A Knight's Walk in the Kingdom

theophilus November 1st, 2009

With All Saints Day falling on a Sunday this year, it’s brought to mind a pattern I’ve been noticing this year.

Every Sunday, I look to the liturgical week ahead, specifically the readings and saints.  In doing so this past year, I’ve noticed a number of popular saints that have had their feast day preempted by Sunday this year.

While these saints, of course, don’t care, they are there for us, not them.  The church wants us to remember their lives and works done.  They lived such exemplary and holy lives, and did so perfectly the will of God, that they are set apart for us to look to and emulate.

They built Christ’s Kingdom while they were here on earth.  And we can do the same.  We are all called to be saints; and we still can be one, no matter how badly we may think we have screwed up our lives.

So, look at this list.  Some are very well-known, others not so.  Pick one you know very little about and do a search on them.  Learn something.  Great heroes of the Church.  Some just like you and me.

January – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

February – St. Jerome Emiliani; St. Josephine Bakhita; Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

March – St. John of God

April – St. Vincent Ferrer

May – Sts. Philip & James; Feast of the Visitation

June – St. Aloysius Gonzaga; St. Irenaeus

July – St. Anthony Zaccaria; Sts. Joachim & Anne

August – St. Eusebius of Vercelli; St. Peter Julian Eymard; St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein); St. Stephen of Hungary; St. Rose of Lima

September – St. John Chrysostom; Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang & Companions; St. Vincent de Paul

October – St. Francis of Assisi; St. Luke

November – St. Albert the Great; St. Cecilia

December – St. Nicholas; St. Lucy; St. John

And, again, remember on this All Saints Day – we are all called to be saints, every single one of us.  We can start this hour by praying, this day by showing love for others, this week by serving others, this month by renouncing whatever is holding us back from truly living life and following Christ.

Read the lives of the saints, get to know them, personalize them, allow them to lead you to Christ, allow them to lead you to a saintly life.

• Saints , Uncategorized
• Comments(1)

theophilus October 24th, 2009

One of the things that I admire about our Evangelical Christian brethren is their zeal for Christ and their lack of shyness in showing it.  Come on, face it, most Catholics are, at best, reserved and introspective about our faith in Christ.

We don’t talk about our faith in social settings; we do not wear our faith upon our sleeves; we tend to hide our belief in Christ.  Even during Sunday Mass, we can be a quiet bunch when it comes to singing and expressions of prayer. And no one better catch us praying outside of church or having any identifiable object upon us.

I was thinking about this difference today when reading a passage written by St. Anthony Claret, whose feast day is today.  He lived in the 19th Century, born in Spain, bishop of Cuba, very effective anti-slavery voice, recalled to Spain where he did important work for the Church in a tumultuous era. He was known for his zealous love of Christ and his fellow man. Some appreciated this zeal, others less so.

In this passage from the Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours), he preaches about Christian zeal-

“The love of Christ arouses us, urges us to run, and to fly, lifted on the wings of holy zeal. The man who truly loves God also loves his neighbor. The truly zealous man is also one who loves, but he stands on a higher place of love so that the more he is inflamed by love, the more urgently zeal drives him on. . . . The zealous man desires and achieves all great things and he labors strenuously so that God may always be better known, loved and served in this world and in the life to come, for this holy love is without end.”

Zeal get us “to fly” and to desire and achieve “all great things.”  Zeal gets us to a “higher place of love”  But its zeal for God that raises us to these heights.

Zeal also impacts our relations with others-

“Because he is concerned also for his neighbor, the man of zeal works to fulfill his desire that all men be content on this earth and happy and blessed in this heavenly homeland, that all may be saved, and that no one may perish for ever, or offend God, or remain even for a moment in sin. Such are the concerns we observe in the holy apostles and in all who are driven by the apostolic spirit.”

Zeal gets us to think about each other not just in our day-to-day relationships but also in a divine and eternal sense. We must love each other and this love must be expressed and be a channel of God’s grace.

My reading today concluded with this passage-

“The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame, he desires and works with all his strength to inflame all men with the fire of God’s love. Nothing deters him: he rejoices in poverty; he labors strenuously; he welcomes hardships; he laughs off false accusations; he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate him by his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and by caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”

In a sense, we are responsible for each other.  We are held accountable for each other.  We are strongly cautioned against going around talking about God without reason or purpose, or praying and fasting aloud like the hypocrites, or judging others, or making others feel uncomfortable in our presence.  Rather we should show our zeal by our actions, in all aspects of our lives. Instead of pushing people away from Christ or ignoring him, we are called to bring others to him.

Do you love?  Do you show that love in the way you act and treat others? Do you go out of your way to help those in any type of need? Do you listen? Do you show compassion and patience?  Do you forgive?  Do you seek to understand? Do you truly and meaningfully talk to others to help them reach answers to their own questions? Are you honest and trustworthy regardless of the situation? Do you do the right things, always? Do you know, hold fast to, and defend the basic truths of our faith?  Do you prevent others from sinning and provide a good example to keep others from sinning? And do you either introduce them or remind them of God’s love for them in the process?

Do others see a fire within you for Christ?  A fire that is not burning indiscriminately and out-of-control, but a fire that is contained and intense at the same time.

Do others know who you belong to? Do they see that confident peace and joy within you that can only come from Christ? Are you a force for good in this world?

Today’s Mass begins with this opening prayer -

“Father, you endowed Anthony Claret with the strength of love and patience to preach the Gospel to many nations. By the help of his prayers may we work generously for your kingdom and gain our brothers and sisters for Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

This prayer sums up our own mission.  With strength, love and patience, to work generously for God’s kingdom and to bring our neighbors to Christ.  And also to preach the Gospel; maybe not by our words, but most definitely by our actions.  And by our actions and whatever words Christ puts into our mouths, showing the zeal that should be natural to us as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.

• Faith , Saints
• Comments(1)

theophilus September 23rd, 2009

I have a small card that I carry in my prayer book.  I got it in the mail as part of a fundraising campaign by some Catholic organization.  I couldn’t tell you which one; but I really wish I would’ve sent them some money because the prayer card has come in handy on so many occasions.

The prayer card doesn’t have any images.  On the front is the “St. Pio Prayer” and on the back are the “Padre Pio Counsels.”   Padre Pio was a great man of prayer who was known for spending hours in the confessional and in his ability to intercede in prayer and get other people’s prayers answered.  He lived in the 20th Century (dying in 1968) so he is one of our modern saints; he lived in our times.  If you do not know about his life, just google him and start reading.

Today is the memorial of St. Pio.  In this day and age of uncertainty, it is fitting to call upon him and ask for his intercession in prayer and to adhere to his counsels.

Padre Pio Counsels

“Pray, hope and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart.”

“Walk cheerfully and with a sincere and open heart as much as you can, and when you cannot always maintain this holy joy, at least do not lose your trust in God.”

“Do not tire yourself over things that cause anxiety and worry. Only one thing is necessary: to lift up your spirit and love God.”

“Be cheerful. Jesus will take care of everything. Let us trust in Jesus and our heavenly Mother, and everything will work out well.”

St. Pio Prayer

Gracious God, You blessed Padre Pio with the five wounds of Christ Crucified, making him an inspiring witness to the saving love of Jesus in our world, and a powerful reminder to us of Your infinite mercy and goodness.

Through the heavenly intercession of St. Pio, I ask for the grace of  . . . (here state your petition).

Help me, O Lord, to imitate Padre Pio’s devout faith, prayerful holiness, patient forgiveness and loving compassion towards others.  Amen.

Padre Pio, pray for us!

• Prayer , Saints
• Comments(1)

theophilus July 13th, 2009

Today is the feast day of St. Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor at the turn of the first millenium.  He was a ruler who lived and ruled according to the will of God, realizing that the true ruler of his realm was Christ the King.

This morning I read part of a biography of St. Henry (from the Office of Readings) and was struck by a couple of passages.  In St. Henry’s remarks upon the establishment of the Archdiocese of Bamburg (kings got to set up dioceses, with the consent of Rome, back then), he said some things that apply to all of us, regardless of whether we rule a nation, our company or our cubicle.

“We are taught and advised to abandon temporal riches, to lay aside earthly goods, and to strive to reach the eternal and everlasting dwelling-place in heaven.”

“For present glory is fleeting and meaningless, while it is possessed, unless in it we can glimpse something of heaven’s eternity.”

“But God’s mercy toward the human race provided a useful remedy when he made the reward for earthly existence a share in our heavenly existence.”

“Not unmindful of this clemency and aware that by the gratuitous consideration of divine mercy we were raised up to a position of regal dignity . . . not turning a deaf ear to the Lord’s commandments and obediently following divine urgings, we desire to take the treasures of divine generosity bestowed on us by his bounty and store them in heaven, where thieves cannot dig them up or steal them and rust or moth may not destroy them.”

“When we reflect upon all that we have now stored up, our heart will be often drawn with longing and love.”

From these passages, we know that St. Henry got it – he realized that he did not get to be king all by himself and he wasn’t king by happenstance.  He also realized that his successes were not his alone.  And most importantly, he realized that the worth of his life wasn’t dependent upon his successes as king, but what he did to get to heaven.

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, you need to do what God has called you to do, and you must do it knowing that God put you in this place in this time to do it.  And your successes?  They belong to God and they should be getting you closer to heaven.

Our lives need to be lived for Christ; they need to be lived so as to serve Christ.  Even in this time of economic distress, God is in control and we must live and work in a way that is consistent with God’s will for us.  We must live and work as if our eternal lives depend upon it.

• Catholic Men , God's Call , Saints , Workplace Faith
• Comments(0)

theophilus June 29th, 2009

I came across a prayer attributed to St. Ignatius a while back -

“Lord, teach me to be generous.  Teach me to serve you as you deserve.  To give and not count the cost.  To fight and not heed the wounds.  To toil and not seek for rest.  To labor and not ask for reward, save for knowing that I am doing your will.”

I know someone who is trying to live the last phrase of that prayer – “To labor and not ask for reward, save for knowing that I am doing your will.”

He is doing something that will result in others gain, yet he will probably not be rewarded for it.  He is doing something that will benefit many, yet his family questions his career path.  There is always the question left unsaid, but always hanging in the air, as to whether he should be doing something more distinguished or of greater monetary worth.

Yet, he has confided in me that he truly believes that he is doing God’s will.  He is exactly where God needs him.  He is laboring for Christ.

I told him about St. Ignatius’ prayer because I realized he is trying to live it.  He is trying so hard to keep from falling into the chasm of self-pity where he will crave reward for his labor.  He is trying to satisfy himself with the reward of knowing that he is doing God’s will; he is serving Christ.  I can tell that it is not easy.

And I reminded him that it doesn’t matter whether we measure up in someone else’s eyes; whether we are doing what others expect of us.  What matters if whether we are doing what God wants us to do; whether we measure up to what Christ expects of us.

The saints lived the prayer of St. Ignatius; each and every phrase.  We are called to do the same.

We all are called to be generous and serve and give and fight and toil and labor; but not to count the cost or heed the wounds or seek for rest or ask for reward.  We are all called to just serve Christ and do God’s will.  We are all called to be a saint.

• God's Call , Prayer , Sacrifice , Saints
• Comments(0)

theophilus June 24th, 2009

It was only recently that I started to understand the difference between the different types of days on the Church calendar.  I couldn’t tell you the difference between solemnities, feasts, memorials, optional memorials and ferial days. I thought feast days were all the same.

So, as I began to learn about the Church calendar, I started to understand its structure and what the Church is trying to teach us as the year unfolds.  I also began to understand why solemnities are reserved for the most important days during the year.

Most solemnities are well-observed (Easter & Christmas) or fall on Sunday (Epiphany, Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, Christ the King).  Holy Days of Obligation are also solemnities (Mary, Mother of God; Ascension; Assumption; All Saints; Immaculate Conception).

But there are a few solemnities that do not fall on Sunday and are not Holy Days of Obligation.  These are St. Joseph (March 19), the Annunciation (March 25), Sacred Heart (Friday after 2nd Sunday after Pentecost), Sts. Peter & Paul (June 29), and St. John the Baptist (today, June 24).

All of these days are important to us and allow us to spend time thinking and praying about great people in the life of Jesus and the Church, as well as great mysteries that form the foundation of our faith.

With today being one of these most important of remembrances, we should spend some time thinking about the life of St. John the Baptist, what he meant to Christ’s ministry, and what he means to us today.

He was the voice crying in the wilderness.  He prepared the way for the Lord.  He was the fulfillment of prophecy.  He taught repentance, conversion, salvation and forgiveness.

This is a great day to go to Mass, pray the Rosary, read the story of St. John in Luke 1.  It is also a great day to think about whether you are listening to God through the people he has sent into your life; whether you need to get to confession to ask for forgiveness; whether you need to change things in your life; whether you are accepting the gift of salvation from Christ and are serving him.

Are you doing God’s will as St. John did?

Today, place yourself on the banks of the Jordan River and listen to what St. John has to tell you; listen to what Christ has to tell you.

• Church , Jesus , Liturgy , Mercy & Forgiveness , Saints
• Comments(0)

theophilus June 12th, 2009

As we come to the end of the Year of St. Paul, I’ve been wondering what St. Paul would write to us if he was sending an epistle to the Church in America.

While I think this question can be redundant because St. Paul’s epistles are timeless for every Catholic in every time, today’s Mass reading from 2 Corinthians 4 is especially instructive for us today.

Let’s face it, we’re going through some uncertain times; times that would have seen familiar to the people of Corinth.

Do you feel “afflicted” – from today’s reading, we learn that so did the Corinthians; so St. Paul assured them that they would not be “constrained.”

Do you feel “perplexed” – so did the Corinthians; so St. Paul assured them they should “not be driven to despair.”

Do you feel “persecuted” – so did the Corinthians; so St. Paul assured them that they would not be “abandoned.”

Do you feel “struck down” – so did the Corinthians; so St. Paul assured them that would not be “destroyed.”

While some may feel afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, all must know that we are not constrained in our afflictions, must not be driven to despair in our perplexity, are not abandoned in our persecution, and cannot be destroyed when facing supposed defeat.

As long as we keep Christ as the center of our lives and serve him as he deserves, we will overcome anything that is thrown at us.  We must have faith, hope and love, while yearning for the peace and joy that is Christ’s grace to us when we truly believe in him and serve him.

I think St. Paul would tell us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves or fearful or uncertain, and to get on with the business of serving Christ in whatever way he calls us to do so.  While not touchy-feely, I think his would be good advice and exactly what we need to hear.

• Catholic Joy , God's Call , Jesus , Liturgy , Saints
• Comments(0)

theophilus May 26th, 2009

If you are a man of honor and integrity (and most men are), you want to keep your word to others.  You want to have the reputation of getting the job done and being dependable; whether it’s your family, friends, community or job.  You don’t want to let others down.

But do you take the same attitude with Christ?  He has a plan for each of us.  He asks something of each of us every single day.  As a member of his body, we are called upon daily by him to do something, big or small, to help build his kingdom.

Yesterday for Memorial Day Mass, our priest talked about all of us being “Soldiers of Christ.”   He spoke about each of us having a duty to Christ to do his will; to stand up and join the battle.

Ask yourself these questions.  Do you strive to do your duty as a treasured son of God?  Do you strive to do his will?  Do you strive to keep your word to him in living your life?  Do you put your body, heart and soul at his disposition?

Today’s first reading is about a man who answered these questions with a resounding affirmative.  In Acts 20, St. Paul is giving one last sermon to the Ephesians.  He concludes by stating – “Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace. . . . And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”

There you have it.  St. Paul had no regrets; he knew he had done what he was called by Christ to do.

How about today’s Gospel from John 17.  Here we have Jesus praying to our Father in heaven – “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.  They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

Talk about a great performance review -  “They have kept your word.”  His apostles and disciples had answered the questions the same as St. Paul.

How about today’s Saint of the Day – St. Philip Neri.  He lived in 16th Century Italy at the height of the Reformation and the start of the Counter-Reformation, when Catholic faith and devotion were rapidly declining and in need of someone to help reverse the plunge into the abyss.  St. Philip responded to Christ’s call as well by doing great things to reinvigorate the faithful throughout Italy, most particularly in Rome.  He enflamed the laity and fostered a great love among all for the Blessed Sacrament.

St. Paul; the Apostles; the first disciples; St. Philip Neri – all became worthy Soliders of Christ.  They kept God’s word and fulfilled their duty to Christ.  They gave their lives to be used according to the Lord’s will and then, more importantly, kept their word to him.

Can the same be said of us?

• Catholic Men , Divine Filiation , God's Call , Jesus , Liturgy , Saints , The Battle
• Comments(0)

theophilus May 22nd, 2009

Today is the feast day of St. Rita of Cascia.  She was a wife and mother in 15th Century Italy who, after her husband and sons died, entered an Augustinian convent.

She is known for being a patron saint for many things.  I looked her up on CatholicCulture.org and found she is the patron saint of abuse victims, against loneliness, against sterility, bodily ills, desperate causes, difficult marriages, forgotten causes, impossible causes, infertility, lost causes, parenthood, sick people, sickness, sterility, victims of physical spouse abuse, widows, and wounds.  I also happen to know that she is the patron saint of baseball.

But I think she should be the patron saint of another cause – facial deformities.

One day, St. Rita was praying before the Crucifix when a thorn became embedded in her forehead.  It would stay there the rest of her life; foul smelling and unsightly.  She was even ostracized by her fellow sisters.

When that thorn became a permanent mark on her forehead, St. Rita became one of many who live with a facial deformity.

I was born with a cleft lip and other cranio-facial deformities.  I’ve had surgeries to close the lip and make the other deformities less pronounced, but you can still see that my face isn’t quite right (or as I’ve had others tell me, “you look funny”).

But, my deformities don’t hinder my life in any meaningful way.  I look different, my eyes are screwed up and one of my ears is shot, but God left all of the important parts fully functioning.  And I know I am designed as God intended.

And I know that I’m not alone.  According to the CDC, cleft lips and cleft palates are the most prevalent form of birth defects in the U.S.  Approximately 6,800 babies are born every year with one or the other (Down Syndrome is 2nd with 5,500 babies).  These statistics do not include those who are born with other facial deformities.  These deformities can affect much more than appearance; they can drastically impact speech, eating, hearing, sight, breathing; basically any bodily function between the throat and the brain.  And then, there are the stares and double-looks; the snide comments from the malevolent and the innocent questions from the curious.

The good news is that these deformities can be minimized with surgery.  Lips and palates can be closed; other facial deformities made less pronounced; bodily activities for the most part restored.

For more information about facial deformities (or cranio-facial birth defects), go to AmeriFace.org and cleftAdvocate.org.

Of course, the U.S. isn’t alone in having kids born with these facial deformities.  There are kids in every part of the world who are born with some type of facial birth defect.  Except for them, these defects may not be treatable because of the medical care in their country.  Their only hope are organizations like Smile Train and Operation Smile who focus on repairing cleft lips and palates in the poorest of nations.

The work of these organizations is sorely needed.  They are doing the work of Christ.

And next time you see someone with some facial deformities or scars, think of what they must go through; and then say a little prayer to St. Rita.  I bet she already has the beautiful faces of these precious children in her sights.

• Culture , Saints
• Comments(0)

theophilus May 20th, 2009

There’s a passage in today’s first reading from Acts 17 that seems ripe for the times.

St. Paul was addressing the Athenians and commenting on their belief in an “Unknown God.”  The Athenians, as enlightened as they were, understood there was an all powerful God, but couldn’t quite get their minds to understand anything about him, thus he remained “unknown.”  They were comfortable with Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Athena and even Hades; but they couldn’t grasp the concept of the omnipotent, monotheistic Being who we too often take for granted.

Later on in St. Paul’s sermon, he stated something that seems especially applicable to our age:

“God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that people everywhere repent because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”

“Times of Ignorance” – are we living in them?

As I witnessed the totality of what occurred at Notre Dame on Sunday and on the Holy Father’s trip to the Holy Land last week; as I hear about the world’s response to Israel’s concern about its very existence and the attacks on a beauty pageant contestant who dared to honestly answer a question posed to her on national TV;  I get the sinking feeling that we are smacked dab in the middle of these Times of Ignorance.

We hold ourselves out to be the most enlightened, smartest, advanced, progessive people of all time.  Yet, we can be so ignorant.  We are ignorant when we’ve replaced the power of God with the power of man.  But, we’ve forgotten that God created the world and raised Jesus from the dead.  Based on these two facts alone, Man cannot be deluded enough to think that our power can ever be equal to His.   But when we relegate God to just another special interest or faith as just another past-time, we do just this – we assume our power is separate from His, instead of realizing that our power is derived from Him; to be used according to His will.

I always got the impression that the Athenians thought they controlled their gods.  I got the same feeling about the Romans and their stable of deities.  St. Paul succeeded in dispelling their ignorance and spreading the faith in both civilizations.  But, I wonder – what would St. Paul say to us were he physically in our midst?  What would he say were he writing “The Letter of St. Paul to the Americans”?

I bet he wouldn’t be subtle.

• Culture , Liturgy , Mary , Saints , U.S.A.
• Comments(0)