Monday of the Third Week of Lent

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

MONDAY, March 8th    Lk. 4: 24-30   “When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.”

• These thoughts occur. They intended to throw him over the brow of the hill, but he disappeared. Jesus will determine the day and the way in which He will be taken and put to death! 
• Saint Paul writes this about the Jews who rejected Christ and put Him to death. “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.”
• Paul goes on, “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
• HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!

THE INFINITE VALUE OF YOUR SOUL by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Imagine discovering in your backyard a treasure of gold! Imagine being bequeathed ten diamonds, each of them worth more than a million dollars! Once again, imagine receiving an inheritance—an enormous mansion on a luxurious plot of land and it’s all yours! Finally, imagine winning the 50-million dollar lottery! Of course, on a human and natural plane we would all rejoice to the skies, and relax with the awareness that the rest of our life will be luxury, pleasure, ease and indescribable comfort.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, those immersed in the worldly, paganistic, and materialistic mindset would long for any one of the above scenarios. Why? The whole thrust of their life is based on purely materialistic possession and gain.

Let us now flip the coin and turn in the opposite direction, and meditate upon the value, now through the eyes of God, of one soul, of one immortal soul, your own immortal soul. In all truth, your individual, personal, and unique soul, your immortal soul has much more value than all of the riches described above. In the eyes of God—the God of Life, the God of Truth, and the God of Love, your soul is worth more than the whole created universe. Saint Peter says that our soul was not redeemed or bought back by the blood of goats or heifers, nor gold or silver, but was redeemed by the Blood of Jesus! How precious and valuable are our souls—redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! (cf 1Pt. 1:18-19)  

This being said, let us reflect together, even for a few short minutes, on the reality, importance, and grandeur of your immortal soul. The following are concrete points for your reflection, meditation, and prayer.

1. ORIGIN OF YOUR SOUL.  At one time your soul did not exist. It’s coming into existence, its origin, came from God in the precise moment of time and manner that God so willed. When? Precisely in the very moment of your conception in the womb of your mother was when your immortal soul came into existence. This existence of your soul will never cease, in time and for eternity!

2. IMMORTALITY.  It is precisely this point—IMMORTALITY! By immortal is meant quite simply this: it is destined to exist forever and ever and ever. In a real sense it is God-like because God can never cease to exist.

3. HUMAN BIRTH AND SUPERNATURAL BIRTH AND THE SOUL.  Every year with immense joy we celebrate our Birthday and the Birthdays of our loved ones. Ice-cream, cake, candles, balloons, and gifts make up the essential qualities of the celebration. Often many relatives and friends flock to celebrate the Birthday-Boy or Birthday-Girl! However, it should be recalled and celebrated with even greater joy the Spiritual Birthday of every Christian, and every Christian Catholic. Of course, we are referring to the day of our Baptism; this was our Spiritual Birthday. This was the day and moment in which our soul underwent a radical transformation, moving from the natural plane to the supernatural plane; if you like, a quantum leap!

4. THE SOUL’S RADICAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH BAPTISM.  In the very moment that the priest/deacon baptized us pronouncing our name saying:  “(Name), I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”, our soul received the three Divine Guests to inhabit our soul: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! We should strive to recall this profound and penetrating reality of our great dignity through Baptism—the profound and mysterious fact that we are truly living Temples of the Blessed Trinity! Sons and Daughters of God!

5. TARNISHING AND BLACKENING THE SOUL.  Even though the Sacrament of Baptism removes Original Sin and imbues and permeates the soul with the Blessed Trinity, due to the abuse of our freedom, it often happens that the beauty of our soul is tarnished, darkened, and even blackened by the reality of sin, and unfortunately the reality of mortal sin. Honesty before God and our own conscience demands the humble admission of falling into mortal sin and darkening, sullying, and damaging the greatest Gift that God has given to us—our immortal soul! Living in denial of sin, especially mortal sin, can be catastrophic for us in time and for all eternity.

6. CONFESSION: THE CLEANSING OF THE SOUL!  Following on the heels of the reality of mortal sin is the keen awareness of God’s greatest attribute—that of His Infinite Mercy. Pope Saint John Paul II has stated that Mercy is the second name for God’s Love. God’s Mercy is channeled through His Church, known as the Mystical Body of Christ. In concrete practice, God’s Mercy is mediated through His Sacraments. Reconciliation, Penance, Confession are various names for the Sacrament that can transform our souls from being tarnished, sullied, even blackened by the ugly stain of mortal sin into once again glorious, pure, and resplendent palaces of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Majestic Mansions of the dwelling place of the Blessed Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

7. VIGILANCE: DEFEND AND PROTECT THE IMPORTANCE AND BEAUTY OF THE SOUL.  How often have we come across homes that have various levels of protection? Let us count the various protective barriers to the home: barbwire, iron gates, pointed iron bars, iron/brass doors, loud alarms, angry pit-bulls, security cameras, and even at times security guards. Given the fact that our immortal soul is worth more than the whole created universe, just one soul, then logic would tell us that we should use all the spiritual means available to protect our soul from robbers and thieves that are on the constant lookout to rob us of sanctifying grace! In all honesty, how little we do to protect our soul from mortal poison and danger, and how little we do or have done to protect our children and families from the all-intrusive thieves on the prowl to steal the precious grace in their souls. Starting now: let us be more vigilant to protect and defend our soul, and those of our families, from these prowling thieves, whose names are the devil, the flesh, and the world!

8. CALL TO MIND OUR DIGNITY AND DESTINY.  Constantly, even on a daily basis, we should remind ourselves of an essential part of Principle and Foundation—our purpose and end in life. It was Saint Thomas Aquinas who articulated this truth so clearly: your immortal soul is worth more than the whole created universe. All God’s natural creation pales in the face of the reality of one immortal soul and that is your own immortal soul! Let us frequently call to mind our dignity and our destiny. Our dignity? Sons and Daughters of God through the Sacrament of Baptism! Our destiny? To be a member of the Court of Heaven—seeing face to face the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1Cor 13:12)—with Mary as our Mother and Queen, the angels our companions, and the saints our best of friends for all eternity!

9. TRUE LOVE.  Saint Thomas Aquinas defines love in these words: “Love (charity) is willing the good of the other.”  What then is the greatest good for a human person? It is the salvation of their IMMORTAL SOUL!!!If we truly love God and love what God loves, then we should love our neighbor and work ardently, constantly, fervently, incessantly for the salvation of our soul and the souls of others. Saint James states the following with respect to the salvation of a soul: “My brothers, if anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone brings him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (Jas. 5: 19-20)

10.  MARY AND OUR SOUL.  On a very important and concluding note, let us entrust our life, our temptations, our struggles, our desires, our aspirations, and the salvation of our immortal soul to Mary. Aside from God Himself, there is no person in the universe who cares and desires the health, protection, and salvation of our immortal soul more than the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us pray as many Rosaries as possible and entrust the hour and moment of our death into the hands and Immaculate Heart of Mary. She will lead our soul safety to the port of salvation—the Sacred Heart of Jesus!  

Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Third Sunday of Lent
Scrutiny Year A Readings

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

 SUNDAY, March 7th    Jn. 2: 13-25   ^“He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, ‘Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.’ His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”

Part 1: Dorothy Day and the Coffee Cup… by Father Kevin J. O’Reilly

Part 2: HOLY MASS, HOLY COMMUNION AND HOLINESS OF LIFE by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

PART 1:  Dorothy Day and the Coffee Cup… by Father Kevin J. O’Reilly

One of the most inspiring Catholic converts of the past century was Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897-1980), who was praised recently by both Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI for her holiness and her heroic work with the poor. She was a social activist greatly admired by believers and non-believers alike. However, many of her atheist colleagues regularly asked about her simultaneous devotion to the poor and to her Catholic Faith. How could she be so dedicated to those in poverty, and yet believe in Jesus Christ at the same time?

The answer became clear one day in the early 1970’s when a young priest was invited to say Mass at the offices of the Catholic Worker newspaper. There are various accounts of what happened that day, but eyewitnesses report that, while preparing for Mass, the priest strangely asked Dorothy Day for a ceramic coffee cup. Thinking nothing of it, she gave him the cup, only to be shocked minutes later to see that same cup used as the chalice for Mass. The priest, who was clearly having personal issues, celebrated Mass with the coffee cup and, after Mass, angrily threw the cup in the garbage and stormed off.

People were horrified. Yet, without saying a word, Dorothy Day approached the garbage can and genuflected before it. Then, she took the coffee cup out of the garbage and kissed it. Thereafter, she went out to the yard behind the office, took a shovel, dug a hole, and buried the cup. Finally, she genuflected before the patch of dirt.

Why? To her, that coffee cup had become a sacred object, as it had held the Blood of Christ and could no longer return to being a coffee cup. One witness said that “I learned more that day about the Eucharist than from any book or sermon.” Furthermore, it is said that the priest, moved by her actions, never celebrated Mass disrespectfully again.

What this incident made clear was that her love for Christ was at the heart of everything Dorothy Day ever did. She had encountered the Lord in the Eucharist and always sought to bring Christ to all she met. This is what inspired Dorothy Day to work with the poor, and why she remains an example of holiness for all of us. As Catholics, we are not members of a social services organization, but we seek to help others because we have met Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, have been transformed by Him, and want others to encounter Him too.

At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, we read the account of our Lord’s washing of the feet of His disciples, during which the Lord says, As I have done for you, you should also do. In this passage, the Gospel of John reveals how we should respond to the Lord’s gift of His Body and Blood: we must follow Christ’s example by giving of ourselves through our acts of generosity and mercy, most especially to the poor and needy.

In our doing so, may we, like Dorothy Day, inspire others to learn more about the Eucharist and to see Christ’s love for us everywhere, even in a coffee cup.

PART 2:

HOLY MASS, HOLY COMMUNION AND HOLINESS OF LIFE by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

One of the key Chapters in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, Chapter V, is the Universal Call to Holiness. In concrete, this chapter lays out the goal and the purpose of every human person, created in the image and likeness of God: the call to become a saint! Jesus expressed this command unequivocally and with outmost clarity and transparency: “Be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt. 5: 48) In the most famous block of teaching and preaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, The Sermon on the Mount, in the initial phase of this teaching called the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness; they will be satisfied.” (Mt. 5: 6). Saint Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians reiterates the same truth: “This is the will of your heavenly Father: your sanctification.” (1 Thess. 4: 3)  The modern saint, Mother Teresa of Calcutta exhorts us in these words: “Holiness is not the privilege of the few, but the duty of all.”

Therefore, let us offer the shortcut on the Highway to Holiness. Why not choose the quickest, the most secure, and the most efficacious path to arrive at the heights of holiness in our short life here on earth! Instead of choosing and pursuing a circuitous, labyrinthine, laborious and sometimes frustrating path towards holiness, why not take the short-cut?

THE SHORT-CUT AND SMOOTH PATH: JESUS, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE THROUGH MASS AND HOLY COMMUNION.

The title above highlights and indicates the short-cut or easy-path to holiness: Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. However, the means by which we connect with this electric current of grace of holiness is through living out the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to the fullest extent possible. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium expresses it the following words: “The faithful must participate fully, actively and consciously in the Mass. The Mass is the source and summit of holiness.”

As a motivation to all people of good will who take sincerely this Universal Call to Holiness, we will accentuate in this brief treatise the remarkable sanctifying effects that Holy Communion can produce in the recipient of such a sublime Sacrament. Indeed, the most Holy Eucharist, which is truly and substantially the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus the Son of the living God, is the key to all holiness.

Before entering into the effects that Holy Communion produces on the individual, a key theological concept must be explained with clarity and precision: The concept of Dispositive-grace. This means that the Sacrament of the Eucharist is truly Jesus, the Son of the Eternal Father, the Holy of Holies. However, the graces received in the reception of Holy Communion are commensurate or in direct proportion to the disposition of the individual heart that receives Jesus. If one receives Jesus in mortal sin, then they eat and drink to their own condemnation. (I Corinthians 11: 27-29) If the preparation and reception is mediocre, the graces will correspond to the attitude of mediocrity. If the disposition is good, the graces will flow more freely. If the disposition is fervent then graces will redound all the more. Finally, if the preparation is excellent and the reception a heart on fire with love then the effect can be compared to a spiritual atomic-bomb: an explosion of graces. The latter should be our aim and our goal!

Now we will enumerate and explain exactly what can take place in the well-disposed heart that receives the Lord Jesus in Mass in the context of the most Holy Eucharist—the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus.

1. PURIFICATION OF THE HEART AND SOUL. Holy Communion received with the ardent fire of charity can serve to burn away the residue of smaller sins that we call venial sins. Saint John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor of the Church, offers us this analogy. Put a rusty piece of iron in a scathing and intense fire and the fire will consume the rust and the iron assume the same property as the fire. So it is with Holy Communion. The Council of Trent says it is the antidote to our daily infirmities or venial sins. On a Pastoral note, no one should refrain from the reception of Holy Communion if they have venal sin(s) on their soul.

2. SPIRITUAL HEART-TRANSPLANT. Saint Margaret Mary AIacoque had the unique and incredible privilege of contemplating the most Sacred Heart of Jesus at Paray Le Monial in France. What a blessing and unique privilege indeed! However, it must be stated with gratitude and great humility that we have a more frequent and greater privilege. We can receive Holy Communion on a daily basis. In the Our Father Jesus taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily-bread.” (Mt. 6:11) We truly receive the total Lord Jesus—His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, and that includes the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So in a real sense, every Holy Communion received worthily is truly a SPIRITUAL HEART TRANSPLANT. After receiving Holy Communion, we have the Sacred Heart of Jesus beating in our hearts! Our heart becomes consumed in His Sacred Heart!

3. THE MOST SUBLIME VIRTUES IN THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. Following up on the reality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that we receive in every Holy Communion is the fact that with Jesus’ Heart we also receive His most sublime virtues. Faith, Hope, Charity, Humility, Patience, Obedience, Purity, Fortitude, Meekness, Gentleness, Wisdom and Knowledge—all of these and all of the virtues imaginable are truly present in every Holy Communion. Still more these virtues in Jesus are the most refined, the most holy, the most sublime that the human mind can comprehend.

4. CONVERSION OF VICE TO VIRTUE. For this reason, the great Educator of youth of the 19^th Century, Saint John Bosco, was a precursor of the practice of frequent Holy Communion in that he would encourage his young people in the Oratory in Turin to receive Holy Communion frequently and fervently so as to eradicate vices—especially that of impurity—and supplant them with holiness. There is no more efficacious means to conquer our vices and sinfulness then frequent, fervent, and faith-filled Holy Communions! “Lord, strengthen my faith!”

5. MIND-TRANSPLANT. The great Apostle Saint Paul exhorts us in these words: “Put on the mind of Christ!”, then insists the Apostle to the Gentiles: “You have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2: 16) Finally, “Do not conform your mind to this world, but have a fresh way of thinking.” (Rom. 12: 2) Indeed, if Holy Communion is the Total Christ then that includes the mind of Jesus. If you want to burn away the dross of bad and ugly thoughts, then meditate upon the Word of God and receive Holy Communion. What chlorine is to a swimming pool, so are the Word of God and Holy Communion to our mind!

6. SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT. The Prophet Elijah ate the bread that the angel gave him two times and from the energy and strength derived from that bread, the great Prophet walked forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb. (1 Kings 19: 6-9) The same length of time Jesus spent in the desert. In an analogous sense, Holy Communion endows and inundates us with spiritual energy so that we can travel with great alacrity and strength on the Highway the Heaven!

7. SPIRITUAL REMEDY AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. If we are well-nourished bodily when the flu-season arrives we have a much better chance to avoid those common colds, coughs, flus and runny-noses. On one occasion, I was about to come down with a cold and some person of good will gave me Air-born—a potent dose of Vitamin C. Guess what? I avoided the cold that was about to grab hold of me! In a parallel sense, the frequent reception of Holy Communion can serve to bundle up and fortify us against the onslaught of our imperious and disordered passions that constantly strive to inundate and overwhelm us, inciting us to sin!

8. JOY, PEACE, AND INNER CONSOLATION. As an appetizing and enjoyable meal shared with friends culminates in joy, peace, happiness and consolation, so it is with nourishing our souls on Jesus in Holy Communion, the Bread of Life. This analogy is expressed very clearly by the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas. The good and satisfying nourishment that food gives to the body, so does Holy Communion enrich and uplift the soul.

9. REMARKABLE SOURCE AND STRENGTH TO CARRY OUR DAILY CROSS. Jesus addresses the tired, the weary, the burdened, the overwhelmed, those experiencing heavy trials and tribulations with these words—related to Holy Mass and Communion: “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt 11:28-30). So many people have given witness to this fact, that in the midst of the trials of life, the sufferings and sorrows, the heart-aches and heart-breaks, running to Jesus in Mass and receiving Him in Holy Communion serves as an inexpressible relief, strength, source of solace, hope and support! Do not carry your cross alone. Rather, invite Jesus to help you shoulder the burden by receiving Him into your inner-most being in Holy Communion. “Come Lord Jesus, come!!!”

10. PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE: HEAVEN WILL BE OURS FOREVER! What thought can be more consoling than the fact and the truth that one day we will be united with Jesus forever in Heaven! He will be our God, Savior, Teacher, Master, Friend, Companion, Support, and our Greatest Lover in Heaven. This incredible promise was made by Jesus in His “Bread of Life Discourse” in the Synagogue of Capernaum. (Jn. 6: 25-71) These words are most consoling: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert and died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one might eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven, and whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (Jn. 6: 47-51) As clear as the sun at midday are these words of Jesus! If we have established the habit of receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, the Bread of Life that gives life to the world, with hearts filled with deep faith, with hearts full of fiery love and passion, and frequently, every day if we can, as we pray in the Our Father…“give us this day our daily bread”, then the promise of Jesus is clear! Heaven will be ours forever and ever and ever!

Let us conclude with what some of the great friends of God, the saints themselves have preached and written on the great importance of frequent and fervent reception of Holy Communion in our lives!

• IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA: “One of the most admirable effects of Holy Communion is to preserve the soul from sin and to help those who fall through weakness to rise again. It is much more profitable then, to approach the divine Sacrament with love, respect and confidence than to remain away through excess fear and scrupulosity.”
• JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA: “When you approach the tabernacle, remember that He has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”
• JOHN VIANNEY (Cure of Ars): “All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of man; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God to man.”
• MAXIMILIAN KOLBE: “If the angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.”
• FRANCES DE SALES: “When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.”

In conclusion, the key to holiness in life on your Highway to Heaven is faith-filled, frequent and fervent reception of Jesus, the Holy of Holies and your Best Friend, in Holy Communion. May Our Lady of the Eucharist intercede for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary
St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

SATURDAY, March 6th   Lk. 13: 1-3, 11-32   “Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.”

LUKE 15: THE PARABLES OF GOD’S INFINITE MERCY

Read carefully and meditate upon the three Parables of God’s Mercy and beg for the grace from the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary, the full of grace and Mother of Mercy, to allow the Word of God to touch you in a most powerful way. In the Words of the Apostle Saint Paul, the Word of God is sharp and penetrating as a two-edged sword that separates bone from marrow. (cf. Heb 4:12)

COMMENTARY ON THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON…

1. THE SON OF THE FATHER. The son of the Father in this Parable represents all of humanity, and each and every one of us individually. We are challenged to meditate and pray over this Parable and beg for the grace to see ourselves in this story, which is really our personal story.

2. GIVE ME THE INHERITANCE. The son cares more for material things, for money and what it can buy, than he does for his Father, much less for any spiritual riches. How easy it is to become blinded by material things, by the erroneous philosophy of Materialism!

3. FREEDOM. Here we encounter a key element of God’s love for the human person in that God has endowed all of us with what we term FREE WILL. All of us are given freedom to make choices constantly in our lives.

4. THE RISK OF FREEDOM. Of course having freedom always involves a true risk of not using freedom for its proper end and purpose. In other words, we can choose to abuse rather than use our freedom. God respects our free choices, our free decisions, and our free actions.

5. LOVE. The reason for the reality of freedom is simply that God wants to be loved by all. Without the reality of freedom, we could never truly love God; we would be robots—a robot acts mechanically and without love!

6. SON ABUSES HIS FREEDOM AND WEALTH. And it happened! Once the younger son is given his freedom and his wealth, whatever and however much that may have been, he wastes it. How often have we wasted our time, our efforts, our talents, our money and possessions on superficial and transitory, if not sinful, things?

7. WINE, WOMEN, AND THE FAST LIFE. The son gave in to his lower passions and chose the fast life indulging in wine, women, eating—the life of sensual pleasure. He allowed his lower passions to dominate his higher faculties of reason and will. How often have we given in to the same—allowing our animal and base nature to take total control of us, our thoughts, our decisions, our actions, our lives??? Try to make an effort to identify your own life with that of the Prodigal Son, to see some similarities!

8. LOST IT ALL! Most likely in a relatively short time, the partying and sensual young man lost it all. Friends, he really never had any in this place from the start! This being the case, he had to find some place, some work to at least provide for meager meals so that he would not die of hunger.

9. TENDING PIGS: DEGRADATION TO THE MAX! Of all places and jobs the only one he was able to secure was that of tending pigs. For the Jews, the pig was considered an impure animal, so much so that the kosher/dietary laws prohibited them from eating the meat of pork.

10. SIN: DEGRADES THE HUMAN PERSON! God has created us in His image and likeness. Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are transformed into sons and daughters of God and living temples of the Blessed Trinity. We are called to recognize both our dignity as sons and daughters of God, as well as our destiny—we are citizens of Heaven, pilgrims on the way to our heavenly home. Committing sin mars, blurs, defaces the image of God in our soul. Still more, it could prevent us from reaching our final destiny—Heaven!

LEVELS OF DEGRADATION.  This now poor young man experiences poverty on various levels due to his becoming a slave to sin.

• PHYSICAL LOSS. On a physical level, he certainly has lost his physique—he has lost much weight and muscle that he had before leaving home.
• APPEARANCE—No physical attractiveness! See him: long beard, unkempt and disheveled hair, covered in filth, rags for clothes—whereas, when he left home, he walked down the street a fine and well-kept figure in elegant and costly clothes.
• FROM ERECT POSTURE TO SLOUCHING. Even his bodily posture has changed—from standing erect, straight, and proud, now his posture is slovenly, crouched, almost a hunch-back.
• SLAVE OF SIN. But the worst of all is that the young man has become a slave of all that is opposed to what is good, pure, and noble. In a word, he has become a slave of his lower passions, he has become a slave of sin!
• SADNESS. Once he experienced peace and joy, when he lived at home with family and friends; now he experiences an overriding gloom and sadness. Life has lost meaning and purpose for him!

This is the first part of the meditation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. You are challenged to enter into the very depths of this Parable, with the Father and Son— the Prodigal Son. Beg for the grace to identify your own life with this story. Beg also for the grace to contemplate humanity in this light.

PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON: PART II

We have left the Prodigal Son tending the pigs. But then something happens in which there is a radical change in the situation, in the life of this young man who has basically thrown his life to the pigs by giving in to sin, sensuality, and his base passions. He has lost all forms of self-respect and dignity that at one time were his!

Let us follow up in this sequel to the first part of the Parable of the Prodigal Son which will soon be transformed into the Parable of the Merciful Father. Miracles indeed do happen, if we allow God’s entrance into our lives.

1. GOD’S INTERVENTION: IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY! As the young man contemplates the pigs that he is called to tend, a thought occurs to him: his past life! While at home with his father, he had everything he needed and even more! Food, clothing, shelter, warmth, security, work and his family—all were there for him, free of charge! Now he was in abject misery, almost dying of hunger. Pigs were his companions and not only that, these animals seemed to have it better off than him. He would be content even to have what these pigs had to eat!

2. ILLUMINATION: A BRIGHT LIGHT—THE ROAD TO CONVERSION. This thought occurred to him, why not return to his Father’s house? True, He would have to ask for forgiveness and be taken on as a hired hand. But even if he were no longer considered the son of his Father, at least he would have a place to stay, meals to eat, and possibly a humble job to earn his way and recover his dignity.

3. I WILL RETURN AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS. His decision was clear: he would return with a repentant heart and hope that possibly the Father would forgive him. Try to picture yourself in this scene with this interior attitude as you rewind the film of your own life. Certainly there must be some type of identification you can make with this wandering son, with this lost sheep, with this lost coin, with this wandering individual!

4. THE FATHER’S PATIENCE. Very likely every day, as the sun would rise in the morning and as the sun would close its eyes, the Father of this Prodigal Son would climb the hill and stare down the road where his son left him with the hope that one day he would return! This was the hope that glimmered in the heart of the Merciful Father.

5. THE SCENE FROM AFAR. Try then to imagine in your contemplation the scene of the return. The Father is perched and gazing down the road from a distant hill. The Prodigal son is already on his way home, but is only seen from afar.

6. RECOGNITION NOT EASY! The Father sees a figure, a phantom in the distance slowly approaching him. The Father surmises that it might be his Prodigal Son, though it certainly does not appear to be the son he knew when he left home. This figure is walking slowly, bent over, head down. This young man is wearing rags and has a long beard, and unkempt and disheveled hair besides. Within, the father doubts that this could be his son—how different in appearance as to when the son departed!

7. IT IS MY SON!!! Something happens as the distance shortens. The Father arrives at total certainty that indeed this is his wandering, lost, Prodigal Son. From this point on in our explanation and interpretation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which has now been transformed into the Parable of the MERCIFUL FATHER, we will focus on the abounding, overflowing, incredible and unfathomable Mercy that the Father showers upon his Prodigal Son. All of these points and gifts can serve to help us in our identification with the Prodigal Son and Merciful Father.

8. CONFESSION. Furthermore, this Parable serves as a jumping board for all of us to have a limitless trust in God’s Infinite Mercy and to be ready and willing after a good preparation, to receive God’s love, mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Sacrament of His Mercy! Allow yourself to be immersed in the gifts of the Merciful Father to the Prodigal son—to you and to me!

9. KISS. Upon meeting with the Prodigal Son, the Father gives him a kiss. Universally, the kiss is a symbol of love. The Father’s love for this son has no limits. The Father was simply waiting patiently for the return of the son. This is a trick of the devil when we sin: the devil tries to trick us into believing that God no longer loves us, that we are unworthy of the love of God the Father! Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s love and mercy are all the stronger towards a returning and repentant son or daughter. As Saint Paul reminds us: “Where sin abounds, the mercy of God abounds even more.” (Rom. 5: 20) Allow the Father to embrace you and to kiss you; allow God the Father to love you!

10. HUG. The hug unites with the kiss. The hug symbolizes the Father’s forgiveness. As soon as the son asks for forgiveness, God forgives. In other words, God forgives in a heart-beat when his son or daughter says: “I am sorry! Forgive me!” The Sacrament of Confession is also the Sacrament of God’s forgiveness. There is no sin so serious that God cannot forgive it, if we are sincerely sorry! Jesus did not come for the saints; he came for the sinners. As Jesus said: “It is not the healthy that need the Doctor but the sick.”

11. RING. Next the Father places a costly ring on the finger of the Prodigal Son. There are two symbolic interpretations of ring and finger:

1) DIGNITY. A Ring is symbolic of the dignity of the one who receives it.

2) FIRM COMMITMENT TO FAITHFULNESS.  Following upon the concept of dignity is that of a firm commitment to be faithful from this point on. When couples exchange their marriage vows, they profess this solemn promise: “I promise to be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in health and in sickness, in poverty and in riches, until death do we part.” So it is with us as Prodigal Sons and Daughters upon making a good Sacramental Confession: we make the firm commitment to give up sin and to avoid the near occasions of sin that led to our past sins.

12. SANDALS. Then the Father gives the son new sandals. The purpose? So that he can walk on the right path, the true path, the path that leads to peace, joy, and happiness. The true path that leads to Home, and to our Heavenly Home, where we will encounter one-day God the Father. Also, it bestowed the power to walk on the Way of the Cross that leads to the Glory of the Resurrection.

13. SPLENDID NEW GARMENT. Still more, the Father exchanges the rags that the Prodigal Son was wearing with a splendid, elegant, and new garment. His dignity is indeed restored! In a deeply spiritual sense, sin defrocks us of the royal garment of sanctifying grace. Whereas Sacramental Confession restores our soul to the splendid glory and beauty of sanctifying grace! The nakedness of sin has been covered by God’s grace!!!

14. STILL MORE… The gifts of the Father are not over; there are still more! Once the Prodigal Son has returned home, then the Father has even greater gifts! How kind, loving, generous and bountiful is the Father! These then are the gifts of the Father, once the son is home safe!

15. JOYFUL MUSIC. Upon returning home where the son really belongs there is joyful, festive, happy, exultant music. When you return to your Heavenly Father through a good Sacramental Confession there is joy even in heaven among the angels!

16. PARTY—THE CELEBRATION. It is so true that all of heaven rejoices over the return of one sinner to the loving embrace of the Heavenly Father. It is true that God loves all, the entire expanse of the human family. But it also must be said that God the Father loves each one of us individually. Never forget that! He left the 99 sheep to search, pursue, and find the one, so as to finally place gently on his shoulders, the one sheep that was lost.

17. THE FATTED CALF OFFERED AND KILLED. Now the Father was going all out for the son. In the Jewish society in the time of Jesus eating meat and that of a fatted calf was done only on very rare occasions. This was one of those rare and very special occasions.

18. SYMBOLIC OF HOLY MASS. There is a very clear Sacramental interpretation of this Feast, this Celebration, the music, the killing of the animal. and it refers to the Holy Mass. Once the Prodigal son or daughter has returned home through a good Sacramental Confession and is restored to the state of sanctifying grace, then they are ready and well-disposed to approach the Mass, which is the Sacrifice of Calvary renewed, but it is also the Eucharistic Banquet in which they can be truly nourished with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

19. CONFESSION AND COMMUNION WORK AS A TEAM. For this reason, Saint Ignatius highlights the fact that a well-prepared heart-felt Confession done with the best of dispositions, helps immensely the reception of Jesus in Holy Communion. In other words, we must be a true and repentant Prodigal Son or Daughter, receiving the love and forgiveness of the Heavenly Father so that we can receive His Son—Jesus the Bread of Life—worthily in Holy Communion.

20. ETERNAL BANQUET. If done, the promise is the best we could possibly imagine: The Eternal Banquet of Heaven. “Whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood will have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.” (Bread of Life discourse: John, Chapter Six)

Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary
St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

 FRIDAY, March 5th   Mt. 21: 33-43, 45-46   Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?”

• Jesus said He would be a sign of contradiction in the world. He who was crucified, suffered and died on the cross, rose victorious from the grave!
• As followers of Christ, we too are a sign of contradiction in the world. When the world seems to have forsaken us, we have a Savior who will raise us from desolation to consolation if we turn to Him.

OVERCOMING LONELINESS by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Feeling down in the dumps? Feeling like nobody really understands nor cares about you? Feeling dreary, dark, bewildered and confused? Feeling as if life does not have any real meaning and purpose? Ever feel like throwing in the towel and saying, “I’ve had enough!”

Saint Ignatius of Loyola would call this a state of desolation. One of the most common manifestations of desolation is that of loneliness—you feel alone in the world, nobody seems to care about who you are or where you are heading in life.

If we do not know how to cope properly with this state of desolation, this state can wreak havoc in our life, doing irreparable damage in our spiritual life and even our natural life. One wrong decision made in a state of desolation could be life-determining. How many young people today have recourse to violence toward others, and then turn on themselves, when swimming in an apparently endless sea of desolation?

This state of desolation—manifested through a deep sense of loneliness—is all pervasive, in all societies and situations, today more than ever! However, we are a people of hope, “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth!” (Ps. 124: 8) Saint Paul reminds us with these encouraging words: “If God is with us, who can be against us.” (Rom. 8: 31) And, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12: 10) Our strength being, of course, God. The Psalmist calls God a rock, as well as our light and our salvation.

To overcome the state of crushing loneliness that we all experience in certain periods of our lives, let us have recourse to this simple but efficacious practice that can be carried out anywhere and with minimum effort. Begin by prayerfully reading the Good Shepherd.

Psalm 23: The Psalm of the Good Shepherd

When dark clouds rain down their torrential storm upon your lonely and forlorn soul, open up your Bible and rewind back to the Old Testament, to this most famous of all psalms, a psalm of David. Let these words become like balm to your soul.

The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside still waters,
he restores my soul.                                                                                    

He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of darkness,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil,
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Silence! Find some place of silence so that you can read, pray, meditate, listen and allow God to speak to the depths of your heart. God will indeed speak in the silence of our hearts if we allow Him.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”  Allow these words at the beginning of Psalm 23 to speak personally and intimately to you, and to your lonely and abandoned heart! Pray these words slowly, calmly, and with a truly open spirit. Pray them a second or third time. Then something powerful may happen! God’s gentle but pervasive grace will touch the depths of your soul with this knowledge: I am not alone, I have never been alone in my life, and I will never be alone for this simple but profound reason: “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”

Contemplative Scene.  From there create a contemplative scene with you walking alone with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in a verdant, fragrant pasture. Stop and look into the eyes of Jesus, who truly loves you as the precious apple of His eye. You are of great importance to Him, now and always! He came into the world to save you, your immortal soul, as if you were the only person in the whole created universe!

Unload.  Now is the time to open up your wounded, lonely, sad and depressed heart and talk to Him! Of all the people in the world, the Good Shepherd is the best of listeners. Not only does He listen to your words, but He can also read the deepest secrets in your heart,! There is no need to put on a mask with Him. He knows you even better than you know yourself! If ever there were a mind-reader or a heart reader, it would definitely be Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

Be not afraid.  Saint Pope John Paul II insisted at the outset of his inspiring pontificate that the world at large, as well as individual hearts, should not be afraid to open the door to Christ, in other words to open up their hearts to Jesus, the Good Shepherd of their lives!

What to say and how to say it.  Use the simplest words; the Lord is not picky or demanding in language proficiency. Tell Him all. Remember the words of the Apostle Saint Peter: “Cast your cares upon the Lord, because he cares for you.” (1 Pt. 5 :7) Are you fearful about the future and what it holds for you? Tell the Lord this! Do you have doubts about the past due to the number and seriousness of your past sins? Cast your sins into the Heart of the Good Shepherd. He did not come for saints but for sinners. Is your heart severely wounded, even from infancy? Fear not! The Prophet Isaiah teaches us this about Jesus’ wounds: “By His wounds you are healed.” (1 Pt. 2: 24) Are you suffering some form of sickness that seems to have no healing remedy? Never forget that Jesus healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, the paralytics, the lepers; He even brought the dead back to life. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let Jesus be the Doctor of your woundedness and your sicknesses. Are many fears and doubts looming up before your eyes? Then call out with all of your heart: “Jesus, I trust in you!”

The Good Shepherd’s listening Heart.  In all that you say to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, He listens most attentively with a kind, compassionate and loving Heart. Furthermore, the Good Shepherd is never impatient with anybody. No! He is the epitome of patience. Still more, the Good Shepherd is never too busy to walk with us, listen to us, talk to us and console us.

In sum, in moments of crushing loneliness do not turn to the false gods of this world—drinking, drugs, porn, illicit sexuality. These will only cast you into a deeper pit of loneliness. Rather, turn to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and open up your lonely heart to Him, because in truth, “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want!”

Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary
St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

 THURSDAY, March 4th   Lk. 16: 19-20   Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.”

• There are so many Lazaruses on our doorstep! Every person we encounter in our day is someone to acknowledge, listen to, and affirm in some way! Every person needs to be recognized in their own unique individuality.            

Part 1:  Lazarus and the Rich Man…  Excerpts from a talk by Sister Mary Clare, O.C.D.

Part 2:  LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN… by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

PART 1: Lazarus and the Rich Man…  Excerpts from a talk by Sister Mary Clare, O.C.D.

There is no authentic Catholic spirituality that is not social. So if you ever come across a spirituality that says you can reach union with God, which is our ultimate goal, in isolation, you cannot do that, and that is not authentically Catholic.

We are meant to live as the Body of Christ in communion with one another. It’s really important to think about our spirituality and how it integrates into what we do every day. We are human beings made in the image and likeness of God and we have to know how we integrate who we are, our being, into what we do every day.

The three reflections that I want to look at today are: encounter with Christ, encounter with our neighbor, and discernment in practice.

In today’s society, we really have a crisis of meaning. What is life all about? And this leads to a sense of alienation. There’s a sense of loss, a sense of mourning in our society because of this.

We have a disposable culture, right? We think about life in prospect and for us it’s cheap and disposable. Just get rid of it. It’s an inconvenience (legalized abortion). We think about life in fact and it’s expensive and disposable. We can’t afford you, so we’ll get rid of you (legalized euthanasia)

That’s the kind of society mentality that we’re thinking in.

And in order to solve it, we’re grasping after truths. We’re trying to find out, “What’s the truth?” When we really need to be seeking the Truth with a capital “T”, right?  That’s going to be the answer to our problems.

We can only do that, we can only change, if we begin with ourselves. Be souls of prayer or else you will have nothing to give. We need to encounter Christ in our daily life. That means taking time out. That means spending time with Our Lord. I’ve got to encounter the Person of Christ.

In order to treat others with dignity, I must first know mine. I must know what it means to be a child of God, right? I must know what it means to be made in His image and likeness. I must experience that I have been called into being by name for a purpose. And once I’ve experienced that, then I can experience that you have been called into being by name for a purpose and reverence it.

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me to drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. Christ will give to us, but we must go to Him. He wants to give to us in abundance. I’m not perfect; I’m broken; I need to be redeemed. But I am not disposable. I’m not dispensable. I have a mission that no one else can fill. I have to believe that about myself, right? I have to know His grace is abundant.

Next is our encounter with our neighbor. As I said before, all Catholic spirituality is social. We’re meant to live in community. We’re created to live in community. And that’s true because we’re made in the image of the Trinity who is an eternal community, right? An eternal communion of three Persons. So we can’t ever let that go.

The primary way we experience community is obviously through marriage and the family; but then that extends out to the broader community of the Body of Christ, the Church; and then even beyond that into the broader community of the human family, of everyone created as a child of God.

Going back to our encounter with Christ and how this fits into neighbor, when I look at Christ, I look into the face of Christ. John Paul would say that a lot, right? Contemplating the face of Christ, He mirrors back to me who I am. He mirrors back to me my value and my dignity. 

We do the same with each other. When you look at me, the questions that come unconsciously to your mind are, “Do you see me?  Do you care?” And the immediate next questions that come to mind are, “Does anybody care?” And “Does God?” So can you see how important our interaction with our neighbor is? Because if they’re not experiencing through us that human love, how can they experience the love of God? We must do that for one another.

God puts into our paths every day the persons He desires for us to encounter. We don’t have to go looking. What we need to do is to pray for the grace of eyes to see as Christ sees. To see my neighbor, to see the person in front of me, as Christ sees them. To be able to see their need and then meet it, right? So realizing what our limitations are, what am I called to do? What’s best for the person in front of me at the moment? I may not be able to help them, but I can know somebody to refer them to. Always in that mutual self-gift. This is what we can do on a daily basis in our own lives, and what we’re called to do, one person at a time.

When we take it into the broader social picture, realize that this really is a forum of evangelization for us, and we cannot evangelize a culture that we don’t love. There’s going to be opinions that we disagree with. There’s going to be views that are objectively wrong and we can’t condone that. We must work to correct those, but we have to do it in a spirit of love. Love others back into Truth.

So discernment in practice. Ignatius tells us, first look at your state of life. Am I married?  My first obligation is to my spouse and to my family, right? We have to have that work/life balance. Because my second vocation is what I do and how I bring Christ into the world.  Anything else beyond that is extra. We have to make our choices based on that. The demand of love in front of me! Who’s the person that God has put into my path at the moment and how must I love them? In one of his homilies Bishop Vasha, talking about Lazarus at the door, said each of us must ask, “Who’s at my doorstep?”

Finally, what is the need of my local Church? Am I helping to fulfill that need or am I off doing my own thing. That’s something to look at.

“May God Our Lord be pleased and continue to bless our poor work, so insignificant in comparison to what He deserves, but all that He’s asking of us. That’s all He wants of us.  And in doing that we will come to union with Him and we will bring others to Him one person at a time. Be what you are supposed to be – a saint! For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

PART 2:  LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN… by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Erich Fromm, a modern psychologist coined this immortal maxim: “If you are what you have, and you lose what you have, who are you?”  The greatest rock n’ roll group ever, The Beatles, composed a song, “Money can’t buy me love.” Another has offered this pearl of wisdom: “Your possessions possess you!” The Bible, the Word of God, expresses the same truth succinctly: “Love for money is the root of all evil!” Greed, sometimes called “avarice”, is one of the seven Capital Sins. In this brief essay we would like to define Greed, explain its origin, and describe practical steps to overcome this interior attitude that must be overcome if one truly desires to attain to a fully developed Christian life!

ORIGIN!  Greed is one of the seven Capital Sins, and like the other six; its origin can be traced back to our first parents when they committed the first sin, known as Original Sin. This sin caused universal repercussions upon the totality of the human race. It’s like a tsunami of immorality, set off by two people but influencing everyone in the human race (except Jesus and Mary). The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, calls it “concupiscence”— the interior tendency, proclivity or inclination that pulls or tugs us toward evil or sin!

DEFINITION!  Greed is the disordered desire for material things. The Book of Genesis constantly reminds us that all of creation is “good.” The evil is not to be found in the reality of creation, but in the human heart’s disordered desire for it! Actually, two of the Ten Commandments refer directly to Greed: the 7^th, “Thou shalt not steal”, and the 10th,  “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s goods.”

A rich young man who knew the Ten Commandments approached Jesus and asked the Lord the way to eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the Ten Commandments; this he claimed he had done. Then Jesus looked at him with love and challenged him: “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, give it to the poor, then come and follow me!” The young man’s face fell and he left the Lord sad. The reason? His possessions, possessed him! He had many possessions and was overly attached to them, preferring them to the Person of Jesus Christ! Never again does he appear in the Gospels!

In a society that has an over-abundance of things, becoming inordinately attached can happen almost imperceptibly, like a frog slowly boiling in a pot of water as the water is being heated to the boiling point!

Judas Iscariot fell in love with money and fell out of love with Jesus Christ! Ananias and Sapphira, husband and wife, whom we find in the Acts of the Apostles, were infected with greed and were struck dead for lying to Saint Peter. At the root cause was their greed, their insatiable desire for “things”.

A striking parable, related to the dangers of greed, is the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man (Lk. 16: 19-31) A poor man, Lazarus, lies outside the gate of the rich man day and night. His body is filled with sores, even the dogs come to lick his sores, and he is dying of hunger. What a piteous state! In contrast, the rich man is dressed in fine purple, and feasts sumptuously at the table every day. Never once does he lift his hand to offer Lazarus so  much as a piece of bread.

After their deaths, the Rich man finds himself in torture in the pit of hell and longing for a drop of water to refresh his tongue from the fiery torments. The poor man, Lazarus, rests in heaven in the bosom of Father Abraham.

What was the principle reason for the eternal loss of the Rich man? It was not for anything that he did – (sins of commission); rather, it was for what he failed to do: the sin of omission. His greed blinded him totally to the poor man outside his gate, Lazarus, who was really Jesus Christ in disguise. Jesus said, “I was hungry and you did not feed me; I was thirsty and you failed to give me to drink. Whatsoever you failed to do to the least of my brothers that you failed to do to me.” (Mt. 25: 42,45).

How then can we conquer the sin of greed that might be lurking or hiding in the depths of our soul? Let’s give some concrete steps or advice to win the battle!

1. ADMIT IT AND CONFESS IT!  If after a thorough examination of conscience and consultation with your Spiritual Director or Confessor, you have detected greed as an insidious worm gnawing away at your interior life, then admit it, confess it and beg for healing. Jesus is the “Spiritual Physician” of our soul. He has come to heal the wounds of our sins!

2. MEDITATE ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST!  A constant and deep meditation on the life of Jesus can help to transform our spiritual perspective, our outlook on life, on material reality, and even the attitude of our heart. Follow this brief thumbnail sketch of His life: born in the stable of Bethlehem of poor parents, spent years working as a carpenter, forty days and nights in the desert fasting from all food and drink, three years without any permanent abode, “The foxes have their holes and the birds of the air their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head”, stripped of His garments and scourged, nailed to the cross and abandoned by nearly everyone, dying and giving up almost every drop of His Precious Blood, finally being buried in a borrowed tomb— all of this a summary of the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God!

3. MEDITATE ON THE LAST THINGS! One day I must die, be judged by Jesus, and either Heaven or Hell awaits me. Looking at my many possessions, are they a stepping stone or stumbling block for me to arrive at heaven? The richest man in the world and the poorest man will end up in the same place: six feet beneath the ground! Saint Francis Borgia. S.J., the Duke of Gandhi, admired the beautiful Queen who died suddenly. As he followed the casket of the Queen, the door of the casket popped open, and Francis saw this beautiful woman with her face being eaten by worms! Upon meditating on the transitory reality of beauty and wealth, Francis left all to enter the Religious life, and then became a Jesuit, a priest and a great saint!

4. LEARN TO GIVE GENEROUSLY! St. Paul challenges us to give! “There is more joy in giving than in receiving!” Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who gave all away to follow Jesus in serving the poorest of the poor, asserted: “Give until it hurts!” One of the greatest modern saints, Mother Teresa’s lifelong desire was to quench the thirst of Jesus by serving the poorest of the poor. For her, Jesus was truly present in the “distressing disguise of the poor.”

5. DO NOT WORRY, BUT TRUST IN GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL CARE.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns us not to worry, especially about material things – food or clothing. Look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. God watches over them. The key is these words of Jesus: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be given to you.” If you receive Jesus in Holy Communion, then you indeed are the richest of all! Having God living within the depths of your soul is already living out the Kingdom of God that is truly within!  Remember: “If God is with us who can be against us?”

Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary

St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA