Thoughts on Quinquagesima Sunday and the First Sunday in Lent

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Holy fear is the beginning of wisdom.  Therefore, we should all have holy fear that we are not as wise as we need to be, that we do not see ourselves as God sees us.  We should plead to God for these graces.  God, Who has made us rational creatures with souls, must begin with humility and supernatural understanding in order to begin the path toward glorifying Him.

Quinquagesima Sunday

How often do each of us cry out in our prayers with all our heart, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me...Lord, that I may see"?   Jesus allowed the blind man to grow fervent in his prayers by allowing the man to follow him and beg him for this gift of physical sight, as an example to the rest that followed him.   Our Lord heard that there was silence even in the hearts of those following him, that they were not crying out of the depths of their souls that they may see with spiritual eyes.   They were so satiated by their senses, thinking only of the things of this life and not of the eternal, that Jesus used a blind man to humble them.

"At that time Jesus took unto Him the twelve and said to them:  Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man.  For He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged Him, they will put Him to death, and the third day He shall rise again.  And they understood none of those things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said.  Now it came to pass, when He drew night to Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging.  And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant.

And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying:  Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.  And they that went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace.  But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me.   And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto Him.  And when he was come near, He asked him, saying:  What wilt thou that I do to thee?  But he said:  Lord, that I may see.  And Jesus said to him:  Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee whole.  And immediately he saw and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God."  -- Gospel reading of Quinquagesima Sunday. :Luke 18:31-43

THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING comes from another gift; that of purity.  Purity disposes a soul the ability to receive the gift of understanding.  One can grow in purity by asking for this grace, and abiding in it through moderation of the senses, prayer of quiet (daily), daily recitation of the rosary and penance and mortification.  Mortification of the senses, in particular, of taste, is and has always been the ordinarily most effective means towards active purification.

Fasting and other abstinence from foods that we particularly like, even foods that are good for us, can help us better dispose ourselves to receiving this gift of 'sight'.  This gift of understanding helps us to better know, love and serve God.

First Sunday in Lent*

The more one craves created goods the less they crave God the Creator.  The more one craves God, the less they crave created goods, and the freer they become to know, love and chose the good, and He who is Goodness Itself.

"Unless you do penance, you shall likewise perish!" -- Jesus Christ

Fasting and abstinence are the penances that give voice to our soul's craving of being ever more united to Jesus and his Mystical Body.  These proactive, little sufferings both cry out to the Lord and dispose us to receive his graces when he responds.

"Brethren:  We exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain.  For he saith;  In an accepted time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee.  Behold, now is the acceptable time..." --- Epistle for First Sunday in Lent (in the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite), II Cor. 6:1-10.

Penance, particularly fasting and abstinence, and more over, fasting and abstinence during the time of Lent (when certain graces are more readily and abundantly given to those fortunate souls who abide in the Church and Christ's command for us to do penance), not only disposes us to God's graces, but strengthens us in natural virtues to resist temptations.   Our own wilderness lies within our very own selves to the degree that we suffer from the slavery due to both illicit and licit passions to which we have disordered attachments.  

Temptations do not only come to us as things that are objectively sinful, but also in things that are lawful, but misused or used as an end to themselves.  We must recognize that we are to continue to make conversion of our own hearts through purifying our disordered appetites.   

OREMUS:

Lord, hold before our eyes the remembrance that you permitted yourself to be tempted, although exteriorly, that we may will ourselves to become interiorly strengthened spiritually by this time of fasting and abstinence.  This fight is the preparation for the battles that you have already chosen for us, so that we may endeavor to "win the crown".   

Blessed Mother of God, pray on our behalf to your Son, that we may not fail our Lenten service, that we shall put our trust in God and in His promise that He will command His angels to watch over us and keep us on the narrow path chosen for each of us.

Let us, therefore, accept that battle.  May we come to have hearts so full of the Immortal Goodness of the one, true God that all earthly joy is bitter without Him, that we should long less for them and more for the Creator than created goods.  And, let us also trust in Him, that through any bitterness we do not lose any of the fight, but recognize Christ's willingness to be small for our sakes, especially in Holy Communion which strengthens us for the battle.

OFFERTORY* 

THE Lord will overshadow thee with His shoulders, and under His wings thou shalt trust;  His truth shall compass thee with a shield.

SECRET 

WE solemnly offer to Thee, O Lord, the Sacrifice of the beginning of Lent, beseeching Thee:  that, while we curtail our eating of meat, we may abstain also from harmful pleasures.  Through our Lord.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON 

--Same as the Offertory--

POSTCOMMUNION

MAY the holy reception of Thy Sacrament, O Lord, so restore us that we may be purified from our former ways and join the company of the redeemed.  Through our Lord.

NUNC COEPI:
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D., a most famous student of the late, great, Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, wrote in Divine Intimacy, "Nunc coepi --- "now have I begun," or rather:  "now I begin"; let us repeat it humbly, and may the experience of our past failures make us place our trust in God alone."

Let us say to each of our souls with our whole hearts, minds, and bodies: "Nunc coepi..."

The Nobility of St. Joseph

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+The other day we celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.  A sermon I heard that morning inspired by the mystical writings of St. Bernardine of Sienna, made me think a little deeper on St. Joseph's role in the Holy Family. 

St. Joseph is often underestimated by Catholics for his saintliness and efficacy of his intercessions.  It is important to point this out because any Catholic who doesn't already have a devotion to St. Joseph lacks in some basic understanding and/or appreciation for the Holy Family, and therefore of the love of God represented here.

St. Joseph was more than merely a carpenter, for he was a man from a most noble background.  The Holy Ghost emphasizes this because here this is something for us to admire and from which to learn a bit about natural moral law.  There is, indeed, a hierarchy in nature, even human nature.  Although, this doesn't say whether or not a person has a propensity to enter heaven, it does demonstrate God's desire for man to see His Authority here on earth in a form of hierarchy, even if the man is a carpenter, who happens to come from a noble lineage. St. Bernadine points out, "Whenever divine grace selects someone to receive a particular grace, or some especially favoured position, all the gifts for his state are given to that person, and. enrich him abundantly." -- St. Bernardine, Sermon 2

The Blessed Mother, who was "full of grace", depended upon St. Joseph for his strength.  How can this be, when no other creature ever created or to be created would be more united to the Holy Trinity and have as great a fullness of grace?   The Holy Ghost hints to this by emphasizing the lineage of St. Joseph.  St. Joseph, also was full of grace but not in the sense of how the Blessed Mother had fullness.  The Blessed Mother was indeed "full of grace", but her nature was already fully united to God, so that everything she did was most significantly an action of her spiritual spouse, the Holy Ghost.  St. Joseph, being a man of highest virtue, was enobled by God with the graces required of his lineage, and of his state (as foster-father of Jesus).   He demonstrated a strength of will because of this enoblement, and this is how the Blessed Mother was able to depend upon the strength and wisdom of St. Joseph, the earthly authority of God, the 2nd Person and the Most Holy Trinity, as well as her authority as her earthly husband.  Whatever direction St. Joseph gave, she had no need to question that it was from anywhere else but Divine judgement, and even according to His Perfect Will.

Almighty God, at the beginnings of our salvation, when Mary conceived your Son and brought him forth into the world, you placed them under Joseph's watchful care. May his prayer still help your Church to be an equally faithful guardian of your mysteries, and a sign of Christ to mankind.

(We make our prayer) through our Lord.

(Through Christ our Lord.)

Converts: A Special Sign of God's Mercy

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10th Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: 1 Cor. 12:2-11
Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

This past Sunday, the 10th After Pentecost, Holy Mother Church* reminds us (*in the ancient liturgical rite based on the cycle of the Breviary) of the need for humility, in the fullness of the meaning of the word. As humility is seeing ourselves in light of Who God Is, then we see that we are nothing without His grace, and everything comes from Him to work for good. In the Gospel reading, we are reminded of the Pharisee and the Public, and how "Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted inthemselves as just, and despised others."

Just as the Epistle of this day explains that we all who are in His grace, manifest the Holy Spirit by different works and paths.

This post are some thoughts on a particular path; that of the convert in the Roman Catholic church.

As you know, there are different types of graces, and among them, some of them are signal graces. Signal graces are graces that can be perceived by others. Whenever God permits a conversion, He bestows upon them number of signal graces. These signs usually stand out more in converts than in those that are already in His grace, or at least, have the habits that appear as grace cultivated by their environment and upbringing. When you see a rose grow in a garden of flowers, it is not as outstanding as when you see a rose grow where never any flowers thrived before. That is not a good example, though, because when we picture a rose in a plain environment, we think that the rose it somewhat out of place, and would prefer to see a rose in a garden. However, our Lord tells us that he came to live, suffer and die for the sinner, not for those that were already redeemed. Now, that is not to say that the person who was raised Catholic is necessarily living (and growing) in His grace, but from what I've learned and heard over and over again from those who have grown up Catholic, they often forget their "first charity" and fall into lukewarmness. They are tempted to think that that they are different because of their beliefs, when fundamentally, it was God's grace that they came to see and believe in them, and that everything in this life is given to us for to lead us to the Truth.

What I am really meaning to say is simply that God has given converts to the faith a special mission. This mission might be played out in many different ways, according to the path that God has chosen for each soul, but everyone is to be a sign of His Love who remains in His grace. The convert has a special role in the way that they are a reminder to all of one of the basic truths of the one, holy, Apostolic, true religion: that supernatural grace of God changes who we are to make us more into as he is.

Many times I've seen good Catholics fall in tiny steps into heresy. Frequently these are subtle but pervasive gnostic ideals, that they came to the Truth by knowledge, or Jansenism --- that they were preferred by Christ and were made more virtuous by their lineage. Each person is like a different type of flower, needing a different type of treatment for it to thrive. That is why we benefit from one another; because we are conduits of God's grace in different ways, as God intends to use us to help cultivate one another. Sometimes Catholics forget this. And I do not mean that some types, as I've described, necessarily have a higher purpose by this type, but their are lesser or greater signs according to His Will and the compliance of that soul.

St. John writes to the church at Ephesus in the Book of Revelation (*Book of the Apocalypse), "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil, and thou hast tried them, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And thou hast patience, and hast endured for my name, and hast not fainted. But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen: and do penance, and do the first works." (Rev.2:4-5). All these things that he afore mentioned are apparently not the "first works" of charity! Therefore, it must be that we must follow the laws of charity as they pertain to God and neighbor, not just live in a bubble for the sake of our own salvation. Even if one is to go into the cloister, they must be engaged heavily in the ministry of spiritual works for their neighbor, both within the walls of the convent and out in the world via frequent, intimate prayer. The Holy Spirit, through St. John, ties penance to the first works because it helps us to remember in our first thoughts who we are in respect to Who God Is (a short definition of humility). It is easier to remain humble when your sins are always before you, and remorse for our own past sins is an anecdote for pride.

Post Communion: We beseech Thee, O Lord, our God, that in They goodness Thou wilt not deprive of Thine aid those whom Thou dost not cease to renew with Thy divine Sacraments. Through our Lord.+