Our Mother's Love

The newly-invested novices immediately following the Mass

Readings for Satuday, December 8/ Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception:
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm 98:1-4
Ephesians 1:2-6, 11-12
Luke 1:26-38

Yesterday morning I had the joy of being at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. for a Mass of Investiture as fourteen young women, most of them in their early to mid-twenties, gave themselves to Christ as Spiritual Brides. My seat being in the sanctuary, I had the blessing of seeing their faces and each of them was called forward, called by their religious name for the first time, and received their veil to mark their bridal vocation. The joy that showed in their faces was like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life and my heart burned with joy simply watching them. This joy of this already beautiful moment was increased as I saw a good friend and one of the youth from my previous assignment who has become a spiritual daughter to me. The ceremony was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced and I was shocked by the love and joy in my heart for the sisters, including even the ones that I had met only the night before. Throughout the day, as we continued the celebrations with the community and family, I continued to reflect on the experience. And as I was reflecting on that experience and preparing a final draft of this homily, I was struck by something. If I, imperfect and sinful as I am, was so filled with love in that moment for my daughter, friend and their sisters, how much more does our Blessed Mother Mary look upon us, her children, constantly with burning love in her heart - she who was full of grace, perfect in all things, and absolutely pure in heart?

In our first reading we heard the familiar story of Adam and Eve disobeying the Lord and partaking of the forbidden fruit, which cost them God’s grace and merited pain and death. Then our first parents passed onto us that spiritual state which longs for some redemption. For centuries humanity and all of creation awaited that redemption and we find it in Christ Jesus, through His Blessed Mother.

Eve was mother of all the living in the physical sense, that she gave us our lives. Mary comes to us as a spiritual mother, bringing us eternal life. By that beautiful response to Gabriel, “Be it done to me according to your word,” she opened herself up to God and enabled God to bring about salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ, who Himself made a radical act of obedience in the Garden of Gethsemane when he said to the Father, “Not My will by Thy will be done.” By their acts of obedience, Jesus and Mary, the New Adam and New Eve, gained for us a gift far greater than physical life – they gained us the ability to behold the Face of God for eternity! Indeed she is the true mother of all the living. And as a mother she does not look up us all as a large group but rather as individual souls – each of us a special child in her eyes - honored, guarded, and deeply loved. How blessed indeed we are to have such a mother who is always, at every moment, watching over us and working to pour out the grace of God upon us that we might be drawn more deeply into the tender embrace of her Son and the Blessed Trinity. With that all in mind, I want to pray with you a section of St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s ‘Prayer to Jesus’ [full prayer HERE]:

Yes, Mary is necessary for me at Thy side and everywhere: that she may appease Thy just wrath, because I have so often offended Thee; that she may save me from the eternal punishment of Thy justice, which I deserve; that she may contemplate Thee, speak to Thee, pray to Thee, approach Thee and please Thee; that she may help me to save my soul and the souls of others; in short, Mary is necessary for me that I may always do Thy holy will and seek Thy greater glory in all things. Ah, would that I could proclaim throughout the whol world the mercy that Thous hast shown to me! Would that everyone might know I should be already damned, were it not for Mary! Would that I might offer worthy thanksgiving for so great a blessing! Mary is in me. Oh, what a treasure! Oh, what a consolation! And shall I not be entirely hers? Oh, what ingratitude! My dear Savior, send me death rather than such a calamity, for I would rather die than live without belonging entirely to Mary.

Indeed Mary is a most incredible gift and through her we have all receive the Lord Jesus and the offer of salvation. Today as we honor Our Lady, let us give everything we have, to her who has opened the way for us to receive everything we desire. Let us make our own the words St. Louis so often prayed:

Mary, I am thine and all I have is thine.

Mary, I am thine and all I have is thine.

Mary, I am thine and all I have is thine.

Amen.

HWP: Prayer of Saint Ambrose Before Mass

A few weeks back I sought your input about the possible addition of weekly 'Half-Way Prayers' to my regular Sunday posts here on the blog (check out my reasons HERE). After unanimous positive feedback, the time has come to make it a reality... so, without further delay, I present to you: Half-Way Prayers!

The Second Vatican Council speaks of the Liturgy as "the source and summit of the Christian life" and as such it must hold a place of primacy in our thoughts and prayers. For that reason, I want to begin this series of Half-Way Prayers with those focusing on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Traditionally, there are two different prayers for the Mass - Prayers of Preparation (before Mass) and Prayers of Thanksgiving (after Mass). My thought was to use Christmas as the centerpiece for these prayers by posting Prayers of Preparation as we prepare for the Lord's coming at Christmas and Prayers of Thanksgiving during the Christmas season. Enjoy!

Prayer of Saint Ambrose before Mass

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I draw near, loving Lord Jesus Christ, to the table of Your most delightful banquet in fear and trembling, a sinner, presuming not upon my own merits, but trusting rather in Your goodness and mercy. I have a heart and body defiled by my many offenses, a mind and tongue over which I have kept no good watch.

Therefore, O loving God, O awesome Majesty, I turn in my misery, caught in snares, to You the fountain of mercy, hastening to You for healing, flying to You for protection; and while I do not look forward to having You as Judge, I long to have You as Savior.

To You, O Lord, I display my wounds, to You I uncover my shame. I am aware of my many and great sins, for which I fear, but I hope in Your mercies, which are without number.

Look upon me, then, with eyes of mercy, Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and Man, crucified for mankind. Listen to me, as I place my hope in You, have pity on me, full of miseries and sins, You, who will never cease to let the fountain of compassion flow.

Hail, O Saving Victim, offered for me and for the whole human race on the wood of the Cross. Hail, O noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of Jesus Christ, my crucified Lord, and washing away the sins of all the world.

Remember, Lord, Your creature, whom You redeemed by Your Blood. I am repentant of my sins, I desire to put right what I have done. Take from me, therefore, most merciful Father, all my iniquities and sins, so that purified in mind and body, I may worthily taste the Holy of Holies. 

And grant that this sacred foretaste of Your Body and Blood which I, though unworthy, intend to receive, may be the remission of my sins, the perfect cleansing of my faults, the banishment of shameful thoughts and the rebirth of right sentiments; and may it encourage a wholesome and effective performance of deeds pleasing to You and be a most firm defense of body and soul against the snares of my enemies. Amen.

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Taken from the Roman Missal, Third Typical Edition

Preparing the Way

Readings for Sunday, December 2/ 1st Sunday of Advent:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14
1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

The Advent season is my favorite liturgical season of the year – and not just because we get to wear purple & gold for Mass -  and yet, sadly, it is also the most neglected season of the whole year. Everyone knows about Christmas and Easter, since they are both popular in the secular world because of the gift-giving, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and delicious edible chocolate rabbits. Even protestants and non-Christians have begun to see the great wisdom of the season of Lent and imitated it in their own ways. But because of all the Christmas decorating and preparing, holiday parties, football games, and other activities of the world Advent is easily passed over – so we Catholics must make it our task to show the world the great value of this blessed season known traditionally as the ‘little lent’.

The past few weeks have shown me over and again how we, as modern men and women, have a particular gift of overly complicating things. Like when we are having trouble with our newest high-tech equipment and we are caught up in all the details but forget simple things like – Is it plugged in? Did I hit the power button? Is it on mute? And we can do the same with the season of Advent. We are joyful at the Lord’s coming but penitential in our vestments and liturgical celebration. We look forward to the birth of an innocent child and hear readings of the end of the world and judgment. The world around us is singing Christmas carols of Jesus’ birth and we quietly sit before empty crèches waiting for another three weeks. Behind all of that complexity we are called to a very simple task: prepare.

Our Lord challenges us in the Gospel: “Be vigilant at all times and pray….” And so for these next few weeks we make that special effort to be vigilant and prayerful in light of His coming to us. The first coming, we know, is one that we commemorate at Christmas – the coming of God among us as a little, helpless child. With that quiet entry into our world He fulfilled that promise spoken by the Lord in Jeremiah of a sprout from David’s line. Just as Christ came to fulfill that promise of the Lord, so too, will he fulfill that second promise of coming again in glory. This second coming will be entirely different from the first. Rather than a quiet, largely unnoticed arrival, there will instead be great signs that mark the skies and his coming will be so incredible and powerful that He Himself notes that “many will die of fright in anticipation” of what is to happen on the earth.

And so we must prepare. We have at our fingertips all sorts of great ways to prepare for the Lord’s coming – both in humility and in glory. Reading the Scriptures, spending time in the Adoration Chapel, volunteering or helping out others during the holiday season, and many more things are great ways for us all to prepare ourselves. But above all there is one specific thing that can prepare us best and that is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is because rather than us trying to prepare ourselves and do things, it is the Lord Himself who comes and prepares us.

As I was reflecting on the need for reconciliation, I was reminded of when I was in high school and my parents gave me their old Ford F-150 with an extended cab. As I was living the busy life, I tended to simply toss stuff in my back seat to make room in the front for people to ride. After months and month of doing this my mom finally came to me and  said, “Brent, that is disgusting. You really need to clean your truck out.” And so I went to work cleaning the truck. To my surprise, I found a disturbing number of fast-food bags, tons of miscellaneous papers and receipts, and even a few bags full of clothes and CD’s that I had bought and promptly forgotten about as they found their way to the seat behind me. I didn’t realize it, but I was carrying around a ton of junk, much of which I had forgotten about entirely. And the reality is that many of us are doing the same. And so I come today to take my mom’s for each of you to say “It’s to clean up.”

The longer we wait to go to confession, the more stuff just builds up and builds up. And it’s doing us no good whatsoever. Our Lord Jesus came that we might have life to the full and experience true freedom, yet so often we do the exact opposite, binding ourselves in sin and free only from freedom itself. So why not come and place at the feet of the Lord all the stuff weighing us down? Come and experience pardon and peace.

I know that some of you might have some reservations about coming to Confession, but it is nothing to be feared. Quite the opposite, it is something to be loved and greatly anticipated because it is the place where we can meet God and know for sure the love that He has for us by the forgiveness of sins. We priests are not in the business of judgment. We are there to be instruments of mercy. And we don’t concern ourselves with remembering sins, because it is by God’s grace that sins are forgotten when you walk out the door. But even more than that, we can be freed from all the stuff that can bind us. When we go to confession we go before the Lord Himself and there hear Him say to us through the voice of the priest “I absolve you for your sins”. And as Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, when the priest raises his hand over the penitent in the sacrament, he is not just praying over them but in a spiritual sense he is allowing the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, to pour forth from his hands onto the soul of the person before him, washing clean every stain of sin that is present.

To conclude, I want to issue each of you an invitation, and even a challenge, to make a good confession before Christmas comes. Let the Lord have the stuff of sin from our lives and receive the freedom for which we were created. Truly then we will be prepared for the Lord’s coming and not be like those frightened to the point of death at His coming, but rather be like those who stand erect with eyes facing Heaven because we know in our hearts that redemption has now come to us. 

Christus Regnat!

Readings for Sunday, November 25/ Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe:
Daniel 7:13-14
Psalm 93:1, 2, 5
Revelation 1:5-8
John 18:33-37

As we come to the close of the liturgical year we honor Our Lord Jesus Christ under the title of King of the Universe, for indeed He is our great king and “ruler of the kings of the earth.” But why this solemn feast?

The Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe was instituted not so long ago, only in 1929, as compared to most other feasts that date back many centuries, even to the Apostles. At that time, Pope Pius XI saw tin the world around him a radical secularization, as God and faith were being increasingly removed from the public forum and often mocked from those in power. To combat this tendency, Pope Pius instituted this solemn feast – the highest rank of liturgical celebration in the Church – in order to emphasize to Catholics and people all throughout the world that not only does God belong in the public forum, He is Himself the foundation of all that we do and He has absolute power over all creation, including those who claim earthly power. He is indeed the King of the Universe!

Often when we think of kings we think of those men who are less than honorable figures in society. While there certainly have been some great Catholic kings in the past two hundred years, the greater majority are characterized by a certain self-seeking attitude. The kingly authority is something they relish in and flaunt their authority over those subject to them. Sometimes by military strength, other times by birth or by election, they assume an authority and must fight to defend it. But in the end, every earthly king will pass away, his crown be given to another after him, and his name be forgotten in history.

But Christ comes to us with a new type of kingship, something utterly different. In saying “My kingdom is not of this world” He reveals to us this difference – that His kingdom is a heavenly one. He knew this long before and even gave us a hint earlier in His life, as we see in John 6 at the feeding of the 5000. After He had worked this great miracle the people immediately start seeking the Lord out in order to make Him their king, but He knows that this is foolishness because doing such would be settling for a lower authority than awaits Him, so he flees. His Kingdom is surely on the Earth – it is around us and within us – but it is not of the Earth.

As we look at our readings today we see three distinguishing features of this Heavenly Kingship that Christ Jesus exercises. First, His authority is not taken but received. The reading from the prophet Daniel describes this but in mystical terms. The Book of Daniel is a mysterious one in which Daniel has visions of Heaven. One such vision, immediately preceding the passage we heard proclaimed, is one in which various beasts rise up and flaunt their power and authority over one another. But then something happens that changes it all: One like a son of man comes on the clouds. As people on Earth, coming on the clouds means looking up for one coming down. But since Daniel’s vision was a Heavenly one, it seems more that the one coming on the clouds is coming up to Heaven. This is Our Lord Jesus coming on the clouds of Heaven in His Ascension from the Earth. After conquering death by His Glorious Resurrection, Our Lord merits the Kingship bestowed upon Him, and receives it; a Kingship that is unending and unmatched.

The second distinguishing feature of Christ’s Kingship is that it is eternal. Unlike all earthly rulers, Christ, because He is the eternal God, exercises a Kingship that does not pass away and that encompasses all places and all times. He is the King of a thousand ages past, the King of all the future, and the King of each of us! And here we are led to that final difference in the Kingship of Christ, and arguably the most difficult: service.

Bl. Miguel Pro - Viva Cristo Rey!

A king had the authority to have anything he desired – food, property, wives, possessions. But Christ the King comes as a servant and slave to all. Just days before His victory over death and sin, He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Where most men would enter on noble animals and great beasts to show their greatness and power, Christ came on a humble donkey, despite the fact that He Himself had more authority than any other. Moreover, His entire goal in coming was to testify to the Truth, essentially to draw people to Himself, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And He calls us to draw close to Him not only for this short time on Earth, but also for the whole of eternity. And He draws us closer, day by day, by His grace poured out for us on the Cross and by the gift of the Sacraments, most especially the Eucharist. What a humble servant we have in our great and glorious king! Indeed, He is the King of the Universe! May He reign forever in our world! May He reign forever in our hearts! 

For your listening pleasure, here are two of my favorite versions of Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat! (Christ Conquers! Christ Reigns! Christ Commands!)

***The song has many variations, but HERE is one translation to help give more understanding.***

And for a little humor...

Lessons from Fig Trees

Readings for Sunday, November 18/ 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time:
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16:5, 8-11
Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Mark 13:24-32

Once when I was around twelve years old or so my parents went to one of the LSU games and left me home for the evening. I got permission for my best friend Stephen to come over but my parents made the point clear that we couldn’t go swimming in our pool and I wasn’t to leave the house. I told them I’d be good and they went off to the game. Thinking I was smart, I calculated the time they’d be gone and figured I had at least 5 hours to do whatever I wanted before they returned home late that night. So, Stephen and I called some friends over, we all went swimming and then we left and went riding bikes around Stephen’s subdivision. As we passed by Stephen’s house during our little excursion his mom came outside and told me, “Brent, your parents just called and said they want you home.” I rode back home, walked through the pool water soaked back porch and into the kitchen where my parents were waiting. I had no excuse, nothing to say. I just went to my room to await whatever punishment and grounding was inevitably headed my way.

Nowhere in my brilliant calculations had I considered the possibility that my parents might leave early. Never did the thought cross my mind that they’d leave after halftime because the Tigers were doing so well; I figure four quarters of football meant they’d be there for all four quarters. I was wrong and I was totally caught off guard when I realized that they were home and I wasn’t.

Looking around at the world today, it seems to me that far too many of us are out riding our bikes and we are absolutely unprepared for what is inevitably coming our way. The Lord reminds us today in the Gospel that though we know not the day or the hour, He will return. It could be tomorrow, next week, a hundred years from now or it could be before I finish this homily. He is going to come in glory and judgment for each of us, and the Lord challenges us to be prepared.

The problem, though, is that there are so many things going on in the world around us that we get caught up in those things and lose sight of the main thing. We get consumed with sports, fashions, and all the latest news, gossip, and fashion. We get prepared for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, and for all that comes with it. And in the midst of all that preparation it’s easy to lose sight of the most important preparation of all – that of our soul. We forget that He really is coming back. Without really being conscious of is we seem to tell ourselves that He hasn’t come back yet and it’s been 2000 years – surely we have more time. And we might. But we almost might be wrong like I was with my parents. So we must prepare our hearts to be ready for whenever He does come. We must strive for holiness, to be saints on earth who long to be brought up to Heaven.

And to do this we must put the desires of our heart into action. This is why the Lord calls to mind the image of the fig tree in the Gospel today. Many of the trees in that region were evergreens – they stayed the same year round with little change in them. But the fig tree changed visibly. It’s branches would change and leaves would sprout as summer drew near. In the same way, our lives ought to be visibly changing little by little as we are perpetually drawing near to the return of Christ in glory. As the weeks and years go by people should see the change in us that leads them to the understanding of the Lord’s coming in the same way the fig tree indicates summer.

'Fig Tree' by Yvonne Ayoub

All of us want to improve ourselves, to become better people – better parents, better spouses, better children, and a whole variety of other things. We know those places in our lives that need to change and we have the desire to change them, but the reality is – and you know it as well as I do – that we aren’t going to change unless we actually begin to put out desires into concrete actions. At our priest retreat this year Bishop James Tamayo from Laredo, Texas challenged us on this point. He said ‘You want to pray more? Good. Make a concrete resolution. Every day at twelve noon I will stop what I’m doing and pray for 15 minutes. Or everyday from 6 to 7 in the morning I will be at prayer in the church.’ This was just one example, but it’s a clear one. If we want to change something about ourselves, to grow in a virtue or cut our a bad habit, we have to make it concrete so we can measure it and push ourselves when we start to fall away from it.  So I want to challenge each of you, and myself, to spend some time in prayer this week to find that one thing we want to change right now and come up with a concrete way to change it, then hold ourselves accountable to that in the coming weeks and months. We need not worry about having the strength to do it because God will provide that. If He permits the simple fig tree to change itself based on the coming of seasons, how much more would He bless us who are created in His own image and likeness with an abundance of grace to conform ourselves more to His Will in preparation for the Lord’s return? He has been faithful and He will be faithful to us. And as we continue to change things in ourselves one by one, surely when the Lord comes or when He calls us to Himself, we will not be caught off guard and unprepared, but rather fully prepared and happy to finally behold the face which we have longed to see. 

Nun Update

Over the past 8 months or so you may noticed my two posts (HERE and HERE) about helping a few young women with their debt, which would enable them to enter religious life. It is with great joy that I report that all three of the young women have since raised all of the funds needed and have entered religious life. I will actually have the chance to meet Sister Pam and Sister Alex when I go up to Washington, D.C. for their investiture ceremony on December 7, in which two good friends (Sister Brooke and Sister Angelique) will also be invested for the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara. Thank you for your support - both financial and spiritual. And please keep them in your prayers as they soon take the next step in their religious vocation. 

Your input, please!

Hello all! I know that there are at least a hand of you out there who read this blog with some regularity and for that I am humbled and grateful. I have been thinking for a while about adding in a new element. Until now I have posted my weekend homilies regularly and sporadically posted quotes and other relevant (to me) links. I've been thinking of adding a little series on 'Half-Way Prayers' on Wednesdays.

 

My rationale: Advent and Lent both have special Sundays (3rd Sunday of Advent & 4th Sunday of Lent) dedicated to being a little 'pick-me-up' to encourage us as we go through these penitential seasons. My Breviarium Romanum (pre-1962 book of daily prayers) points out that Wednesday is the day each week where we can take stock of how things have done and, breathing a little, plow forward through the rest of the week. My thought was to take each Wednesday and post a Catholic prayer and, time permitting, a brief reflection on that prayer. Our faith has a great abundance of beautiful prayers and they sadly get lost in the midst of so many other things. This is an attempt to highlight some of those prayers that I've found helpful and inspiring and that you might as well. This would take a commitment on my part and I'm curious, especially for the regular readers, if this is something that you would enjoy and like to see. PLEASE let me know. You can comment below or just email me at frbrent AT rivrdcat DOT org. Also welcome are comments/thoughts on things you'd like to see changed, improved or added on the blog in general.

 

Thank you and know of my prayers for you and your intentions.