A WONDERFUL WORLD

A WONDERFUL WORLD

I’m sure many of you will know that old song of Louis Armstrong, called “What a wonderful world”.  It is, in its own small way, a reminder that this world of ours was created by God in his own image and likeness, and that it is therefore, a world of beauty, a world of light, a world of goodness.  And it’s important to remind ourselves of this from time to time, especially those who follow world events.  There seems to be no lack of bad news coming out of this wonderful world of ours right now—threats of war in the Middle East, hurricanes in the Caribbean, famine, abortions, political atrocities and moral mayhem even within our own national boundaries—the list goes on, and can lead to a feeling of despondency, that everything is going downhill, even a feeling of dread for the future.  If you find that to be the case, try switching TV channels for a while, and watch some of the nature programs on the Discovery Channel, or National Geographic, and maybe then you’ll be reminded of that altogether different world that God created, a world that existed before the wickedness and snares of the devil brought evil into our midst, a world where I can see those things that Louis Armstrong sang of, I can see skies of blue, clouds of white, bright blessed days, and dark sacred nights.

What a wonderful, glorious world it is.  So radiant with light and brightness, so many multitudes of different minerals and plants and animals, species of every description.  So many steps and grades, from the lifeless rock lying inanimate on the road to the whirling complexity of the solar system and a hundred thousand others, with their moons revolving around planets, and planets around their suns.  Think of all the steps and grades from the lowliest of insects buzzing around our picnic table, all the way up to the amazing structure of our own human body, with all its nerves and veins and arteries, its bones and muscles, its different organs with their various functions, the brain with its incredibly complex flashes of thought and reasoning and memory, all working together to make us what we are and enabling us to do what we do.

All this is part of the world around us and within us, the world which we see and hear and live in.  The visible world, the material world.  But wonderful as it is, this visible world does not begin to contain the limit of God’s creative power.  He has made another world, a second world, an invisible world.  A world even more wonderful than this one.  He has made a world not made up of material beings, not made up of bodies, but made up of spirits.

Just as we live in our own world, we live also in this other invisible world.  We might not be able to see it because it is invisible, we can’t touch it because it is immaterial.  We can’t perceive it with any of our normal five senses.  In fact it’s as though it exists on the other side of a veil, a thin but impenetrable veil that separates us from this world of the spirits, a world which is never far away.  But if we could see through this thin veil, what wonders would we then behold?  An entire universe, larger and more extensive than the one we squint at through our telescopes, a world more luminous, more varied, adorned with an even greater multitude of creatures than our own.  A world, my dear faithful, populated by the Angels.

These Angels are entirely free from material substance.  They are beings whose entire existence is made up of thought and will, who are in their whole nature the image and likeness of God himself.  We call them “angels” from the Greek word angelos which means “messenger”, because they are God’s messengers, sent by him to make known his will to mankind.  The number of the Angels is so great that the Angels themselves cannot count it.  It is a number that only their Maker knows.  In the book of Daniel, we read that “thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times an hundred thousand stood before him.”  

Just as in our material world, where the plants and animals are divided into different species, so too are the Angels divided into nine so-called choirs.  And just as in our world where there are so many steps and grades from the lowliest of plankton all the way to Man himself, so too the nine choirs of Angels have their own hierarchy.  This hierarchy is established according to the relationship of each of the nine choirs with Almighty God.  The very highest, the Seraphim, are the closest to God, consumed with a burning love for the deity, while the next highest, the Cherubim are exalted by their wonderful knowledge of God.  And so on down the chain, according to their proximity to God.  But we should remember that they are not only linked to God, but as God’s messengers, they must have dealings with mankind also.

We can sum up the relationship between Angels and Mankind by saying that they love us, and protect us, soul and body, they pray for us, and inspire us to do good.  They love us with a pure, holy and disinterested love, asking and expecting nothing in return.  They protect us from literally thousands of physical dangers which threaten our health and our life.  We have numerous examples in Holy Scripture—Tobias was accompanied on his dangerous journey by the Archangel Raphael, for example, St. Peter was delivered from his chains by an angel.  But even more important than this physical protection is the assistance they give to the souls of men.

We are taught by Holy Scripture and the Church that certain spirits are appointed to watch over us, both physically and spiritually.  We give these particular spirits the name of “guardian Angels”.  There’s a special feastday of the Holy Guardian Angels coming up on Wednesday of this week, October 2^nd, so this is a good time to mention these good spirits today   The guardian angels are committed to us by God himself, and they remain close by us to light and guard, to rule and guide.  They do so for three reasons:  out of obedience to God first and foremost, and then also for love for us, and lastly out of a powerful hatred towards the evil spirits who seek to do us harm.  They are higher beings than us and yet they come to serve us, following the example of Our Lord who washed the feet of his disciples, who being God took upon himself the form of a servant and was made obedient unto to death.  Whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted, said Our Lord, and the Angels are no exception to this rule.

Other guardian angels are given charge over towns, provinces, and even whole nations, and we call these angels “principalities”.  They do their work anonymously, they have no individual names by which we call them, and yet they never cease to protect our town of Urbana here for example, or our state of Ohio, our United States of America.  Even non-believers seem to have some inkling of the existence of these angels, and they fashion great statues of mythical figures who in reality are nothing more than their own imagined interpretations of the Angels.  In England, for instance, we have the godlike figure of “Britannia” ruling the waves.  In more ancient times there were figures like the great Colossus that stood astride the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes and that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, or that other more modern colossus guarding the harbor of New York, the Statue of Liberty.  These figures are the work of men’s hands, but the angels are the work of God’s, living beings who are far more effective at caring for our tired, our poor, our huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  When we consider our poor, wonderful world, it is to these powerful angels of protection that we should be turning in humble prayer and supplication, that they will continue to guard us from evil, both as individuals and as part of the great community of nations.

And if the nations of the world, small and great, have their guardian angels, these principalities, think not that Holy Mother Church should be without her own special angel, her own guardian.  Indeed, so great is this particular spirit, this prince among angels, that we know him by name, a name that signifies “Who Is Like Unto God?”, “Mikhaël in Hebrew, whose glorious feastday it is this day, Saint Michael Archangel.  To him has been entrusted not a mere nation, not a secular society of men formed under a united government to rule over its people.  No, to St. Michael has been entrusted God’s holy Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.  This prince of the heavenly host, who once cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits, this Michael is the powerful protector of our Church, guarding it from those who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.  If we are saddened by what has happened to our Church, turn to St. Michael.  If we fear for the future of the Church and the Papacy, if we are tempted to despair over the watering down and perversion of our dogmas, or the loosening of our society’s morals, then turn to St. Michael.  It is he who drove Satan out of heaven, and it is he who has the responsibility for driving the same smoke of Satan from the Church of God.

You may be tempted to wonder, Is it possible that he has failed in his task?  Have not the evils of Vatican II already triumphed, with St. Michael powerless to intervene?  No.  That’s not how God’s plan works, and that’s not what happened.  Remember the Garden of Gethsemane.  Could the Angels have protected Christ from Judas and the soldiers?  Could they have whisked him away to safety?  Of course they could.  In fact, in the account in the Gospel of St. John, when Jesus acknowledges that he is the one whom they seek, in the words “I am he”, the soldiers went backward and fell to the ground.  This last display of power by our Lord before allowing himself to be taken to his death, was done to remind us that he was not powerless to prevent his death from happening.  In fact, in St. Matthew’s Gospel he adds:  “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” Our Lord’s true purpose is explained in the incident that follows, where St. Peter pulls out his sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant.  “Put up thy sword into the sheath:  the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”  In other words, this is no longer the time for any display of the power of God.  Our Lord would not be tempted to taking the advice of the bad thief, coming down from the Cross to wipe out his murderers.  The time now was one of obedience and humble submission to his Father’s will, the time to take upon his own shoulders the sins of the world and suffer a punishment for them on our behalf.  It was time for him to humble himself, that we may be exalted and our souls be freed from the chains of death and sin.  And so he did not call for twelve legions of Angels.  Instead, only one Angel appeared to him in that Garden of Gethsemane, comforting him in his agony.

Today it is not Christ’s physical body but his mystical body the Church which is going through a new agony.  And again, the twelve legions of Angels have not come to our assistance.  St. Michael is not to be permitted to take out his sword and smite the servants of the High Priest, those cardinals and bishops and priests who do the bidding of the High Priest, the Bishop of Rome, who would crucify Christ anew.  St. Michael’s role today is not to intervene in this new combat with Satan, the crucifixion of Christ’s Mystical Body.  No, just as at the crucifixion of Christ’s physical body, God is permitting these evils to unfold so that a greater good may come of them.  And St. Michael’s role today is once again that of the Angel who comforted and strengthened our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Except now he is there to comfort Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, our own poor remnant of the faithful.  He is there to strengthen us for the battle that is to come, indeed he is our prince, our general, our leader in this battle, the noise and tumult of which is fast approaching.  

On this great feast of Michaelmas, let us then turn to this prince of the heavenly host, humbly asking him for the strength we need to fight on and remain stedfast in the faith.  Fear not, and let not your hearts be troubled, because as it says in Psalm 90, God “has given his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  And they shall bear thee in their hands, that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.”

STARS OF THE MORNING

A HYMN FOR MICHAELMAS

By Joseph the Hymnographer (died 886),

translated by J.M. Neale (died 1866)

Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright,
Filled with celestial resplendence and light;
These that, where night never followeth day,
Raise the Trisagion ever and aye:

These are Thy counsellors: these dost Thou own,
God of Sabaoth! the nearest Thy throne;
These are Thy ministers; these dost Thou send,
Help of the helpless ones! man to defend.

 

These keep the guard, amidst Salem’s dear bowers:
Thrones, Principalities, Virtues, and Powers:
Where with the Living Ones, mystical Four,
Cherubim, Seraphim, bow and adore.

“Who like the Lord?”—thunders Michael, the Chief:
Raphael, “the Cure of God,” comforteth grief:
And, as at Nazareth, prophet of peace,
Gabriel, “the Light of God,” bringeth release.

Then, when the earth was first poised in mid-space,—
Then, when the planets first sped on their race,—
Then, when were ended the six days’ employ,—
Then all the sons of God shouted for joy.

 

Still let them succour us; still let them fight,
Lord of angelic hosts, battling for right!
Till, where their anthems they ceaselessly pour,
We with the Angels may bow and adore!

THE NINE CHOIRS OF ANGELS

A MESSAGE FOR MICHAELMAS DAY

Angels are organized into three hierarchies and nine orders (also called choirs) so that angels can be classified and ranked. Those three hierarchies contain three choirs. The ones that are revealed to us are broken down as follows: The First hierarchy contains Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. The Second hierarchy contains Dominions, Virtues and Powers. The Third and Final hierarchy contains Principalities, Archangels and Angels. Here is the breakdown of each order:

SERAPHIM. These are the highest choir of angels, serving as guardians or attendants before God’s throne. The only Bible verse where they are referenced is in Isaiah 6:1-7. They praise God, calling, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts.” What’s interesting to note about Seraphim is that they have six wings. Two of their wings cover their faces, two cover their feet and the other two are for flying.

CHERUBIM. Following Seraphim in the angelic hierarchy comes Cherubim. They are the second highest in the nine choirs of angels. These angels are manlike in appearance, double-winged and guardians of God’s glory. In the New Testament, they are often considered to be celestial attendants referenced in the Book of the Apocalypse, Chapters 4-6.

THRONES. The Thrones are a class of angels mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:16. This verse says, "For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him." The Thrones are the angels of humility, peace and submission. If the lower Choir of Angels need to access God, they would have to do that through the Thrones.

DOMINIONS. This group of angels are said to keep the world in proper order. They are known for delivering God’s justice in unjust situations, showing mercy toward human beings and helping angels in lower ranks stay organized and perform their work efficiently. They also are recognized for expressing unconditional love at the same time they express God's justice. 

VIRTUES. Virtues are known for their control of the elements. Some even refer to them as “the shining ones.” In addition to being the Spirits of Motion, they also assist in governing nature. They also assist with miracles. They are also known for their work encouraging humans to strengthen their faith in God.

POWERS.  The Powers are considered Warrior Angels as they defend against evil, defending not only the cosmos but also humanity. They are also called the Powers because they have power over the devil, in order to restrain the power of the demons. They also help people who are wrestling with passions ad vices to cast out any evil promoted by the enemy.

PRINCIPALITIES.  The Principalities have command over the lower angels. They also direct the fulfillment of divine orders. They are also known as Princedoms or Rules as they directly watch over large groups and institutions, including nations and the Church. They also ensure the fulfillment of the divine Will. While these angels are still wise and powerful, they are furthest from God in the angelic hierarchy so they are better able to communicate with man in ways we can understand.      

ARCHANGELS are called the great heralds of the Gospel because they are sent by God to deliver important messages to mankind. They are the ones that communicate and interact with us. The three ones to be named in Holy Scripture are Michael who is known as the protector of the Church, guarding her from evil, Gabriel who announced the Incarnation to the Blessed Mother, and Raphael, who guided Tobias on his journey in the Old Testament. 

The ANGELS are closest to the material world and human beings. They also delivers prayers to God and other messages to people on earth. One of the greatest characteristics about the angels is that they are most caring and social to assist those who ask for help. According to Scripture, angels have various responsibilities and roles in God’s Kingdom. We are ultimately encouraged by the knowledge that God’s angels are at work. There are also  circumstances where angels may even visit us. God, who is responsible for creating the angels has also promised us His presence in the face of life's storms.

LET US NOT BE WEARY

A SERMON FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

I was giving a sermon the other week, and as I looked round the sea of faces before me, I noticed one man who was sitting there, slumped over, his head down and his eyes closed.  I tried shouting a few lines of the sermon to see if he would react, but he just sat there.  No great mystery here, he was fast asleep.

We all have to fall asleep at some point or another.  It’s part of our human nature that now and again we get tired and need to close our eyes and leave this world for a time.  We fall asleep and are no longer conscious of the world around us.  Some people enjoy deep sleep, some toss and turn; some folks dream a lot, others hardly at all;  there are those who need only three or four hours of sleep, while others have to take a full eight hours or more to be able to function the next day.  But we all need some kind of sleep, and sleep deprivation, we know from experience, is very bad for us.

Why?  Why did God create us with this need for sleep?  Why the necessity for this down-time, where the body shuts down almost completely in order to rejuvenate itself and restore its ability to function?  We know all the scientific, natural reasons why we have to sleep, but let’s think for a moment what God intended.  The answer must surely lie in the resemblance that sleep has to death.  Sleep seems to mimic death, insofar as the person asleep has no awareness of what is going on around him.  We describe him even as “dead to the world.”

Why would God want us to have this daily reminder of what it feels like to be dead?  To have no cognitive functions that come from sight or hearing, smell or taste or touch.  Firstly and most obviously, I think, to remind us simply that we all must die one day.  There’s a bed in our bedroom, and nightly we lay ourselves down upon it and close our eyes.   One day, that bed or another like it, will be our deathbed, and our eyes will close for the last time.  God teaches us, through our nightly sleep, that this is not something to be feared—death is just as natural as sleep, and just as inevitable.  There’ll be a day when we just “can’t keep our eyes open any longer,” and we will fall into a twilight sleep, then ever deeper until we are at rest.  Eternal rest.  Nothing to be afraid of.

God also wants us to know the reason we must die.  Because just as sleep allows us to wake up each morning, refreshed and ready for another day, so too when we wake up in eternity we will be revitalized, restored to the true and everlasting life that awaits us all.  When we sleep, our dreams seem very real, sometimes too real!  But no sooner do we awake in the morning, these dreams lose that sense of reality, fading from our thoughts and memory never to return.  So too when we finally awake in God’s presence, this life and all that was in it will fade before us and become the phantom that it actually now is.  Our death will herald the end of the illusions of this life, when all the joys and sufferings we have ever experienced will disappear into obscurity as the glory of a new everlasting life in union with God will sweep away everything else from our consciousness.

This is something we should contemplate at night as we lay on our beds.  “I will lay me down in peace and take my rest,” we pray in the 4^th Psalm, because thou, Lord, only that makest me dwll in safety.”  With prayers like this one, the Church’s night office of Compline reflects the connection between sleep and death.  Compline begins with the words, “May the Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.”  Many are the hints throughout the office that our nightly sleep is simply the foreshadowing of a longer, eternal sleep, as we sing, for example, the words “Into thy hands I commend my spirit,” echoing the words of our Lord on the Cross; or after the Canticle of Simeon, the Nunc Dimittis, we pray “Save us, O Lord, waking, guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.”  “Rest in peace.”  RIP.

There’s nothing more natural and normal and human than feeling tired, especially after a hard day’s work.  It’s okay to be tired.  We should be mindful of all its natural and spiritual benefits.  And when we’re tired, we should take the time to sleep—although I’d appreciate if you could hold off just a little longer.  In fact, let’s remember St. Paul’s exhortation in his Epistle today, that we should never be “weary of well doing.”  One of the worst illusions of this life, and, believe me, this illusion will be the first to fade when we awake before the judgment seat of Christ, is that when we get tired of being good, it’s okay now and again to be bad.  “I’m not perfect, I’m not a saint, I need some fun now and again, I’m sick and tired of always having to obey this rule and that, of hearing that it’s a sin to do this and that…”  “Sick and tired?”  “Weary in well doing?”  “Be not deceived,” says St. Paul, “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap…  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

To think anything else is an illusion, a dream.  If we sow good deeds, if we persevere in virtue, in holiness during our life, we shall reap the ultimate good deed in heaven, which is to love God to the highest level of holiness and perfection for ever.  This we will reap if we faint not.  Heaven is only for the perfect, and if we ever get there it will only be because we have reached that highest level of perfection to which we are called.  If we don’t reach that level here in this world, we’re going to have to be purged, tempered like steel in the fires of Purgatory.  Those delusions that sinful pleasure make us happy, that we benefit by gratifying our own desires, getting our own way, indulging our own selfish will, all those delusions must be rejected and cast off before we can enter into the fullness of the presence of God.  They are dreams, they will fade, and we will one day awake to what is truly real, to what will be our reality forever, our reward or our punishment.

So let us be vigilant in this life, even when we sleep.  And if we are actually awake, let us not sluggishly dream our way through life in the vain imaginings that comfort and freedom from suffering are our sole objectives.  Let us rather inspire ourselves with the story in today’s Gospel of the widow of Nain and her deceased son.  Let us remember the inevitability of that final sleep from which we too will awake to hear our Lord telling us, “I say to thee, Arise.”  And we that were dead will sit up and begin to speak, praying for mercy at our Lord’s feet.  If we have sown the love of Christ, then we will reap the love of Christ, and he will take our hand and deliver us to our mother, our Holy Mother Church, the Church Triumphant, there to speak forever the glorious praise of God. 

THE DAY THOU GAVEST, LORD, IS ENDED

A HYMN FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

By John Ellerton, 1870

The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended 
The darkness falls at thy behest; 
To thee our morning hymns ascended 
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank thee that thy Church unsleeping, 
While earth rolls onward into light, 
Through all the world her watch is keeping, 
And rests not now by day or night.

As o'er each continent and island 
The dawn leads on another day, 
The voice of prayer is never silent, 
Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking 
Our brethren 'neath the western sky, 
And hour by hour fresh lips are making 
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; thy throne shall never 
Like earth's proud empires, pass away; 
Thy Kingdom stands, and grows for ever, 
Till all thy creatures own thy sway.

DEATH, BE NOT PROUD!

A REFLECTION FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

On the other side of this bulletin you will find one of the Holy Sonnets written by 17^th century English poet John Donne.  The first line, admonishing “Death” not to feel so proud of itself, captures its quintessential theme.  Despite its reputation for being “mighty and dreadful”, Death is actually nothing more than a sad imitation of the sleep we experience every night, and when it strikes, we go through the same basic motions, laying our body down, closing our eyes, falling into a state of unconsciousness, and then waking up to a new eternal day.  We will actually derive as much pleasure from Death as we do from a good night’s sleep.  In fact, this “mighty and dreadful” Death will be vanquished by our very experience of it.

Despite the subject matter of Donne’s sonnet, he chooses not to touch on the supernatural aspects of death.  However, the very concept of Death must force us to do so.  It is the first of the Four Last Things, Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.  It is the obligatory gateway through which we all must pass in order to achieve the others.  We are not yet judged in this life.  Nor do our earthly joys reach to the level of those in heaven, nor our sorrows to what we would experience in hell.  First we must die, and only then may we kneel before the judgment seat of the most high God and learn which of the two shall be our everlasting fate.  That moment will be one of either great relief or terrible despair, but until we actually die, we are blissfully free to choose for ourselves which it will be.

To contemplate Death, therefore, is the strongest motivation for us to examine our life.  When we awaken from our last sleep of Death, will our eyes open to a kind and gentle Saviour extending his hand to us and commanding us to “Arise?”  Or will we see a stern Judge in all his splendor frowning in displeasure at his unrepentant creature, and hear instead the appalling command for us to “Depart” from him.  Think often, therefore, on Death, and fear it only if you truly need to.  Otherwise, Death is our friend and we should examine it with the eyes of faith, benefiting from its power to motivate us that we may eschew evil and do good.

In today’s Gospel, our Lord raises the son of the Widow of Nain from the dead.  He does so to show us that Death is not the permanent state we often imagine it to be.  When we lose someone to Death, let us not be like the pagans who do not believe in the Resurrection!  Instead, let us console ourselves with the thought that, by the grace of a good life and a holy death, the day will come when we will all rise again to be reunited in heaven.   Or as John Donne so succinctly expresses it: “Death, thou shalt die!”  

I FEEL YOUR PAIN

A SERMON FOR THE SEVEN SORROWS OF OUR LADY

According to our five senses alone, the only thing we can experience first-hand, the only perception we have of reality, is what comes to us through our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and touch.  By these means, we feel, we know, we understand only the things that affect ourselves directly.  We cannot have someone else’s experiences, nor they ours.  We can’t see things through their eyes.  When they describe to us what a mango tastes like, we can’t know that taste until we eat a mango ourselves.  And we cannot truly feel someone else’s joy or pain, we can never know the anguish of losing a child, for example, until it happens to us.  And then we must grieve alone.  To be sure, others can shareour sorrow, but not to the extent that wefeel it and live it.  Even our closest friends, our own family even, cannot feel our pain.  Indeed, hackneyed expressions like “I feel your pain” or “I know how you feel” are usually met these days with vigorous objections that “no, you don’t know how I feel”.  Because everyone knows, nobodyreally feels your pain.  Our pain is our own, we are prisoners within our own reality, cut off from the outside world and everyone else in it, made to endure alone the cross that the good Lord allows to be placed on our shoulders.  We may be fortunate enough to find a Simon of Cyrene to help us carry one of them now and again, but it’s still our cross and only ours.

To be able truly to feel, in the fullest sense of the word, the pain of another, is a gift of God.  Perhaps not a gift we really want to have…  But it was a gift that was bestowed upon the blessed, the most holy Mother of God.  A gift that came in the form of a sevenfold sword.

Today is the feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.  It is unique among the feastdays of the Church in that it is celebrated twice in the course of each year, once on September 15, and then again on the Friday of Passion Week.  And twice a year we call to mind our Blessed Mother’s Seven Sorrows.  The Prophecy of Simeon, the Flight into Egypt, the Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple, Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary, Jesus Dies on the Cross, Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms, the Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb.  We make the seven Stations of the Sorrowful Mother, we say her Chaplet, maybe we even meditate deeply, profoundly, on her sorrows.  We shake our heads in sympathy, maybe we even shed a tear, a tear of genuine sorrow, perhaps mingled with that nasty sense of pride that always seems to spoil our most heartfelt devotions, precisely because we give ourselvescredit for having such ‘godly sympathy’ with others.  What pitiful creatures we are.

But with all the sympathy we’re able to muster, do we dare to presume, dare to claim that we actually feel ourselvesthe sorrow that Our Lady felt when she lost her Son in the temple?  Do we honestly have the audacity to believe that our poor attempts to grasp the extent of her grief come anywhere near what she felt as she met Jesus on the road to Calvary, or as she stood at the foot of the Cross and watched him fight for his last dying breath, or as they placed his limp and lifeless body in her arms just as she had once held him tight in that cold stable in Bethlehem so many years before?

No.  We are prisoners as I said.  We cannot leave our own skin and completely take on the sufferings of another.  We cannot feelwhat they feel.

But Our Lady can.

On that day when, with the faithful St. Joseph, she took our Lord to the temple in Jerusalem for the very first time, to present her newborn Son to God, Our Lady gave him into the hands of an old and venerable man of Jerusalem, to whom God had promised that he would not taste death until he had first seen the Messiah.  The old man, whose name was Simeon, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying:  “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of his people, Israel.”  We celebrate this event at Candlemas, February 2, and it is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.  But… and yes, there always seem to be a “but”, those joyful mysteries always seem to have an element of sorrow mingled in, just as our own joys are so often mixed with some degree of suffering.  According to the Gospel of St. Luke, St. Simeon then blessed them and spoke to Mary, the Child’s Mother.  The words he now uttered must have chilled the heart of this Mother who listened, “keeping all these sayings in her heart”.  This second prophecy of St. Simeon pierced that heart:   “Behold,” he said, “this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” This Prophecy of Simeon is the first of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.

These Seven Sorrows were that special gift from God that enabled Our Lady to feel anguish beyond that experienced by any other mortal.  It was the gift of the sword, a sword that was to pierce her heart seven times, each wound more painful than anything you or I have ever known.  The first three sorrows were her own:  this prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, and the loss of the Christ Child in the temple.  They are all intimately connected with her relationship with her Son Jesus.  The other four sorrows all took place on a single day, the most awful day in human history.  It was the first Good Friday.  Jesus had gone through the agony in Gethsemane the previous night.  He had been abused and spat upon all night along. He had been scourged beyond mortal endurance, crowned with thorns.  We can only imagine what a terrible sight he was as he now dragged his Cross painfully up the hill to the place where he would be executed. 

And as he got nearer to Golgotha, this great Creator of the starry skies, who as well as being God was also a Man, felt as many other a man might feel. He just wanted his Mother.  With each tortuous step he looked around for that familiar face in the crowd.  And then, as he turned a corner on that Via Dolorosa, suddenly there in front of him she stood.  Their eyes met, and this Mother took in the spectacle, her Son, bruised, wounded, disfigured beyond recognition, covered with sweat and blood and spittle—and you can imagine her gut-wrenching reaction.   The sudden intake of breath, the gasp of horror, the hand clasping involuntarily to her mouth to stop the cry of anguish from escaping.  And she beheld the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.  And she felt his pain.

Not only her own pain of compassion, which God only knows must already have been worse than anything the strongest man could endure without passing out. But she felt hispain too.  Here was the most unique and exquisitely painful aspect of that sword with which she had been gifted by God.  That she could actually experience herself the pain of her Son.  That she is able, unlike us, truly to feelthe pain of another.  This is true “com-passion”—suffering with.  She doesn’t merely share his pain, she actually feels it.  The pain of the torn flesh on his back where he had been scourged. Her own back feels the sting of each one of those stripes.  The pain where the thorns had been driven into her Son’s head.  Now her own head is split apart by that same agony.  His crown presses down upon her brow.  His cross weighs heavily on her shoulders. His nails pierce her hands.

Listen to these three verses from the hymn of today’s Vespers:

They took thy Son with scorn, with scourges him assailed,
And crowned him with the thorn, and on the Cross then nailed;
There with him thou wast torn—each hateful mockery
And cruel wounding wounded thee. 

The spitting and the blows; bearing the crushing Cross;
The nails, the thirst and woes; the dice that gamesters toss;
The death wrought by his foes;—whate'er his pain might be
Was also suffered there by thee. 

So, by him standing nigh, thou on that blood-stained hill
A thousand deaths didst die, obedient to his will;
As Simeon did descry, the sword of agony
Transfixed thy soul and martyred thee.

Although we cannot come close to experiencing the sorrow and pain felt by our Blessed Mother, we can be assured that shewas not held back by these same limits.  Where our hearts are cold, hers is burning with love and compassion. Where often we have to force ourselves to share the pain of another, Our Lady feelsthis pain herself in her very nature.  She is no prisoner of the limits of her own experience.  So when her divine Son takes on his shoulders the weight of suffering mankind; when “surely”, as the prophet Isaiah says: “he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows”, so too does the Mother bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, she who feels all his pain, and endures all his torments with him.  

And so here, finally, we come to this great and lasting truth, and tremendous consolation.  Among the last words of our divine Saviour from the Cross, we hear him say:  “Woman, behold thy son.”   And St. John accepts the Mother of Jesus as his own.  Not on his own behalf only, but on behalf of the teeming millions who will make up the mystical Body of Christ, and call upon Mary as their Mother.  When you feel pain, when you feel sorrow, when you think you can no longer bear the cross you have been given, look around you.  You find sometimes the sympathy of friends and family, but it is fleeting and relatively superficial.  Look around you again.  Look around you as Jesus looked around on the road to Calvary.  Look until you turn that corner and there! “Behold thy Mother”. She is there waiting for you.  She alone will feel your pain as you do.  She alone will be able to assume your burden of suffering.  How consoling to know that there is someone who truly knows what you are going through, and strengthens you with her love and merciful compassion.  Lay at her feet your anguish, your torments.  To her send up your sighs, as you mourn and weep in this vale of tears.  

No longer merely describing your pain to another, you are now actually sharingit.  Ask yourself, how can I ever despair knowing that the Mother of God, myMother, is standing at the foot of my Cross, feeling my pain?  Stabat Mater dolorosa. 

Never deliberately thrust that sword of pain into Mary’s immaculate heart by committing sin, or by displeasing her or her Son in any way.  Instead, try and make reparation for your sins by prayer and penance—gladly take on some voluntary little sacrifice as her Son sacrificed everything for you.  Make every effort to help others with their burdens, especially the crosses that they find hardest to endure.  Be compassionate.  Share their grief, their suffering as genuinely and fully as you can.  And in return, remember from this time forth that with your Blessed Mother to share your crosses, your own yoke will indeed be easy, and your burden light.

COME DARKNESS, SPREAD O'ER HEAV'N THY PALL

A HYMN FOR THE SEVEN SORROWS OF OUR LADY

By Fr. Edward Caswall, 1814-78

Come darkness, spread o’er Heav’n thy pall,
And hide, O sun, thy face;
While we that bitter death recall,
With all its dire disgrace.

And thou, with tearful cheek, wast there;
But with a heart of steel,
Mary, thou didst his moanings hear,
And all his torments feel.

He hung before thee crucified;
His flesh with scourgings rent;
His bloody gashes gaping wide;
His strength and spirit spent.

Thou his dishonour’d countenance,
And racking thirst, didst see;
By turns the gall, the sponge, the lance,
Were agony to thee.

Yet still erect in majesty,
Thou didst the sight sustain;—
Oh, more than Martyr! not to die
Amid such cruel pain!

Praise to the blessed Three in One;
Oh, may that strength be mine,
Which, sorrowing o’er her only Son,
Did in the Virgin shine!

THE SERVITE ROSARY

A MESSAGE ON THE FEAST OF THE SEVEN SORROWS OF OUR LADY

Devotion to the Sorrowful Virgin began in thirteenth century Florence, when seven professionals withdrew from the world of business to serve God in a life of penance and prayer.  They had a particular devotion to our Lady, and founded a new religious order dedicated to her service.  They were named, appropriately enough, the Order of Servites, and their prayer was focused specifically on a form of the Rosary that recalled the following sorrows our Lady endured in union with her Son.

THE SEVEN SORROWS OF OUR LADY

1.  The Prophecy of Simeon.

2.  The Flight into Egypt.

3.  The loss of the Christ Child in the Temple of Jerusalem.

4.  The Meeting with Jesus on the Way of Cross.

5.  The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mt. Calvary.

6.  The Piercing of the Side of Jesus with the Lance, & his Descent from the Cross.

7.  The Burial of Jesus by St. Joseph of Arimathea.

This form of the Rosary became extremely popular between the years 1347 and 1351, when members of the Servite Order actively promoted its use during the period of the Black Death, a terrible plague that wiped out a large percentage of the population of Europe.  The Servites were given permission to celebrate a new feast in honour of these Seven Sorrows, and it is this same feast that was later formally approved by Pope Pius VII and which we celebrate today.

These so-called Servite Rosaries are readily available online.  To say this Chaplet, begin with the Sign of the Cross and an Act of Contrition.  On the first bead, announce the First Sorrow (from the list above), say the Our Father, then say a Hail Maryon each of the seven beads that follow, concluding with the invocation Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.  Repeat this formula for each of the Sorrows.  After the invocation at the end of the Seventh and Last Sorrow, say three Hail Marysdedicated to our Lady’s tears, and conclude as follows:
V.  Pray for us, O Virgin most Sorrowful.

R.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray.  Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Saviour of the world, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

A CHILD IS BORN

A SERMON FOR THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Nine months ago today we celebrated that great feast of Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, when the future Mother of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was herself conceived in the womb of her own mother, St. Anne. Conceived as no child had ever before been conceived, since the creation of our very first mother, Eve, taken from the rib of Adam.  But this new child of God, Mary, was no Eve.  Eve had abused the gifts and graces God had given her to commit a grave sin, the very first sin, Original Sin.  For this crime God punished Eve and her offspring, who from that time forth would be brought forth in pain and sorrow.  And worse yet, they would be brought forth in sin.  But not Mary, who was conceived and delivered without the stain of Eve’s original sin.  A new Eve, who was full of grace.  “This is she,” says St. Augustine, “whose delivery changed the nature that we draw from our first parents, and cleansed away their offence.  At her that sorrowful sentence which was pronounced over Eve ended its course; to her it was never said: In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.  She brought forth a Child, even the Lord, but she brought him forth, not in sorrow, but in joy.”

The conception of Our Lady by St. Anne was in itself something of a miracle. According to the Protoevangelium of St. James, which goes back to about 150 A.D., a rich and pious couple called Joachim and Anne lived in a town in Galilee called Nazareth, and they were childless.  When it was time for Joachim to present himself at the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, he was turned away by one of the Jewish elders, a man called Ruben, who claimed that men who had no offspring were not worthy to be admitted to the sacrifice.  Joachim was filled with shame and sorrow, and instead of going back to his wife in Nazareth, took a detour into the mountains where he could pray for consolation.  Here, an angel appeared to him in a dream, promising him a very special child.  Meanwhile, St. Anne was wondering what was taking her husband so long at the temple. She too prayed to God, asking him to deliver her from the curse of sterility, and promising that if she conceived, she would dedicate her child to the service of God.  Her  prayers were heard, and God sent his angel to St. Anne to announce the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  “Anne,” declared the angel, “the Lord hath looked upon thy tears; thou shalt conceive and give birth, and the fruit of thy womb shall be called blessed by all the world.” On December 8^th, St. Anne conceived a child, bringing her into this world nine months later, on this Our Lady’s birth-day, September 8^th.  St. Anne has become the patron saint of women in labour, and what better patroness could they have than she who brought forth this day the future Mother of God, full of grace, the Blessed and Worshipful and Ever-Virgin Mary?

Only three births are celebrated in the Church’s yearly liturgical cycle. Most saints’ feastdays are celebrated on the anniversary of their death, or of some important event during their life. Only three actual birthdays do we celebrate.  Of course, we will never forget the birthday of Our Blessed Lord of course, that great and glorious feast of Christmas, filled with so many memorable events, so many glad tidings of great joy, the fulfillment of the expectation of the nations. The second Nativity we celebrate is that of St. John Baptist on Midsummer Day.  He who was sanctified in the womb of his mother, St. Elizabeth, at the approach of the Blessed Virgin Mary bearing the blessed fruit of her own womb.  Echoed by the words of the psalmist, “Abyssus abyssum invocat” – the deep calleth unto the deep, the very presence of Our Lord was enough to take away the stain of original sin from the soul of his cousin, St. John the Baptist.  His birth free from original sin is therefore the second Nativity that we celebrate in the Church’s year, and in years gone by it was done so with great solemnity, with lines of beacons crossing the land as bonfires were lit to welcome the anniversary of one born without original sin.

Our Lord himself said that “Among all the men that are born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist.”  But greater by far there was a woman.  A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  Not only would she be bornwithout original sin, but to her would be given the even greater privilege of never having known sin, not even in her conception.  Today we celebrate the fruit of that conception, when St. Anne delivered to a silent and uncomprehending world a child who would eventually be crowned as Queen of the Angels.  For this is the birth-day of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom would be sent the Archangel Gabriel, she who was full of grace, over the depths of which the Holy Ghost would move as he had once moved over the face of the deep at Creation. She whom the power of the Most High would overshadow, who would bear within the confines of her holy womb him who is the great Creator of the starry skies and the round world and all that therein is.  This is the birth-day of Our Blessed Lady who would give birth to an only-begotten Son, sole-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, that Son who would have the nature of God taken from his Father in heaven, but who would also have a human nature, given to him by his earthly Mother Mary.  We celebrate today the Nativity of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent, sharing in the redemption of her Son at the foot of the Cross, and who would be assumed body and soul to heaven at the end of her life, so that Our Lord in heaven could share in her complete corporal and spiritual bliss for all eternity, crowning her Queen of heaven, Queen of the Angels, Queen of All Saints.  This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad therein.

For unto us is born this day a child who will henceforth grow in all virtue and grace, until she is “full” of grace.  And Almighty God, remembering his mercy to our forefathers, hath holpen his servant Israel.  He has set in motion a plan of redemption by which he would redeem Israel from all his iniquities.  And all this was accomplished through this simple girl of Nazareth, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, whose nativity we keep in holy remembrance this day.  A humble infant she may be, but God regarded the lowliness of this his handmaiden, and he exalted the humble and meek, and he that is mighty did magnify her, so that from henceforth all generations shall call her blessed.

NOW IN HOLY CELEBRATION

A HYMN FOR THE NATIVITY OF OUR LADY

Translated from the Latin by Laurence Housman, 1906

Now in holy celebration
Sing we of that Mother blest,
In whose flesh for men’s salvation
God incarnate deigned to rest,
When a kindred salutation
Named in faith the mystic Guest.

Lo, the advent Word confessing,
Spake for joy the voice yet dumb,
Through his mother’s lips addressing
Her, of motherhood the sum,-
Bower of beauty, blest and blessing,
Crowned with fruit of Life to come.

‘Whence,’ she cried, at that fair meeting,
‘Comes to me this great reward?
For when first I heard the greeting
Of the Mother of my Lord,
In my womb, the joy repeating,
Leapt my babe in sweet accord!’

Lo, at that glad commendation
Joy found voice in Mary’s breast
While in holy exultation
She her Maker’s power confest,
At whose word each generation
Now henceforward names her blest.

Triune Godhead, health supplying,
Ruler of eternity,
On the Fount of grace relying,
We uplift our hearts to thee,
Praying that in realms undying
We at one with Life may be. Amen.

BIRTHDAYS AND OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS

A REFLECTION FOR THE NATIVITY OF OUR LADY

Today, on the anniversary of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we remember the birth of one who was born without stain of original sin.  Since our first parents committed that first sin, almost every single one of their offspring has inherited it from them, an ugly stain on their souls which only baptism can wash away.

There are three exceptions to this inherited sin, and we are very familiar with them.  Our Blessed Lord himself of course was totally free from sin by virtue of his divinity. His cousin John was freed from the stain of original sin before his birth, at the time of our Lady’s Visitation to St. Elizabeth.  And nine months after our Lady’s Immaculate Conception, when she was conceived by her own mother St. Anne without original sin, Mary was born, still unsullied by any spiritual stain.  Jesus, Mary, and St. John Baptist—the only three born without original sin, the only three whose actual birthdaythe Church celebrates with a special feast day.

What about all the other saints in heaven? When do we celebrate their feasts? The general rule is to observe their feast on the anniversary of their “birth” into eternal life, in other words, their death. Exceptions are made when two feast days would otherwise coincide and the Pope decrees another date on which to celebrate the feast.

We may legitimately wonder then, why the rest of us, give so much importance to the celebration of birthdays.  The answer is a natural one, as the anniversary of our birth is used to denote certain age-specific milestones that confer certain rights or responsibilities, such as the legal right to purchase alcohol, drive a car, marry, vote, etc.  We should acknowledge though, that there’s nothing specifically Catholic about a birthday. In most Catholic countries it was the custom instead to celebrate a child’s “name-day”, the feast of his or her patron saint.  Or often, Catholics would combine birthday and name-day by naming their children after the saint on whose feastday they were born.  Let’s not forget our customs—they’re worth preserving, and deserve at least a consideration when naming our babies.

The Church demands only that at least one of the baby’s names be that of a canonized saint, or if not, then at least a virtue like Faith or Patience, or a title of our Lady such as Mercedes or Stella.  Whatever the final decision, let’s remember that the patron saints under whose protection you place your children will be far more significant in his or her life than the numerical date on which they’re born.  Naming a child is more than just picking something that sounds cool; great care should be taken in choosing the right protector for your children’s souls, one to whom he or she will be able to find comfort and solace as they navigate the trials of life.  This way, when birthdays come around, our celebrations may be done in the full confidence that our children have a powerful helper in heaven.

THIS DO, AND THOU SHALT LIVE

A SERMON FOR THE 12TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Has anyone seen that Sandals commercial for vacations in the Caribbean?  Sandals seeks to entice us to their resorts by placing an image in our mind.  The line they use is “Imagine being able to do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it.  Now doesn’t that sound awfully familiar?  Isn’t that what the devil constantly wants us to imagine?  “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law..”  Sandals assures us that these imaginings can become a reality at its resorts.  The devil assures us of the same thing, all you have to do is throw away the law and “do what thou wilt.”

To put it in its simplest terms, the law is what keeps us from doing bad things.  The only way to prevent wicked people from doing literally whatever they want, is by promulgating laws to warn them of the consequences of disobeying them, and then enforcing those laws with appropriate punishments.  Don’t drive your car at 70 mph through a school zone.  If you do, you’ll be fined, imprisoned, lose your license, whatever. This protects children from people who put their own haste or thirst for speed above the safety of the innocent. That’s what laws do.  Protect the innocent from the wicked.  It’s why there are laws against murder, robbery, and so on. It’s why, in a truly Catholic society, there would be laws against abortion, homosexuality, and heresy, laws that protect not only the bodily welfare of the innocent, but also their souls.

So when you see depictions of the Ten Commandments in our courtrooms being painted over, scraped off, and otherwise destroyed, we’re seeing our legal system destroying itself first of all, and then civilization itself as the ultimate consequence.  It’s accepting the invitation by Satan to do away with the very foundation of the law. It’s the usual pure craziness of liberals and their self-destructive agenda, who annihilate all principles until they end up with no principles whatever.

This deluded view of the law is based on their failure to understand its underlying purpose, which is to give glory to God and protect us from sin.  They see laws as merely rules and regulations, and make it their motto that “laws are made to be broken.”  This is the progressive mind at work, a mind that makes progress only in the wrong direction.  Ours should be a “Pilgrim’s Progress,” a step-by-step advance towards eternal union with God.  Our progress is true progress in holiness, a movement towards an ever stronger love of God.

How many times have we been reminded of what our Lord calls the great commandment, which is “to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself?” Hopefully, it’s beginning to sink in. Just how important it is, our Lord reinforces with the following promise, which we read in today’s Gospel.  “This do,” he says, “and thou shalt live.”

It’s almost an ultimatum from God.  “Love him and you’ll live.”  Presumably, the opposite is also true: “Love him not and you will die.”  We learn from other Gospels that all the other laws that exist depend upon this one great commandment to love God and our neighbor. We could go through the Ten Commandments given to Moses, analyzing each of them and showing how they all come back to either loving God or our neighbor.  Our Lord’s purpose in redeeming us from the sin of Adam was not to destroy or overturn this law of Moses.  He told us he came not to destroy but to fulfill the law.  He explained that the spirit of the law is based on love of God and neighbor, not on love of the law itself. 

Very often the two tablets that contain the Ten Commandments are depicted with the first one listing the first three commandments, which pertain to our relationship with God, and the second one listing the seven others that pertain to our neighbor.  If we love both God and neighbor, we can easily see that any encroachment upon these laws would involve a deficit, a failing, of that love.

This is how we live our lives as Catholics.  We follow, or try to follow, the Ten Commandments.  By doing this, we prove our love for God and neighbor—remember, after all, what our Lord told us: “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.” If we break one of these ten laws, we recognize that we have offended God.  How?  Not because we have defied one of the rules and regulations established at the whim of a tyrannical Creator, but because we have defied the great commandment of a lovingCreator, the fundamental law that commands us to love him in return.

Let’s remind ourselves for a moment how much God has given us, not just our daily bread, our daily wages, our home, our family, and all the other material things that come to us from above, but even our eternal life, paid for by every drop of Blood of his only-begotten Son.  We should spend our lives thinking what we can give back to God in return.  We should live to please God.  But instead, we put ourselves ahead of God every time we sin, and we know this, and we are appalled by our own ingratitude, and we kneel and beat our breasts with our mea culpas, and then we sin again.  What sad creatures we are.  

All God asks is that we love him.  He gives us laws so that we can know what displeases him and do what’s necessary to avoid giving offence.  The laws are merely the outward sign pointing us in the direction of God.  The laws, the commandments, are not the end in themselves, but merely the essential way by which we arrive at that end, which is the love of God.  The letter of the law killeth, says St. Paul in today’s Epistle, but the spirit giveth life. The spirit of the law is none other than to love God, pure and simple.  Obey the laws of God.  Obey the laws of the Church.  Do this, and thou shalt live.