Angelic Virtue and the Greatest Sin

March 16, 2025By

2nd Sunday in Lent 2025

St. Julian of Cilicia is a little-known saint who was martyred during the reign of Emperor Diocletian.  He is a model of Catholic fortitude because of the torments he endured rather than offer sacrifice to the pagan gods.  He was tortured for over a year, but he never compromised.

St. Paul instructed the laypeople of Thessalonica to strive after perfection.  We should deny ourselves with constant concern for salvation.  We never remain stagnant in the spiritual life, but are always either growing closer to God or falling away from Him.  St. Paul speaks directly to us when he instructs the practice of purity of mind and body.  The practice of purity places us higher than the angels and if we do not practice it, we are lower than the animals.  We are tempted most of all at the moment when we are dying, and if we don’t have control over our thoughts in those moments we will be lost.  Let us make ourselves suffer a little for love of our God.
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The Value of Penance

March 9, 2025By

1st Sunday of Lent 2025
We must imitate the example of Our Lord in the face of temptation.  When we are afflicted by evil thoughts we should turn to the powerful defense of Sacred Scripture.  Christ’s victory over the devil in this Gospel foreshadows His ultimate victory on the Cross.  Unless we do penance, we will surely perish.  We should have a thorough understanding of what the word “penance” means.  Lent is a time of joy, when we shake off sin and prepare for Heaven.  This season presents to us God’s mercy and gives us the opportunity to obtain a peaceful conscience.  God in His justice is bound by His very nature to punish sin, but when we punish ourselves with works of penance, even our smallest acts have great value, if they come from the heart.  There are many such acts that every Catholic should know and put into practice during this season.
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The Beginning of Our Sanctification

March 5, 2025By

Ash Wednesday Evening 2025
The sacramental of ashes is meant to be for us a memento mori – a reminder of our mortality.  We have the testimonies of St. Justin Martyr and St. Irenaeus, from the earliest centuries after Our Lord, which speak of the ancient practices of Lent and the use of blessed ashes, as well as the numerous examples of ashes being used by penitents in the Old Testament.  On this day, we stand at the border of our sanctification, and if we take advantage of the days ahead, we could be true saints by the end of this season.  There is no more difficult conflict than the battle to overcome oneself, so we must use the tools available to us in order to win our victory.  The practice of mental prayer, spiritual reading, and almsgiving are the great tools which Holy Mother Church instructs us to use during the season.
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We Are The Enemy

March 5, 2025By

Ash Wednesday 2025
We are beginning the most sacred and ancient season of the liturgical year.  This season is particularly for the catechumens who are learning the Faith, and the public penitents who desired to be reunited with Our Lord.  The public penitents were sprinkled with ashes to remind them that they are dust and unto dust they shall return.  It was by the popular demand of the rest of the faithful that the sacramental of ashes was shared with all of us.  We are all sinners, and we unite with those public penitents in making up for our sins.  We have been shown the consequences of sin, we know our predominant fault, and we are ready for battle against self.  Everything we do during these days must be from the heart and caused by charity.  Today many “recall” Lent but do not live it.  The reminder of death we receive in the ashes gives us an increase of life.  We should remain joyful in our penance because through it we are becoming saints.
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The Bravery of the Saints

March 17, 2024By

Passion Sunday 2024
Saint Patrick stood for the true God against the pagans in Ireland.  He threw down the idols of the druids and established the Catholic Church in what is now known as the Island of Saints.  Saint Cyril of Jerusalem fought against the Arian heresy and was persecuted for it.  His bravery and steadfastness in defending the Faith are examples we must follow.  Saint Benedict saw the corruption in Rome during his time and left to become a hermit.  He started his famous Benedictine Order, which has produced thousands of saints.  If we pray with confidence and humility, we have nothing to fear. We must stand courageously beside the saints in defense of God.
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We Witness the Miraculous

March 10, 2024By

Laetare Sunday 2024
We celebrate the midpoint of the season of Lent by looking forward to the glory to come.  The way we pray is the way we believe, which is why Catholic worship has been so attacked by the enemy.  A golden rose would be blessed and anointed on this day by the pope and presented to a favored Catholic monarch.  Our mother on Earth is the Holy Catholic Church, who leads us to the heavenly Jerusalem.  The Gospel text is the great impetus for joy at this Mass.  We know that even when God tests us our future is secure if we pray.  Catholics are surrounded by the miraculous, and we must never allow ourselves to take it for granted.
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Attraction to the Divine

March 3, 2024By

3rd Sunday in Lent 2024
As children imitate their parents, so must we imitate God.  When St. Paul in this Epistle says, “how unbecoming of saints,” he is not referring to canonized saints, but all Catholics.  We are all called to sanctity.  We must battle the temptations about which St. Paul speaks by the Rosary, mental prayer, spiritual reading, and devotion to our guardian angels.  Aristotle, judged from reason alone, without the help of Divine Revelation, that “man should be attracted to divine and immortal things as much as he is able, and however little of these things he experiences, he should love them above all inferior substances.”  We should all heed these words.
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The Great Evil of Venial Sin

February 25, 2024By

2nd Sunday in Lent 2024
St. Paul calls us to make “even greater progress,” but in order to do so, we must begin attacking our habits of venial sin.  Mortal sins kill the soul,  but venial sins are the great obstacle to sanctification.  These lesser sins can easily be overlooked if we are not on guard against them.  They lessen God’s grace in our soul and they kill fervor, making spiritual practices difficult.  Our habits of venial sin will inevitably lead us to serious sin.  This disease of the soul must be combatted with custody of the mind, sincere desire of amendment, and with hatred and horror of any offense against God, no matter how slight it may appear.
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Impurity and Penance

February 18, 2024By

1st Sunday in Lent 2024
We are particularly the objects of temptation during this season in which God is calling us to sanctity.  During the temptation of Christ in the desert, Our Lord was not drawn to the evil as we are.  St. Margaret of Cortona after discovering her lover’s body, made a complete conversion of life.  The great sin combatted during Lent is impurity.  Many vocations and many marriages are destroyed by pornography, which is now so accessible, even to little children.  Parents will be greatly punished if they are not vigilant in protecting their children from this danger to their souls.  Penance is a virtue that is infused by almighty God, which inclines a soul to hate its sins, because they offend almighty God.  It is up to us to make up for the sins we have committed.
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The Real Battle

February 14, 2024By

Ash Wednesday Evening 2024
Our heart should remain forever in the chapel with Our Lord.  Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the great practices of Lent.  The words that were spoken by God to Adam and Eve after the Fall are repeated for us today with the distribution of blessed ashes.  We are reminded of our mortality and the passing glory of this world.  If we always remember our mortality, we will certainly avoid sin.  When we fast it not only makes us weak, but it also brings us closer to God.  Christ came to Earth to suffer and die for our sins, and without His suffering we would not be saved.  How much do we owe Him in penance; how much do we owe Him in love?
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