Feast of the Holy Bishops of Milan

Milan's cathedralImagine being part of a diocese in which 36 of your past bishops are saints (and others being considered for sanctity)!!!

Holiness leads others to holy living.

Today, the Church in Milan commemorates 36 holy bishops.

They are:

• Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster
• Blessed Andrea Carlo Ferrari
• Pope Pius XI
• Saint Ambrose of Milan
• Saint Ampelius of Milan
• Saint Anathalon of Milan
• Saint Antoninus of Milan
• Saint Auxanus of Milan
• Saint Benedict Crispus of Milan
• Saint Benignus of Milan
• Saint Calimerius of Milan
• Saint Castritian of Milan
• Saint Charles Borromeo
• Saint Datius of Milan
• Saint Dionysius of Milan
• Saint Eugene of Milan
• Saint Eusebius of Milan
• Saint Eustorgius II of Milan
• Saint Eustorgius of Milan
• Saint Gaius of Milan
• Saint Galdinus of Milan
• Saint Geruntius of Milan
• Saint Glycerius of Milan
• Saint Honoratus of Milan
• Saint John Camillus the Good
• Saint Lazarus of Milan
• Saint Magnus of Milan
• Saint Mansuetus of Milan
• Saint Marolus of Milan
• Saint Martinian of Milan
• Saint Mirocles of Milan
• Saint Natalis of Milan
• Saint Protasius of Milan
• Saint Senator of Milan
• Saint Simplician of Milan
• Saint Venerius of Milan

Another look at Matthew 25

Christ the teacherHe who gives to the poor, gives to Christ. This is the meaning of the Gospel teaching, and it has been confirmed in the experience of the saints. Upon his repentance, Peter the Merciful gave alms to the poor wherever the opportunity presented itself. On one occasion Peter encountered a shipwrecked man who had barely managed to save his naked body from the wreck. The man begged him for some clothing. Peter removed his costly cloak and clothed the naked man with it. Shortly afterward, Peter saw his cloak in the shop of a merchant, who had it displayed for sale. Peter was very saddened that the shipwrecked man had sold his cloak instead of using it for himself. Peter thought: “I am not worthy; the Lord does not accept my alms.” But later, the Lord appeared to him in a dream. He appeared as a handsome man, brighter than the sun, with a cross on His head, wearing Peter’s cloak. “Peter, why art thou sad?” asked the Lord. “My Lord, why would I not be sad, when I see that which I gave to the poor being sold at the market?” Then the Lord asked him: “Dost thou recognize this garment on Me?” Peter replied: “I recognize it, Lord; that is my garment with which I clothed the naked man.” Then the Lord spoke to him again: “Therefore do not be sad; thou gavest it to the poor man, and I received it, and I praise thy deed.”

Prologue from Ochrid

Spiritual habits recommended by Saint Pio

Here are five spiritual habits Saint Padre Pio promoted to Catholics in their practice of the Faith.

I. WEEKLY CONFESSION

“Confession is the soul’s bath. You must go at least once a week. I do not want souls to stay away from confession more than a week. Even a clean and unoccupied room gathers dust; return after a week and you will see that it needs dusting again!”

II. DAILY COMMUNION

“It is quite true, we are not worthy of such a gift. However, to approach the Blessed Sacrament in a state of mortal sin is one thing, and to be unworthy is quite another. All of us are unworthy, but it is He who invites us. It is He who desires it. Let us humble ourselves and receive Him with a heart contrite and full of love.”

III. EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE EVERY EVENING

Someone once told Padre Pio that he thought a nightly examination of conscience was pointless because he knew what was sin as it was committed. To this, Padre Pio replied, “That is true enough. But every experienced merchant in this world not only keeps track throughout the day of whether he has lost or gained on each sale. In the evening, he does the bookkeeping for the day to determine what he should do on the morrow. It follows that it is indispensable to make a rigorous examination of conscience, brief but lucid, every night.”

IV. DAILY SPIRITUAL READING

“The harm that comes to souls from the lack of reading holy books makes me shudder…. What power spiritual reading has to lead to a change of course, and to make even worldly people enter into the way of perfection.”

V. MENTAL PRAYER TWICE DAILY

“If you do not succeed in meditating well, do not give up doing your duty. If the distractions are numerous, do not be discouraged; do the meditation of patience, and you will still profit. Decide upon the length of your meditation, and do not leave your place before finishing, even if you have to be crucified. Why do you worry so much because you do not know how to meditate as you would like? Meditation is a means to attaining God, but it is not a goal in itself. Meditation aims at the love of God and neighbor. Love God with all your soul without reserve, and love your neighbor as yourself, and you will have accomplished half of your meditation.”

Formula of Canonization for Blessed Junípero Serra

JSerraFormula of Canonization for Blessed Junípero Serra:

For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed Junípero Serra to be a Saint and we enroll him among the Saints, decreeing that he is to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

St Junípero Serra (November 24, 1713 – August 28, 1784) is the first person canonized on US soil. Pope Francis declared, de fide, that Serra is a saint and enrolled his name in the martyrology (the list of saints). On September 25, 1988 Serra was beatified by Pope John Paul II. The liturgical feast day is July 1.

Pope Francis to the US bishops

Some paragraphs from Pope Francis’ address to the US Bishops this afternoon.

“The heart of the Pope expands to include everyone …. May no member of Christ’s Body and the American people feel excluded from the Pope’s embrace….”

“[Brother Bishops], the heart of our identity is to be sought in constant prayer, in preaching (Acts 6:4) and in shepherding the flock entrusted to our care…. It is not about preaching complicated doctrines, but joyfully proclaiming Christ who died and rose for our sake.”

“Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wearies of visiting the marketplace, even at the eleventh hour, to propose his offer of love (Mt 20:1-16).

The path ahead, then, is dialogue among yourselves, dialogue in your presbyterates, dialogue with lay persons, dialogue with families, dialogue with society. I cannot ever tire of encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly. The richer the heritage which you are called to share with parrhesia, the more eloquent should be the humility with which you should offer it. Do not be afraid to set out on that “exodus” which is necessary for all authentic dialogue. Otherwise, we fail to understand the thinking of others, or to realize deep down that the brother or sister we wish to reach and redeem, with the power and the closeness of love, counts more than their positions, distant as they may be from what we hold as true and certain. Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor, it has no place in his heart; although it may momentarily seem to win the day, only the enduring allure of goodness and love remains truly convincing.”

“To this end, it is important that the Church in the United States also be a humble home, a family fire which attracts men and women through the attractive light and warmth of love. As pastors, we know well how much darkness and cold there is in this world; we know the loneliness and the neglect experienced by many people, even amid great resources of communication and material wealth. We see their fear in the face of life, their despair and the many forms of escapism to which it gives rise.

Consequently, only a Church which can gather around the family fire remains able to attract others. And not any fire, but the one which blazed forth on Easter morn. The risen Lord continues to challenge the Church’s pastors through the quiet plea of so many of our brothers and sisters: “Have you something to eat?” We need to recognize the Lord’s voice, as the apostles did on the shore of the lake of Tiberius (Jn 21:4-12). It becomes even more urgent to grow in the certainty that the embers of his presence, kindled in the fire of his passion, precede us and will never die out. Whenever this certainty weakens, we end up being caretakers of ash, and not guardians and dispensers of the true light and the warmth which causes our hearts to burn within us (Lk 24:32).”

Pope Francis to the US bishops, September 23, 2015

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Pio“Keep close to the Catholic Church at all times, for the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament.”

“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.”

“The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self: there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.”

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us!

Saint Matthew

Saint Matthew from Canterbury Codex AureusToday’s liturgical memorial highlights an important aspect of putting oneself under God’s authority and how everything is not as expected. Most people believe that they should be assigned roles in the community of faith (or any other community for that matter) based on experience and training. Sound sensible? Well, not according Jesus. What we see in Jesus certain ministerial arrangements of the Twelve Apostles and their talents we not as expected. Saint Matthew’s experience of managing money (he was a former tax collector) was not used. Jesus appointed Judas, not Saint Matthew, to be in charge of the money. How often this happens in the ministry of the Church! Bishops and religious superiors often ask their subjects to things that they may not have been trained for, or even have the desire to do. Clearly this is a helpful lesson to all tempted to be troubled over how they aren’t used as they should be (humanly speaking)!

What does the feast of Saint Matthew mean for the Church? This feast of Matthew indicates that if we say we place our lives into the hands of God, then we need to expect the unexpected and trust that Someone greater than ourselves may have a deeper insight into our humanity than we have for ourselves. Christ is the Divine Being who knows us better than we know ourselves! Think of Psalm 139. How freeing it can be if we allow the Lord to take the lead and truly guide our hearts and minds and hands for His greater glory and not our own! I think it is a beautiful experience to allow God’s grace to open a new vista of what it means to be a disciple of the Lord who comes to offer new life (a new ministry?) through another person so that the default answer to a question of Christian life is positive rather than the typical negative. Saint Matthew’s experience in the very early community of faith is very instructive for us who believe that we are our own measures. Can you imagine abundance? Can you imagine doing something new and exciting that you’ve never thought of before now?

Don’t ashamed of the Cross of Christ

cross sacramentaryFriday is a day to recall the Signum Crucis –the sign of the Cross. I am aware that some are not comfortable with crossing one’s self in public for being self-conscious. It is, however, good public witness! We ought not be ashamed of making the sign of the Cross! To be ashamed of the sign of His Cross is to be ashamed of Him!

“Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act.” – St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem A.D. 386