St Ignatius of Loyola

“God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God’s purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven. All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully. As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.” ― Ignatius of Loyola

Familiarity with God’s Word

Are you familiar (at the deepest possible level as able) with sacred Scripture? Daily, it is recommended, to spend time doing lectio divina.

While John Paul is addressing members in consecrated life, the teaching is fitting and prudent for the laity, too.

“As the church’s spiritual tradition teaches, meditation on God’s word, and on the mysteries of Christ in particular, gives rise to fervor in contemplation and the ardor of apostolic activity. Both in contemplative and active religious life, it has always been men and women of prayer, those who truly interpret and put into practice the will of God, who do great works.

“From familiarity with God’s word they draw the light needed for that individual and communal discernment which helps them to seek the ways of the Lord in the signs of the times. In this way they acquire a kind of supernatural intuition which allows them to avoid being conformed to the mentality of this world, but rather to be renewed in their own mind, in order to discern God’s will about what is good, perfect, and pleasing to him (see Romans 12:2).

Saint John Paul II, The Consecrated Life

St Phocas the Gardener

Today we remember St. Phocas the Gardener. He is the patron of farmers, fieldworkers, agriculture, and gardeners. He was a man connected to his land and to his neighbor, and who understood ecology in the deep sense of not living just for oneself but for all. He was both a bishop and a simple farmer, and he devoted everything he grew to be given to the poor.

He is also the patron of hospitality. When soldiers came looking for him to execute him for being a Christian, he welcomed them with open arms, and practicing the command of Christ to love one’s enemies, he fed them and treated them as Christ himself. The soldiers did not realize that their host was the same Phocas they were to execute, and St. Phocas promised them that he would help them find their target.

When Phocas revealed himself to them, they were reluctant to kill him. Phocas, however, refused to fight them or to hinder their duty, and instead invited the soldiers to do what they were there to do, offering his neck. For this he was martyred.

St. Phocas is also the patron of sailers. There is an old sailing custom whereby at each meal, a portion is set aside called ‘St. Phocas portion.’ This portion is sold and the money collected is donated to the poor whenever port is reached. In this way, Phocas’ love for strangers, enemies, the poor, the land, and his neighbors continued to extend even past his death.

Holy Phocas, pray for us!

thanks to In Communion

St Mary Magdelene

The Church, East and West, liturgically honor St Mary Magdalene. She often bears the titles of “The holy myrrhbearer”, “equal of the apostles” and as scripture shows, she was “apostle to the apostles.” These titles give a deeper perspective on this woman called by Jesus.

The Byzantine Liturgy sings this kondakion for the feast:

Today, let us sing a special hymn in honor of that friend of the Lord who was the first to anoint him in death. Let us praise Mary Magdalen for being the messenger of joy for his disciples, and let us fall before the Lord himself, filled with wonder, that he should lavish on the world such a fountain of grace.

Scripture reveals Mary’s life as a devoted follower of Christ whose loyalty remained firm when even the faith of the other twelve apostles wavered.

As the monks of New Skete say in their hagiography of Mary, “The Church gives Mary Magdalene special honor as the most faithful companion of Jesus as she was at the foot of the cross when he was crucified, and was the first to witness his resurrection. Her encounter with Christ on her way to perform the funeral anointing, as recorded by John, earned her an apostles’ task, for it was she who was commissioned to tell the other apostles that Christ had risen.”

Keeping a perspective on today’s feast, it was Pope Francis who raised the level of liturgical remembrance from a memorial to a feast. The Pope, aligning himself with established tradition, names Mary Magdalene “Apostolorum Apostola” (Apostle of the Apostles). Keeping in line with his year of Mercy Francis gives Mary as a witness of mercy. It was said that St Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to “reflect more deeply on the dignity of women.” In the Western liturgical tradition of the Church, most liturgical celebrations of particular saints are formally identified as memorials and those classified as feasts are reserved for key events in Christian history; saints of particular closeness to the Lord, the liturgical days like the Twelve Apostles are known as feasts. Hence, as equal to the Apostles is honored with a feast day not merely as a memorial.

Of the religious orders in the Western Church, the Order of Friars Preachers, has St Mary Magdalene as one of the patronesses of the Order (the other is St Catherine of Alexandria). It was Blessed Humbert of Romans, second Master of the Order after St. Dominic who wrote, “After Magdalene was converted to penitence the Lord bestowed such great grace upon her that after the Blessed Virgin no woman could be found to whom greater reverence should be shown in this world and greater glory in heaven.”

Why make much of St Mary Magdalene? For several reasons. In light of the Dominicans, the Order of Preachers, where we find several expressions of the Dominican vocation which complement the friar-priests, that is, there are brothers, nuns, sisters and laity –I think today she shows us that to be a preacher of the Good News of Jesus Christ a woman (or a layman) need not be a priest. The ministerial priesthood is now being questioned or revised herein. We have in our ecclesiology the priesthood of baptized, or it is called the global priesthood. The second reason I will give: do not underestimate the power and necessity of the witness one gives with the manner of life, our words AND our actions. Third, it is important to recall with intensity who was the first to proclaim the Good News of the Resurrection. God in His wisdom gave us Mary to draw our attention to the miracle of the conquering of death by death itself. Finally, Mary Magdalen is important because the Church esteems her as a model of how repentance opens us up to the grace of Jesus’ mercy and her ability to lead others to Christ. In short: there is always a need for God’s forgiveness known in the Sacrament of Confession.

Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne

I didn’t know of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne until several years ago when a friend of mine, Father Ambrose, gave me a tutorial these great nuns. For him, the death of these Carmelites are an example of demise of the Gospel in culture and in the personal life the baptized. The courage and faithfulness of the nuns in the face of terrifically sinister men is quite striking. In every period of time, martyrdom always seems to catch the heart. Here is another example of the persecution of Christians.

Another friend, Jeffrey said the following:

The anniversary of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne, interestingly falling so close on the heels of Bastille Day, a reminder, perhaps that we must resist similar movements in our present age. One of these martyrs wrote eloquently, not long before their execution, and we can live by these words today, as it puts things in proper perspective.

“We are victims of our century and we must sacrifice ourselves that it be reconciled to God. An eternity of happiness awaits me. Let us hasten then, let us run toward that end and suffer willingly during the brief moments of this life. The storm rages today, but tomorrow we shall reach the harbor”

~Sister Julie Louise, Carmelite martyr of Compiegne.

St Benedict’s feast today

Today, July 11, is the blessed feast of St. Benedict of Norcia, patriarch of western monasticism, and one of the patrons of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation.

St. Benedict gives inspiration to us not to build a frozen model of Christian or one that forgets the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Tradition of the Church.

Saint Benedict educates us by demonstrating for us not to prefer anything to the love of Christ. In the Gospel we here St. Peter say: “here is that we have left everything to follow you.” Can you say the same?

Let us hold each other in prayer through the intercession of St. Benedict praying for Fr. Carron and the Movement. Additionally, let recall before the Throne of Grace all the monks, nuns, sisters and oblates who live by the Rule of St. Benedict.