Saints Peter & Paul

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. + + + I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day,  and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

Link to an earlier post         

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Birthday of John the Baptist

This past Sunday the liturgy celebrated the Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist. The gospel passage ends with these words: The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel. For this meditation, I am going to flip the focus from John in the desert to the desert itself. Living in this part of the world we may not have had a personal experience of being in a desert - of experiencing its stark emptiness, its hostile environment. But pictures of deserts can give us some idea, especially the desert emptiness. For people who have embraced the pursuit of a true spiritual life, the experience of times of aridity will inevitably become part of their spiritual life, and with that a real sense of the desert. When Israel was liberated from bondage in Egypt, they were lead into a desert. There in the desert they were purged of all the contamination they acquired while they were in Egypt. All that was not of the God had to be stripped away so that they could come to know the One True God and learn to serve this God alone. Even as Moses was receiving the Commandments from God, the people were worshiping the image of a golden calf.  How fitting it is then, that John the Baptist carries out his prophetic role in the desert - calling God's people to come out into the desert to be purified in a baptism of repentance.  As preparation to begin his ministry, Jesus is taken by the Spirit into the desert to encounter the Evil One, the Deceiver, there to confirm the integrity of his message of salvation; to counter Satan's lies with the truth of God. Every soul who wishes to live a truly holy life will, from time to time, be lead by the Spirit into the desert, into desolation, so that they too can encounter the Great Liar, and discern how they are being deceived. It is in this desolation that they will be given the enlightenment necessary to be purified of all that is not of God. Thus purified, consolation once again returns, enabling them to continue even more devoutly the pursuit of holiness. For more on this click the label "Discernment" below.

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Reflection On the Our Father

From a Treatise on the Lord’s Prayer by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr All Christ did, all he taught, was the will of God. Humility in our daily lives, an unwavering faith, a moral sense of modesty in conversation, justice in acts, mercy in deed, discipline, refusal to harm others, a readiness to suffer harm, peaceableness with our brothers, a wholehearted love of the Lord, loving in him what is of the Father, fearing him because he is God, preferring nothing to him who preferred nothing to us, clinging tenaciously to his love, standing by his cross with loyalty and courage whenever there is any conflict involving his honor and his name, manifesting in our speech the constancy of our profession and under torture confidence for the fight, and in dying the endurance for which we will be crowned—this is what it means to wish to be a coheir with Christ, to keep God’s command; this is what it means to do the will of the Father.  Office of Reading, Wednesday, Week III Ordinary Time.

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Eleventh Sunday - 2018

This past Wednesday, June 13, was the feast St. Anthony of Padua. On June 13, 1985 I had the privilege of celebrating this feast with the people of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Kincardine ON. as their newly arrived pastor.  Now, you may recall that this past June 1, the gospel text for the mass included the account about Jesus cursing a fig tree.  The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!" Mk. 11:11  St. Anthony gives us some excellent insight into the meaning behind Jesus action. In the Office of Readings for the feast of Anthony, referring to preachers and teachers, Anthony says: “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves.” As Christians, we might be full of words about religion but empty of the actions that demonstrate the truth of which we speak. The fig tree Jesus encountered was not in season, and so not expected to bear fruit. But for us, disciples of Jesus, every season is in season – in season for us to bear fruit – the fruit of the Spirit which we received in baptism. Listen to Jesus charge to St. Timothy:  “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.… 2 Tim4:2 We are in one of those times. More and more the message of the gospel is falling on deaf ears. Now is a time for our actions to speak louder and louder. Paraphrasing St. Peter in his First Letter he exhorts:  “Knowing we are all residence of this world only for a time, do not let yourselves be lured into a life of indulgence. Living as we often do among unbelieving neighbours, you must conduct yourselves honorably. Then even if they accuse you of acting wrongly, they will come see your honorable behavior as the true way, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. 1 Pt. 2:11 Taking direction from Jesus in today’s gospel, let us spread the seeds of our true and honorable good deeds wherever we go, that a harvest of goodness may come to pass.

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