The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

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

SUNDAY, June 19th   Lk 9: 11b-17   SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST   Communion Antiphon:  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.”

In John Chapter 6, Jesus prefaces the above quote with these words: “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (Jn 6:53-54)

GOD’S GREATEST GIFT: THE HOLY EUCHARIST by Fr. Ed Boom, OMV

Filled with fear and dread of being murdered, the Prophet Elijah fled from the wicked Queen Jezebel who planned to murder him because Elijah killed the false Prophets of Baal. After a day’s journey on foot, heading towards the Holy Mountain, the mountain of God, Elijah was consumed by the spirit of desolation and discouragement and fell into a deep slumber, not even close to arriving at his destination. (I Kings 19: 4-8)

GOD’S ANGEL.  Concerned about the Prophet and his long journey, God sent an angel to comfort, encourage and motivate Elijah and in this fashion. The angel woke Elijah from his deep slumber encouraging him to keep on as his journey was long.

THE BREAD AND NOURISHMENT FOR THE JOURNEY.  With words of encouragement, the angel offered Elijah some bread to eat because the journey indeed was going to be a long and grueling one. Elijah ate the bread but instead of rising and undertaking his long trek, he returned to his slumber. Once again the angel woke Elijah insisting and encouraging him to eat the bread and to walk until he arrived at the holy mountain where he would find safety, security, and a sure haven in the presence of God.

ELIJAH OBEYS, EATS AND WALKS!  Obedient to the angel, Elijah for the second time eats the bread offered to him from the angel. From the strength derived from that bread—which he ate not once but two times—Elijah gets up and walks. The distance was long, he walked forty days and forty nights from the energy and strength that came from the encouragement of the angel but especially from the bread that filled him with new life!

HOLY MOUNTAIN.  Elijah’s destination was the holy mountain of God. God spoke to him not in the hurricane, not in the fire, nor even in the strong impetuous wind. Rather, God spoke to Elijah in the gentle and sweet breeze. The holy mountain is symbolic of our eternal destiny: heaven! Once arrived, we will be with God forever and able to talk to Him as our best of Friends, face to face for all eternity. Like Elijah, we should all strive to undertake the long and grueling journey to arrive at the holy mountain where God awaits us for all eternity.

ELIJAH AND OUR OWN LIVES.  Let us enter into a topic that has a transcendental value and importance in our lives in the short time we have in this earthly pilgrimage to our eternal destiny. We will take the Biblical passage and person of Elijah as our model and example. If we really desire to arrive at our eternal destiny which is heaven, then we must nourish our minds, hearts and souls on the Bread of Life as frequently as possible, but also as fervently as hearts and souls can exert.

Like the Prophet Elijah, we all have our struggles, our battles, our dreary days, our temptations, our moments of desolation—those times in which we simply want to throw in the towel and give up! The key is that we must rise up and eat, not from a plain or ordinary bread, rather we must nourish ourselves on the Bread of Life. Not once or twice but as often as possible. Indeed, if it is within our means, to nourish ourselves on the Bread of Life every day!

Therefore, this short literary work will focus upon how we can upgrade, improve, and magnify the effects of the reception of Holy Communion in our lives. In a word, the most important action that we can carry out this side of eternity is to receive Jesus, the Bread of Life, in the Sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist. No action of the human person can supersede it in importance. This being the case, let us set up action points and guide-lines to receive Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Communion with increasing faith, devotion, fervor and love.

1. FAITH IN THE REAL-PRESENCE.  Over the past fifty years statistics have pointed out that huge numbers of Catholics either do not believe in the Real-Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, or at least have a very unclear and foggy notion of WHO is truly present in the Consecrated Host! After the double-consecration in Mass, Jesus is truly and substantially present in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It is not a mere symbolic presence as in the case of Protestant services, but rather it is the REAL-PRESENCE! Due to materialism and living in a neo-pagan and secular society, we must constantly remind ourselves of this most august and sublime reality!

We must have a firm and unshakeable faith and belief that Holy Communion in the context of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is truly and substantially the Bread of the Angels, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus, the Son of the living God. May our prayer be: “Lord I believe, but strengthen my belief!”

Saint Thomas Aquinas points out that one of the most important conditions in the efficacious reception of Holy Communion is a real hunger for God, a real hunger for Jesus, the Bread of Life! May the prayer of the Psalmist resound in the depths of our own hearts: “As the deer yearns for the running streams, so my soul yearns for you, O Lord, my God.” (Psalm 41:1) As a dying man hungers for food, so should our soul hunger and thirst for Jesus the Living God, Jesus the Bread of Life.

2. THEOLOGICAL CONCEPT: DISPOSITIVE GRACE!  One of the most important theological concepts in living out Sacramental theology is that of Dispositive-grace. In brief, this means that the grace that comes to us, especially from the reception of the most Holy Eucharist, is commensurate with or in direct proportion to the disposition of our soul. In other words, there is no fault in the Sacrament, rather the fault, if any, is in the recipient of the Sacrament. Why? For the simple and unequivocal reason that the Holy Eucharist, and your reception of Holy Communion, is the reception of Jesus Himself—the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God of Gods, True-God and True-man! It has been said that one Holy Communion well-received could transform you into a saint!

3. PREPARE YOURSELF BETTER.  A natural follow-up to the concept of Dispositive-grace is that of our preparation before receiving Holy Communion. Indeed, it should be a constant task and goal in our life to work on making better preparations to receive Holy Communion. Being honest with ourselves, we must all admit and confess with the utmost sincerity and humility that we can make progress, and a lot of progress, in our preparation for receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion.

4. HUMAN EXAMPLE: THE BRIDE AND HER WEDDING.  In the Diary of Saint Faustina on Divine Mercy, in the last book of the Diary—Book VI, she gives excellent guidelines on how to receive Jesus better in Holy Communion. (Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul #1804-1828) One of the comparisons or analogies that Saint Faustina brings forth is that of a Bride being prepared to meet and marry the Bridegroom. On a human level all of us understand this analogy. How many countless details does the future bride implement to make this the happiest day in her life? Here are just a few: the dress with its size, color and design; the beauty parlor including her hair, makeup and the manicure of her nails; the length of her veil, and her shoes. And not only her physical appearance, but many other details: the guests and the Banquet Hall, the Church, the rug, the choir, the priest, the Readings and the homily, the altar servers. How much time, money, and energy are employed for the wedding day, which hopefully is the happiest day of their lives! Building upon this analogy, Jesus is the wedding Bridegroom of our soul every time we receive Him in Holy Communion. Should we not be more demanding upon ourselves in the time, effort, and the manner in which we receive Him into the inner-chamber of our soul???

5. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS: THE SAINTS!  The most famous musical group, the Beatles, composed a song titled “With a little Help from My Friends”. Our true, faithful, and most authentic friends are the saints. They are bright luminaries who point us to Jesus, the Light of the world, and to Heaven where the Face of Jesus will be our eternal lamp and light. The saints are the ones who received Jesus with a fervent and loving disposition in Holy Communion. Consequently, upon dying, Jesus received them warmly and enthusiastically into Heaven. Their greatest desire on earth was to love God with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength. For this reason their whole life was centered round the Holy Mass and reception of the most Holy Eucharist. Therefore, a most efficacious means to make better and more fervent Holy Communions is to humbly beg the saints in heaven to pray and intercede for us that our Communions will become fiery explosions of love for the Lord Jesus!

6. COMMON PRIESTHOOD OF THE FAITHFUL: LIVE OUT THE OFFERTORY!  If possible, view the movie El Gran Milagro or The Greatest Miracle. (It is available online.) This movie in a clear, appealing and dynamic fashion explains the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with Claymation, all in 70 minutes. Among the themes worthy of highest praise is the presentation of how the Guardian Angel teaches the importance of living out the Mass by participating, fully, actively and consciously and living out to the full the OFFERTORY of the Mass.

By this is meant that the priest offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but the faithful who participate in the Mass are called to make their own offering—called the Offertory! This is done by making a spiritual offering of yourself and placing it on the paten where the priest’s Host is deposited. Also, you are called to place your intentions in the chalice where the wine will be transformed into the Precious Blood of Jesus. If this is done seriously, your Communions will have infinite value and efficacy for you, the Church, and the whole world, even the souls in Purgatory!

8. WHAT MIGHT BE ELEMENTS FOR YOUR OFFERING TO LIVE OUT THE OFFERTORY?  Actually, you can offer anything that may occur to you. If offered with good will and purity of intention, God accepts all! The possibilities are infinite! However, there are three areas that might be employed to help you to live more fervently your Offertory and derive countless, untold blessings!

1) THE SOULS IN PURGATORY.  The suffering souls in Purgatory are already saved, but they must still be purified by the fires of God’s loving justice. Remember the words of the last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation: “Nothing impure can enter the Kingdom of God.” (Rev 21:27) By far the most efficacious means to purify, sanctify, and liberate the poor souls detained in Purgatory is by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for them, and the worthy reception of Holy Communion received for them. Saint Nicolas of Tolentino, O.S.A. desired to be a priest primarily so that he could help to free souls from the fires of Purgatory by offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for them.

2) THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS.  What Jesus and Mary desire most in this world is the conversion and salvation of sinners! By offering your Masses and Holy Communions for the conversion and salvation of sinners, the Hearts of Jesus and Mary overflow with joy.

3) PERSONAL HEART-TRANSPLANT.  We all must work day and night upon our own personal conversion. The most efficacious and powerful means by which we can convert our hearts from hearts of sinners into hearts of saints is by worthy, frequent, fervent and faithful reception of Holy Communion. Indeed, every worthy reception of Holy Communion is a SPIRITUAL HEART-TRANSPLANT.  In all truth, the Heart of Jesus takes possession of our heart and there is a real transformation! We become what we eat! We consume the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus and we become like Him. In time we will be able to say with Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:19-21)

9. YOUR FIRST, LAST, AND ONLY COMMUNION.  In some convent sacristies there is a plaque on the wall that the priest is invited to read as he vests and prepares for Holy Mass. It reads as such: “Priest, man of God, say this Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, and your only Mass.” What would happen if you made a decision starting today with respect to your participation in Mass and reception of Holy Communion, to receive your Holy Communion as if it were your first, your last, and your only Holy Communion? Most likely your Holy Communions would be much more fervent. What do you think?

10. OUR LADY OF THE EUCHARIST AND HOLY COMMUNION.  As a concluding note, we should contemplate the Blessed Virgin Mary and beg for her most powerful intercession in our reception of Holy Communion. In a very real sense, Mary received her first Communion when she said YES to the Archangel Gabriel with the words: “Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) Then the Gospel of Saint John states: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (Jn 1: 14) Pope Saint John Paul II made this parallel connection: “The YES of Mary to the Angel and our AMEN when we receive Holy Communion have a real similarity; both result in the reception of Jesus into the depths of the heart.” Therefore, let us humbly implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Eucharist, for the most special graces—to receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion with lively faith, with frequency, and with a burning fervor and love, so that we will be able to set the whole world on fire with the love of God!

Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

SATURDAY, June 18th   Mt 6: 24-34   “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.’”

Mammon can be described as the riches and honors of this world. Jesus asks us not to seek the passing goods of this world, rather to seek our eternal good by trust and confidence in the will of God expressed in all the circumstances and events of our lives. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” (Rom 8:28)

Our Blessed Mother surrendered herself totally to the will of God in all circumstances. Mary was betrothed to Joseph when she gave her Yes to the Angel and the Son of God became Incarnate in her womb. Her trust was so complete that she waited upon the Lord to explain or not explain her condition to Joseph. Indeed, Joseph was ready to quietly divorce Mary when an angel appeared to him in a dream: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 11:20-21)

LET US LEARN TO LIVE AND LOVE THROUGH MARY! By Fr. Ed broom, OMV

Mary is the quickest, shortest, easiest path to Jesus. We can call her the shortcut! We are all called to holiness—meaning to be saints. Jesus said: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt 5:48) This is a command! Therefore, the Holy Mother of God, Mary most holy can help us in our joyful pursuit of holiness which ends in heaven!

THE MOST HOLY ROSARY.  One of the most efficacious tools, or we might even call it spiritual weapon, that we should use to fight the good fight and run the good race so as to win the victory and the prize of eternal life is the MOST HOLY ROSARY. Over the centuries, the saints and popes have strongly encouraged the faithful to pray the Rosary and to trust in Mary’s most powerful intercession. The prayer of Saint Bernard encapsulates this truth in the famous Marian prayer, The Memorare, with these words: “Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.”

MYSTERIES OF JOY, MYSTERIES OF LOVE.  In this short essay we will focus on how we can learn to live for God and love God and be truly happy by offering a few brief suggestions taken from the five Joyful Mysteries of the most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rosary is a spiritual gold-mine for us to dig into; so let us dig in right now!

THE ANNUNCIATION (Lk 1: 26-38).  Mary encounters God through His angelic messenger, the Archangel Gabriel. We offer three precious pearls to glean and polish from this profound encounter.

1. LISTEN AND TALK TO GOD.  Mary teaches us the importance of silence in our lives. Mary teaches us the importance of listening to God, especially through the Word of God. Mary teaches us the importance of talking to God—that means the real importance of prayer, of talking to God with fervor and devotion from the depths of our hearts. Mary, teach me how to pray!

2. SAYING “YES” TO GOD: THE KEY TO HAPPINESS.  All of us are given freedom to choose between good and bad; we can use or abuse our freedom. Mary said YES to God in these words: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) This is a universal truth: we all want to be happy in this world and always! Why then is it that so many people today want to be happy but walk around with a sad face that they display to the whole world? The reason is very clear: they say NO to God. Our Lady teaches us the key to true freedom and true joy: learning to say YES to God! Starting today, through the intercession of Mary, let us learn to say YES to God.

3. MARY TEACHES US HOW TO RECEIVE JESUS INTO OUR HEARTS.  By saying YES to God, Mary conceived Jesus in her most pure womb and the depths of her most pure and Immaculate Heart. Saint Pope John Paul II makes a beautiful parallel between Mary’s YES to God and our AMEN when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. The end result of Mary’s YES and our AMEN in Holy Communion is the reception of Jesus into our hearts. Let us beg through the intercession of Mary to say YES to God and receive Jesus with burning love in our hearts in Holy Communion.

THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH (Lk 1:39-56).  Like the Annunciation, this Mystery is rich in teaching and growth in holiness for us if we talk to Mary and try to imitate her. Let us take three lessons.

1. AVOID LAZINESS.  Once Mary knew what the will of God was, she did not wait, or procrastinate, or put it off until tomorrow. Rather, she went quickly or in haste. Let us avoid laziness in all times, places, and circumstances. The proverb is so true: “Idleness is the workshop of the devil.”

2. GREETING WITH JOY.  Let us learn from Mary not to wait for others to greet us, but to greet others FIRST and with JOY! This is humility and charity—meaning, putting others first and valuing them for their innate dignity.

3.  SERVICE IS OUR SOURCE OF JOY.  Mary went to visit her elderly cousin, Saint Elizabeth who was pregnant in her old age, so as to be at the service of her cousin in her need. Saint Paul teaches us: There is more joy in giving than in receiving. (Acts: 20:35) Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: “We must learn to give until it hurts.” Starting today, let us make it a firm proposal: I will look for opportunities to serve others in imitation of Mary who went in haste to visit and serve Saint Elizabeth! If done, we will experience deep joy within our hearts and souls.

THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN BETHLEHEM (Lk 2:1-7).  In this mystery, we celebrate the most important birthday in the history of the world, the birth of Jesus that we call Christmas. The birth of Jesus separated the division of time into B.C. and A.D. The lessons that Mary can teach us are innumerable. We will offer three!

1. LIFE IS A JOURNEY.  Mary went on a long journey and arrived at her destination, Bethlehem. Our life is a journey towards heaven. Let us ask Mary, Saint Joseph, and of course, Jesus to accompany us every step along the way amidst life’s trials and sufferings in our journey towards our final destination, HEAVEN!

2. ACCEPTING TRIALS AND REJECTION.  Mary experienced many trials, contradictions, and sufferings in her life, but she trusted in God all the more. Upon arriving she experienced rejection: There was no room for them in the Inn! When we experience trials, suffering and rejection in our lives we should run to Mary and seek refuge. Immaculate Heart of Mary, be my sure refuge!

3. POVERTY.  Mary and the Holy Family chose to experience and live a life of poverty. One of the biggest obstacles in modern society is that of MATERIALISM—that means, being too attached to material things. If you like: Our possessions can possess us. Jesus was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a poor, cold, damp, and foul-smelling stable (refuge for animals) in Bethlehem. Mary, please teach me that true happiness does not come from possessing things, but from allowing God to possess me!

THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE (Lk 2:22-40).  When Jesus was only 40 days old, He was presented in the Temple through the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary and good Saint Joseph. Once again, we will offer three wonderful lessons from this fourth Joyful Mystery.

1. OBEDIENCE.  Mary and Saint Joseph obeyed God by presenting their first born son in the Temple of Jerusalem as prescribed by the Mosaic Law. If we truly want to experience joy in the depths of our souls, we must learn to imitate Mary in the virtue of obedience. Those in the modern world desire all too often to follow their own will which leads to sadness and eventual destruction. Like Mary, may we learn to obey the Word of God, as well as the Church and her Magisterial teachings with a well-formed conscience.

2. LIGHT TO ALL THE WORLD.  Jesus in the arms of Mary is presented to the elderly Simeon who calls Jesus LUMEN GENTIUM—Light for the People. Mary teaches us that Jesus must be our true and overflowing Light. Mary, my Mother, give me eyes to perceive the Light of Jesus in the world, in my life, and in all the circumstances of my life.

3. THE SWORD OF SORROW. The Prophecy of Simeon entailed announcing that Jesus would be a sign of contradiction, and that a sword of sorrow would penetrate the heart of Mary. The meaning may be difficult for us to understand, and possibly even more difficult to put into practice: the value of suffering. We must learn to offer our sufferings to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, so that these sufferings can have infinite value in the salvation of souls! “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

THE FINDING OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE (Lk 2:41-51).  Present in this fifth and last Joyful Mystery is a hidden sorrow, but great joy. The sorrow, of course, is that Mary and Joseph lose Jesus for three long days. Their joy is in finding Jesus. There is much for us to meditate upon in this Mystery. However, we will give three golden nuggets!

1. MANY PARENTS LOSE THEIR CHILDREN.  Today many parents can identify very easily with this Mystery because they lose their children in that their children no longer practice their faith. This pierces the hearts of their parents! Mary teaches us not to give up hope, but to pursue our children through prayer and penance.

2. SHORTCUT TO JESUS. We know that Mary is the quickest, shortest, easiest path to Jesus—we call her the shortcut! We know that we are called to holiness—meaning to be saints, according to Jesus command: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt 5:48) Therefore, let us ask the Holy Mother of God, Mary most holy to help us earnestly engage ourselves in a joyful pursuit of holiness because it ends in heaven!

3. THE MOST HOLY ROSARY.  We recall that one of the most efficacious tools, or we might even call it spiritual weapon, that we should use to fight the good fight and run the good race so as to win the victory and prize of eternal life is the MOST HOLY ROSARY. Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three shepherd children six times and each time she admonished them to pray the Rosary daily. Three of the greatest saints of the last century had recourse to the daily Rosary: Saint Pope John Paul II, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Saint Padre Pio who said “The rosary is the weapon for these times.”

Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

FRIDAY, June 17th   Mt 6: 19-23   Jesus said: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if you eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.”

This is an unpleasant but serious topic. We live in a culture saturated with impure images, language and actions. Likely it has tainted all of us to some degree. Fr. Ed urges us to fight for the essential virtue of Purity!

“BLESSED ARE THE PURE OF HEART, FOR THEY WILL SEE GOD.” (ST. MATTHEW 5:8) By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

For us to contemplate the beauty of God in heaven and even starting on earth, we must make a concerted effort to attain the most challenging virtue of Purity of Heart. Jesus taught this message with utmost clarity in the Sermon on the Mount, starting with the Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.” (Mt. 5:8)

In this brief article we would like to present the many dangers that militate virulently against the acquisition of this most precious virtue, but also this most demanding virtue of chastity, purity of heart, so that one day we will all be able to contemplate the Face of God, what Saint Thomas Aquinas calls “The Beatific Vision of God”, with our eyes unveiled to contemplate the Face of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, if we are ignorant of the perils, dangers, pitfalls, and temptations that surround us then it will be much more difficult to reach our ultimate goal.

1. OUR THREE MAJOR OBSTACLES.  Born into the human condition, all of us, with the exception of Jesus and Mary, have to struggle on a daily basis against the three major obstacles to our spiritual life, our sanctification, and our eternal salvation: the devil, the flesh, and the world. God allows the devil to present to our imagination impure images. It is incumbent upon us to repudiate and reject them manfully and immediately! The world strives to present to us glamour, immodesty, impurity, and sexual license as totally normal and acceptable. As a result of Original Sin that we all inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve, we are conceived and born with concupiscence, a term which simply means that we have innate tendencies toward sin. Among these is that of the Capital Sin of Lust which can be defined concisely as: “A disordered desire for sexual pleasure.” We all must contend with these enemies: the devil, the flesh, and the world! Good News: with God’s grace all is possible! As Saint Paul reminds us, in Christ we are all conquerors. (Rom 8:37) Jesus said: “I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

2. IMMODESTY.  Our Lady of Fatima stated sadly that most souls are lost for all eternity to the fires of hell due to the breaking of the 6th and 9th Commandments—both refer to the virtue of purity, to the importance of living out chastity. Our Lady revealed to Jacinta in a later message that many marriages are not good. Also, Our Lady stated that many immodest fashions will enter the world that will gravely offend God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that modesty is the guardian of the virtue of chastity. Therefore, immodesty in all forms is the gateway by which many sins of impurity are unfortunately committed.

3. INTERNET/TELEPHONE/SOCIAL MEDIA.  All of these can be used for the honor and glory of God—for preaching the Good News of the Gospel, as efficacious tools for evangelization, as the means to convert and save souls. This is all very true! However, the social media is a two-edged sword; it can be used for immense good, but it can also be used for incalculable evil. Saint Ignatius teaches us in Principle and Foundation that we are called to use creation for the honor and glory of God and not as a means of our eternal perdition and destruction.

4. PORNOGRAPHY.  Of course, an obvious sequel to the topic of the internet, telephone, and social media is the all-pervasive presence and use of pornography. Many have termed pornography the modern drug. By far it is the most pervasive, influential, and dominant vice and addiction, especially for men, although it is also growing in use among women. Its influence is devastating to say the least. What then are the common effects of porn use?

(1) PERSON AS OBJECT. The person is no longer seen in his/her innate dignity and destiny, but rather as an object to be viewed, used, and discarded. Pope Francis mentions the concept of the “Throw-away society”.

(2) POLLUTED MIND.  The mind, which should be the seat and center for absorbing truth, is eventually turned into a cesspool of moral sewage. Instead of looking up to heaven, the individual focuses their eyes and attention on the lowly, earthly, sordid, and squalid which soon inundates their whole being.

(3) ESCALATION.  Sad to say, it often happens with respect to porn that the more it is viewed, the more one desires to view it and in more unhealthy doses.

(4) DESENSITIZATION.  The porn-viewer becomes more and more desensitized to what is pure, noble, good, and worthy of praise. Their mind, heart, and emotions become calloused, hardened.

(5) ADDICTION.  Seen as the modern drug, porn can easily form a quick addiction and among younger and younger people. Studies have shown that porn addiction can be more powerful than addiction to certain drugs.

(6) ACTING UPON PORN IMAGES.  Still more, addiction to pornography can easily lead to actual sins against purity: masturbation, fornication, prostitution, adultery, incest, homosexual acts, etc. These actions can also become highly addictive.

(7) BREAK-UP OF FAMILIES.  On a very serious note, many families have been rent asunder due to the use of and addiction to porn. Jesus raises the bar with respect to the importance of holiness in the realm of purity in His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mt 5:27-28) What Jesus is really saying is that a married man who is purposely viewing pornography is committing an act of unfaithfulness, an act of mental and emotional adultery against his wife. This can often result in ripping marriages apart, while perpetrating and causing irreparable damage to their innocent children.

(8) HATRED FOR GOD.  The greatest of Theologians, Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, stated that it often happens that those who have given themselves totally to the sin of lust and impurity, end up by hating God. Could it be that many young people today have rejected the Church, the Sacraments, and a life of prayer due to slavery and addiction to some sexual sin, with pornography as its motor-force?

(9) SADNESS.  How often has it happened that parents look at a photo of their child when they made their First Communion and the child was radiating innocence, purity, and joy in their whole being! Now that the years have passed, and their innocence has been destroyed due to exposure to and usage of porn, that joy has disappeared and a glum, gloomy, sadness fills their countenance instead. The culprit? Pornography!

(10) DANGER OF ETERNAL LOSS. Of most grave and serious import is that once a person has totally abandoned himself or herself to the vice of porn and impurity, if they die in this state with no signs of repentance, there is the real possibility of losing the Presence and Vision of God for all eternity. Our Lady of Fatima warned the world 100 years ago that sins of the flesh are the primary reason for the loss of souls in eternity!

5. THE HOOK-UP CULTURE AND PREMATURE COURTSHIPS.  It must be said in closing that the modern society which promotes early, premature, and immature dating and courtships easily militates against the virtue of purity. The Bible teaches that there is a time for everything underneath the sun. This includes a time and place for persons to establish a courtship that leads to marriage. It also means that the time and proper use of sexuality takes place only in the context of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Sad to say, the whole idea of living together, trial marriage, cohabitation, call it whatever you want, is really a serious epidemic that is pervading the whole society. Sexuality has its proper place only between a man and woman who are married sacramentally in the Church in which both give themselves to each other as a gift of love and with the openness to life, that is to say, openness to procreation, to having children as a true gift from God.

In conclusion, these are some of the major obstacles or road-blocks that present us from living out to the full this very demanding but very necessary virtue of purity. By our awareness and cognizance of these possible traps and pitfalls, as valiant soldiers of Jesus and Mary, we can be vigilant, prayerful, and energetic, and eventually win the battle of living out the Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.”  (Mt 5:8) Then our reward will be to contemplate the Beatific Vision of the Face of God forever in heaven. May the pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary be our sure refuge in time and forever!

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

THURSDAY, June 16th   Mt 6: 7-15  Alleluia:  “You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father!”

Jesus does not ask us to be holy, He commands us: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt 5:48) Today Fr. Ed shows us how we can become holy!

BE HOLY AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS HOLY! By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

All of us are called to become saints. How do we know? Jesus commanded us: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt 5:48) In other words: Become a saint! Most saints have not been officially canonized, but are anonymous, unknown except by God alone.

Given that this is a serious command given by Jesus Himself, to be holy—to become a saint, let us briefly highlight ten of the most salient notes or characteristics of the saints. This will serve to motivate each and every one of us to become whom God has called us to be—a Saint!

1. ANTITHESIS OF SAINTLINESS: SIN. 

Let us start with the negative. Saints have an abhorrence; they truly detest the one major evil in the world—the reality of sin. Modern culture glamorizes and even promotes sin; the saints fight against it. The motto of Saint Dominic Savio for his first Holy Communion was the following immortal assertion: DEATH RATHER THAN SIN!

2. PRAYER!

It is absolutely impossible to come across and read the life of any saint who did not take their prayer life seriously and spend sizable blocks of time dedicated to prayer, which is union and friendship with God. (St. Teresa of Avila) Face it, we can all improve in our prayer lives; we can pray more and we can always pray better. May the Holy Spirit enlighten and inspire us to upgrade our prayer life in our pursuit of holiness.

3. HUMILITY.

Saints are truly humble. By humility we mean the following: saints attribute all the good that they have done to God, the origin, author and end of all good. When complimented on any good done, almost spontaneously the saint responds: Thanks be to God!

4. HUNGER FOR HOLINESS.

An authentic saint has a real hunger and thirst for exactly that—holiness, to become a saint. If you like, the saint lives out the first verse of Psalm 41: “As the deer yearns for running waters, so my soul yearns for you O Lord, my God.” A saint admits that they are not a saint, but they really long to be a saint one day. This longing, this yearning indeed is half the battle in attaining the crown of holiness, the triumph of winning the crown of saintliness. Many yearn for money, power, pleasure, success, and possessions. Not so the saint! Their one desire is to love God fully, totally and unreservedly, and so become the saint that God has called them to be!

5. CHARITY. 

The saint is motivated to assimilate and carry out in word and deed the greatest of all the Commandments—the Command to love both God and neighbor. If you want to see a graphic image of charity, lift up your eyes to Jesus crucified, Jesus hanging from the cross, and you have a clear image of charity. We are called to love God totally and love our neighbor as ourselves. On one occasion, Jesus appeared to Saint Thomas Aquinas, after he had achieved enormous accomplishments, and asked the saint what gift he desired most. Immediately Aquinas responded: Lord, grant me the grace to love you more and more each day.” Saint John of the Cross asserted: “In the twilight of our existence we will be judged on love.” Saint Frances de Sales adds to this with these words: “The measure that we should love God with, is to love Him without measure.”

6. ZEAL FOR THE SALVATION OF SOULS.  

Two saints met, one a youngster, the other, a priest. The youngster looked up and saw on the wall a few words written in Latin and he asked the priest what those words were and what they meant. The priest responded by saying that those words were his motto and they were: “Give me souls and take all the rest away.” The boy responded with: “I am the cloth, you are the tailor; make me a saint!” The priest was Saint John Bosco; the youngster was Saint Dominic Savio. An authentic saint loves God and loves what God loves—the salvation of immortal souls, including their own! One soul is worth more than all creation in the natural world. The reason for the excruciating pain that Jesus willingly suffered in His Passion and the outpouring of His most Precious Blood was precisely this: to save immortal souls for all eternity. The stigmata for fifty years of Saint Padre Pio, the 13-18 hours daily in the Confessional in the life of the Cure of Ars—Saint John Vianney, the heroic sacrifices of the little children of Fatima, the victimhood of Saint Faustina, all had one motivational reason and force: love of God and hunger and thirst for the salvation of souls.

7. STRUGGLING SINNERS THAT RISE WHEN THEY FALL. 

Many have been deceived into an artificial, sugar-sweet, somewhat romantic vision of a saint as someone exempt from human weaknesses and moral failures. Nothing could be further from the truth! Saints are born sinners. However, a common characteristic of the saint is that upon falling, sinner that they are, they resiliently bounce back; they return to the Lord through Confession with good will, true contrition, and a firm purpose of amendment. Venerable Bruno Lanteri taught NUNC CAEPI— meaning, if we fall, then we must rise immediately and trust all the more in the grace and mercy of the loving Heart of Jesus. It is no surprise that in the Diary of Saint Faustina, Jesus reminds us that the greatest sinner can become the greatest saint if they TRUST FULLY IN HIS MERCY. Venerable Fulton Sheen reminds us that the first canonized saint was a murderer, an insurrectionist, and a thief who hung on a cross next to Jesus on Calvary. As Sheen points out: “And he died a thief because he stole heaven.” Read and meditate on the Parable of the Prodigal Son that can also be termed, the Parable of the Merciful Father.” (Lk 15:11-32)

8. FERVENT LOVE FOR THE SOURCE OF ALL HOLINESS: THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 

The ultimate source of grace, purity, strength and holiness is Jesus Himself. The most efficacious means by which can we unite ourselves with Jesus in His Mystical Body is through the Sacraments. The greatest of all of the Sacraments is the Most Holy Eucharist, for the simple but profound reason that the Eucharist actually is Jesus—His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity! Jesus is the Holy of Holies! Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity! Though it may sound banal or even trivial or even a cliché, there is a real truism behind this one liner: “You become what you eat!” Bad eating habits can produce health problems; good eating habits can contribute to health and longevity. In a parallel but real sense, when we nourish our souls with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, with faith, love, devotion and fervor, then we start to think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, act like Jesus, become like Jesus, until we can say with Saint Paul:  “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

9. OPEN AND DOCILE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Father Jacques Philippe wrote a short masterpiece on this topic with the title “In the School of the Holy Spirit.” In this short but inspiring book, Father Jacques constantly reminds his readers that holiness essentially depends on one basic attitude, action, and plan of life: being docile to the Holy Spirit and His heavenly inspirations. As the Consoler, Counselor, Interior Master, Paraclete, Sweet Guest of the Soul—the Holy Spirit speaks gently but insistently to the pure, humble, and docile soul guiding them in the proper course of action that leads to holiness of life, that leads us to become the saints that we are all called and destined to become! Saint Paul reminds us: “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with ineffable groans so that we can call out Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:26) It is precisely for this reason that Pope Saint John XXIII stated: “The saints are the masterpieces of the Holy Spirit.”

10. MARY AND THE SAINTS.

Our Lady, Mary most holy, is the Queen of Angels, Queen of Virgins, Queen of Confessors, Queen of Martyrs, Queen and beauty of Carmel, Queen of the most Holy Rosary, and finally Mary is Queen of all of the Angels and Saints. After he died, Saint Dominic Savio appeared bathed in heavenly glory to Saint John Bosco and told the holy priest what gave him the greatest joy in his short life on earth (14 years and 11 months). It was precisely this: his great love and confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Dominic ended this encounter with Saint John Bosco by exhorting him to spread devotion to Mary to the greatest extent possible. Mary inspires the saints to pray fervently. Mary inspires the saints to return to God after they sin. Mary encourages the saints to love Jesus with their whole being. Mary’s presence helps the saints to avoid moral dangers. Mary’s maternal and loving presence helps the saints to move from desolation to consolation. For that reason, the saints cry out to Mary in these words: “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.”

Our final prayer and hope is that all of our readers will become saints and great saints. Our hope and prayer is that all of you will one day be a very precious, resplendent and glorious jewel in the crown of Mary so as to contemplate and praise the Blessed Trinity for all eternity.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us so that we can attain the grace to truly become the saint that God has destined for us to become for all eternity.
 

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

WEDNESDAY, June 15th   Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18    “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father in who sees in secret will repay you.”

The most important and efficacious prayer in the world is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! All other prayers are our work; the Mass is Opus Dei – the Work of God!

THE MASS: HEALING OF OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE! By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

In the Advent Season one of the Gospel Readings is the long list of the Genealogical Origin of Jesus, in the three sets of 14 names. Daunted by the long list and befuddled as to how to preach a homily on this long list of names this thought occurred to me: the healing of our own Genealogical Tree.

ORIGINAL WOUNDS.  All of us who come into world as sons of Adam and Eve, inherit the Original Wound, as well as its consequences. With the exception of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the Virginal Birth of Jesus, we all inherit Original Sin and its consequences at the very moment of our conception. True! Baptism washes away the stain of Original Sin but not the consequences that Saint Thomas Aquinas terms concupiscence.

CAPITAL SINS.  Those bad tendencies that are defined as the Capital Sins remain within our very being until we die. They are the following:  Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Envy, Anger, and Pride.   With the help of God’s grace and our collaboration with God these bad tendencies have to be tamed and the opposite virtues must be practiced.

WOUNDED HUMANITY.   All of humanity, therefore, has the mortal wound stemming from the Original Sin.  However, to compound the state of our wounded human nature is our own moral culpability that flows from our own personal sin. Original Sin wounds from the start; personal and actual sin aggravates the state of our wounded condition.

WALKING WOUNDED HUMANITY.   We live in a world walking side by side with a walking wounded humanity and we add our own quota to this wounded and broken world.

WOUNDED WOUNDER OR WOUNDED HEALER.    Taking into account our woundedness, there are two possibilities or options. Either we are wounded-wounders or we become wounded-healers. If we do not come to terms with our wounded condition then our woundedness grows, festers and spreads like a disease, like a moral pandemic. We wound others by our wounded condition.

WOUNDED HEALER.  However, if we recognize that we are truly wounded, we admit it and strive to seek healing, then it can truly become a reality. How?  The only solution is to run to Jesus. Only Jesus can truly heal us. Indeed, He alone is the Wounded Healer. The Prophet Isaiah made reference to the coming of Jesus and His mission when he said. “By His wounds we are healed.”

HIS PASSION: WOUNDS AND OUR HEALING.   In His Passion Jesus was wounded for our sake. His scourging at the Pillar, His crowning with thorns , His falling under the weight of the cross, the nails that pierced His hands and feet, His side that was pierced with the lance—all of these manifest the open and gaping wounds of Jesus.

FINDING REFUGE IN THESE WOUNDS. If we sincerely seek refuge in the wounds of Jesus then we can experience His healing. Most specifically the healing of our moral wounds can take place in the context of the Sacraments and most especially in the Sacrament of Confession. In fact every Sacrament communicates not only grace but a specific Sacramental grace that differentiates it from the others. The Holy Eucharist confers nourishment and spiritual strength. The Sacrament of Confession confers moral healing of the wounds that we have contracted due to moral evil that we call sin.

BLOOD OF CHRIST’S HEALING POWER.   Every time we approach the Sacrament of Confession with good dispositions then with Confession of sins and Sacramental absolution the Precious Blood of Jesus that was poured forth for on the cross on Calvary that First Good Friday washes our sins. The Precious Blood cleanses us and heals us.

HEALING OUR GENEALOGICAL TREE.  Recently much has been written on the healing of our ancestors, our relatives of the past, the gaping wounds of past ages. Fascinating as this topic sounds and the variety of ways to approach the healing of our genealogical 1.tree I believe there is truly a most efficacious manner, means or practice that we can undertake. Indeed going all the way back to our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, there are many wounds, gaping wounds, unhealed wounds of the past that have repercussions on the present and can extend way into the future.

THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS AND UNIVERSAL HEALING.  Of all of the possible remedies for healing wounded humanity, past, present and future there is an all-powerful means that we have at our disposal: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

MOST POWERFUL OF ALL PRAYERS.   Of all the prayers that can be offered in the past, present and the future there is no more powerful and efficacious prayer than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is truly the OPUS DEI—the great work of God Himself. It is actually God offering Himself to God; Jesus (the Second Person of the Trinity) offers Himself into the hands of His Heavenly Father through the power of the Holy Spirit for the salvation of humanity.

CALVARY: THE MASS TRANSCENDING ALL TIMES AND PLACES.   Even though it is true Jesus died on Calvary, Good Friday, more than two thousand years ago, the presence and the power of Calvary extends to all times and places even until the end of time. How does this take place? In every Sacrifice of the Mass today, tomorrow and until the end of time this takes us back to Calvary. That First Good Friday as Jesus hung on the cross He poured forth His most Precious Blood. That same Blood that Jesus shed willingly and most abundantly becomes present in every Mass. And it is through the shedding of the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world that the purification of our sins and salvation becomes a reality.

OFFERING THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS TO HEAL OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.   Now to the point of our topic: OFFER MASS FOR THE HEALING!  Now have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for your family and the two different lines (if you are married) husband and his family of the past; then the wife and her family of the past.

THE INTENTIONS.   Now that Mass intention can be specified in the following way:  (Families: Lopez and Garcia—healing of past, present and future.).  Therefore, this intention includes the maternal side and her past, present and future; then it also includes the paternal side, the past, present and future.   This intention is universal, all-inclusive.  In a real sense it is Catholic—meaning universal! Let us now explain the three time dimensions of past, present and future.

HOLY MASS: META-HISTORICAL EVENT.   By meta-historical is meant that it transcends all time, places, events and cultures. The power and efficacy of Holy Mass transports back to Calvary (2000 years ago); it is actually present its fruit and effects right now but also its power extends into the future until the end of time. It is through the Precious Blood of Jesus shed on Calvary that wounds are truly healed and wounded wounders can indeed become wounded healers!

PAST.   By the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—this metahistorical event—the Precious Blood of Jesus can be applied to the family members—both maternal and paternal years, decades and even centuries. In concrete, in the Lopez and Garcia family there are countless numbers. Many of these members were not ready to have direct access to Heaven, but are detained in Purgatory. Therefore, this Mass offered in the present can serve as a most efficacious means to purify these souls detained in Purgatory; not only that: some can be released from Purgatory and arrive finally at their Heavenly Home for all eternity! The Healing is total and complete!

PRESENT.  These two families have many direct members as well as blood relatives, such as cousins and aunts and uncles. Now the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the present can serve as a most powerful means to sanctify many, convert others, prevent still others from making egregious moral blunders, can serve as a shield against the wily but persistent attacks of the enemy, the devil who is always on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking to devour! Countless lights, inspirations, insights, flow invisibly but most powerfully to the family members and all by means of the Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on the cross on Calvary Good Friday but applied in the present moment!

THE FUTURE.  It is God Himself who created time with all of its ramifications. However, God Himself is not confined to time and space as we the living experience. In a real sense God lives in the eternal present! This being the case, even though the Mass be offered for the Lopez-Garcia family right now in the present moment its effects can extend way into the future. In all truth, the effects of every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can extend into the future, way into the future. If you like this Mass offered right now can extend in its power and efficacy until the very end of time and into eternity.  How might this be the case?   Well, a family member of the Garcia-Lopez clan living in the year 2500 is on his deathbed after living an immoral, sinful life for many years. Shortly before he expires he receives a light, and insight, an inspiration to repent and turn his heart back to God. His last words before giving up his spirit are: Jesus have mercy on me a sinner; Jesus I trust in your loving mercy. These words are not only expressed with his lips but deeply intended in his heart. He is saved!  What is fascinating is the following: the Mass offered close to five hundred years earlier by a family member in the Garcia-Lopez clan was the means by which on his deathbed, this hardened sinner received the grace of final conversion.

In conclusion, all of us can tap into a source of infinite value: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Even one Mass offered for our family members can have a universal repercussion.  The Precious Blood of Jesus, poured forth on Calvary, but applied in every Mass has a universal extension. Holy Mass can purify our deceased relatives who perhaps lived hundreds of years in the past. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can serve to convert, sanctify, and save the family members living in the present epoch. Finally, how great and powerful God is through His Passion, death and Resurrection, all applied in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Way into the distant future years, Holy Mass can prevent sin, sanctify souls and convert the most hardened sinners.  Let us pray that through Holy Mass, the Precious Blood of Jesus that we indeed will not be wounded wounders but rather wounded healers in a broken and wounded world!