9/30/22 - +St. Jerome, Priest, Doctor of the Church

 These are hard readings. Who can bear them?

Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness

If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, Even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast. 

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented.

The Word of God weighs heavy in my heart today. These are not easy words.

God’s words to Job and his friends are an affront to my pride. I have science, don’t I? Doesn’t this answer all the questions I could possibly care to have an answer for? What my eyes, ears and hands experience is enough for me. The fifty-five years I've walked the earth have told me everything I need to know. 

I don't need tradition, social norms, family ties, and least of all God and His revelation or His Church, to guide me. I am totally self-sufficient. 

How dare God, if he really exists, tell me my vision is limited, that the number of years I have in this world are beyond insignificant when compared with God’s eternal vision. Humans have built the world I live in. We claim the technology, the medicine the standard of living. That was all our doing... 

I will end the conceit right here, lest anyone take me seriously. The opening of this post is obviously meant as a parody of how many atheists think. They want to own the human advancements, but point fingers at others for the dark side of modernity. They blame poverty, war, genocides, starvation and oppression on the "unenlightened" and religious. What is ignored is the wholesale slaughter of the 20th century, all done in the name of creating a new world order, free of God and tradition. They ignore slavery happening right now, while tearing down statues of slaveholders from 200 years ago. Maybe the statues need to go, but how is that freeing slaves today? Or maybe the concern isn't over slavery at all.

Questioning why evil happens is a natural thing. The prophets and psalmists never feared putting God in the dock. Evil is a mystery that confounds us, and is a major stumbling block to faith for many people. 

What God is saying to Job and his friends is that our vision is limited. That the number of years we have in this world are beyond insignificant when compared with God’s eternal vision. I can come to know creation from the outside, as an observer. God knows creation from the inside out, all around and through. He knows where everything is and where it’s going. He knows every contingency and choice we can make and has adjusted things to account for it, and still have His eternal plan come to fruition, even if He would have preferred it happen a different way.

So, question, certainly. But maybe with a dose of humility.

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Quickly, on the Gospel reading:

Jesus is being very blunt. He' saying straight out that the gentile cities will receive a lighter punishment than the Jewish ones who rejected Him on the day of judgment. 

(I have to offer the clear proviso that this is not some wholesale condemnation of the Jewish people. Jesus, His mother, his first disciples were all faithful Jews. He's speaking to these communities in particular, and needs to stand as a warning to us who think that just because we are Catholic the day of judgment will be easier for us).

We often go to the Word for comfort, but it is also a two edged sword. Do not be afraid to sit with it, let it pierce us; challenging us to that deep conversion God is calling all of us to. Jesus is the good shepherd. He wishes to give us comfort and rest. But like any good shepherd, He's not afraid to use the rod once in a while. Do not be afraid, for He heals even as he appears to wound.

9/29/22 - Saints Michael, Gabriel, Rafael, Archangels, Feast

War broke out in heaven;

Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.

…you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

This is, in some ways, a post better suited for my other blog, The AX; its a bit longer and more didactic (without being patronizing, I hope). But, here it is. This is what came to me during my morning Holy Hour, so rather than fight it, I'm going to let it stand as is.

I have made it an unfortunate habit of scrolling through Twitter on a daily basis. Like many people, it's a place I go to for news. I try not to interact because I learned early on it's a space that enjoys oneupmanship more than pursuing truth and understanding. There are many different "communities" on the platform - people with similar interests who follow each other. One of these virtual communities is metaphorically called “Catholic Twitter.” In line with the rest of that platform, it is a place where charity goes to die. Rather than bringing people to together in honest conversation, seeking mutual understanding, it too often devolves into Trads trying to own the Modernists and Progressives trying to shame the Radtrads. 

To unpack what I just wrote for the uninitiated, anyone who supports the traditional, pre-1962 Latin Mass and is critical of Pope Francis is either labeled a Traditionalist (Trad) or a Radical Traditionalist (Radtrad). Someone who holds more progressive views and supports Pope Francis are label modernists, after the early 20th century heresy. Got that? The people who roughly fit into these categories don't necessarily think of themselves in these terms. They're all the "real Catholics." The others are whatever we say they are, or just stupid, maybe evil, and probably both. Where ever they fall on the stupid/evil xy axis - they are certainly dangerous. 

Everyone in the middle (most of whom are blissfully unaware of any of this) who’s just trying to live the faith the best they can and have no strong opinions either way on the liturgy or Pope Francis, other than he is pope and is deserving of our respect and, dare I say, loyalty, are Novus Ordo (NO) Catholics, or as I like to put it: Catholic without qualifiers. 

Heaven forbid you show sympathy for the idea of resorting some Latin to the liturgy, or am happy with the post Councilor reform as is, or speak kindly of Pope Francis, or simply question something he said because you have legitimate concerns - off you go into one of the baskets of deplorables reserved for Martin Luther or Fr. Coughlin. 

I go through this muck right now, because my reflection on the feast of the Archangels may get me labeled one thing or another. 

What the feast and the readings chosen for it point us to is the cosmic nature of our faith. We do not live in a hermetically sealed container. There is a realm we can not see, and a spiritual battle being fought. It involves heavenly and demonic forces interacting with human beings as individuals as well as through their institutions. The fight is over souls, and who we worship: is it the One True God, or is it the Beast? 

One side of the Catholic Twitter divide is very comfortable with this “narrative,” the other seems almost to deny its existence. Is this the only narrative Scripture supplies us with? No. The Word of God is diverse that way. We are given both the big picture - salvation history view, as well as guidance for the everyday, with little or no reference to what’s beyond the veil. We are admonished to act with justice and strive after peace here and now, and be aware that demonic forces are afoot trying to undo Christ’s work, so as to keep us from eternal life. 

Today is a day to reflect on the big picture. It is a day to remember that our enemy is not made of flesh and blood, but is spiritual. It tries to usurp God so as to become identified with the divine. It seeks to make us worship and adore it, not God. It wants to claim the status of savior. (I could develop this more, but will let it stand for now. Only to say, the goal seems to be, not so much to worship some exterior idol, as to get us obsessing over our own individual identity, driving us emotionally so deeply into ourselves that we come to actually worship ourselves.) 

Most of all it tries to divide us. It tries to get us to accuse one another. It tries to convince us that our enemies are the people who live around us, and have shared in the same regenerating bath of Baptism. It makes us obsessed with politics, linking our status as Catholics with our party affiliation. For all the talk about seamless garments, it makes us choose between defending the life of the unborn and that of the migrant. It wails and gnashes teeth at the actions of one administration and ignores the injustices of the next, depending on the letter next to the name. It proclaims one leader as coming in the spirit of Cyrus the Great, while the other is truly "God's Candidate," who St. Francis would have voted for. In the end both preside over the same broken, corrupt system. 

We need to step back. We are in a spiritual combat. The archangels and angels have been sent by God to defend us. These remarkable creatures, intelligent and powerful beyond our imagining, humbly serve God by serving us. This is why the devils rebelled: they would not serve, especially not flesh and blood creatures like ourselves. 

We are more than just passive spectators. By our worship of the True God, prayers, devotions, corporal works of mercy and faithful citizenship, all in Jesus' Name, we join with the angels in this cosmic struggle. But we must ask ourselves: are we pawns or are we protagonists? If we stay divided among the different Twitter baskets we are worse than pawns: we are useful idiots for the enemy. It is only together, even with our differences, that we become true protagonists in the Lord's service.

9/27/22 - +Vincent de Paul

Tuesday, 26th Week in Ordinary Time / + Vincent de Paul

Late in his life Don Bosco made a fundraising tour of France, where he was hailed as the “New de Paul.” As St. Vincent had worked so hard for the poor a century and a half before, Don Bosco dedicated himself to working with the young trapped by poverty.

A difference between the two was that Don Bosco seemed to know from childhood that he was called to evangelize the young. Vincent, on the other hand, seemed like he was led to the places he needed to be by Providence just at the time he needed to be there. In other words, there was no master plan, he simply followed the prompts of the Spirit. 

I read a biography of him years ago, and the impression I got, (which is just my impression; I've never heard anyone else put this way, so I could be wrong) is that Vincent started out as a fairly mediocre priest. I felt like he became a cleric because it was a way of social advancement out of the peasant class. It was his experience working with prisoners forced to row on galley ships, tending to the poor in a village where he was pastor and, seeing the great need for a well formed clergy, that changed him into the zealous apostle for the poor that he was. It didn't come in a flash, but he allowed the Lord to wear him down until he surrendered all to Him.

In 2016 I helped chaperone a pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Poland. On the way we stopped in Lourdes. In the afternoon they had Eucharistic adoration in the underground Pius X Basilica. I got there in time for benediction. Around the parameter of the rather stark structure is a ramp that leads you to the floor. There are large images of saints and blesseds that hang between the pillars. Like the basilica itself, they are nothing fancy; oversized posters with images one might find on any holy card. Most of the saints are French, but others like Don Bosco were there as well. As I walked down the ramp, past the images I caught sight of St. Vincent. I was transfixed. It was an image of de Paul I had seen hundreds of times before, but somehow this times his eyes seemed to look into mine. I heard an inver voice say to me "work for the poor." All these years later I can't remember if these were the exact words, but that was the message. 

When I got back to the parish we began organizing, in a more deliberate way, the social outreach that had begun during the Year of Mercy. Today my successor has expanded the work we started. Here in Port Chester part of my responsibility is to help out at the Don Bosco Community Center. There the hungry are fed, those who need clothing get what they need, and day laborers are connected with scrupulous employers. To work with the poor is not easy, and it should not be romanticized. The poor are not saints just because they are poor. We don't do this work because we or the recipients are worthy, but because we can not do otherwise and still call Jesus Lord.

9/26/22: Is it for Nothing that Job is God-Fearing?

Monday, 26th Week in Ordinary Time

The first reading at Mass, five out of the six days this week, is taken from the Book of Job. We should not pass over this lightly. We often speak of people having the patience of the book's protagonist. But this is a very troubling story, and we should not avoid being troubled. It cuts to the heart of the problem of evil, and why God permits it. 

That God permits evil is an uncomfortable thought. It goes counter to our idea of what a loving God is. That we are subject to temptation and that bad things happen to good people is a mystery connected to original sin, human freedom and the providence of God. 

(Old Man Screaming Clouds Digression: I hate when people identify themselves as a “good person.” No, I’m not a misanthrope. I don’t think they’re bad. People are essentially good, even the “bad” ones. It’s that the term is meaningless. It too often is an excuse used to avoid looking deeper. “Im a good person: I don’t kill. I don’t torture cats. I only cheat a little on my taxes. I recycle. I’m polite to strangers and don’t cut lines. I vote the right way.” God does not call us to be good people. That’s the baseline. God calls us to be holy. Sometimes that means that we are annoying, contrarian and insistent, as well as gracious, kind and compassionate.)

The Lord allows us to be subjected to all sorts of trials because it perfects us. We are in the midst of a great drama. Jesus is the leading man; we are supporting actors, and He is a very generous lead. He doesn’t steal all the best scenes for himself. We depend on Him, but he allows us to shine. In our triumph over sin, temptation and hardship, Gods greatness is shown forth, because it is His grace that made it possible. 

The drama is real. The stakes are real. The war is won, Christ is the victor. In spite of this the insurrection continues. The battle isn't over humanity in general - Jesus redeemed humanity on the Cross. The fight now focuses on individual souls. The accuser and his minions want to convince us the fight isn't real, or that we aren't worthy of the victory, or that the victory will come easily. Stay comfortable, they say: you're a good person. Why struggle? Isn't being good as the secular culture defines it good enough?

The Saints knew better. They weren't content with being "good people." This is why we venerate them. They are signs of how God's grace can transform human weakness into power. There isn't a Saint in Heaven who wouldn't say that it was all grace, or like Don Bosco say that they could have done much more, if only they had had more faith. Each, in their own way faced a cross. They took hold of it, and carried it until the end. Some may have tried to avoid it before taking it up. Some embraced it readily. All of them persevered until the end. May Jesus be praised!

9/19/22 - ...Will Lose What Little They Think They Have.

The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. The Word is spoken, becomes a flame in our hearts. The flame shines through our actions to the world. We become an extension of Lord's incarnation, who continues to dwell within and among us. 

Those who have not will lose what little they think they have.

The Word of God printed on the page is no more than ink on paper. I'm not suggesting that we not treat Bibles and other sacred books with reverence. What I am saying is that the Word is meant to be proclaimed. It is meant to be shouted from the house tops. Yes, the Scriptures can be read privately (thank you  Gutenberg for making that a viable option for the masses). The Word is most effectively transmitted, though, when it is proclaimed publicly, as it was in the beginning. It goes from being inanimate markings on paper to a living wave that pushes air, vibrates ear drums and moves hearts to action (or not).  

We believe the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the divine presence breaking through the veil that separates time from eternity. He asks us to allow Him to live in our hearts. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, but he continues His presence in the world through those who let their faith be a flame in their hearts, guiding their actions. 

Yes, of course, Jesus is present in the Eucharist, but I am not writing of that presence right now. 

What I am writing about is the presence of Christ in the Word proclaimed and in the assembly that gathers in His name. That assembly is not called to simply gather once a week to partake in the other two forms of Jesus' presence among us, like some self referential "in crowd." It is meant to go out, lamps lit, proclaiming the Kingdom by our holiness of life. We are called to transform to become that which we hear and consume. We are meant to be like John the Baptist, whose ego grows smaller so that Christ may grow bigger with our hearts. 

This is not an easy thing. It takes a lifetime. But we mustn't let the length of the journey deter us. Start with one step today. Keep on adding steps as the days, weeks and years go on, and you'll be surprised how far you go.

As for the last italicized phrase, I've consulted a few commentaries but haven't found anything. The words of Jesus there still sting me. I think what He's saying is that if we do not allow the Lord to be the light that shines our path, or allow Him to the the treasure our hearts cherish above all else, we will follow other, lesser lights. We will make other things or ideologies our treasure. If Christ is not our light, we will end in darkness. Money, property, possessions all fade eventually. A dollar today is worth fifty cents next year. We die and the kids, after fighting over the inheritance, squander it, if we haven't managed that trick in our lifetime. Ideologies are just ego worship by another name; you're either bowing down to another or, worse, to yourself. The worst are those who bow to an idea they value more than people. If the idea doesn't work in practice, the problem obviously is that others haven't implemented it correctly. A cycle of failure after failure follows, sometimes with a body count beyond reckoning. 

In the end, you will lose what little you think you have. To paraphrase a wise man I once knew, in eternity Nietzsche is as obedient as Ignatius of Loyola, Howard Hughes is as poor as Francis of Assisi and Marilyn Monroe as chaste as Maria Goretti. I make no judgment obviously, on the present state of the souls of the three worldly figures. I do know they all lost what is commonly thought of as their respective "treasures" when they died. How pitiable if that was all they had.

Christ offers us something greater. A treasure that endures to eternal life. Allow Him to be your light; He will lead you to the treasure.

9/16/22 - If the Dead are not Raised

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

I took a writing class freshman year in college. The textbook purported to teach the student how to read critically, in part by identifying logical fallacies in the selected texts. A portion of today's first reading was used as an example of "begging the question" (in the true sense of what that phrase means). Taken in isolation Paul does, indeed, appear guilty of circular logic. Go back a few verses, though, and we see that he appeals first to the reports of eye witnesses to make his point, not detached logical formulas.

There are times when God opens the veil to reveal what’s behind. Paul, in another place, writes of someone (some think he is referring humbly to himself) who was taken up mystically to the "third heaven," to see indescribable realities. Even then God does not engage in an act of divine dictation, but tells the seer to write what he sees. Paul found it impossible to recount the vision. John of the Apocalypse only could in the most fantastic way imaginable. Our difficulty in comprehending what is beyond may be a reason God used this means of revealing His message so sparingly.

For this reason ours is a God of history who communicates, for the most part, through experience. Scripture and Tradition are the distillation of that experience, reflected on and passed down, all by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

Supernatural Faith is a gift. Yet at the same time we believe because, as the Beloved Disciple might put it, we find the witnesses trustworthy. It is as if God is saying, "if you don’t trust me who you can’t see, believe my witnesses who you can." If you find it hard to believe their words, believe the blood they shed rather than to deny what they saw, touched and tasted.

9/15/22 - Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Woman, Behold, Your Son.

It is debated whether Mary suffered pain giving birth to Jesus. I really don't want to get into that spat. I wasn't there. The Evangelists, along with Paul and the other New Testament writers decided to keep the details of our Savior's birth shrouded in mystery, which is all the better. Certain things should only be contemplated, if at all, with fear and trembling, and that's one of them.

Whether she suffered labor pains in Bethlehem or not, there is no doubt that she suffered immense pain at the birth of the Church. Along with Pentecost, there is a patristic tradition that the Church came to be at the Crucifixion, born of the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ pierced side. The blood represents either the Eucharist or the sacraments in general. The water refers either to the Holy Spirt or baptism. Standing at the foot of the cross: Mary and the Beloved Disciple, traditionally identified as John. They, along with the other women, are the remnant that stayed faithful when the others fled.

Mary truly suffered the pain of a mother losing a child. Bernard of Clairvaux writes that we shouldn't be surprised at this. The passionate love she had for her son was deeper than we can imagine. 

There is also a patristic saying that what "was visible in our Savior has passed into His mysteries." In the sacraments Jesus' work of redemption continues. The ordained minister may be the one saying the words, but in baptism it is Christ doing the baptizing, in confession it is Christ forgiving the sins, in the Eucharist it is Christ offering His Body and Blood. As Paul says, the Church is the Body of Christ active in the world. Through that Body the mysteries are dispensed. You can't separate Church and Sacrament. 

So in the Church, the Mystical Body, Mary loves us as she loves her Divine Son. Her passion for us is as a mother for her children. Because when she sees us she sees her sons and daughters. 

I give thanks, because we have been given so wonderful a mother. She loves us, protects us, gives us all the good things we need, as a mother should. Most of all she leads us to her Son, whose sufferings she shared in; sufferings that bring us salvation.

9/14/22 - Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

With Their Patience Worn Out by the Journey

The Israelites were free. They were no longer slaves subject to Pharaoh. They had escaped through the waters of the Red Sea. They were not yet in the promised land, though. They were in the desert, being purified by the Lord for their sins at Sinai. We don’t know how many years they had been wandering at this point, but it was enough that they had grow tired. In their fatigue they were impatient and rebellious. God punished them for their lack faith.

We don’t like to think of God as punishing or condemning. Many dismiss these passages as being some relic of an ancient, pre-modern mentality that clouded the author's mind. Or maybe the problem is us. 

Whatever the case, Moses prays for God to relent, and God responds by supplying a remedy in the shape of the thing that was ravaging the people. All they have to do is look upon the bronze serpent, and they are healed. 

We are free from slavery to sin. We are no longer bound by satan. All we have to do is believe and pass through the waters of baptism. We believe that baptism and all the sacraments have their power from Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. As the preface for the Mass of the feast says, he did this so that “the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered”.

We can grow impatient with the journey. We may wonder why we haven’t been delivered into the promised land of the Resurrection yet. Why does Jesus delay in returning? Some continue to wait, patiently in prayer. Some have given up hoping. Many have given up the Faith. Others cling to the name of Christian, even though they have abandoned any real supernatural hope. To be a disciple of Jesus, for them, is to follow a party platform. All that is hoped for is earthly justice. They often reject the Cross as the necessary remedy for a sinful world because it seems so cruel; so unenlightened. Again, the problem is with us. We can imagine ourselves so enlightened that we forget that only the childlike enter the Kingdom.

Our continued wandering has less to do with punishment as with patience. The Lord wants the Gospel preached to every nation. He wants to give all humanity a chance to accept His saving Word. He wants all nations to worship around the Altar of His Body and Blood; be nourished by the Bread of angels. 

On a personal level, the Spiritual life is like a pilgrimage through the desert. We can be impatient with God's purifying fire. The easy pleasures of sin, though temporary, still tempt us. We may need more than one lesson before we learn that sin is a dead end, both in this life and the next. He also has patience with us as He was with he Israelites in the desert. He wants us to return to Him. He wants us to gaze upon His wonderful Cross, believe and be healed.

9/13/22 - God has Designated

Some people God has designated in the Church to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues.

Paul gives us a list of ministries within the Church, starting off with Apostles. To be first is usually thought of as being best, most important or worthy of deference. In the logic of the Gospel this is not entirely true. We Americans have inherited an egalitarian mentality. We have no monarchs, everyone is equal, no one person more deserving of deference than anyone else. I would argue that this is not completely in accord with the Gospel either.

Apostles, prophets and teachers occupy the top three spots of this hierarchy as laid down by Paul because they are asked to make the greatest sacrifices in service to the community. It isn't the position alone that makes them worthy of respect, and even honor above some others. It is that they love more, or are supposed to love more. 

There have always been those who use their apostleship for personal gain, or to lord it over others. We have always had false prophets and corrupt teachers. The worst are those who claim to be egalitarian, who endlessly criticize those in authority, who boast about being anti-establishment who, once they get the reins of power in their hands are worse than any potentate or despot. Because they despise the institution they make everything personal, and in the process become the very thing they claim to hate. Because they are not representing something bigger than themselves, all they have is their ego to defend. 

If we live in a spirit of love in the service of Christ we will have everything in perspective. In an earlier passage (4:9) Paul writes of apostles as being the "last of all," and "fools on Christ's account." When it's not about my agenda, my position or my respect, but about serving the Gospel no matter how it effects me personally, then I am truly free. It is then that we earn a crown that never passes away.

9/8/22 - The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I Want Nothing Today but to Contemplate Jesus and His Mother Mary. 

God used motherhood as the instrument that made salvation possible. 

So confused is the time we live in that the gift of motherhood is so despised. Drugs are taken to prevent it. Devices are used to block it. Pregnancy is treated like a tumor that needs to be ripped out. 

It is through motherhood that God’s plan of salvation was made possible. He could have sent His Son down fully formed like a character from a science fiction movie. Instead He had Him born of a woman, in time, with a family history a checkered as anyone's. Mary gave Jesus His humanity, and God gave her the gifts that perfected her humanity. Mary could do this precisely because she is a woman. As with the holy women whose praises are sung in the Old Testament, God's will is done through Mary because only a woman could do it. 

It is woman who carries the child in her very body. She experiences his or her first stirrings. She suffers the pain and the joy of birth. She feeds her child from the same body that nurtured him for 9 months. This is a special, precious gift no man fully understands. That this precious power is rejected so out of hand by so many is a tragedy beyond words.

I have been on social media too long. I can already hear the objections. "Are you saying a woman's only worth is in having babies?" "Are women to be just baby factories and nothing more? "What about women who because of age, infirmity or some accident of nature can't bear children? Are they less women than others who can and do?"

The exception does not negate general truth, and those who are incapable of childbirth for reasons beyond their control, or who have renounced married life for the Kingdom are no less women. I'm not writing of them. I am saying that a woman who rejects motherhood because she thinks it's liberating or will be more fulfilled somehow is walking down a dark path. The same is true for men who reject fatherhood for similar reasons.

If I can make an analogy a little closer to home. I often hear priests say that they are not just "sacrament machines." They will stress that their work is more than just saying Mass. It is true; most priests work as administrators, teachers, counselors or any number of jobs that take up more time in their day than administering the sacraments. It's often vital work, important work, work that needs to be done. A priest though, who does not have the sacramental ministry, and especially celebration of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, at the center of his life isn't much of a priest. There are priests who because of age, infirmity or persecution that are not able to administer the sacraments. The sacrifice they offer is that they are unable to minister at the altar. They are no less priests. But a priest so professional and cosmopolitan that he doesn't see the sacramental ministry as central to his identity is rejecting the most precious gift he's been given. Worse yet, he's robbing others of the gifts God want to give them through his ministry.

I give thanks today. I give thanks for the gift of the Blessed Mother. I give thanks to Sts. Joaquin and Ann. Their selflessly following of God's call has enriched countless generations. 

I give thanks for Mary's maternal care. I give thanks to my own mother, and pray for her. I pray that as a people we may truly cherish the gift we've been given: the gift of cooperating with God in His ongoing plan for salvation.

9/7/22: "The World in its Present Form is Passing Away"

Things are a bit scattershot this morning. I'm not sure there is a running theme through these reflections, so I put them out there as discrete sections.

Enough with the woe is me! Be thankful of the progress you’ve made, be honest about what is lacking and ask for the grace to continue. 

Salesians measure our progress in the spiritual life by how promptly we respond to performing acts of charity, or how quickly we perceive a need and go about alleviating it. The truest measure is not necessarily how we respond in extraordinary situations, but how promptly and diligently we go about fulfilling our regular everyday responsibilities. Progress is not measured in how much consolation we feel in prayer but rather that we persist in praying, especially when we're "not getting anything out of it." Progress is neither measured in how good performing acts of charity make us feel. Doing paperwork, supervising the parking lot at dismissal or cleaning the lavatories generally do not inspire great feelings of joy and enthusiasm. But if done out of love, without thinking about it, can be signs of progress in following Christ.

Discouragement is a constant danger. We may want to race ahead, but grow tired. We may look back and count the months or years, lamenting at the defects we feel should have been overcome by now. The odds are, you've made more progress than you think. The fact that you are seeing the shortcomings so clearly is itself a sign God is purifying your vision and telling you what direction you should be going in. 

So, no self pity allowed. Just thank God for His gifts to you, and keep on following His prompts.

(See the daily readings for Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time)

The world in its present form is passing away.

...for you will be satisfied 

...for you will laugh.

The first reading and Gospel passage for today are not meant to compliment each other, as is the case on Sundays. I do see a connection though.

Paul is giving advise to the community of Corinth, basically telling them not to make any new life commitments, be faithful to the ones you have already entered into and be ready for change. Some commentators say he's basing his advise on the belief that the Lord was returning soon. As one of my theology professors used to say when challenging an established scholarly opinion, "I'm not some big time Scripture scholar afraid of losing my reputation." So, while I'm not going to reject that interpretation out of hand, I think there might be another motive for Paul's advise. 

Paul had been around Asia Minor and the Mediterranean a bit. He knew the church in Jerusalem was suffering persecution. He had to jump town in the middle of the night more than once, I'm guessing, go without food and shelter, received opposition from inside and outside the community. He knew that the life of an believer could be uncertain. The world as he knew it is passing away all the time. It's better, then, not to get comfortable, but be open to where the Lord is leading us.

Jesus is opening His Sermon on the Plain with the Beatitudes as recorded by Luke. He is pointing out that those who seem to be privileged now will experience a reversal, sometimes in this life, and certainly in the next. It’s not that material things are bad, or technology evil or money wicked. It's that making idols of these things is the problem. They mask the reality that God is the only permanent thing in a universe of ever shifting tides.

Fulton Sheen over fifty years ago and Pope Francis more recently have noted that we are at the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. (As Francis put it, "We are not in an era of change but in a change of era"). What this new era will be like, we can only guess. What is certain is we are called to love in Jesus' name now.

9/6/22: “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

Do not be afraid of the difficult teaching. Do not be put off by the harsh word. God brings us joy, he also carries a rod. Not so much to chastise, as to instruct. Am I beyond instruction? I am certainly not beyond chastisement. Have I climbed Mt. Zion? 

The Office of Reading, a portion of the Liturgy of the Hours, offers us selections from the prophets during these weeks . As summer turns to fall we are made to contemplate Israel's infidelities. We read of feckless kings, a wicked queen, and the disillusion of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. All the while the prophets warn the people and their leaders to repent. There will be a chastisement, but not destruction, if they heed. If not they will lose everything; the land, the City, the Temple. All this is proclaimed, but never without hope. There is always a promise of return and renewal, even if everything seems lost. The promise is the the loss isn't permanent for those who keep faith.

Today we hear from Habakkuk's dialogue with God,* complaining of the injustice in Judah, and how the Lord is silent. God's response is that he will use the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to punish Judah for her infidelities. 

These are harsh words, not easy to read. Many today try to avoid such passages, or any that speak of repentance, chastisement or condemnation. But they are a part of the Scriptures, and can not be put aside. 

The Scripture passage is followed up by the patristic reading from Bernard of Clairvaux, admonishing us not to shy away from the difficult passages, but take them as wise instruction; these admonishments are for our advantage. If we are wise, we will sit with them, and learn from them. 

* You can scroll down the page to get to the readings. Obviously, I encourage everyone to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, which is the prayer of and for the Church.

9/4/22 - Worship in Spirit and Truth

 9/4/22

Sunday is about adoring God. It is a strange form of adoration our God wants. We hear His word to nourish our minds, direct our wills, lift up our souls. There are commands, yes, but in Scripture He gives us more than He asks of us. 

We bring bread and wine. We are asked to make a financial contribution for the support of the parish, but these are free will offerings. No one is forced to give (or at least shouldn’t be). He gives us in return the Body and Blood of His Son. Food for the journey. The new mana for our pilgrimage through the desert of this life. A preparation for the eternal banquet. Yes, we kneel in adoration during the Eucharistic Prayer, and before receiving the Bread from Heaven. But it is food for us. We aren’t asked to do anything extraordinary. Just believe. 

My work is not my prayer. But when we leave the Mass and feed the poor, visit the sick, love others as myself, we are extending the “amen” we made both at the end of the Creed and when we received Communion. When we refrain from unnecessary work on Sunday we’re showing trust in God. Even if we don’t have the wherewithal to renounce all our possessions, we can for one day put all we have in God’s hands, trusting he will provide what we need. What does he ask in return? An hour, more or less, at Mass, maybe pray a bit more? Then He says, go! Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Enjoy with your family and friends. Take a rest. Tomorrow it’s back to work. Today is a foretaste of Heaven. 

When we do these things we are confirming that our prayer is not empty words or pompous show. When we live the Gospel we hear, when we become the Body of Christ we receive our worship is extended out into every aspect of our lives, and we become a living sacrifice of praise. 

9/3/2022 - Getting Started / Reflections for 9/2 & 9/3

I've been publishing the AX Blog since 2010, which in the last few years has been pretty much reduced to hosting episodes of my podcast of the same name. Even the podcast is stalling a bit (I'm planning new episodes after Labor Day, though)

As I was pondering the future of my social media presence thoughts of retreating from the fray weighed heavily in my mind. The blog and podcast have never threatened to break the internet. I wondered if the effort was worth it. Every time I have these periods of self examination, I've always decided to double down. I understand now that I need to do more than simple go back and do more of what I have been. I need to focus instead on what this is all about. It's not about me, who I've been writing a lot about up to now. It is about Christ and making the invitation to follow Him. It's about decreasing so that our Lord may increase in our hearts and minds. 

To accomplish this on a personal level, I made a resolution on my just completed yearly retreat to get back to making a daily Holy Hour. When I look back on my life, the times I was faithful to this practice were accompanied by spiritual progress, while when I've let the habit slip away, stagnation and even backsliding was the result. 

So, what I offer here are brief reflections gleaned from these Holy Hours. Think of it as sort of a pilgrim's spiritual journal. It's a way of charting the journey, checking the progress and watching for setbacks. And I'm inviting you to join me.

Something I need to make clear: these are NOT locutions. I make no claim that Jesus is speaking to me in the direct way He sometimes speaks to mystics. I'm listening the best I can, I may not always hear things correctly, and I'll go to great lengths to only pass on reflections I’m sure are in accord with Scripture and Tradition. 

I'm dedicating my self to a Holy Hour, and I certainly recommend it. That said, the title of the blog, Visit Him Often, is reference to the recommendation of Don Bosco, who promoted short, but frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament during the day. The Saint said,

"Do you want the Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit Him rarely. Do you want the devil to attack you? Visit Jesus rarely in the Blessed Sacrament. Do you want him to flee from you? Visit Jesus often!"

He understood that lay people and active religious and diocesan priests don't always have time for long visits to the Blessed Sacrament (though religious and clergy have less of an excuse since we usually live in houses with private chapels). Stoping in, even for a few minutes, to rest at the feet of our Eucharisitic Lord is enough. If we can do this more than once during the day, better yet. If there is a parish church open during the day on your way to work, stop in and pay visit. If you're on vacation, amid the sightseeing, drop in on a church for a pause that truly refreshes. Maybe you need to get creative, but don't feel like if you can't make a Holy Hour all is lost. As Don Bosco would also say, "Don't let the best be the enemy of the good." 

So, I present to you the first two of these reflections, and we'll see where it goes from there. They will be brief (something I'm not good at being). I'll do minimal editing, though I'll give added context and clarification as I see fit. I hope these are helpful as we journey with the Lord together.

September 2, 2022

We are to be uncompromisingly Christocentric. At the end of time He will present us to the Father, but until them Jesus is the center of our devotion and adoration. We glimpse the Father through Him. We only know anything about the Father because of the testimony of the Son. The Spirit, though adored, prompts us to declare Jesus is Lord and leads us to Him who is the Truth. We adore the Father, but we are called to imitate the Son. 

He is my brother and friend. He is first and foremost LORD. He is like me, and yet so very unlike me. He doesn’t use the fact he is LORD as a cudgel against us. He wants us to follow and, yes obey for love’s sake. The love we have for a brother and a friend. He deserves, and is owed that love because He is LORD.

September 3, 2022

I think of red martyrdom but in reality I haven’t lived the white martyrdom we are all called to. Only after I embrace the metaphorical Cross can I muse even lightly over the prospects of shedding blood. There is the story of the now sainted priest who lived a dissolute life, who when the moment came and his life was asked of him, stated to his persecutors, “A fornicator I have always been, a heretic, never.” And so he surrendered his life for Christ. We should never underestimate the power of God’s grace. I’m not necessarily one of those bold sinners, though. Which is not to say I’ve never sinned boldly. But for the most part it’s mediocre sins, the worst kind, which have dulled me. I can’t even say I’m a worthless servant who has only done his duty. If it possible to be less than useless, then there we are. I do not write this is a self pitying way, or out of false humility. My ministry hasn’t been completely without fruit. But I know that my lack of trust, which leads to a lack of zeal, has kept that growth minimal. Jesus, may I trust in You.