Spiritual Childhood

19th Sunday after Pentecost 2015
St. Francis is universally esteemed by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  Despite living many centuries apart, the lives of St. Frances and St. Thérèse share many similarities, particularly in regard to their practice of spiritual childhood.  The origins of this doctrine can be found in Our Lord’s words, “unless you become like this little child, you will not enter the kingdom of God.”  Spiritual childhood is closely linked to poverty of spirit, by which one receives a deep understanding of his need and utter helplessness.  This leads to childlike dependence on God’s grace.  Spiritual childhood is indispensable for all who wish to possess the Kingdom of God.
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Faith: The Beginning of Heaven

18th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
Our Lord worked the miracle recounted in the Gospel because of the strong faith of the men who brought the paralytic to Him.  We are only capable of doing evil by our own power, but all the good we do is because of the help of God’s grace.  The Church has taught for 2,000 years without error.  Through this we see the truth of St. Paul’s rhetorical question, “what grace are you lacking?”  Christ came to bring us to Heaven.  And our faith, when it is enlivened by charity, allows us to begin to experience Heaven while we are still on earth.
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Restoration Through The Rosary

17th Sunday after Pentecost 2015
There was only one religion started by Our Lord, and we should never be swayed to think otherwise.  Centuries ago, when devotion to the Holy Rosary had begun to decrease, a terrible plague was sent throughout Europe as a chastisement.  The Blessed Mother and Our Lord appeared to Blessed Alan de la Roche and instructed him to promote the Rosary through his preaching.  By his efforts, this devotion was restored.  In our own day the Holy Rosary is often ignored or suppressed.  We should be on fire for the defense of Our Lord and His Mother and use the Holy Rosary as a prayer of penance to make up for the sins of mankind.
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Deliver Us from Pride

16th Sunday after Pentecost 2015
When we see the moral attacks on society, and especially on the sacrament of Matrimony, it should be a wake-up call for all of us. We should strive to pray better and attend Mass more frequently when we witness how dire is our situation.

This Mass is given to us to counteract pride. Our Lord is drawn to the humble and repulsed by the proud, just as all of us are. God must give us grace to move us to perform a good action, He must give us grace to sustain us in doing what is right, and a grace to bring the good work to completion. This is how utterly dependent we are on His continuous help.
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The Secret To Sanctity

15th Sunday after Pentecost 2015
When Our Lord raised the son of the widow of Naim to life, the miracle was instantaneous, with the child restored as if he were simply waking from sleep.  As Christians we know that all suffering is sent for a reason, and sometimes the greatest joys come from times of sorrow.

The Epistle for this Mass speaks about fraternal correction, a teaching so often misunderstood by Catholics.  Remember Our Lord describes himself as meek and humble of heart.  The virtue of meekness is related to clemency, which gives us the ability to forgive easily insults.  A man who is humble recognizes what he is of himself.  This is what made the saints lowly as the dust.  Pride is the most deceptive of all vices, even disguising itself as humility.  We should be well instructed about this vice so we may recognize it better and more effectively uproot it from our souls.
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Our Heavenly Father’s Care

14th Sunday after Pentecost 2015
St. Raymond Nonnatus is celebrated this week by the Church, and presented to us as an example of generosity and love of neighbor that we are all called to imitate.  If God created you, how much easier is it for Him to provide your material needs.  Our Father in Heaven is truly our Father, more than even our biological father, because He has given us a share in his life.  Our sanctification should be the number one priority in our lives.  We are aided in avoiding sin and striving for virtue when we recall the remorse of the damned.  The lost souls have great remorse for three reasons: for the shortness of their sin, how easily they could have changed their lives, and their knowledge of the happiness of the saints.  We must spend our life preparing for our death.
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Heartfelt Gratitude To God

13th Sunday after Pentecost 2015

The Old Law was given to the Hebrews to protect them from the evil practices of the pagan world.  We can follow their example today by remaining on guard against worldly influences and striving to be examples for those outside the Church.  The Gospel informs us of the importance of gratitude.  We should daily thank God, from the bottom of our hearts, for the gifts we are continually given.  The Holy Mass is not only an act of worship, but the most perfect thanksgiving offered to God.

The Octave Day of the Assumption is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Our Lord desires that we honor His Mother’s heart, which endured so much anguish for our sakes.  We must all surrender to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God.
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What Is Promised Through Her

Feast of the Assumption 2015

This Gospel recalls the mystery of the Visitation, in which we see Elizabeth as an old woman humbling herself before the young Virgin Mary.  A momentary gift of reason was given to the infant, St. John the Baptist, in the womb of his mother when he received the revelation that he was in the presence of the Redeemer.  On that day the Blessed Virgin was recognized for the first time as the Mother of God.

The Dogma of the Assumption was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in modern times, but it was held, from the earliest days of the Church, that those who dared to question this dogma were enemies of God.  Even the saints are looking forward to that final day when their souls will be united with their bodies in Heaven.  This feast is a proclamation of that future day on which we will feel for the first time the embrace of our Blessed Mother.
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The Results of Pride

10th Sunday after Pentecost 2015
The Gospel for this Mass warns us of the catastrophic results of pride.  Firstly, God does not hear the prayers of the proud man.  Secondly, pride leads to hatred of God and neighbor, due to our inordinate love of ourselves.  We should think often of our death and judgment, especially when we are tempted to the sin of pride.  How beautiful it is to see someone accept humiliation with a smile.  Everything that happens to us comes from God.  Even the evil in the world is permitted by Him for our good.  Our Lord endured humiliation to serve as an example for us to follow.
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