St. Jerome spent most of his life in a cave in Bethlehem translating the Scriptures from Greek and Hebrew into Latin.
In doing so He wrote every single word of the Bible.
And in writing every word of the Bible
He really got to know Jesus.
So much so that he said,
“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”
How well do we really know Jesus?
That all depends on how much time we spend reading the Bible!
In our profession of Faith, we profess that we believe, God has created things that are “visible and invisible.”
There is so much more to life than what we see.
So often we rely on what we can see and hold in our hands to help us when even greater things that we cannot see are right next to us to help us.
God’s Holy Angels.
There are three main archangels and a 4th lesser known one always watching over us.
Michael the angel of strength;
Gabriel of Good News
Raphael of Healing
And Uriel of Light.
There is an Ancient Hebrew Prayer that is prayed in he evening for protection as one goes to sleep.
For What we do not see as we sleep,
God's Holy Angels do see,
and watch over us and protect us always.
"In the name of Adonai the God of Israel:
May the angel Michael be at my right,
and the angel Gabriel be at my left;
and in front of me the angel Uriel,
and behind me the angel Raphael...
and above my head the Sh'khinah (Divine Presence)."
An Instrument of Peace
During the time of St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century,
Italy did not exist as a country.
Instead there were city states all at war with each other,
Vying for power, money and influence.
Unable to get along or agree.
In particular Assisi and Perugia were at war with each other.
And so Francis put on his armor and went off to war.
He was captured and imprisoned for a year.
When Francis was released from prison,
while kneeling in front of the cross, the Lord spoke to him.
And told him to rebuild His church.
Everything at the time of St. Francis was falling into ruin.
The church, society, culture, economics, politics.
And Francis’ response was to walk around saying,
“God give you Peace!” “God give you peace!” “God give you Peace!”
Over and over again.
Because there was none.
None between cities;
None in the church;
None in the human heart.
From his spirit, we have received a prayer.
A prayer that should be on our lips and in our hearts
wherever we go
And with whomever we speak.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
God Give you Peace!
The Church in Korea is unique because it was founded by lay people,
for there were no priests.
In less than a century, 10,000 laity were martyred for the Faith.
103 of the Korean martyrs are celebrated today:
they are mostly lay men and women:
some married, some not; some old, some young, some even children.
Today we ask ourselves
As a Layperson, what have I done for my Parish and the spread of my Faith?
Money is the root of all evils 1Tim. 6:2-12
Beware, money is the root of all evil.
Every war, every revolution that has ever been fought was because someone or some country wanted more land or more riches or more honor.
If you have nothing, no one cares.
No one breaks into your house or robs you.
Envy only arises between those who want what someone else has.
St. Francis of Assisi had nothing;
No money;
No possessions;
No wants;
No enemies;
Nothing!
In his poverty he was truly free from all evil.
Some people will never listen Lk. 7:31-35
They played a flute and they did not dance
They sang a dirge and they did not weep.
No matter what Jesus said and did,
Whether He preached fire and brimstone
Or the Mercy of God.
Fasted or feasted;
Whether He healed the sick
Or laid down His life.
There were those would not listen
No matter what He did.
And we should not be surprised when the same happens to us.
No matter what we say and do.
All we can do is stay as Faithful as possible
So that we will be vindicated when the Time comes.
Sts. Cornelius 253d. and Cyprian 258d.
We may think there is confusion in the church nowadays
But it is nothing compared to the time of Pope Cornelius and Bishop Cyprian.
Both of them addressed false teachings of Novatian that lapsed Catholics could not be readmitted to the church.
Instead both proclaimed the Mercy of God to Catholics who wavered in their Faith during the persecution
Both of them were exiled by the Roman Emperor
And shed their blood for the Faith.
It is not easy being a Pope or a Bishop at anytime.
Because they face challenges that most people never know of.
This is why we pray for Pope Francis and Louis our bishop in every Eucharistic Prayer at Mass.
So that they might remain Faithful in face of great challenges and True Teachers of the Faith, as Cornelius the Pope and Cyprian the bishop were.
Mary's sorrows did not start at the foot of the cross.
They began when there was no place at the inn.
They continued when Herod's soldier came to take the life of her child.
They did not stop when she had to immigrate to a foreign country.
They culminated at the foot of the cross.
Because of her sorrows, we know that she understands our sorrows.
Because she stood at the foot of the cross
we know that she will stand with us in our crosses.
She did not stop loving God in the Face of sorrow and suffering.
She stood her ground at the foot of the cross.
Undaunted and undefeated;
Through Her sorrows,
she shows us how not to lose Faith or stop loving God in our sorrows.
But to stand there in the face of our sorrows;
Undaunted and undefeated as well.
Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross;
For many people the cross is something to be avoided not exalted.
Yet the cross is embedded in the very DNA of our lives.
For Nothing valuable
Nothing precious;
Nothing worthwhile ever takes place without a cross
No achievement has ever been won without the cross of hard work.
No love has ever been experienced without the cross of sacrifice.
No Peace has ever endured without the cross of forgiveness.
If we dare to attempt greatness
Or love or Peace, or anything of value
it will entail the cross.
Every cross we carry while difficult bears fruit;
There in lies the victory;
The exaltation of the cross.
What cross are you carrying today?
Ask yourself what fruit you want to come of it?
Jesus had His cross
And it bore the fruit of Eternal Life.
None of our crosses are in vain;
They all bear fruit
If we carry them with Faith.
The Central message 1 Cor. 15:1-11
What is the central message of the Gospel?
If we do not get that right then the rest of the Gospel message will be lost.
According to St. Paul it is that,
Christ died for our sins;
Was buried;
And raised on the Third Day.
Therefore we must acknowledge our sins.
And that Christ died for them.
That He was buried like all of us will be one day.
And that He was raised from the dead
And we will too if we believe in Him.
It is a simple message of the reality of sin;
The inevitability of death.
And the Promise of everlasting life.
The Name of Mary
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In fine, "thy name, O Mother of God, is filled with divine graces and blessings," as St. Methodius says. So much so, that St. Bonaventure declares, "that thy name, O Mary, cannot be pronounced without bringing some grace to him who does so devoutly.". . grant, O Lady, that we may often remember to name thee with love and confidence; for this practice either shows the possession of divine grace, or else is a pledge that we shall soon recover it.
Let us conclude with the tender prayer of St. Bonaventure:
"I ask thee, O Mary, for the glory of thy name, to come and meet my soul when it is departing from this world, and to take it in thine arms."
When the Angel Gabriel came to Nazareth she said,
Hail Mary!
In those two simple words, Gabriel was greeting
The Mother of God;
The Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
The Daughter of the Father.
For Mary was chosen by the Father to be the Mother of His Son,
By the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is why we call upon her Name at the hour of death to pray for us,
For there is nothing the Father would deny His daughter
Nor the Son His Mother,
Nor the Holy Spirit His Spouse.
Sinners that we are!
Put on Christ Col. 3:12-17
Every morning we check the weather,
In order to know what to put on.
Is it cold or hot?
Snow or rain?
Are we going to work or play?
How much more should we check our life!
Is it going to be easy Or stressful?
Are we going to run into friends or enemies?
Sickness or health?
If we put on Christ and His love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience then we will be ready for whatever life throws at us !
Blessings and Woes Lk. 6:20-26
There are 2 Kingdoms;
The Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of the world.
While in this world, it appears that the rich, the filled, the happy and the praised have it all.
In the Kingdom of Heaven they will not.
In the kingdom of Heaven the rich will be poor;
The filled will be hungry;
The happy will weep.
While the poor will be rich,
The hungry will be filled
The sad will rejoice.
In other words, in the Kingdom of Heaven
Those blessed in this world will find their blessings turned into Woes,
While those who experience Woes in this world will find them turned into blessings.
Take heart therefore,
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
Feast of St. Peter Claver
St. Peter left the luxury of Spain for Columbia in 1610
And became the “slave of slaves”
The daily life of St. Peter Claver consisted of hurrying to the slave ships when they arrived Carrying baskets of oranges, lemons, sweet biscuits. Large numbers of the sick were always lying on wet ground or rather in puddles of mud. To prevent excessive dampness, they would build up a mound with a mixture of tiles and broken pieces of bricks. This was their couch, a very uncomfortable one not only for that reason, but especially because they were naked, without any clothing to protect them. Then using his own cloak he covered them.
We haven’t really come too far.
The slavery that existed in our country;
continues to haunt us.
Human beings continue to be sold and trafficked in many parts of the world for sex, body parts and labor.
And then there is the slavery to sin to which everyone struggles to become free.
We must Pray and work
that all people may know the freedom of being a child of God.
