Monday Musings - It's Our Fault As Well!

We humans have suffered from selective deafness  from the moment God created us. Over the centuries, He has sent countless prophets to guide us, but we have ignored them. He sent His only Son and our ancestors killed Him. We continue to torment Him  with our sins and ingratitude.

Few books that I have read have had more of an impact on me than God, A Woman and The Way, written in 1954 by Trappist, Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. Unfortunately, getting copies of this superlative book now is a challenge.

Today, we are quick to blame our bishops and priests for the sorry condition of our world and God's Church. It is true that far too many of them can be justly criticized for not teaching and defending the Truth, for creating ambiguity in the Church's teaching where none existed, and for living lives inconsistent with their call to be alter Christus.

But their failures, however, do not excuse our own. We lay folk far outnumber our ordained and flawed shepherds. As Father Raymond points out, our world would be far different if we lay Catholics had fulfilled our obligation to be true witnesses of Christ.

Let this gifted Trappist set the stage for his observations with these excerpts from Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas: 

“if Christ is to reign as King of nations, he must first reign totally as King of individuals…Christ must reign in our minds - which must assent firmly and submissively to all revealed truth and to all Christ's teachings. He must reign in our wills - which should bow in obedience to God's law and precepts. He must reign in our hearts which turning aside from all natural desires should love God above all things and cling to Him alone. He must reign in our bodies and our members which should serve as instruments of our souls’ sanctification.”

Now let Father Raymond's observations penetrate our hearts and souls:

"If each Catholic in these United States acted at all times as a Catholic should, the impact on Communism [insert the “ism”  of your choice - Marxism, socialism, modernism, transgenderism, etc.] in these United States and all over the world would be very like the impact of the tiny stone David flung at Goliath. We may be numerically small in comparison with the whole; the “armor of Saul” most likely will not fit us; but we have the sling and we have the stones from the brook. Is it that we lack courage?

It takes courage to be a Christian. It takes great courage to go out and meet Christ when He is on the road to Calvary…It is not easy to be a follower of Jesus. But it is glory! And if Faith be the central problem of our day, then faith with fortitude is the only solution. Each of us who has been baptized is called upon to be a witness to Christ.

Do you know what that means?...A witness is a man whose life and faith are so completely one that when the challenge comes to step out and testify for his faith, he does so, disregarding all risks, accepting all consequences… 

[Whittaker] Chambers says a life of faith must be one. That is, the individual must not only have a lively faith but must live his faith. He must believe with his whole being what he professes to believe with his lips. He must say aloud his Credo, not with words, but with every action of his life. He must be a Catholic not only for the hour or so he spends in church on Sunday, but he must be Christ twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year..."

Have you been an effective witness of Christ? If not, begin today.

 

Monday Musings - It's Not About Putting The Genie Back In The Bottle!

There was a time when everyone entering a Catholic Church knew enough to genuflect, to remain silent and to spend time in intimate interior conversation with their Loving Lord locked behind the tabernacle doors. God deserves nothing less today.

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Back in that day, everyone knew they were there in the Presence of God to adore and worship Him, not to visit with their neighbor. Somehow, they were able to enter, remain and exit the Church in reverent silence and postpone their socialization and greetings until they were out on the sidewalk. God deserves nothing less today.

These same individuals knew enough to refrain from receiving our Lord in Holy Communion unworthily. Our priests reminded them of that obligation, not only out of loving concern for the salvation of their souls but as a bulwark and protector against Eucharistic sacrilege. God deserves nothing less today 

If necessary, these truths were reinforced from the pulpit, posted on the Church walls and printed in Church bulletins. God deserves nothing less today.

Reports suggest that rare is the parish today that mirrors what was commonplace and treasured years ago.

Not enough thought is given to how our Loving Lord suffers today from such irreverent conduct or how many souls risk their eternal salvation.

Monday Musings - Put On Your Boots!

Our failure to live this Truth has contributed to the destruction of our culture and  the loss of countless souls. It is time to engage the enemy...

Are We Catholics Also Missing The Point?

Monday Musings - Modern Man's Amnesia

Looking for an explanation for the craziness in our world? You will not find a more truthful one than this:

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

“Modern man has forgotten his origin and his end; forgotten his dignity and destiny; forgotten his innate nobility and towering superiority over everything material. Modern man with his vaunted progress reminds one forcibly of that traveler Marcus Aurelius told about; the one who was feverishly hurrying on, but had forgotten where he was going. Modern man has outdone this one; for modern man has forgotten even whence he set out. He has forgotten that he is a man and not a machine, the masterpiece of visible creation and not the product of blind forces, an immortal living in time, an exile with a home in a far country, a breath of God in a vessel of clay. He has forgotten his own identity and his essence. That is the amnesia which must be cured. It is man's memory, not man's mind, that demands the treatment. If he can be made to bring to the surface of his consciousness the true concept of what he is, modern madness ends. The patient cures himself. And the cure lies in correct self-consciousness.”

(From God, A Woman and The Way by Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.)

Of Priests, the Eucharist and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

When Jesus told His followers that unless they ate His Body and drank His Blood, they could not have eternal life, large numbers left and never returned. Their initial repulsion to this direction was understandable: who would want to eat the flesh and drink the blood of another living human being?

Yet, many had come to believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. They had either heard of or actually witnessed countless miracles evidencing His Divine nature.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Why did they not realize that He would never ask the impossible of them or fail to provide them the means with which to fulfill His command?

His apostles had no greater understanding of, or fondness, for what Jesus was commanding them to do. But when Jesus asked them if they too would leave, Peter, answering for himself and for the other apostles save for Judas, replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

So they stepped out in faith, accepting this “difficult” teaching without fully understanding it. Their faith was rewarded at the Last Supper when Jesus, using the basic elements of a common meal - bread and wine – transformed the substance (but not the outward appearance of those items), into His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, gave them to His apostles to eat and to drink, and empowered His newly ordained priests and their legitimate successors to do likewise.  This world has never been the same.

This Holy Thursday as we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist, the ordained priesthood and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we would do well to spend a few minutes reviewing and reflecting on the three questions and answers that follow.

What is a priest?  

“What is a priest? We must begin by purifying ourselves before purifying others; we must be instructed to be able to instruct, become light to illuminate, draw closer to God to bring Him close to others; be sanctified to sanctify; lead by the hand and counsel  prudently. I know whose ministers we are, where we find ourselves and to where we strive. I know God’s greatness and man’s weakness, but also his potential. The priest is the defender of truth, who stands with angels, gives glory with archangels, causes sacrifices to rise to the altar on high, shares Christ’s priesthood, refashions creation, restores it in God’s image, recreates it for the world on high and, even greater, is divinized and divinizes.” – St. Gregory of Nazianzus

What Is The Eucharist?

“Material food first changes into the one who eats it, and then, as a consequence, restores to him his lost strength and increases his vitality. Spiritual food, on the other hand, changes the person who eats it into itself. Thus the effect proper to this sacrament is the conversion of a man into Christ, so that he may no longer live, but Christ lives in him; consequently, it has the double effect of restoring the spiritual strength he had lost by his sins and defects, and of increasing the strength of his virtues." – St. Thomas Aquinas 

What Is The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

"When the Host is held on high and a chalice lifted…look up! Look up and see what Mary saw. See a naked man squirming as He bleeds against a blackened sky; see a battered human body, writhing on a tree, prisoned there by savage spikes that have torn through Sacred hands and feet; see thorn-tortured head tossing from side to side as anguished torso labors, lifts and strains; see the eyes of God roll towards heaven beseeching, as broken lips blurt out that soul piercing cry: “My God, My God, Why has Thou forsaken Me?” What is this? This is the Mass. This is Crucifixion. This is what Mary saw at the elevation of Christianity’s first Mass. This is what you should see at the Elevation of every Mass!" – Father M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.

May I suggest two additional things for you to do? Right now and several times every day hereafter, pray for  all our priests, pray that they will become holy priests whose lives will be centered upon and devoted to the Eucharist, and pray that they will embrace and fully live their call to be “another Christ”.

Lastly, right after you say your evening prayers, find a quiet place free from distractions, dim or turn off the lights, prayerfully listen to words of this heavenly hymn, and thank God for the gift of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity and for His priests:

Eucharistic Reflection

What if the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was always and everywhere offered in accordance with the dignity, reverence and obedience our God merits? If we truly worshiped Him as He deserves, do you think more Catholics would willingly and lovingly come to Mass and give their Lord the worship and adoration He ought to receive?

May the following reflection help move us in that direction wherever there may be a need to do so:

When the Host is held on high and a chalice lifted…look up! Look up and see what Mary saw.  See a naked man squirming as He bleeds against a blackened sky; see a battered human body, writhing on a tree, prisoned there by savage spikes that have torn through Sacred hands and feet; see thorn-tortured head tossing from side to side as anguished torso labors, lifts and strains; see the eyes of God roll towards heaven beseeching, as broken lips blurt out that soul piercing cry: “My God, My God, Why has Thou forsaken Me?”

What is this?  This is the Mass.  This is Crucifixion.  This is what Mary saw at the elevation of Christianity’s first Mass.  This is what you should see at the Elevation of every Mass!

(Father M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. from God, A Woman and the Way)

(Image credit to Copiosa.org)

And You Think The Mass Is Boring?

           Far too many Catholics complain they find the Mass to be “boring” or that they “get nothing out of it”.  It is unlikely they would feel that way if they knew the answers to the following questions:  What is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? What happens at Mass? Who is present there? What benefits do we receive by participating at Mass?

           In his powerful book, The Way to God, Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. tells us that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass “is not a mere commemoration of the sacrifice of the cross.  No it is the same, the actuality, the renewal, the continuation, the representation of the sacrifice of the cross… so that when I assist at Mass I am present at the Sacrifice of the cross as much as Mary, John and Magdalen were.  It is the unbloody renewal of the bloody Sacrifice of the cross.”

Does this essential truth of our faith comes as a surprise to many? How often we Catholics come to Church just to socialize and “catch up” with friends, families and acquaintances. Should we not come primarily to worship, adore, give honor to and receive the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?  When we understand what the Mass is, we shall!

            When properly understood and when participated in with proper intent, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass “is offered,” as Father Herbst reminds us, “to give God Honor and Glory, to give God thanks for his benefits, to obtain the remission of our sins and make reparation for them, to obtain the precious grace of conversion by which a person is led to make repentance and reconciliation with God, to obtain victory over temptations, either by getting more efficacious actual graces or by having the temptations themselves lessened or eliminated all together”. But there is more, much more to this magnificent gift (see Section 1322-1372 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church). 

            St. John Marie Vianney taught: “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us”; and “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy”. In current times, Father William Casey of the Fathers of Mercy reminds us that “the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most important event that occurs every day on the face of the earth”.   

             

“Mass”, Pope Pius VI tells us, “is the most powerful form of prayer”. “The celebration of Holy Mass,” St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross”.  St. Padre Pio also reminded us of four beautiful truths:  “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass”; “The heavens open and multitudes of angels come to assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass”; “If we only knew how God regards this Sacrifice we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass;” and “The best preparation for a happy death is to assist at Mass daily”.

           

            “The Eucharistic Sacrifice, the memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, in which the Sacrifice of the cross is forever perpetuated,” according to Canon 897, “is the summit and the source of all worship and Christian life”. In Canon 898, we are reminded that: “Christ's faithful are to hold the Blessed Eucharist in the highest honor. They should take an active part in the celebration of the most august Sacrifice of the Mass; they should receive the sacrament with great devotion and frequently, and should reverence it with the greatest adoration”.

            In The Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priest (Presbyterium Ordinis), the Vatican II fathers observed that the bond which gives unity to the priest’s life and work “flows mainly from the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is therefore the center and root of the whole priestly life” (14).  Pope John Paul II noted in his Encyclical on the Eucharist (Ecclesia De Eucharistia), that the Eucharist “is the source and summit of the Church’s life” and that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass “must be the center of each priest’s life” [31].  He went on to emphasize that “we must understand then, how important it is, for the spiritual life of the priest as well as for the good of the Church and the world, that priests follow the Council’s recommendation to celebrate the Eucharist daily” [31].  Short of serious personal illness or an unforeseen and pressing emergency, is there any compelling reason why a priest would not offer Mass each day? After all, who can fathom the benefits flowing from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

            Is it any wonder then that both John Paul II and his successor Benedict XVI have repeatedly urged all of us, priest and laity alike, to rediscover a sense of “awe and amazement” in the Eucharist, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and Eucharistic Adoration? How we go about getting to that point again is beyond the scope of this article save to briefly note that for many reasons we have lost the sense of the sacred within our Church buildings and in the manner in which we worship and conduct ourselves while there.

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            However, I have no doubt we would rediscover that sense of “awe and amazement” for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharist if, when we next attend, we follow the suggestions offered by Father M. Raymond, OSSO:

“…when the Host is held on high and a chalice lifted…look up! Look up and see what Mary saw.  See a naked man squirming as He bleeds against a blackened sky; see a battered human body, writhing on a tree, prisoned there by savage spikes that have torn through Sacred hands and feet; see thorn-tortured head tossing from side to side as anguished torso labors, lifts and strains; see the eyes of God roll towards heaven beseeching, as broken lips blurt out that soul piercing cry: ‘My God, My God, Why has Thou forsaken Me?’

“What is this?  This is the Mass.  This is Crucifixion.  This is what Mary saw at the elevation of Christianity’s first Mass.  This is what you should see at the Elevation of every Mass!” (God, A Woman, and The Way)

(Adapted from an article published in the February 2011 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review, entitled “History of Communion Services”.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and purchase a copy of the presentation made by Father Peter Girard, O.P. entitled Heaven Unites With Earth: The Holy Eucharist and the Heavenly Liturgy. This CD (M-1567) is available from St. Joseph Radio. Contact them at: www.stjosephradio.com or (714) 744-0336. I am not affiliated with St. Joseph radio and receive no renumeration from them. It is just a great talk! Pass it around. More Catholics need to hear it!