Receive the Flame of Love: Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Haggai 1:1-8; Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b; Luke 9:7-9)

It is fitting that Elijah is called out in our Gospel reading today. You see Elijah is one of two prophets that did not experience death (as you may recall Elijah was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot). These two prophets are to return to the Earth during the end times to confront the anti-Christ. But, that is a homily for another day.

Elijah, however, is an important prefigurement for our topic today. The fire that consumed Elijah's sacrifice on Mount Carmel is seen as a prefigurement of the "Flame of Love" at Pentecost. Pentecost reminds us to open ourselves to embrace God's Spirit, through the desire for a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit.

This Flame of Love that came to rest on each of the early Christians at Pentecost, is the same Flame of Love that is meant to rest on each of us at our Confirmation. The Flame of Love that enables us to boldly proclaim the mighty acts of God and to be His agents in renewing the face of the earth.

This message is still unfolding today. Now we are not obligated to believe private revelation, but on March 24, 1963, Jesus said to Elizabeth Kindelmann, “Through the Flame of Love…faith will take root in souls, and the face of the earth will be renewed, because nothing like it has happened ever since the Word became Flesh (the Word was made flesh when the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary in her personal Pentecost, if you will). 

The renewal of the earth, although flooded with sufferings, will come about by the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin.”

Brothers and sisters, we are called to be an active part of this renewal of the world for the glory of God through the fires of Pentecost the Flame of Love. In fact, listen to the words of Saint Louis de Montfort: “The Holy Spirit, finding His spouse (Mary) present again in souls, will come down into them with great power. He will fill them with His gifts, especially wisdom, by which they will produce great wonders of grace…loving and glorifying Jesus.

These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides.

They will be ministers of the Lord who, like a flaming fire, will enkindle everywhere the fires of divine love. They will become, in Mary's powerful hands, like sharp arrows, with which she will transfix her enemies.”

Then, as if speaking to the Lord, he said, “When will it happen, this fiery deluge of pure love with which you are to set the whole world ablaze and which is to come, so gently yet so forcefully, that all nations…will be caught up in its flames and be converted? When you breathe your Spirit into them, they are restored and the face of the earth renewed.”

Brothers and sisters, all of us received this breath of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation, although (if you were like me) we may not have had the correct intention nor disposition at the time for the graces of Confirmation to be activated in our lives.

Still, the question for all of us becomes, how do we stoke the Flame of Love within us and continue to become the beautiful soul described by Saint Louis de Montfort?

Baptism in the Spirit is a transformational experience of the love of God the Father poured out into one’s heart by the Holy Spirit, received through a surrender to Jesus Christ. 

It brings alive sacramental Baptism and Confirmation, deepens communion with God, enkindles evangelistic fervor, and activates charisms.

Or as Saint Paul said in his second letter to Timothy, “I remind you to stir into a flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and selfcontrol."

The Lord takes delight in His people through the Flame of Love and the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.

Thanks be to God!

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Consecration to the Holy Spirit

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses I offer myself, soul and body, to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light and listen to Your voice and follow Your gracious inspirations. I desire to belong to You from now on. I want to be freed from the dominion of darkness and the rule of Satan. I want to enter into Your Kingdom and be part of Your people. I will turn away from all wrongdoing, and I will avoid everything that leads me to wrongdoing. I offer my life to You, and promise to obey You as my Lord. I ask You to baptize me in the Holy Spirit and give me all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace, O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”  Amen.

The Way of the Sacramental Life: Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Galatians 2:19-20; Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Matthew 16:24-27)

Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint Padre Pio. He was an Italian Franciscan friar who died in 1968....within the lifetime of many on this bus. 

He was known for many miracles: spiritual ecstasies, reading of souls, bearing the wounds of the stigmata, bilocation, prophetic insights, healings, and many, many others. 

These miracles were only possible because he fully denied himself, took up his cross, and followed Jesus. He fully surrendered his entire life and will to God. He lived the sacramental life without reservation.

Many of you have experienced spiritual awakenings this week. Marian awakenings at Mary Major. Eucharistic awakenings at Orvieto. Franciscan awakenings at Assisi.

These are great, but these are just the tiny appetizers for what Jesus truly offers through the feast of the sacramental life.

Earlier in my spiritual journey, I had a wonderful Eucharistic awakening.

I had been reading the Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn to learn more about the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. When Holy Thursday came around, I took the opportunity to attend the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. 

When the priest held the Eucharist up at the end of the prayers of consecration and said, “This is the Lord…”, I experienced the Real Presence of Jesus in a way that I had never experienced Him before. I knew with my entire mind, heart, and soul that I was looking at God – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What had been an extremely feeble faith, was instantly transformed into a Divine knowledge that the Lamb’s Supper is a reality. I was given a Divine knowledge that the sacramental life is reality.

In the subsequent months, I came to understand that I had a lot of "buts" in my life. I could go to Mass, but my friends want to do this instead. I could go to confession, but I need to do this around the house instead. I could talk about the Catholic faith, but my family wouldn't understand.   

What are the "buts" in your life that prevent you from living out the full Christian experience? What are the "buts" in your life that prevent you from indulging in the feast of the sacramental life?

When I was beginning to struggle with the "buts" in my life, my spiritual director gave me an assignment to reflect on my image of God. 

In doing so, a memory from about four years old came to mind (a memory I had not thought about in decades) and I related this memory to my director at the beginning of our next session:

We had just moved into a new house. I had fallen asleep early in the evening and woke up to the sight of an image in the window that appeared to be two white orbs. It may have been a figment of my four-year-old imagination, it may have been a carry-over from a dream, or it could have been some weird reflection of the moon in unfamiliar surroundings. Regardless, my scream brought my mother running into the room wondering what was going on. I told her “I saw the eyes of God”.

I thought I was just sharing a silly story with my spiritual director at the beginning of our meeting, and we certainly did get a good chuckle out of it. 

Halfway through that session, he casually mentioned a friend of his had just published a book of his friend’s finger-paintings with reflective poems his friend had written. 

When the end of the session came, he decided to use one of the poems from his friend’s book as our closing prayer. He randomly opened the book to a page that contained a finger-painting of an image containing two white orbs. These two white orbs looked very similar to what I had described from my four-year-old memory at the beginning of the session. Both of us had chills running down our spines. It was then that I began to better understand the sacramental life. 

Later, when I was praying about the "buts" in my life, I found a program that had been broadcasted on Covenant Network where someone (a youth minister at a parish) was discussing his addiction to pornography. I downloaded the podcast and started to listen to it as I walked up to Incarnate Word for a meeting one winter evening. 

He told a story about a time he was talking to a lady at his parish that he did not know. Quite out of the blue, the lady told him, “God has a message for you.” God’s message was, “You have to give up pornography if you want to have true intimacy with Me.” 

At that exact moment, I looked down and noticed a couple of paint splotches on a manhole. In the pale moonlight, the splotches appeared very similar to my four-year-old vision and the finger-painting. 

My MP3 player immediately died at that exact moment. I was immediately overwhelmed with feelings of fear, love, peace, and so many other emotions at the same time....really quite an indescribable experience.

At that point, I finally saw that the "buts" in my life were like the porn addiction for the gentleman in the podcast. The "buts" in my life were preventing me from have a true personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The "buts" in my life were preventing me from fully entering into the sacramental life.

Unfortunately, conversion can be a very difficult affair. We have to be willing to lose our material life in order to gain our sacramental life. We are often asked to sever ties with old friends and some of the comforts of our past life. I literally had to drop almost everything in my life. Almost everything that I had built a sense of identity around, had to be purged from my life: friends, hobbies, etc. Really, only Virginia and my job with Edward Jones survived the purge....though both were certainly impacted.  

I had to stop drinking alcohol, I had to stop following sports and politics, I had to limit secular news. I had to stop caring what other people thought about my faith life....including family.

I even, eventually, got rid of my Jeep Rubicon, cowboy hat and boots. Sacrificing a Jeep is when you know it is serious.  

I am not saying everyone is called to give up all these things.   However, all of us have attachments that limit our ability to grow in the sacramental life.  Purging these elements of a false identity is often necessary to eventually find out who you truly are in Christ.

So, again, what are the "buts" in your life? What are the things in your material life that prevent you from growing closer to Christ in the sacramental life?

Matthew asks a very important question in today’s Gospel, "What profit would there be for one to gain the whole (material) world and forfeit his (sacramental) life?"

Yet, that's exactly the bet we take when we choose the "buts" in our life...when we choose something worldly over something Catholic.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD, and walk in the way of the sacramental life!

Thanks be to God!

Portiuncla Pardon: Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Ezra 1:1-6; Psalm 126:1b-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6; Luke 8:16-18)

In our reading from Ezra, which occurred about 2,500 years ago, we hear of King Cyrus, under divine inspiration, issuing a decree to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem with the task to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed during the Babylonian captivity.

About 800 years ago, Saint Francis of Assisi heard Jesus speak to him through a crucifix. Jesus said, “Go, rebuild my church which is falling down.” Immediately, Saint Francis began to rebuild the Saint Damiano church that he was praying in.

He would later discern that God really wanted him to be part of the reformation of the Catholic Church through prayer, poverty, and peace. That is a homily for another time.

But, Saint Damiano wasn't the only physical church Saint Francis rebuilt. He also rebuilt the small church, known as Portiuncla or “small portion”, which we visited earlier. It was abandoned and dilapidated. However, this church became the base for the Franciscan movement and the place where the mortal life of Saint Francis would come to an end.

Portiuncla is also the place where the very first plenary indulgence was granted. During a night of fervent prayer, Saint Francis saw our Lord, our Lady, and a host of angels. The Lord said to him, “Francis, ask me what you want regarding the salvation of the world and the honour and reverence of God, since the salvation of the nations and the reparation of the earthly Church are in my power.” Saint Francis humbly replied, “Most holy Father of ours, I am a miserable sinner but I beg you to grant this grace to the human race, namely that of conceding to all and single persons who come to this place and enter this church forgiveness and indulgence of their sins after having confessed to a priest and received their penance. And I beg the most blessed Mary, your Mother, who is the advocate of the entire human race, that she may help me in all ways and intercede in front of your most holy and clement majesty.”

Mary turned to her Son and pleaded, “Most High and Almighty God, I plead your divinity and I intercede with humility so that your majesty will condescend to give heed to the prayers of Brother Francis, your servant.” 

Christ immediately answered, “Brother Francis, what you are asking for is very great, but it is worthy of even greater favors, and therefore, you will receive great rewards and I will listen to your prayers and accept your petition.”

From that time, pilgrims who visit the Portiuncla receive a total remission of temporal punishment for any sins that have been forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you recall from the other day, through the indulgence, what we owe has been reduced to nothing.

Remember my example from the other day, about the windows we broke growing up playing baseball. We were generally forgiven relatively quickly, but the window still needed to be fixed.

The forgiveness did not fix the window. Either we needed to pay to have the window replaced or we were granted an indulgence by our parents where it was fixed for us.

Saint Francis would say the following on his death bed: “For this place is truly holy and is the dwelling place of God. Here He enlightened the hearts of his poor ones by the light of His wisdom; here He set our wills on afire with the Flame of His Love. Here he who prays with a devout heart will obtain what he prays for.”

The Portiuncla, and really all of Assisi, is a special place. Like the Jews in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, when we come to the Portiuncla, we can rejoice because the Lord does great things for us.

Thanks be to God!

Sacramental Marvels: Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Ezra 1:1-6; Psalm 126:1b-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6; Luke 8:16-18)

When Virginia and I were last in Assisi, I barely knew who Saint Francis and Saint Claire are. However, I was immediately captivated by the spiritual atmosphere. It immediately drew me in and changed me.

Later, while attending a retreat at the Il Ritiro retreat center, I had the pleasure of getting to know a Franciscan nun from Oldenburg, Indiana, named Sister Alacoque.  

As we were walking together toward the cafeteria for lunch, she stopped, looked right in my eyes and said, "You have a true Franciscan heart."

Our brief but powerful encounter left a true impression on me and I began a journey into Franciscan spirituality as well as the mission of the Militia Immaculata, which is a journey it turns out I share with Fr. Gerard, whom you remember from a couple of our Masses in Rome.

We talk a lot about living a life from the perspective of the sacramental worldview. In a way, Franciscan spirituality is the epitome of this perspective. What did that mean?

The book of Genesis tells us that we are created in the image and likeness of God. That means we are intended to be sacraments of the living God. Just as Jesus is the sacrament of the living God.

This is why the Church embraces a sacramental view of life and creation. All creation is meant to point towards God. All creation is meant to help us encounter God. 

The natural world is meant to be signs of God and ways to experience God’s presence and love in a more tangible way.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate Sacrament of God in the world. He is the Word of God made flesh, revealing the will of God in everything He says and does. The Catholic Church is called to be the Sacrament of Jesus Christ, the ‘Body of Christ’. The Church continues His mission to bring God’s reign into the world and acts as His authority in a broken world.

This sacramental worldview is reality. We live in a broken world precisely because it is detached from the reality of the sacramental worldview. 

Our politics are broken. Our governments are broken. Our society and culture are broken. Perhaps even some of our families are broken.

The Catholic Church has the answer: just look at life, interpret life, and act upon life through the lens of the sacramental worldview.

Unfortunately, we often take what the world, the flesh, and the devil tell us and treat that as reality. We forget that only God is the author of reality. It is only through the lens of the sacramental worldview that we can truly see this reality. If everyone embraced the sacramental worldview, and truly lived the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, our world would be a much better place.

It is up to each of us to develop within us that deep interior disposition to embrace the sacramental worldview in all aspects of our life. 

In many ways, that is a life-long journey. However, we can start with the seven Sacraments that Jesus instituted in the Catholic Church. The seven Sacraments, which are visible signs, instituted by Christ, to give grace. Visible signs of an invisible reality.

This is why we have focused on the Sacraments throughout this pilgrimage as a way to open ourselves to hope and healing.

Through the Sacraments, we can start diligently living the sacramental life of the Church and allowing the rest of the aspects of our lives to flow out from that sacramental worldview.

The sacramental worldview allows us to live life with more compassion, more joy, and more humility, particularly by caring for the poor and marginalized, cherishing all of creation as interconnected and beloved by God, and seeking God's presence in everything. 

The sacramental worldview allows us to live a life of commitment to simplicity, commitment to service, and commitment to seeing everyone and everything through eyes of love and solidarity. 

The sacramental life is a lamp on the lamp stand. We must live it boldly and courageously, for the world to see it. We must be conduits of grace that others may see and follow the true light Jesus offers through His Holy Catholic Church.

Through the sacramental life and Franciscan spirituality, God does marvels for us.

Thanks be to God!

Lifted Up Through Indulgence and Deliverance: Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13)

One of the themes of our pilgrimage of course has been indulgences.   But we rarely discuss what indulgences actually are compared to what we often hear from non- Catholic friends and relatives.

Our Gospel reading today gives us a good glimpse into what an indulgence is, but let's first recap sin and reconciliation from yesterday. 

Sin, of course, involves the forgiveness for our faults related to those times we act against God's will.   Still, there is cost due to the impact of those sins that remain after sacramental Reconciliation is complete. 

Remember my story about my brothers and I playing a lot of baseball, and all the broken windows that go along with it.

When a window was broken, we were generally forgiven relatively quickly. Even though we were forgiven, the window still needed to be replaced. The forgiveness of our parents did not somehow replace window. 

Either we needed to pay to have the window replaced or we were granted an indulgence by our parents for them to pay for it on our behalf.

Indulgences are like the promissory notes in our reading.  In a partial indulgence our promissory note is reduced in half or some other partial amount.   

In a plenary indulgence, the promissory note is reduced to nothing. 

Indulgences involve detachment from sin. 

Detaching ourselves from sin is one of the hardest aspects of the Christian life, and it is often made that much more difficult in times where spiritual oppression or influence may be involved.

Demonic oppression refers to the external influence of demonic forces causing distress or hardship in a person's life. It's distinct from demonic possession, like Mary Magdalene, where a demon inhabits and controls a person's body. Oppression is seen as an external attack, while possession is an internal invasion.

Saint Augustine said, “a demon can influence a person’s cognitive abilities, influencing their sensory powers. The demon creeps stealthily through all the avenues of the senses,’ impacting their perception of the people, places, and things in their lives.” This is what we refer to as demonic oppression.

Demonic oppression can be a limiting factor in our capacity to have faith, our capacity to hope, our capacity to love, our capacity to exercise our freedom, and our capacity to experience joy.

Demonic oppression can also manifest itself in a number of mental, psychological, and even physical ailments.

Our readings later next week will tie really well to Healing and Deliverance. But, we see elements of spiritual warfare in other parts of the Gospel like our reading from yesterday: the Devil taking the Word of God from our hearts, discouraging our faith, and distracting us from the path of salvation. 

Evil spirits tempting us and choking us with anxiety, riches, and pleasures. It truly is insidious how we come to be attached to these things presented to us by evil spirits.

The oppression originates when an evil spirit is able to take advantage of a moment of trauma (such as abusive situations), contact with the occult (no matter how innocent it may have seemed at the time), religious cults (particularly Freemasonry organizations, such as the Shriners), oaths, resentments, rebellion (especially against the teachings of the Church), and sexual sin and other habitual sins. These are referred to as entry points.

By properly identifying the entry point related to a problem, we can name the spirit by the entry point and renounce it. Thus cutting off the entry point and the evil spirit’s ability to continue to exercise oppression.

Our exercise is intended to break some of the spiritual bondage that you may experience, which will in turn help you detach from sin and become truly free.

As we go through the exercise allow yourself to feel the power of the cross break the spiritual bondage and unholy ties that you may be experiencing. Feel the choke hold of anxiety, riches and pleasures releasing you. 

And, allow yourself to truly feel the healing grace of God restoring your good and generous heart. Through indulgences and deliverance from spiritual bondage, the Lord lifts up the poor.

Thanks be to God!

Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (1 Timothy 6:2c-12; Psalm 49:6-7, 8-10, 17-18, 19-20; Luke 8:1-3)

Of course, one of the major themes of our pilgrimage has been the jubilee indulgences that we have been receiving. In a way, you can think of these indulgences as the promissory notes from our Gospel today. Indulgences are the remission of temporal punishment for any sins that have been forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In a partial indulgence our measures owed may be reduced from one hundred to fifty. In a plenary indulgence, it is reduced to zero

measures owed.

Here is a practical example some of you have heard me use in the past. When I was a kid, my brothers and I played a lot of baseball, which generally translated to a lot of broken windows.

When a window was broken, we were generally forgiven relatively quickly. Even though we were forgiven, the window still needed to be fixed. The forgiveness of our parents did not somehow fix the window. Either we needed to pay to have the window replaced or we were granted an indulgence by our parents if they paid to have it fixed for us.

The grace from the Cross is applied through the Sacrament of Reconciliation in terms of

forgiveness for the fault of our sins. The grace from the Cross can also be a remedy for what we owe for the temporal consequences of our sins. When we receive that grace through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, it is called an indulgence.

We will talk more about indulgences as we progress through this pilgrimage.

As we discussed yesterday, it all starts with Baptism. It is through Baptism that we are birthed into the Sacramental life of the Church. Like the victim on the road to Jericho, we have been brought to the Inn (which represents the Catholic Church) to be spiritually fed the Sacraments until Jesus returns.

However, living in the Inn means that we are living by everything Jesus teaches through His Holy Catholic Church. There are certainly times in our lives when we are tempted to think we know better than the Church. That temptation may lead us to choose to break one of the Ten Commandments or choose to not follow one of the Precepts of the Church.

Objectively speaking, when we make that choice, we have committed a mortal sin. At that point, since we are no longer in a state of grace. We are no longer living in the Inn. Because we are no longer in a state of grace, we have been effectively cut off from the grace of God.

We are no longer in a relationship with God, until that relationship has been repaired in the

Sacrament of Reconciliation.

There is a really moving scene from the show, “The Chosen”. Mary Magdelene had effectively left the Inn. She had returned to her sinful way of life, in the wilderness. Jesus sends Peter and Matthew to find Mary in order to bring her back. When she comes back, she is very hesitant to approach our Lord as she is filled with guilt and shame. Our blessed Mother Mary holds her hand, encourages and strengthens her, and leads her into a private room with Jesus where her

contrite heart meets the Sacred Heart. Jesus gives her absolution, pardon, and peace. Jesus embraces Mary Magdalene like a father embraces a child.

That is what happens when we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we return to the Inn. We are robed by the Father with grace. Through the priest, we sacramentally encounter Jesus in the confessional just as Mary Magdalene encountered Him in that private room. We receive absolution, pardon, and peace from Jesus.

Through the voice of the priest, we hear Jesus say “I absolve you of your sins!” We are brought back into the Inn to be cared for, once again, by the innkeeper, living out the sacramental life of the Church. Our life of grace is restored. Our relationship with the Father is restored. We can be at peace.

Frequent Reconciliation can give us grace to grow in virtue so that we may avoid more serious sins in the future. If nothing else, frequent Reconciliation grows the virtue of humility in thatadmitting our faults humbles us. Humility fueled by grace is perhaps the greatest weapon we have against the wiles of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Hopefully, each of us was able to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation prior to our departure.

If not, or if you need to receive the sacrament again, let us know.

Another, often overlooked aspect to this, is the resentment and unforgiveness that we may be carrying. It was Saint Augustine that said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” The reality is that resentment damages our relationship with God and, in the process, unsettles us spiritually, psychologically, and even mentally and sometimes physically. Resentment and unforgiveness can also become entry points that lead to spiritual bondage, similar to Mary Magdalene in our Gospel reading. We will discuss that more tomorrow. 

For today, it is sufficient to say that we need to truly proclaim our forgiveness to others in our lives and perhaps even to God and ourselves.

The poor in spirit are blessed through forgiveness and reconciliation.

Thanks be to God!

Renewal and the Great Works of the Lord: Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (1 Timothy 4:12-16; Psalm 111:7-8, 9, 10; Luke 7:36-50)

As you know, Pope Francis called us on this Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope as he recognized how we had been broken down by the pandemic, by conflict, and by strife. He recognized that much of this suffering (including many diseases we incur) are a result of a detachment we, as a society, have chosen from the Eucharist and from the Sacramental Life Jesus Christ instituted in the Catholic Church.

We have been given a false reality by the world, the flesh, and the devil. We forget that the true source of reality is God alone. It is through the lens of the Sacramental Life that we can truly see this reality. It is through the lens of the Sacramental Life that miracles of hope and healing like we read about in Scripture, actually happen. It is through the lens of the Sacramental Life that we become true Pilgrims of Hope.

So, in addition to the standard trip itinerary, we will be doing a number of extra exercises to help engage more deeply into the Sacramental Life. Our readings today do a fine job of setting the table as there are references to the sacraments.

Paul directly references the time he ordained Timothy into the priesthood through the laying on of hands. If you have ever been to an ordination Mass, you have seen this miracle with your own eyes. It is through the priesthood that Jesus administers His Sacraments.

The Gospel reading is less direct, but the reference to the sacraments is still there. All of us have been anointed several times in our lives.

At our baptism, we were anointed twice. The first was with the oil of catechumens, which is used for the anointment of spiritual protection. 

It is the anointing that breaks any spiritual bondage or claim Satan may have over you as a result of original sin.

The other anointing was with the Sacred Chrism, which is used for anointment into the three-fold mission of Christ as priest, prophet, and king. This is the anointing that gives you the charism to offer sacrifice (remember the old saying “offer it up"), particularly when it is offered in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is the anointing that gives you the charism to know, understand, and spread the Truth of Jesus Christ through His Catholic Church. This is the anointing that makes you royalty in the kingship of Christ. Of course this is not an earthly kingship, but rather one that is glorified through servant leadership.

At our confirmation, we were again anointed with the Holy Chrism as the graces of confirmation were conferred upon us. This is when we received most of our charisms and other spiritual gifts.

Many of us have also received the Anointing of. the Sick, where we are anointed with the oil of the sick to enable Jesus to take on our suffering in a special way and unite that suffering more completely to the suffering of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

There are other sacramental anointings that can and do occur. We’ll talk more about some those and the seven sacraments more as we , Zioncontinue on through our pilgrimage.

Today, we focus on Baptism. Close your eyes.

Picture yourself on the side of a wilderness

road. You have been robbed and beaten by a thief. You recognized this thief as the father of lies. He left you stripped, stripped of the dignity given to you by God, and he left you half dead, to live a life without grace.

You see a person of the world pass on the other side without giving you a notice. Then you see

another person, this person of the flesh…the flesh of human nature…also passes by without

giving you a notice.

Then comes along someone different. You recognize this person as Jesus. He ministers to you with wine and oil. The wine represents the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist), the oils of course represent the anointings I have mentioned. He clothes you with the Christian dignity that comes with Baptism. Allow yourself to feel the warmth of the sacramental grace coursing through your entire being.

Then He takes you to an inn, but you recognize this inn as the Catholic Church. As He speaks to the innkeeper, whom you recognize as Peter, the very first Pope. Jesus says to him, "Tend to and feed my beloved child the sacraments untilI come again at my second coming."

By renewing our Baptismal vows and truly the Sacramental Life Jesus gave us, we will truly understand how great the works of the Lord are. 

Thanks be to God!

In the Name of Mary: Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55; Luke 1:39-47)

Today is the memorial for the Most Holy Name of Mary. In some ways, this day is a good opportunity to reflect on the importance of a name in the spiritual life.

When I baptize a child, the first thing I do is ask the parents what name they have given their child.  I also state the name of the child as I pour water on the child’s head to convey the sacrament.  This is very important because their child is someone, not something.  God wants to have a personal relationship with the child and knows that child by the name given by the parents.

That too, is important, because the power to name something means that you have authority over them and responsibility for them.  Adam gained dominion over the animals when he named them.

That’s why from a spiritual warfare perspective, you should never let anyone give you a name.  Nicknames often seem fun and innocent, but there can be a dark side that we need to be aware of.

Speaking of spiritual warfare, the Rite of Solemn Exorcism the priest oftentimes determines the name of the demon. This is for two reasons that both relate to the importance of a name, similar to my point related to baptism. If a demon reveals its name, then it is a sign that its hold on the victim is weakening and the exorcism is efficacious. But more practically, once the priest knows the name of the demon, he can more effectively invoke the authority the Catholic Church has over demons… the same dominion Adam was given over the animals.

We do the same thing in other forms of deliverance ministry.  We give the evil spirits we identify a name.  Then, we name that spirit as we renounce it and send it to the Cross of Jesus Christ for Him to deal with as He will.

To bring this back to our memorial, the Most Holy Name of Mary has a special place in deliverance ministry.

During the Rite of Exorcism, the priest will say, “The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you; she who by her humility and from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception crushed your proud head”...this is a direct reference to Genesis 3:15.

Demons will generally refuse, or are otherwise unable, to say the name of Mary due to the immense torment the name of Mary causes them.  In fact, a demon once told the exorcist Father Gabriele Armorth that each Hail Mary recited faithfully is like “a blow to the head for me”.

The name of Mary has practical implications to each of our spiritual lives.  Jesus revealed to Saint Bridget that His Most Blessed Mother would grant 3 special graces to those who invoke her holy name with confidence: 

• That He would grant them perfect sorrow for their sins.
• That their crimes should be atoned for. 
• That He would give them strength to attain perfection, and at length the glory of paradise.

And Jesus further added, “For thy words, O My Mother, are so sweet and agreeable to Me, that I cannot deny what thou askest.”

Mary is the most blessed among women because she is the only creature given the charism of total enmity with Satan, which is the essence of the Immaculate Conception.  Through her fiat, the head of Satan is crushed.  Through her fiat, her humility conquers the pride of Satan. 

When we call upon the name of Mary and align our personal fiat to her fiat, the Holy Spirit can work through us, just as He works through Mary. 

When we call upon the name of Mary and align our personal fiat to her fiat, the evil spirits prowling about the world will flee from us just as they flee from Mary.

When we call upon the name of Mary and align our personal fiat to her fiat, we share in the crushing of the head of Satan just as Saint Paul says in Romans 16:20.

In the name of Mary, our mother in Christ, what has been spoken by the Lord will be fulfilled.

Thanks be to God!

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Praise the Lord and His Holy Cross: Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Colossians 3:12-17; Psalm 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 6:27-38)

This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross.  On this Feast day, we honor the instrument of our salvation, the instrument made sacred by the Lord’s offering of Himself upon it in response to the New and Eternal Covenant that He initiated at the Last Supper.

On this feast day, we also remember two historical events:  The first event was the discovery of the True Cross by St. Helena in the year 320 after it had been buried by the Romans under a temple to Venus.  The second event was the dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, which houses Calvary, the tomb of Jesus, and the cistern in which instruments of the Passion, including the Cross, were found.

Splinters of the Holy Cross have been sent to parishes around the world, including the relic that we venerate here at Incarnate Word every Good Friday.

In Rome, the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem contains a number of relics from the Passion that Saint Helena brought back to Rome with her, including a sizable portion of  the Holy Cross.

All of that being said, we must remember that it is through the Cross that God forgives us.  It is through the Cross that God showers us with His compassion, His kindness, His humility, His gentleness, and His patience.

God invites us to be to a source of these things to others through the crosses we carry.  In his monthly challenge, Archbishop Lori reminds us:  “When we deal with our suffering in a virtuous way, we unite ourselves to the cross of Christ. In fact, Jesus tells us that taking up our cross is an essential condition for being his disciple. The wonderful thing is that God will supply whatever grace and strength we need to carry our cross, if only we ask for it in faith. May we always carry our cross daily with courage as faithful followers of Christ.”

That grace we receive through His Cross can be a source of courage, strength, and hope for others.

As we celebrate this important feast day, Archbishop Lori invites us to undertake some sacrifice or mortification.  Examples of this could include abstaining from something like meat, sugar, or alcohol, or even abstaining from something like watching sports, in order to strengthen our willingness to carry our crosses daily and help others carry theirs.

What are the crosses you must carry in your life?  Which do you struggle with the most?  Do you faithfully and regularly seek strength from Christ in carrying your cross in prayer and the sacraments?  At Mass, do you intentionally seek to encounter the Cross and unite your cross to it?  Who in your circle of influence needs help carrying their cross?  How is the Holy Spirit calling you to help them carry it to the true Cross at the Mass?

Ultimately, this feast day is a reminder to mindfully bear our crosses as opposed to succumbing to self-pity, anger, resentfulness, or despair.  It is our reminder to lean into His Cross through the Mass to get through the difficult moments in our life, and to give that same gift of love to others by helping them do the same.  Through the Cross, through the Mass, through the Eucharist, all our difficulties can be transformed into something holy.

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord and His Holy Cross!

Saint Michael’s Lent: Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time (Colossians 1:15-20; Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5; Luke 5:33-39)

If you have ever read “The Little Flowers of Saint Francis”, you may be familiar with the devotion an increasing number of Catholics practice this time of the year.  It is a medieval Catholic tradition known as Saint Michael’s Lent.

In “The Little Flowers”, Saint Francis of Assisi expressed his desire for his Franciscan brothers to celebrate the Assumption of the Mary and then spend forty days preparing for the Feast of Saint Michael by fasting.

It was during the practice of Saint Michael’s Lent that Saint Francis was given the stigmata.  Also, God has granted numerous miracles through this devotion.

Saint Michael’s Lent is a period of focused prayer, fasting, and penance from the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary to the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels.   The latter feast was simply known as the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel on the old liturgical calendar and more commonly referred to as Michaelmas.

Similar to Lent, it is a time to deny ourselves of the things of this world in order to make more room in our lives for the grace of God.  It is also a special time to honor Our Lady, as Queen of the Angels, as well as, Saint Michael the Archangel.

Saint Michael’s Lent is not as structured nor as stringent as Lent is.  Rather, it is perhaps more likened to Advent in that we are free to choose how best to prepare ourselves for the upcoming feast. 

It is the time of the year that we can ask ourselves:  How might the Lord be calling us to fast during these forty days to increase hunger and thirst for Him?  How might the Lord be calling us to engage more deeply into prayer and the sacramental life of the Church in order to grow closer to Him?  How might the Lord be calling us to a deeper level of penance?

Overall, this discipline may look different for everyone, but there are some helpful reflections and meditations that we can take to prayer.  It is also common practice to pray the Chaplet of Saint Michael throughout the forty days of Saint Michael’s Lent with the Novena to Saint Michael prayed in the nine days leading up to the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels.

It is also a good time to reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and to examine how well we are living them out in our lives, looking for concrete ways to make the works of mercy a more focused part of our lives.

There are many benefits to the practice of the disciplines of Saint Michael’s Lent:

Personal Sanctity - It is often a time of profound personal transformation and conversion through the focused spiritual practices.

Communal Renewal - Reconnecting with this rich spiritual heritage can often open the door to new strength and vitality for the community as a whole.

Spiritual Warfare - The disciplines often represent a deeper engagement in the spiritual battle which can then avail ourselves more to the protection of God, not only for ourselves, but also for our families and the Church.

The war between the holy and the unholy continue to play out in the ripple effects we see throughout the broken world around us.  In the broken world around us, we continually see the choosing of self over God…just as Lucifer chose self over God.  But Our Lady and Saint Michael both chose God over self.  

Like them, we too can choose God over self.  Like them, we too can choose to be obedient to God and his Holy Catholic Church in spite of the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.  

Through coming to a deeper love for what is truly good and further developing a willingness to sacrifice for it, we will have the grace to triumph over the evil in our lives  Doing so, we will have new freedom to come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

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