REMEMBER WHEN THE TIME COMES

 A SERMON FOR THE SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ASCENSION

How easy it is to dismiss the reading of the Gospel.  Sure, it’s the life of Christ, his words, his warnings to his apostles.  But it’s also ancient history.  Christ has ascended into heaven, his apostles are long since dead, and we are left to live our lives the best way we can in whatever happen to be the circumstances of the day.  Yet we know our Lord didn’t just speak to the people of his own generation; he intended his teachings to be passed down even unto the end of the world.  So let’s just take a look at the last sentence of today’s Gospel and see how they apply to us: “These things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.”

A couple of things before we get into what exactly he told us.  First of all, let’s make sure we understand who our Lord is referring to when he says “you”.  “These things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.”  We know that he was speaking to the apostles.  But this was the Son of God speaking, he who knows all future events that await mankind.  When he speaks to his disciples, he is in fact also speaking to us, today, and if we think of his words in this way, we stand to benefit a bit more from them.

So then, what are these things he is telling us, so that when the time comes, we will indeed remember what he told us?  He mentions two things here, and only two things: “They shall put you out of the synagogues”, that’s the first, and “yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”  The synagogues our Lord is talking about refers to the houses of worship of the chosen people of his day.  Their modern equivalent are the houses of worship, or churches, of today’s chosen people, the members of his Mystical Body, the Catholic Church.  We don’t have to think too hard to realize the fulfillment of our Lord’s prophecy since Vatican II.  We who follow the traditional faith, the traditional Mass, the traditional commandments of the Church—all given to us by God himself—are no longer allowed to worship in our local “Catholic” churches.  We priests are not permitted to say Mass as it was said for two thousand years.  The last conciliar pope tried to allow it, but somehow he was replaced by the current tyrant, a latter-day Nero, who is hell-bent on abolishing the traditional Mass and sacraments once and for all.  And so we are put out of our “synagogues”, our beloved Catholic churches, built with the enthusiasm of a faith now long suppressed, built by Catholic faithful who knew the value of having the tabernacle of the Most High God as the focal point of their community. The descendants of these faithful must now stand by and watch in horror as their now empty churches are transformed into mosques, bowling alleys, apartment buildings, and worst of all, into houses of sacrilegious worship perpetrated by the conciliar Church and known as the “New” Mass.  The New and Improved Mass.  And while we watch this mockery of God openly promoted by the leaders of the Church, we are “put out of the churches.”

“When the time shall come,” said our Lord, we should remember that he warned us about such things as this.  The time has come, so it is time to remember.  The comforting thing about our Lord’s warning is that it is a prophecy fulfilled.  From all time, God knew these things would happen, and he is allowing them to happen for a purpose.  We who are caught up in the events of our times must now recognize that we have been chosen by God to play our part in his plan.  We don’t yet know what our role might be, we don’t even know what God’s purpose is, but we can be assured that he is working that purpose out, and that we are being prepared by our weekly attendance at Mass, by our frequent reception of the divine Eucharist, so that eventually we may give honor and glory to God by accepting whatever befalls us.

How far the persecutions of the Church will go, no one but God knows.  But when the next words of our Lord warn us that “whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service,” we should be prepared, I think, for the worst.  Violence is the ultimate method that the liberal progressives of the world long to use to rid the planet of people who don’t embrace their own woke agenda.  They have already begun their threats against Catholic churches, threats we should take seriously as we await the longed-for Supreme Court on Roe v. Wade.  Things could easily escalate, and we should certainly pray that they don’t.  But again, let’s be prepared, and remember that we were warned.

Why will these evil men do such things to us?  Why do these pagan progressives hate Catholics?  And why do so many so-called Catholics hate traditional Catholics?  Again, our Lord gives us the answer—"these things they will do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.”  They know not the Light of the World and have thus become the children of darkness.  Whether they are mass murderers who shoot little children like Salvador Ramos in Texas, or worse still, mass murderers like Nancy Pelosi and Joseph Biden, who are responsible for the slaughter of millions of children in the womb, or perhaps worst of all, like Jorge Bergoglio, mass-murderer of souls, who seeks to take away our Mass and sacraments, the sources of grace by which those souls may be saved.  All these sons and daughters of Satan want nothing but to crucify anew our Blessed Lord—they know not the Father and know not our Lord Jesus Christ.  If they will do such things to the innocent, we can be assured that they are all ready and prepared to launch their assault on the faithful.

St. Peter advises us on in today’s Epistle what should be our response.  “Be ye sober, and watch unto prayer.”  Prayer is no longer the idle cliché that we offer for those we feel sorry for.  Prayer is now real, prayer is our only defense against what surely awaits us if we do not pray.  Today we remember what Christ warned us would happen: the first half of his prophecy already has happened, and we have been put out of our synagogues; we see that we are on the verge of the second half also being fulfilled, where the children of darkness will kill us and think they’re doing a good thing.  Is it time, perhaps, to get on our knees and beg God’s mercy?  Is it time now to heed our Lady’s warnings at Fatima, and get out our Rosary and plead for her intercession?  And above all things, as St. Peter says, isn’t it time finally to “have fervent charity among ourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins?”  Never has it been more imperative to recognize that life is too short for our trivial arguments and misplaced anger.  Let’s strive to replace them with that fervent charity that will help make restitution for our multitude of sins.  And let’s not waste any more time, for it seems the time has come for us to remember what Christ told us.

HAIL THE DAY THAT SEES HIM RISE

 A HYMN FOR ASCENSIONTIDE

By Charles Wesley, 1739

 

Hail the day that sees Him rise, Alleluia!
To His throne above the skies, Alleluia!
Christ, awhile to mortals given, Alleluia!
Reascends His native heaven, Alleluia!

There the glorious triumph waits, Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates, Alleluia!
Christ hath conquered death and sin, Alleluia!
Take the King of glory in, Alleluia!

Circled round with angel powers, Alleluia!
Their triumphant Lord, and ours, Alleluia!
Conqueror over death and sin, Alleluia!
“Take the King of glory in! Alleluia!”

Him though highest Heav’n receives, Alleluia!
Still He loves the earth He leaves, Alleluia!
Though returning to His throne, Alleluia!
Still He calls mankind His own, Alleluia!

See! He lifts His hands above, Alleluia!
See! He shows the prints of love, Alleluia!
Hark! His gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
Blessings on His church below, Alleluia!

Still for us His death He pleads, Alleluia!
Prevalent He intercedes, Alleluia!
Near Himself prepares our place, Alleluia!
Harbinger of human race, Alleluia!

Master, (will we ever say), Alleluia!
Taken from our head to day, Alleluia!
See Thy faithful servants, see, Alleluia!
Ever gazing up to Thee, Alleluia!

Grant, though parted from our sight, Alleluia!
Far above yon azure height, Alleluia!
Grant our hearts may thither rise, Alleluia!
Seeking Thee beyond the skies, Alleluia!

Ever upward let us move, Alleluia!
Wafted on the wings of love, Alleluia!
Looking when our Lord shall come, Alleluia!
Longing, gasping after home, Alleluia!

There we shall with Thee remain, Alleluia!
Partners of Thy endless reign, Alleluia!
There Thy face unclouded see, Alleluia!
Find our heaven of heavens in Thee, Alleluia!

HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN

 A REFLECTION FOR ASCENTIONTIDE

“It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord holy Father almighty, everlasting God:  through Christ our Lord.  Who, after his most glorious Resurrection, manifestly appeared to all his Apostles, and in their sight ascended up into heaven, to prepare a place for us; that where he is, thither we might also ascend, and reign with him in glory.”

Our Lord prepared himself for his public ministry by fasting in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights.  We follow his example and prepare ourselves for our Redemption through his Passion and Death, by observing the same fast of forty days and forty nights from Ash Wednesday until noon on Holy Saturday.  If we accept the traditional time of the Resurrection as 7:00am (dawn) on Easter Sunday, we can calculate there were forty hours from the time of his death at 3:00pm on Good Friday until his rising.  Just as God purged the world from its sins by the Great Flood of forty days and forty nights, another forty days and forty nights have now passed between Easter Sunday and Ascension Day, a period of rejoicing that the bonds of death have been broken and that mankind has been restored to grace.

But now this time of joy is coming to an end, and we approach the bittersweet glory of our Lord’s Ascension into heaven.  For mankind undoubtedly there is an element of sadness at this important event:  the Son of God had walked in our midst for thirty-year years, teaching, healing, and sanctifying.  These years were surely the highlight of human history.  But now he warns his Apostles that he must leave them, and it seems that our time of living in the real presence of our Saviour must be over.  And yet, there is a promise of comfort in our Lord’s words: “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.” Naturally, the Apostles were curious to know what this meant and so they questioned him further.  And without giving them any specific explanation, our Lord repeated his message that his departure should not be the cause of despair: “Ye shall weep and lament… but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." 

We could interpret our Lord’s words solely in the light of his future Second Coming.  After all, when our Lord disappeared into the clouds, two Angels appeared to the Apostles to confirm this explanation: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”  And yet our Lord seems to be alluding to something more than this, and that God’s presence would return to mankind even before the world’s end.  “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.”[1]  We know of course that soon after his Ascension into heaven, the Saviour would send down the Holy Ghost at Pentecost:  “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.” But it is not a stretch to apply our Lord’s words of comfort not only to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, but also to his Real Presence hidden under the form of bread in the Holy Eucharist, “whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD

 A SERMON FOR ROGATION SUNDAY

“Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” A young child may be forgiven for accepting these words of our Lord at face value.  At least, I hope so, because I know I did.  As soon as I heard that I could have anything I wanted simply by praying for it, I fell to my knees and started on my list.  And of course, I soon found out that it didn’t work that way.  Mom explained that somehow, I’d managed to misunderstand the true meaning of what our Lord was saying.  I never was granted the ability to become invisible whenever I wanted, I’ve never yet managed to fly through the air, or have superhuman strength.  Deep down inside, I kind of suspected the prayers wouldn’t really give me what I asked for, so I was left feeling a bit disappointed as well as puzzled why our blessed Lord had said this in the first place.  “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you…”  I asked… so where is it?

Over the years, I’ve run this back and forth through my mind.  And like most of you, probably, I came to realize that it wasn’t God’s fault that my prayers hadn’t been answered in the way I wanted.  There must be something wrong with my prayers.  I was asking for the impossible.  I was asking for God to waive the laws of nature, performing a miracle to give me superpowers I certainly didn’t have the wisdom to control.  My prayers had been centered on my own aspirations, the whims and fantasies of a small boy, not on Christian charity or, indeed, any other virtue.  So surely then, that must be the answer.

So I tried applying this theory to my prayers.  I started praying, when I remembered, for things that surely were for the benefit of others, rather than myself.  But as I got older still, even this answer proved inadequate.  When my grandmother was sick, I prayed for her recovery, but she died anyway.  This happened in many different scenarios, where my prayers really seemed to be based on the love of neighbor and solicitation for the needs of others.  So now what was wrong?  Well, for starters, my love for grandma was tainted by my own selfish fear of bereavement, rather than what was best for grandma.  Her age and sickness had prepared her to pass the doorway to eternity, and my enthusiastic prayers to prevent that were not her will, and certainly not God’s, but entirely my own.  So now my understanding of prayer developed a little further, but it still wasn’t quite there.  As my teenage years unfolded, doubt entered into my faith as prayers were offered, only to be seemingly ignored by God.  What was the use of praying when God just does what he wants and not what we ask for?  I thank God I had enough faith left to realize there had to be an answer I hadn’t yet figured out, and so, I persevered and kept on praying.

God of course does answer prayers.  In fact, he always answers our prayers.  It’s often in ways we don’t understand, and it’s even more often in ways we don’t even realize, but the prayers get answered all the same.  When a mother or father prays so hard that their sick child may recover, and then that child does not recover, they are often tempted to blame God that their prayers are not answered.  But God knows what’s best, and a good Catholic will resign himself to God’s will, knowing that he always does know what’s best, and that by allowing a sick child to die, he must be preventing somehow, in a way we’ll never know, a greater evil to occur.  And we can apply this to any prayer that doesn’t get answered in the way we want.  God is good.  He hears all our prayers, and then, with his infinite knowledge of all possible alternative future consequences, provides us with the very best answer to them.

So there’s the answer.  And yet, don’t we still have that lingering feeling of being a bit “let down.  After all, there’s still that apparent contradiction we think still exists.  Our Lord tells us one thing, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you,” and now we’re supposed to believe that he really doesn’t give it to us, but rather gives us something else, something he knows is better.  But maybe we don’t want what’s better, we want we asked for!  The obvious answer to this objection is that we’re being selfish.  “I want this, I want that, and I want it no matter what the consequences may be for others, or even for my own soul, my own greater well-being.”  Hopefully, this thought that we’re being selfish or too demanding on God will be enough to keep us away from falling into the trap of distrusting God or the promises made to us by his Son.

I hope that’s enough.  But I know it might not…  And so this morning, I want to point out something else to you, something that might not have occurred to you.  There are a couple of words in that promise our Lord gave us that contain the final and incontrovertible answer to any objections we might still have to his promise that God will give us whatsoever we pray for.  Let’s take another last look at that promise made by our blessed Lord, and I’ll stress for you the important part we may easily have overlooked: “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”  Those three words “in my Name” contain the answer to all our doubts.  Whenever we ask for something, we must ask it in the name of Jesus.  It’s why our prayers always end in the words, “Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”  That actually means something.  It’s not just the fancy formal ending to our prayer—it has a far deeper significance than we realize.  For when we ask for something in the name of Christ, this same Christ, God’s Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end, Amen—it is no longer we who are doing the asking.  He asks the Father for us.  Our Lord promised that if we utter our prayers in his holy Name, we are willingly committing our prayer entirely to him, to his will, to his infinite knowledge, his infinite justice, and his infinite mercy.  We are saying in effect, “Here’s my prayer, Lord, in the best way I know how to frame it.  Take it, Lord, make it thine, and adjust it as you see fit so that the answer to my prayer may be given in the way that best fits our heavenly Father’s divine will and Providence.  That’s how our Lord wants us to pray!

When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are voluntarily placing our request in his hands to present to his Father in the best way possible.  And whatsoever we may be asking, we can be assured that God will receive it willingly, because it has been reframed by his Son in such a way that he cannot possibly deny his request.  When we pray in Christ’s Name, we are asking him to handle our imperfect prayer in the way he deems most appropriate, we are trusting him enough to allow him to make our request for us, in the way he knows will be answered for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.  Implicit in this prayer made in the Name of Jesus is the submission of our own will to God’s.  What we prayed so imperfectly will now be perfected by him.  And when it’s perfect, it will be answered.  Have this trust in our Lord, and you will never again doubt that God does indeed answer every single prayer that we make, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

WE PLOUGH THE FIELDS AND SCATTER

 A HYMN FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

By Matthias Claudius, 1782, translated by Jane M. Campbell

 

We plough the fields and scatter

The good seed on the land,

But it is fed and watered

By God’s almighty hand;

He sends the snow in winter,

The warmth to swell the grain,

The breezes and the sunshine,

And soft refreshing rain.

 

All good gifts around us

Are sent from heaven above;

Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,

For all His love.

 

He only is the Maker

Of all things near and far;

He paints the wayside flower,

He lights the evening star;

The winds and waves obey Him,

By Him the birds are fed;

Much more to us, His children,

He gives our daily bread.

 

All good gifts around us

Are sent from heaven above;

Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,

For all His love.

 

We thank Thee, then, O Father,

For all things bright and good;

The seedtime and the harvest,

Our life, our health, our food.

No gifts have we to offer

For all Thy love imparts,

But that which Thou desirest,

Our humble, thankful hearts.

 

All good gifts around us

Are sent from heaven above;

Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,

For all His love.

ROGATIONTIDE

 A REFLECTION ON ROGATION SUNDAY

Rogationtide is the name given to the days leading up to Ascension Day, and is traditionally a period of fasting and prayer to prepare for the feastday.  It begins today on Rogation Sunday, on which the Gospel of St. John reminds us to “Ask and ye shall receive,” thus giving us the name of the season: the word “Rogation” comes from the Latin “rogare”, meaning “to ask”. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Litany of the Saints is recited by the clergy as part of their Office, and in the larger parishes processions are made through the fields, chanting the Litany of the Saints and blessing the crops.  Violet vestments are worn at the Rogation Litany and its associated Mass, regardless of what color is worn at the ordinary liturgies of the day. The Rogation Days were introduced about AD 470 by Bishop Mamertus of Vienne in France, and were eventually adopted elsewhere.

In England, Rogation Sunday is called Chestnut Sunday, while the week as a whole was known as Gang-days or Cross Week.  In Germany, the season was referred to as Bittage, Bittwoche or Kreuzwoche.  A common feature of Rogation days in former times was the ceremony of “beating the bounds”, in which a procession of parishioners, led by the priest, churchwarden, and choirboys, would proceed around the boundary of their parish and pray for its protection in the forthcoming year.  

It's important this week not only to pray as usual, but to dwell a little on the reasons why we pray.  The four chief ways we pray are by adoring, confessing our sins, giving thanks, and supplication.  It is on this last form of prayer that we focus in Rogationtide, the prayers of supplication that we make to God, asking him for our various needs.  We should make it a point at this time to pray especially for the Supreme Court of the United States as it makes its definitive ruling on Roe v. Wade. We should include in our prayers a special request for the safety of the Justices who will no doubt be the object of violence and persecution by the Marxist mobs, and that law and order will prevail over anarchy.

Of course, we each have our own needs, and we must pray for them also, confident in the knowledge that God cannot fail to answer our prayers if we’re praying for something we truly need, as opposed to something we merely want.  As our blessed Lord prepared his Apostles for his Ascension into heaven, he made sure they knew that the coming of the Holy Ghost would strengthen them in their faith.  This had been somewhat lacking in the recent past when they fled from Gethsemane and hid themselves from the mob.  But they would go on to spread the Gospel fearlessly throughout the known world, and end up being willing martyrs for Christ.  Even St. Peter, who in Jerusalem had denied our Lord three times only to flee the persecution in Rome at the end of his life, finally turned around and walked to his victory on the cross.  Our faith that our prayers are answered will give us the same fortitude and perseverance to save our souls and achieve the same victory as St. Peter and the other Apostles.  It’s Rogationtide, so let’s ask, that we might receive.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK

A SERMON FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

How often do we contemplate the future with apprehension and sorrow?  We fear the inevitable: losing loved ones to sickness and death, growing old and infirm ourselves, the pains of death and that terrible day of judgment that follows when our eternal destiny will be determined forever.  These are all things that we may legitimately fear.  We shouldn’t wallow in our anxiety though.  Instead, we should place our worries at the feet of our divine Saviour.  After all, he understands what makes us tick, he is not only the Creator of human nature, he actually shared that human nature with us for thirty-three years.  If you don’t think he feared death, remember his Agony in the Garden…

Our Lord’s Apostles were no different either.  They were men like the rest of us, with their own share of worries and anxiety.  In today’s Gospel, their greatest fear was that they were about to lose their Master.  His 33 years were coming to an end, and he had told them that after a little while they would not see him.  That little while was fast moving towards our Lord’s Ascension and they knew they were on the verge of living the rest of their lives without him.  But instead of simply asking him “Whither goest thou?” they kept their fears to themselves.  Our Lord, being the all-knowing God that he was, was already quite aware of what they were suffering, and so he gently prompts them to express their fears to him, “I go my way to him that sent me: and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?  But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.”

When those terrible worries first stir in our minds, often in the middle of the night when we can’t sleep and there is nothing around to distract us, we must ask our Lord all those questions about the future of ourselves and our loved ones that we dare not speak.  We must ask him, When will it happen?  How will it happen?  Will I be able to endure it?  And why must it happen?  And he will answer us.  Or rather, he will gently remind us of what we know already, and what we’re not supposed to know.  We know that, barring accidents, we’ll get old and sick.  And no matter when it comes, death will surely claim us eventually.  Why?  Because it is our path to heaven.  We will lose our loved ones the same way because that is their path to heaven.  As for our eternal reward or punishment, yes our judgment is inevitable, but the verdict is not.  That is in the hands of the merciful Saviour to whom we express our heavy worries.  And his answer to this prayer is to remind us that it’s also up to us.  We will not be judged unfairly.  The God who is infinitely just and yet infinitely merciful will base his judgment on our own efforts to know, love and serve him.  When he answers those whispered prayers, we need not fear what he will tell us.  He will simply tell us to renew our efforts, and try our very hardest to be the perfect creatures he wants us to be.  On those efforts we will be judged, and if our efforts are the best we can manage, we will be given the graces to save our souls.

These are all simple truths I tell you today.  But they are great truths.  It’s not just a question of resigning ourselves to these great truths by placing all our fears in God’s hands.  It’s actually our source of comfort to know these truths.  For if we manage to stay out of trouble and preserve our souls in that most beautiful state of grace that God is so eager to give us, we will find such peace and serenity unlike any other, that peace that the world cannot give.  We will find the strength to stop cowering in the face of an uncertain future, and actually grow in the realization that no matter how bad it gets, it’s worth it in the end.  “Whither goest thou, o Lord?”  “I go to my Father.”  And whither go we?  We also go to our Father.  And like our Lord, it is expedient that we go.

LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

 A HYMN FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

By John Henry Cardinal Newman

 

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,
Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith,
Home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.

QUO VADIS?

 A REFLECTION FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

In today’s Gospel, our Lord asks his apostles a question.  It’s an odd question, on the face of it—partly because he already knows the answer of course, but in this case, the question is why they aren’t asking him a question.   He knows they’re upset and that they have a big question on their minds, but they’re afraid to ask.  They’re afraid, not so much of asking, but rather of the answer he’s going to give them.  And our Lord wants to reassure them that his answer should strike not fear into their hearts, but serenity.

The question they want to ask but don’t dare to, is this: “Whither goest thou?  Where are you going?  Our Lord lets them know exactly where he’s going (back to his Father in heaven) and more importantly, why he’s leaving them (so he can send the Holy Spirit to strengthen and confirm them in their faith).

St. Peter learns his lesson.  Never again will he fear to ask our Lord a question.  But we can’t say that never again will he fear.  Towards the end of his life, he arrived at the capital of the Roman Empire, the great city of Rome.  Here he founded the Church of Rome, becoming the first Bishop of that city, and thus the first Pope.  But these were bad times.  The Roman Emperor Nero was a cruel man who hated the Christians.  He feared this new movement that was sweeping through his empire, imagining that it threatened his hold on the imperial power.  Christians were being vigorously and most cruelly persecuted, and the lions of the Colosseum never went hungry.

Naturally, Nero’s chief target was the leader of this Christian minority, St. Peter.  His soldiers were fast closing in on the apostle, and our first Pope knew his days were limited.  And so he was afraid, and fled the city of Rome.  As he resolutely trudged along the Appian Way out of the city into the countryside he met a man walking in the opposite direction.  As the man came closer, St. Peter recognized him.  It was our blessed Lord himself.  Why, he wondered, was Jesus walking towards Rome?  And he remembered the lesson he had learned in today’s Gospel, the reluctance to ask the question that needed to be asked.  It was the same question this time, and St. Peter wasn’t going to fail our Lord again.  So he asked it: Domine, quo vadis?  “O Lord, whither goest thou?”  And our Lord answered him: “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.”  This famous response of Our Lord struck St. Peter so hard that he immediately turned round and walked back to Rome where he, and not his beloved Saviour, would be martyred, insisting to his executioners that he should be crucified upside down to make reparation for his lack of courage.

Whatever we might imagine our Lord is going to tell us, we should never fear to ask him our questions.  He will never tell us what we must do, but he will inspire us to make our own choices wisely.  If we want the graces to follow Christ wheresoever he wants us to go, we must simply ask him where that place is, and then do everything possible to get there.  It might be a place of joy and peace, or it might be our very own Calvary.  That should not matter to us, so long as we can prevent our Lord from suffering any more for the sins we have committed against him.

A WOMAN IN TRAVAIL

 A SERMON FOR MOTHERS' DAY

A very blessed Mothers’ Day to all you mothers.  And to those of you who are not mothers, let us not forget that we all have mothers.  They may be with us today, or they may have passed on to eternity, but there was a day long since obliterated in our infant memories when that mother gave birth to us.  She conceived, she carried us in her womb for nine long months, and then she delivered us into this world.  It took those nine months of arduous devotion to her unborn child to ensure our birth was safe and as worry-free as possible, not to mention the care she took to prepare a place in her home where we could be kept safe and worry-free.  And at the end of all those months of preparation, her time of expectation was complete, and she went into labor.  She labored for us.  

When our first mother, Eve, bit the apple and committed the first human sin against Almighty God, swift was the retribution meted out to her.  Along with Adam she was banished from the Garden of Eden, and sentenced to the great pains and sorrows of childbirth.  God said unto the woman “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.”  Ever since that day, it has been a painful and sorrowful experience to give birth.  And we would not be here this day if our mother had not gone through that pain, discomfort and sorrow it took to bring us into this world.

Ask any mother though and she will tell you that it was worth it.  So great is the love of a mother for her baby that, as our Lord describes in today’s Gospel, “a woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.”  This joy that every mother experiences at the birth of her child is surely a joy unlike any other.  The fact that it came at the cost of such physical pain only serves to increase the rejoicing that follows.  The battle is fought and won.  The fight is over and we stand at a new beginning, ready to take home a new baby, a new member of the family.  Life will never be the same again.  Life will be better in so many unimaginable ways.

We men can never comprehend the depth of this joy that a mother feels.  But we can surely appreciate the love that our mothers have shown us.  On this Mothers’ Day, we are able to repay a little of that love by showering on our mothers our appreciation of all they have done for us.  For those fortunate enough to live close enough to our mothers, we give them flowers, other gifts, take them out to dinner, serve them as once they served us.  And if we are not so fortunate and have lost our mothers through the passing of time, we will always remember them, we still have our blessed memories of childhood, and are still able to show our appreciation to our dear departed mothers by our prayers and acts of penance for the repose of their souls.

We should always remember that first great sacrifice our mother made for us when she accepted her maternal role with the expectation of all those pains of childbirth that went with it.  The best way we can show our appreciation goes far beyond a bouquet of roses on Mothers’ Day.  Our most fitting gift to our mothers is by imitating their example.  How?  By doing what all good mothers do and putting ourselves last, and by putting the happiness and welfare of others ahead of our own.  She did that for us, so let’s pass it down so that others may move forward.  The opportunities to do this are endless—everything in this life that is worth going after takes fortitude and perseverance and sacrifice to get there, and the more worthwhile the outcome, the greater amount of sacrifice it takes to achieve it.  Our mothers taught us that little secret when they brought us into the world, and what better way to show them we understand their sacrifice for us than by sacrificing ourselves in turn for others, and ultimately, for God.  No one did it better than the Blessed Mother herself, when she acceded to God’s will and gave up her own.  Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum—Let it be done unto me according to thy word.  What terrible sorrows she had to endure during her life, and yet here we are today, crowning her Queen of Heaven and Earth.  Follow her example, and like her “Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”

HOLY PATRON, THEE SALUTING

 A HYMN FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

1 Holy patron, thee saluting

Here we meet, with hearts sincere;

Blest Saint Joseph, all uniting,

Call on thee to hear our prayer.

 

Refrain:

Happy saint, in bliss adoring

Jesus, Savior of mankind,

Hear thy children thee imploring,

May we thy protection find.

 

2 Thou who faithfully attended

Him whom heav'n and earth adore;

Who with pious care defended

Mary, Virgin ever pure. [Refrain]

 

3 May our fervent pray'rs ascending,

Move thee for our souls to plead;

May thy smile of peace descending,

Benedictions on us shed. [Refrain]

 

4 Through this life, O watch around us!

Fill with love our ev'ry breath,

And, when parting fear surrounds us,

Guide us through the toils of death. [Refrain]

THE APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL

 A REFLECTION FOR THE FEAST OF THE APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL

Today, May 8, is also the Feast of the Apparition of the Archangel Michael.  This is the second of the feasts of St. Michael, the other, of course, being Michaelmas, held on September 29.  The following is the reading from the Matins of May 8.  While it is not read today as the Sunday lessons take precedence, it is a good opportunity nevertheless to learn about the origin of this second feast of this warrior Angel who cast Satan out of heaven.

 

“That the blessed Archangel Michael hath oftentimes been seen of men is attested on the authority of the Holy Bible, and also by the ancient traditions of the Saints.  For this reason such visions are held in remembrance in many places.  As of old time did the Synagogue of the Jews, so now doth the Church of God venerate Michael as her watcher and defender.  But during the Popedom of Gelasius I, the summit of Mount Gargano in Apulia, at whose foot lieth the town of Siponto, was the scene of an extraordinary appearance of this same Archangel Michael.

“And it came to pass on this wise.  A certain man had a bull grazing with the flock upon Mount Gargano, and it strayed.  And when they had sought it for a long while they found it jammed in the mouth of a cavern.  Then one that stood there shot an arrow at it to slay it, but the arrow turned round and came back against him that had shot it.  They therefore that saw it, and all those that heard it, were sore afraid because of that which had come to pass, so that no man dared any more to draw near to the cavern.  But when they had sought counsel of the Bishop of Siponto, he answered, that it behoved to seek the interpretation from God, and proclaimed three days of fasting and prayer.

“After three days the Archangel Michael gave warning to the Bishop that that place was under his protection, and that he had thus pointed out by a sign that he wished that worship should be offered to God there, with remembrance of himself and of the Angels.  Then the Bishop and the citizens made haste and came to the cavern; and when they found that the form thereof was somewhat after the fashion of a Church  they began to perform the public worship of God  therein: which sanctuary hath been glorified with many miracles.  It was not long after these things that Pope Boniface IV hallowed the Church of St. Michael on Hadrian's Mole at Rome, on the 29th day of September, on the which day the Church also holdeth in remembrance All Angels.  But this present day is hallowed in remembrance of the manifestation of the Archangel Michael.”

 

As we crown our blessed Mother on this day, we should consider her role as Queen of Angels.  St. Michael is the one who took up the defense of God that day of the Great Battle of Heaven.  As such, he fought for the Mother of God also, a role he has been fulfilling ever since.  Let us do our part to fight that good fight, always defending the good name of Mary, and never failing in our own role as her blessed and honorable children.

THE LORD'S MY SHEPHERD

 A HYMN FOR GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

By Francis Rous

 

1 The Lord’s my shepherd; I’ll not want.
He makes me down to lie
in pastures green; he leadeth me
the quiet waters by.
He leadeth me, he leadeth me
the quiet waters by.

 

2 My soul he doth restore again
and me to walk doth make
within the paths of righteousness,
e’en for his own name’s sake;
within the paths of righteousness,
e’en for his own name’s sake.

 

3 Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
yet will I fear no ill;
for thou art with me, and thy rod
and staff me comfort still;
for thou art with me, and thy rod
and staff me comfort still.

 

4 My table thou hast furnished
in presence of my foes;
my head thou dost with oil anoint,
and my cup overflows.
My head thou dost with oil anoint,
and my cup overflows.

 

5 Goodness and mercy all my life
shall surely follow me,
and in God’s house forevermore
my dwelling place shall be;
and in God’s house forevermore
my dwelling place shall be.

IN PASTURES GREEN

 A REFLECTION FOR GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

I find this time of year very nostalgic.  It evokes memories of day trips after Easter with my parents, long drives in the countryside of the Yorkshire Dales.  Most of all I remember the fields filled with sheep and their newborn lambs.  Sometimes we’d stop and park the car for a picnic near one of these fields, and watch as the shepherd whistled and controlled his sheepdogs who would gather the flock together and herd them from one pasture to another.  Lambing season in Yorkshire is from February to April, so by the end of April there would be more of the little lambs than there were adults.  As one Yorkshireman put it, “ It's such an optimistic sight - new life, happy active lambs playing in the Spring sunshine, their protective mothers never far away. There's an air of carefree times to come, as Spring turns into Summer. But behind this lovely sight is a lot of work and worry for farmers.”

It's no coincidence that the Church chose the second Sunday after Easter as Good Shepherd Sunday.  Although we’re celebrating the feast of the Holy Apostles Philip and James this year, our proper Last Gospel helps us keep in mind this other aspect of our devotions today.  To get a better idea of the responsibilities of a shepherd, I’ve included a snippet of an article that describes some of the extra duties and worries of the sheep farmers at lambing season.  I would ask you to apply these to the care with which our blessed Saviour, the Good Shepherd himself, looks after us, his own sheep, dwelling faithfully still in his pasture, the Church.  It might also give us some idea of our responsibility as sheepdogs to our own children!

“Most lambs are born outside without any help, but some farmers will bring ewes into barns or fields closer to the farm to help them lamb, particularly if the weather is bad or they are first time mothers.

When we see cute lambs gambolling about the hillsides we often don’t acknowledge that for farmers lambing means huge responsibility and exhaustion. They have endless early mornings and late nights (if they get to bed at all), watching and helping ewes to lamb, making sure they bond, and the lambs are fed. If the weather is bad, the job is even harder.  The first few hours are vital, so farmers need to check on them frequently. The initial colostrum milk carries essential antibodies and nutrition. Some lambs may need to be brought inside for feeding. In cold weather it’s important to keep up their energy levels with sufficient nutrition, and some ewes may be less good at suckling their lambs.

A strong elastic band is fixed around the base of the tail, which withers and falls off. This keeps them clean and free from disease. Newborn lambs are particularly susceptible to wet weather and may need extra protection: this is why you sometimes see them in plastic coats!”

After all this hard work, we really need to ask you to make sure you have your dogs on leads. Many say their dogs would never worry sheep. That may be true - my spaniels wouldn't chase sheep but they do chase rabbits and if they happened to be a field full of sheep while chasing rabbits, they'd freak the sheep. A pregnant ewe can abort due to shock, or get separated from her lambs in a panic. A farmer seeing that sight might well believe their sheep were in danger and they'd have every right to shoot my dogs.  By law if a dog causes damage by injuring or killing livestock, the keeper of the dog is liable for the damage. The law provides statutory defence to farmers who injure a dog in order to protect their livestock, if the dog is not under control.”

 This last paragraph reminds us that we must preserve our children from bad influences around them.  These include not only the dogs of bad company, but also those harder-to-notice pressures put on them through the various agendas in place among some of our school teachers and certainly all of the mass media.  They must be protected at all cost from any environment that might confuse their little minds and their way of thinking.  If necessary, parents must take the time to deprogram them after any exposure to the devil’s influence.  The Good Shepherd will shoot the devil, but the sheepdogs must do their part in steering the lambs away from danger!

LORD, SHEW US THE FATHER!

 A SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PHILIP & JAMES

How often do we harbor the wish that we could see God?  We believe in God, we love God, we obey God’s laws and try to do God’s will.  God is the center of our lives, the Supreme Being, our loving Creator and Protector, without whom we would be nothing.  It’s natural, then, that we should want to see him, to behold his countenance and rejoice in his presence, and it was this natural desire that motivated St. Philip’s request to our blessed Lord in today’s Gospel, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”

Our Lord did not waste time explaining to St. Philip that God the Father was a pure spirit without a body, a Being that cannot be seen or, indeed, perceived by any of the five senses.  We might speak figuratively about the Face of God, but no one has ever actually seen the Face of God the Father with their own eyes.  Moses may have seen God in the form of a burning bush; the children of Israel may have followed God under the appearance of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  But these apparitions never allowed anyone actually to see God himself.  If we are fortunate enough to save our souls and be admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven, there we shall be permitted to see God “face to face” in the Beatific Vision.  But until that time, no man may behold the Face of God.  And yet, I say, many people have seen the Face of God, and beginning of St. John’s Gospel explains how.

By the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.  This Man to whom St. Philip was speaking was God.   He was the Word of God who was in the beginning: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  And when that Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Is it any wonder, then, that our Lord’s reply to his Apostle Philip should be in the form of an admonition?  “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?  He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”  

Many multitudes of people followed Christ, witnessing his miracles, his healing powers, his ability to raise the dead.  Many were convinced already that this was the Son of God.  At his death, so great were the miracles at his crucifixion, when darkness descended upon the Holy City and the dead rose from their tombs and walked the streets of Jerusalem, that many of the Gentiles, even, were impressed to the point of believing.  One of the centurions guarding the cross actually exclaimed for all to hear, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”  And yet, even one of his own Apostles, Philip, still did not understand that Jesus was God.  And so our Lord gently reprimanded him and then explained what today we all know and believe: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”

St. Philip no doubt listens to our Lord’s answer but the Gospel gives no hint as to his reaction.  However, we know that his faith must have been deepened by our Lord’s explanation: he received the Holy Ghost at Pentecost with the other Apostles and went on to convert the people of Scythia, a region that extended from the Black Sea and the southern Ukraine all the way to India.  Eventually, he ended up in Phrygia in what is now central Turkey, and there he was martyred for his faith, crucified and then stoned to death as he hung on the cross.  St. Philip’s faith ended up being strong and sure, fortified by the words of our Lord to him in today’s Gospel: “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.”

Our own faith should also be confirmed by our Lord’s words to Philip.  When we receive our blessed Lord in Holy Communion, it is not just the Body and Blood of Christ in which we partake; it is also his soul and divinity—in other words the Triune God himself, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

The faith of the other apostles was also strengthened on this day.  In the case of St. James, whose feast day is celebrated today along with St. Philip, we know that even at the age of ninety-six, he was still “ever most constantly preaching Christ the Son of God.” 

The Roman Breviary gives an account of St. James’ life, and we can infer from it that he had a great faith in the divinity of our Lord.  The following snippets from today’s Matins give us an idea of his sanctity and fortitude: “During his whole life he never drank wine or strong drink, never ate meat, never shaved, and never took a bath.  He was the only man who was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies.  So great was James' holiness of life that men strove one with another to touch the hem of his garment.  And so continually did he kneel in prayer, that the skin of his knees became hard and calloused, like a camel's knees.  After Christ was ascended into heaven, the Apostles made James Bishop of Jerusalem.  He governed the Church of Jerusalem for thirty years before finally being arrested under orders from King Herod, who had him taken up on to a pinnacle of the Temple and cast down from thence.  His legs were broken by the fall, and he was wellnigh dead, but he lifted up his hands towards heaven, and prayed to God for the salvation of his murderers, saying: Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do.  As he said this, one that stood by smote him grievously upon the head with a fuller's club, and he resigned his spirit to God.”

The body of St. James now rests in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles in Rome, next to the body of St. Philip, whose request to our Lord to shew him the Father triggered the deepening of faith that gave them both the strength to endure their martyrdom.  Last week our faith was confirmed by the doubt of St. Thomas.  This week, let us pray that through the merits of these two holy Apostles, we may see our faith confirmed again and strengthened to withstand whatever sufferings and sorrows come our way.  In the Holy Face of Christ, we behold him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one, he told us, cometh unto the Father, but by me.  Let us look deeply into that Holy Face, asking our Lord to show us the way, realizing that it is the Face of God himself, the Divine being in human form.  We don’t need to ask our Lord therefore that he show unto us the Father.  We just need to ask our Lord that though we see his Face in this life “as through a glass darkly,” we may one day truly see God “face to face.”