Upon The Rock

June 29, 2015By

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul 2015
As Roman Catholics, our home is Rome because it is the symbol of the Eternal City.  St. Leo the Great tells us that God did not want the story of the murderous Romulus and Remus to remain the foundation of the city that people remember, but God would send two other brothers who were bound together in their love of God – Saints Peter and Paul.  This is the day that we celebrate these two brothers in Christ becoming perfect Christians through the shedding of their blood.  It is truly amazing that we know so much about these two men who lived so long ago.  St. Peter’s great heart was the essential aspect of his character that Christ loved so much.  We must possess the same confidence that St. Peter showed in the face of adversity.
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Love Him In Return

June 12, 2015By

Feast of the Sacred Heart 2015
“To have Christ dwelling through faith in your heart” refers to the abiding presence of the Divine Person of Christ in our souls while in the state of grace.  When St. Paul speaks of knowing God’s love, he does not simply refer to an intellectual knowledge, but rather a direct, immediate experience of the love of God, just as the great saints experienced.  This feast of the Sacred Heart was requested directly by Our Lord, and no man is free to ignore this devotion.  The original sketch of the Sacred Heart shows a great wound inside of which is written the word “caritas” – “love”.  This devotion was reserved for a time when the world had grown cold in its love that it might gain favor through the revelation of Our Lord’s Sacred Heart.
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Our Voyage to Heaven

June 7, 2015By

2nd Sunday after Pentecost 2015
Today, St. John instructs us on how to live the Christian life, and how this life of grace and love demands good works.  The whole first half of the liturgical year is summed up in the feast of the Holy Trinity.  Now the Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit to draw us towards Heaven.  The three Theological Virtues and the four Moral Virtues are like the oars of our ship which we actively use to help us reach our celestial destination; but the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, like the sails of our ship, operate more passively when we are open to His inspirations.  Although we have all the benefits, we must be vigilant, because our lives are still fraught with dangers.
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Melt Our Frozen Hearts

May 24, 2015By

Pentecost Sunday 2015
We must remember to pray for the fallen soldiers on Memorial Day.  We are not bound to love our government, but, in the virtue of patriotism, we are bound to love the country that supports us and the people who live in it.  A good Catholic soldier endures hardships and makes reparations for the sins of his fellow countrymen.  After the Ascension of Our Lord, the Apostles spent nine days in prayer.  These days are duplicated in every soul purified in the last stages of perfection.  The Apostles were deprived of the sensible consolations of the Savior so that they would be purified of all attachments, even misplaced attachments in the spiritual life.  We are given gifts from God that we may love Him more.
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The Christian Worker

May 1, 2015By

1st Friday Conference May 2015 (Part 2)
Why did Christ choose to be the Son of a worker?  St. Joseph’s vocation represents someone who changes the world, because in using the materials of the world he symbolically transforms it.  A Catholic should be familiar with the definition of Capitalism, Social Darwinism, Prosperity Theology, Fascism, Socialism, Marxism, and Existentialism.  The true Christian view stands opposed to these philosophies, because it teaches that man is judged not simply by his work but by the quality of his character.  Even small works have value if they are done with great love for God.  “Whatever you do in word or work, do all in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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Season of Conversion

March 22, 2015By

Passion Sunday 2015
“The reason that you do not hear is because you are not of God.”  We should pray that these frightening words are never directed towards us.  We must ask ourselves who is more evil, the people in this Gospel who desire to put Christ to death, or all of us, who believe in Christ’s divinity and still continue to sin?  There is still time to hear the voice of God and change the direction of our lives.  This season of the Passion is given to us so we may make a conversion of life.  We must follow the example of the Apostles’ conversion in these final days of Lent.
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The Father of Vocations

March 19, 2015By

Feast of Saint Joseph 2015
When a person is given a vocation, he is always given the divine help necessary to reach his final goal of Heaven.  Even the people who miss their divine calling are given sufficient grace to save their souls.  Many people, especially in our days, lack confidence in God and are too afraid to fulfill their great calling in life.  St. Joseph was called to be the spouse of the Mother of God and the earthly representative of God the Father.  This was a vocation which was truly beyond human ability to fulfill.  The only doubts St. Joseph entertained were doubts about his own judgment.  He recognized his poverty in every way, but was filled with confidence in God.  Like the priest, St. Joseph had custody over the Body of the Son of God and was willing to lay down his life to protect Him.  The patron of all our needs is St. Joseph.
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The Language of Lent

March 15, 2015By

Laetare Sunday 2015
Penance has a variety of meanings.  It refers to the infused virtue that inclines a person to hate his faults, the sacrament of penance, and the works we perform to make up for our sins.  Mortification refers to works which put to death evil inclinations.  Propitiation is an act by which someone who has been offended is now appeased.  The Mass and our prayers are great works of propitiation.  When we make satisfaction, we punish ourselves for our sins.  Our sufferings may be offered to God as a form of satisfaction.  Atonement refers to the union with God which is achieved when our sins are expiated or wiped away.  This is the Sunday of the Golden Rose, on which the pope would take a golden rose and give it to a privileged monarch, who was favored by the pope.  The rose is seen as a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven.
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Lessons on Love and Suffering

March 6, 2015By

First Friday Conference – March 2015
We know the story of Saints Perpetua and Felicity from their firsthand account.  During one of the general persecutions of the Church, these two heroic, young women gave their lives for Christ.

It is important to understand the meaning of a “type” and how God uses types or prophecies to foreshadow things to come.  We see one of the most vivid types of Christ in the patriarch Joseph.  Just as Joseph was the favorite son of his father and the envy of his brothers led to their murderous desires, so too was Our Lord, the only Son of God, put to death out of envy.  Joseph became the savior of his family by offering them life-giving bread during famine, as Christ redeemed the world and gives to us the Holy Eucharist.

Catholics should not be troubled by temptations, or confuse them with sins, but view them as opportunities for merit.  Even those trials from the devil may be turned to acts of love for God.

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Lent Restores Peace

February 18, 2015By

Ash Wednesday 2015
Not one word is said about punishment or damnation in the readings for this Mass, and that should give a hint to Catholics about the true spirit of this season.  There is no such thing as a private sin.  Not only are all our sins known to the heavenly court, but the whole universe is affected by them.  In the early years of the Church, public penitents were driven out of the churches, just as Adam was driven from Paradise after his sin.  This is a time of holiness, mercy, hope, and pardon, not condemnation and gloom.  We must begin Lent as we should examine our conscience, by looking at Our Lord and comparing ourselves with Him.  During Lent Christ pleads with us not to leave Him alone, so we may be united with Him forever.
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Jan
15
St. Paul the First Hermit

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