dramatic change from grief and guilt to forgiveness and restoration express in picture-language the resurrection from the dead, a rebirth to new life from spiritual death. The parable also contrasts mercy and its opposite – unforgiveness. The father who had been wronged, was forgiving. But the eldest son, who had not been wronged, was unforgiving. His unforgiveness turns into contempt and pride. And his resentment leads to his isolation and estrangement from the community of forgiven sinners. In this parable Jesus gives a vivid picture of God and what God is like. God is truly kinder than us. He does not lose hope or give up when we stray. He rejoices in finding the lost and in welcoming them home. Do you know the joy of repentance and the restoration of relationship as a son or daughther of your heavenly Father? "Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your love nor take for granted the mercy you have shown to me. Fill me with your transforming love that I may be merciful as you are merciful." Psalm 103:1-12 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.   www.dailyscripture.net   RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

Papal Letter Called Unusual  Spokesman Says It Merits "Great Attention"  VATICAN CITY, MARCH 12, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican spokesman says that Benedict XVI's letter released today regarding the Society of St. Pius X is an "unusual document worthy of great attention." This was the estimation offered by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi in an explanatory note accompanying the Pope's March 10 letter to bishops of the world, according to the Vatican Information Service. "Never before in his pontificate has Benedict XVI expressed himself so personally and intensely on a matter of public debate," Father Lombardi said. "The Pope experienced the [...] remission of the excommunication and the consequent reactions with evident concern and suffering," and felt the obligation "to intervene in order to contribute to peace in the Church." Father Lombardi added: "With his habitual lucidity and humility he recognizes the limitations and errors that had a negative influence on the affair, and with great nobility he does not seek to attribute the responsibility for them to others, but expresses solidarity with his collaborators. He speaks of inadequate information in the Williamson case and of insufficient clarity in explaining the procedure and significance of remitting excommunication." The spokesman also noted how the Holy Father was able to "recall with satisfaction" that moves toward reconciliation with Jews, "beginning with Vatican Council II, is something his own 'work as a theologian had sought from the beginning to take part in and support.'" Love as priority Above all, however, Father Lombardi said the Pontiff wishes "to clarify the nature, significance and aims of the remission of excommunication." "Benedict XVI is profoundly aware of his responsibility as pastor of the universal Church and feels the need to give his brothers in the episcopate unambiguous clarification [...] of the priorities and spirit with which he is undertaking his service," the Jesuit affirmed. "The Pope continues his considerations," he said, "by inviting his interlocutors to serious reflection, at both the personal and the ecclesial level. The paradoxical fact that a gesture that aimed to be merciful and conciliatory actually created a situation of acute tension, means we must ask questions to discern what spiritual attitudes where [...] at work in this case." Father Lombardi also noted the Holy Father's "critical realism," which brought him to note "the grave defects of many of the traditionalists' statements" as well as the "members of the Church and society who meet all efforts of reconciliation, or even of the recognition of positive elements in others, with rigid intransigence." The Pope's letter concludes, the spokesman said, "by reiterating an impassioned appeal for love as the absolute priority for Christians, and by expressing a hope for peace in the community of the Church."   RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

March 14, 2009 St. Maximilian (d. 295)   We have an early, precious, almost unembellished account of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian in modern-day Algeria. Brought before the proconsul Dion, Maximilian refused enlistment in the Roman army saying, "I cannot serve, I cannot do evil. I am a Christian." Dion replied: "You must serve or die." Maximilian: "I will never serve. You can cut off my head, but I will not be a soldier of this world, for I am a soldier of Christ. My army is the army of God, and I cannot fight for this world. I tell you I am a Christian." Dion: "There are Christian soldiers serving our rulers Diocletian and Maximian, Constantius and Galerius." Maximilian: "That is their business. I also am a Christian, and I cannot serve." Dion: "But what harm do soldiers do?" Maximilian: "You know well enough." Dion: "If you will not do your service I shall condemn you to death for contempt of the army." Maximilian: "I shall not die. If I go from this earth my soul will live with Christ my Lord." Maximilian was 21 years old when he gladly offered his life to God. His father went home from the execution site joyful, thanking God that he had been able to offer heaven such a gift.  http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, in the Papal Magisterium of Pope John Paul II  By Msgr. Arthur Burton Calkins    VII. The Reverser of the Curse I now wish to consider some striking texts in which the Holy Father presents Mary as the "New Eve." I have already presented some of his most important magisterial texts on this fundamental theme in other places (53).The ones which follow, however, I have not previously commented on and these have a special bearing on Our Lady’s role as the "one who reverses the curse." Just as Eve’s sin was instrumental in bringing about the loss of grace, so was Mary’s opposite activity in bringing about its restoration (54). In his homily at Second Vespers at St. Mary Major’s on 8 December 1985, concluding the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, the Holy Father said: Precisely where, in the heart of a woman— Eve—sin abounded, in the heart of woman—Mary—grace abounded all the more. The grace which comes to humanity through Mary is much more abundant than the harm which comes from the sin of our progenitors. In Mary as in no other human creature we see the triumph of grace over sin; we see the fulfillment of the prophecy contained in Genesis (cf. Gen 3:15) of the ‘seed of the woman’ that ‘crushes the head’ of the infernal serpent (55). On 16 June 1999, John Paul II gave an address in his hometown of Wadowice in which he said: The Son of God came into the world to accomplish the Father’s saving plan, to bring about the redemption of man and restore him to the sonship which he had lost. In this mystery Mary has a special place. God called her to become the woman by whom the original sin of the first woman would be undone. In a certain sense God needed this mediation of Mary. He needed her free consent, her obedience and her devotion, in order to reveal fully his eternal love for humanity (56). 1) Note how he begins with a formulation of a doctrine that can be traced back to Saints Justin Martyr and Irenaeus: "God called her to become the woman by whom the original sin of the first woman would be undone." 2) Next comes the seemingly audacious declaration that "in a certain sense God needed this mediation." This certainly hearkens back to the classic doctrine of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, of whom the Pope has frequently declared his discipleship (57),that "being necessary to God by a necessity which is called ‘hypothetical’ (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end" (58).This, of course, only seems audacious if one has not been paying attention to the Pope’s constant insistence about Mary’s role being willed in God’s eternal plan. God’s "need" of Mary is not absolute because God needs no one outside of himself, but he has "willed" to need Mary as a part of his plan for humanity. The Pope was very clear about this aspect of Montfort’s teaching in his address to the Eighth Mariological Theological Colloquium on St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort on 13 October 2000 when he said: By relating the Mother of Christ to the Trinitarian mystery, Montfort helped me to understand that the Virgin belongs to the plan of salvation, by the Father’s will, as the Mother of the incarnate Word, who was conceived by her through the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s every intervention in the work of the regeneration of the faithful is not in competition with Christ, but derives from him and is at his service. Mary’s action in the plan of salvation is always Christocentric, that is, it is directly related to a mediation that takes place in Christ. I then realized that I could not exclude the Mother of the Lord from my life without disregarding the will of God-the-Trinity, who wanted to ‘begin and complete’ the great mysteries of salvation history with the responsible and faithful collaboration of the humble Handmaid of Nazareth (59). 3) As Eve’s disobedience brought about sin, disorder, and suffering, so God needed Mary’s free consent, obedience, and devotion "in order to reveal fully his eternal love for humanity." Thus as Eve became a vessel of wrath (cf. Rom 9:22), Mary became a vessel of God’s eternal love. In his Angelus address on the Feast of the Assumption of that same year, 1999, the Pope made an interesting reference to Mary’s mediation or reparation on behalf of Eve which reflects the thought of St. Irenaeus on Mary as the "advocate of Eve": (60) Now from heaven, where the Queen of the angels and saints is crowned, the Mother of God and of the Church is close to the Christian people before whom she shines as the ‘new and immaculate woman (who) mediated for the guilt of the first woman’ (Sacramentarium Gregorianum, Præfatio in Assumpt., n. 1688) (61). In this case he draws no explicit conclusion about the effects of this mediation, but clearly indicates Mary’s role as reversing the curse. In his Regina Cæli address on 22 April 2001, which was also "Divine Mercy Sunday" he was more explicit. He said: As we approach the conclusion of the solemn Eucharistic celebration, let us turn our gaze to Mary Most Holy, whom we call upon today with the sweetest name of ‘Mater misericordiæ.’ Mary is ‘Mother of mercy,’ because she is the Mother of Jesus in whom God revealed to the world his ‘heart’ overflowing with love. God’s compassion for man is communicated to the world precisely through the Virgin Mary’s motherhood. Mary’s motherhood, which began in Nazareth through the work of the Holy Spirit, was fulfilled in the Easter mystery, when she was closely associated with the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the divine Son. At the foot of the Cross Our Lady became mother of the disciples of Christ, mother of the Church and of all humanity. ‘Mater misericordiæ’ (62). Here, let us carefully note three points: 1) The Pope says that "God’s compassion for man is communicated to the world precisely through the Virgin Mary’s motherhood" i.e., it comes to us through the mediation of Mary. 2) According to him, there are two phases of this motherhood: that of the Son of God which began in Nazareth, that of her spiritual children which was consummated at the foot of the Cross. 3) It was also there that she became "Mother of mercy," the mother through whom grace comes to us.  http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1617&Itemid=40    RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Dairy from St. Faustina On God's Will God Never Violates Our Free Will My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God. God never violates our free will. It is up to us whether we want to receive God's grace or not. It is up to us whether we will cooperate with it or waste it (Diary, 1107). And my path is to be faithful to the will of God in all things and at all times, especially by being faithful to inner inspirations in order to be a receptive instrument in God's hands for the carrying out of the work of His fathomless mercy (Diary, 1173). RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

Pius X Society Response to Benedict XVI  "We Fully Share His Utmost Concern for Preaching to Our Age"  MENZINGEN, Switzerland, MARCH 13, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the communiqué released Thursday by the superior-general of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, which responds to the March 10 letter sent by the Pope on the situation regarding the society. * * * Pope Benedict XVI addressed a letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, dated March 10, 2009, in which he made them aware of the intentions which guided him in this important step which is the Decree of Jan. 21, 2009. After "an avalanche of protests was unleashed" recently, we greatly thank the Holy Father for having placed the debate at the level on which it should take place, that of the faith. We fully share his utmost concern for preaching to "our age, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel." The Church lives, in fact, through a major crisis which cannot be solved other than by an integral return to the purity of the faith. With St. Athanasius, we profess that "Whoever wants to be saved should above all cling to the Catholic faith: Whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless perish eternally." (Quicumque Creed) Far from wanting to stop Tradition in 1962, we wish to consider the Second Vatican Council and the post-Conciliar magisterium in the light of this Tradition which St. Vincent of Lérins defined as that "which has been believed everywhere, always, by all" (Commonitorium), without rupture and in a perfectly homogeneous development. It is thus that we will be able to contribute efficaciously to the evangelization asked for by the Savior (cf. Matthew, 28,19-20). The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X assures Benedict XVI of its will to address the doctrinal discussions considered "necessary" by the Decree of Jan. 21, with the desire of serving the revealed Truth which is the first charity to be shown towards all men, Christian or not. It assures him of its prayers so that his faith may not fail and that he may confirm all his brethren (cf. Luke 22 32). We place these doctrinal discussions under the protection of Our Lady of Trust, with the assurance that she will obtain for us the grace of faithfully delivering that which we received, "tradidi quod et accepi" (I Cor. 15,3). Menzingen, March 12, 2009 + Bernard Fellay    RETURN TO TOP

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