Relatives will expend time, energy and all of their material resources to find the best Doctor to cure a disease of their love one.  Olympic athletes will train years, amounting to thousands of hours of training, to perform in the Olympic Games, hoping to win the Gold medal or at least the Silver. Natural beauties that exist—the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the change of color of the leaves in bloom in New England (the “foliage season”)— people will travel long distances just to “see” these Masterpieces of world beauty.  Even a day of entertainment at Disney, or Magic Mountain, or Sea world—how much time, importance and energy can be expended on all of these pursuits?  None of these are sinful, and many can be enriching and life-giving, but all on a purely natural level.

How much time and energy do we expend in providing for the salvation of our immortal soul and those immortal souls—if
parents, your children—that have been entrusted to your care???

Jesus clearly expresses the value of
one’s immortal soul.   After denouncing
greed in all forms Jesus spoke out with the utmost clarity:  “What would it profit a man if he were to
gain the whole world and lose his soul in the process?” What can a man give in
exchange for his immortal soul?    

It was the great St. Ignatius of Loyola who challenged the future “Patron saint of the missions”, Saint Francis
Xavier with this same Biblical challenge.  According to tradition, Ignatius kept repeating this same biblical
passage until Xavier capitulated, gave in to Ignatius’ desires, went through the Spiritual Exercises, and eventually was transformed into one of the most loved and greatest saints of the Jesuit family, and an example for all of us who are called to be missionaries.

While doing mission work in India Xavier baptized so many souls every day that at the end of the day he could no
longer lift up his arm due to the weariness of the number of the souls he had baptized in just one day.   The Body of
Xavier is conserved in Rome, Italy, whereas the “arm” that Baptized so many still remains in India.

The young Italian saint, who would die not even 15 years old, St. Dominic Savio, met with his spiritual Director,
Saint John Bosco. On the wall in the office of St. John Bosco was some saying written in Latin. Curious as to its meaning, Savio asked Bosco to translate.  St. John Bosco responded to its meaning: “Give me souls and take all the rest away!” This was the motivating principle of the apostolic zeal of St. John Bosco: to save as many souls as he possibly could!

St. John  Vianney, known as the Cure of Ars, understood very well the value of a soul. This was proven with the greatest clarity by his willingness to sacrifice himself to the extreme for the salvation of souls.  What were some of the sacrifices that the Cure of Ars willingly underwent for the salvation of souls? Here are just a few!

How often have we heard these words or even expressed them ourselves in moments of anger: “Eye for eye and tooth
for tooth”, and “Even Steven!”, or maybe, “He will get it, but even worse!”
Still another, “Let us give him some of his own medicine!”   Or when something evil visits him, you blurt
out gleefully: “He deserved it, and worse than that!” Pagan culture expresses
it this way: “What goes around comes around or it is his karma!”

All of the above sayings articulate a basic attitude that much of the world has embraced, hook, line, and sinker—that
of seeking out revenge on those who have done us harm.   The Italians have a pithy maxim: “La dolce
vendetta!”— in English, “The sweet revenge!”

Being disciples and followers of Our Lord Savior and Jesus Christ, these pagan and vindictive aphorisms cannot be
inherited, embraced and much less lived out in our lives!  The reason is simple: JESUS CHRIST IS OUR
MERCIFUL GOD!

God is slow to anger and rich in mercy and forgiveness.  We, on the contrary, once we are slighted or wounded in word, actions, or misinterpreted, our anger ignites, brooding sets in, resentments grow and all too often, due to lack of forgiveness, hatred takes possession of our souls and spiritual poison permeates our whole being!  

Both Blessed Pope John Paul II and the first saint canonized by Pope John Paul II in the new millennium, on Mercy
Sunday, Saint Faustina Kowalska, are modern heralds of the great mercy of
God.   They are beacons of hope and shining torches of enthusiasm, especially for their writings, and to their
living out, the greatness of God’s infinite mercy!

St. Faustina suffered much. Often misunderstood, criticized mercilessly, seen by many even in her own convent as
a fanatic, a fake, and a nobody, this great saint, instead of harboring
thoughts of resentment and revenge, she would simply pray for these individuals
and forgive them from her heart, living out what she was commanded out of
obedience to write in  the DIARY OF MERCY IN MY SOUL.                                                                  

One of the most beautiful prayers ever written on mercy can be found in the Diary, # 163.   This inspired prayer summarizes how we
should be an incarnation of God’s infinite mercy in our lives by using all of our senses as instruments of God’s infinite mercy. Our eyes to see others with the merciful gaze of Jesus; our ears to be used to hear God’s mercy; our tongue – never to criticize or speak negatively about anybody—but to praise God and express mercy to all. But especially may our hearts be filled with the most sublime sentiments of mercy towards all. 

Immediately after the prayer, the Diary invites all to live out mercy by practicing at least one of act of mercy very day.  It can be one of three types: 1) A kind word, 2) a kind action (take the Corporal or Spiritual works of mercy as a model, taken from Mt 25) 3) Finally, if word or action is difficult, then we can always pray for somebody— this too is part of living out the call to be an Incarnation of God’s mercy in the world! When all is said and done, on the judgment day God’s mercy will be our triumph and our victory. Therefore, no time to waste because life is all too short; let us start to live out mercy in our lives. Opportunities are not lacking only good will on our part!

Blessed Pope John Paul II represents another icon of God’s mercy.  This great
man of God preached mercy, wrote on the doctrine of mercy, but especially he
lived it out in flesh and blood visible to the whole world!

Imbued and blessed by the spirit of God, a peoples’ person, blessing the little children and relishing being
available to the whole world, on that May 13th, 1981, the gun-shot
was heard and suddenly Pope John Paul II fell back.  He was shot! Almost seeming hopeless the
situation and his life hanging from a thread, prayers of intercession and mercy
ascended like fragrant aroma to the throne of the Blessed Trinity.

God’s loving mercy triumphed! After a long operation and the removal of an enormous bullet from his stomach and a’ long process of convalescence, the Merciful Vicar of Christ, resumed his task of Successor of Peter.

Once again referring to mercy, Christmas Eve that same year, Pope John Paul II made a key visit: to the prison where his attempted assassin was incarcerated. The essential message of this extraordinary historical visit was that of Mercy!  Pope John Paul II desired, from the depths of
his merciful heart, to express mercy in person to the man who planned to end his life!                         

Photos, videos, You-tubes all portray Pope John Paul II speaking to Agca, listening attentively to him, and even
embracing him.  What more clear image of the Parable of the Prodigal Son could exist than this emotionally-charged and heart-rending
scene of the Holy Father— representing God the Father, and Agca, hopefully, the Prodigal son.

Not too long after this incident, Pope John Paul II would promulgate one of his greatest masterpieces on God’s
mercy, the encyclical “Dives Misericordia”—God as rich is Mercy!  Before penning this spiritual masterpiece,
the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II lived out mercy in his own flesh and blood!

Henri Nouwen, a renowned modern spiritual writer, has also written on God’s infinite mercy. His masterpiece is titled “The Prodigal Son”.  On the front cover of this brilliant literary accomplishment, can be seen and contemplated the artistic masterpiece of the Prodigal Son, painted by Rembrandt.

One of the essential messages of this novel is that eventually every one of us is called to be the person of the Father of the Prodigal Son.   If we have indeed experienced the mercy of the Father—taste and see the goodness of the Lord—then we are called to be transformed by mercy into being the loving, kind, and merciful Father of the Prodigal Son.

May these words of the Diary of Mercy in my Soul of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, encourages us to be Incarnations of God’s mercy in a cold, calculating and all too often merciless world!   Jesus challenges Faustina to trust and mercy and so does he challenge you and me!

“The graces I grant you are not for you alone, but for a great number of souls as
well… Any your heart is My constant dwelling place, despite the misery that you
are. I unite Myself with you, take away your misery and give you mercy. I
perform works of mercy in every soul. The greater the sinner, the greater the
right he has to my mercy. My mercy is confirmed in every work of my hands. He
who trusts in my mercy will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine, and his
enemies will be shattered at the base of MY footstool.”   (The words of Jesus to St Faustina, Diary #
723).

 If we truly understood the meaning of the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, not only would we never miss Mass ever on Sundays, but
we would make it an effort to attend daily Mass as well as prepare ourselves
each day to enter more fully into this greatest of gifts of Jesus to us and the
greatest prayer that can be offered to the Eternal Father!

The Passion play, started in Europe
in the Middle Ages, extended to this very day beyond doubt it a true classic.
However, this play is nothing more than a recall and representation of what
happened the first Good Friday, when Jesus suffered His excruciating agony and
death for the salvation of the whole world.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass not
only represents what happened close to two thousand years ago, but it actually
is a reliving of the Passion, death, as well as the Resurrection of Our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ— what we call the Paschal Mystery.  After the Consecration of the Host into the Body
of Christ and the wine into the Blood of Christ, we acclaim: “Christ has died,
Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”

Even though every single Mass has
infinite value, the graces that flow from the Mass depend greatly on the
interior disposition of the individual.  
Today, while on my private annual Ignatian retreat, I celebrated Mass
alone.  Still, this Mass had infinite
value, even though it was celebrated privately and by one individual priest!

The theological principle is called
the “dispositive grace”.   This simply
means that the graces that flow from every Holy Mass are infinite because it is
Jesus Himself— the Incarnate Word, the second Person of the Blessed
Trinity—who offers Himself as Victim to the Father for the salvation of the
world.  However, the better the disposition
of the individual the more abundant the outpouring of graces.

A simple analogy to clarify the
concept of “dispositive grace”.    Take a
window pane in your home!   If that
window pane has not been washed and cleaned for two years, the pane can
actually become dirty, sullied, almost to the point of becoming opaque.  As such, the sunshine from outside the
window, even though its desire is to penetrate the window and inundate the room
to the fullest possible extent, is greatly blocked.  Why? 
For the simple reason that the pane itself—in its unwashed and unclean
state— prevents the abundance of the light to fill the room with its
radiance!   After “Windex” has been
applied to the window, a newspaper, and an abundant rubbing and cleaning—-
only then will the window allow the sun to enter to the fullest possible
degree!    In other words, the abundance
of the outpouring of the sun is proportionate to the cleanliness of the state
of the window pane.

This being said, by analogy, our soul
is the window pane and Jesus is the “Sun of God” who most ardently desires to
enter into the depths of our soul and pass through that window pane.   His “Light” is infinite because Jesus is God
Himself. Among the many Christological titles given to Jesus is “I am the Light
of the world.”  If my soul is totally black
due to mortal sin, then I should not even approach the Eucharist before
sacramental confession; if done, my soul will be plunged into deeper darkness!

If I come late to Mass, am harboring
some minor resentment, pay little attention in Mass, barely participate in the
prayers and allow my mind to wander, then in that case my soul is dirty,
sullied with a mediocre preparation at best.  
Jesus upon entering will communicate little light because the
disposition of such soul is anemic, weak, and lacking in fervor!

On the contrary, is the person who
sincerely desires to receive Jesus with the best of dispositions.  He loves the Lord, longs to receive Him, and
does all in his power to prepare for that most sublime moment of the reception
of Holy Communion in Mass.

A most powerful example of an
excellent disposition is a recently canonized saint, whose feast day is Jul 24th
, SAINT CHARBEL MAKLOUF!    This Lebanese
contemplative monk received permission to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass at 12:00 noon.   The reason for
this?   Simply this: Holy Mass was going
to be the very center of his life and existence!    This modern saint had a very simple
philosophy of life: THE EUCHARIST JESUS IN MASS WILL BE THE CENTER AND HEART OF
MY LIFE!

So what did Saint Charbel do to carry
out this simple but most noble proposal? The whole of the morning, leading up
to 12:00 noon when he would celebrate Mass was a preparation for Mass.
Everything he did in prayer and action was geared to prepare Charbel to
encounter the Eucharistic Lord.  Mass was
celebrated then at 12:00 noon.  Then
after the Mass Saint Charbel spent the rest of the day in its entirety in
rendering the Eucharistic Lord thanksgiving for such a sublime gift!

Dispositive grace at its best!   The whole of the life of Saint Charbel
Maklouf was focused on Jesus present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.   For that simple but profound reason he is
indeed a modern saint!

According to your state of life maybe
you cannot imitate Saint Charbel Maklouf exactly! However, why not starting
today, starting right now, make a concerted effort to improve and upgrade your
own Holy Communions!  Why not strive to
improve your own disposition of soul!  
Why not attempt to purchase your own “Spiritual Windex” to cleanse and
purify your soul to receive better the Eucharistic Lord.

One suggestion and a closing promise
of blessing!   Arrive a few minutes early
before Mass has started. Calm yourself down. 
The priest celebrant will have his own specific
intention/intentions.  Why not place on
the altar your own specific intentions. Here are three: 1) Pray for the soul of
a deceased relative our friend so as to release him from Purgatory; 2) Pray for
the conversion of sinners, but specifically somebody you have in mind that you
love and are concerned about his/her salvation; 3) Pray for your own
conversion. Beg the Lord for a “Spiritual Heart transplant”.  May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning
for love for you, consume in your heart whatever is displeasing to Him.

THE PROMISE AND BLESSING!   Jesus promised that those who eat His Body
and drink His Blood will have Eternal life and that He will raise them up on
the last day. (Jn. 6:22-71,  The Bread of
Life discourse). Heaven is yours!  If
your receive Jesus with burning love on earth, then He will receive you into
Heaven!

                                                       

No better pursuit, enterprise, objective in life than to strive on a daily basis to grow in Friendship with Jesus the Lord. Many engage in worldly pursuit exerting time, effort, money as well as blood, sweat and tears for merely human enterprises which end up in disillusion, sadness and defeat.
Pursuing whole-heartedly friendship with Jesus fulfills all the most sublime desires of the human heart.   The great convert, who sought happiness in pleasure, sensuality and worldliness, finally after more than 30 years of life found true happiness in Jesus. In his Confessions he affirmed this: “O Lord you have made our hearts for thee and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”   What are specific and concrete ways to grow in Friendship with Jesus?                                                

Activism, Horizontalism, “Americanism”,  “Marthaism”, Workaholics—all of these words express the sign of the times—the tendency to
put ourselves, our work and our productiveness above God.  Of course, this can be termed a heresy, idolatry, and counterproductive to say the least.
The Psalmist poignantly points out, “If the Lord does not build the house in vain do the labors work.”   Jesus put it clearly with these words:” Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you beside.”  Also, Our Lord and Master asserted:  “What would it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?”

Spiritual retreats are indispensable for the modern man so inclined to activism, horizontalism, to be a “Workaholic!”. 

There was a man who lived in the 15th and 16th century who lead an active life of page in the Spanish court and then soldier, battling for his country!  God intervened with a “Providential accident”, in the battle of Pamplona, which forced this very active many to stop. In silence, reflection, meditation, and examination of conscience, he recognized his need for God, call to prayer, call to conversion.

Then, while in prayer in Manresa, God sent Mary His Mother and gave him the blueprints to the most famous form of modern retreats— the Spiritual Exercises. The name of this former activist is  SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA!

The fruits of making a Spiritual Retreat—especially following the Ignatian scheme—are abounding!  Here are a few, to encourage all to seek time to make a retreat with the Lord!

First, SILENCE!   The modern world suffers from “Noise pollution”— meaning a bombardment of loud, constant and often disturbing
noise!   Interesting discovery!  Elijah did not discover God in the thunder, nor the earthquake, nor in the powerful wind, but he did find God in the gentle breeze.   Our retreat is time to feel the gentle breeze of God caressing the depths of your soul!

Second, PRAYER!  God calls all to a life of prayer and a deepening experience of prayer. God calls us but He gently and humble awaits our response.   Retreat time is a propitious and ripe time to enter into prayer. St. Ignatius encourages those doing the retreat to separate themselves from their normal environment, so as to eliminate distractions so that the soul can meet God and God can meet the soul in profound and intimate dialogue.   That is prayer: intimate dialogue and communication with God.  St.  Teresa of Avila defined prayer in simple terms:  “Prayer is nothing more than FRIENDSHIP with the Lord; it is spending long times of silence alone with the one I know loves me.                          

Third, EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE AND LIFE.   In sin were we conceived and
born, sinners we are by inheritance from our parents Adam and Eve, sinners we
are in fact and reality— retreat time also focuses on God’s infinite mercy.
However, mercy is related to our own misery— another name for the reality of
sin. Interesting  note on the word mercy from the Latin derivation, “Misericordia” (Latin, Spanish and Italian).  “Miseria”—means what it actually looks like, “misery”.  Sin is moral misery.  “Cordia” means heart.   This best is illustrated and exemplified in
the Parable of the Prodigal Son, or if you like, “The Parable of the Merciful
Father”.  The Father’s loving heart runs out to meet the moral misery of “The Prodigal” sinful son.  Retreat time paves the way for a serious and deep examination of conscience, repentance, confession and conversion of
heart.    The interior fruit in the heart is that of peace.  St. Augustine defined
peace as “The tranquility of order”.  St. Ignatius instructs us that one of the primary purposes of retreat is “to order
the disordered”. Sin is moral disorder. Examination, repentance, and confession
order the disorder in the soul and “Shalom”—peace be with you!

Fifth, FAMILY BLESSINGS!    When I officiate the Sacrament of
Matrimony, often during the homily, I stop to ask the Bride and then the Groom
what would be the best thing each one of the individually could do for the other
to form the best marriage and family? Shocked by the question and tongue-tied,
I give the response:  “Fall in love with Jesus Christ everyday of your life!”  
Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote a classic on marriage, “It takes three to
get married”.  Those three are Mary, John, and most important JESUS!!!! If Jesus is in the center of the marriage, then
there will be peace, joy, harmony and many spiritual blessings.    Apply this concept to a retreat! A husband
or wife, priest or Religious that corresponds with open mind and generosity of
heart to the graces of a Retreat will undoubtedly sanctify his life and the
fruits of his life.  Jesus said that we are called to bring forth fruit and fruit in abundance. (Jn. 15, The Parable of
the Vine and the Branches).  Holiness is contagious, magnetic, attractive. 
Although it did not happen immediate nor overnight, St. Augustine
converted— through the grace of God, but secondarily, through the prayers and
the holiness of another saint, his mother Saint Monica.  Retreats fill the retreatant with the grace
of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit and this grace and Spirit of God is
meant not to be hidden in the closet nor under the bushel-basket but to be
shared with the whole world, starting with the family because charity begins at home!

In sum Jesus invites us to rest, to come apart for a time and to spend time with Him.  This is the essence of a retreat— to leave the world for a short time, to rest in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. With this to return renewed, fortified, strengthened, reinvigorated, spiritually reborn and bring this Good News to the whole world.  May Our Lady who in silence heard and meditated on the Word of God and then brought this Good News to her cousin Elizabeth, inspire us to seek rest in the Sacred Heart of her Son, the Lord Jesus!