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Saint of the Day – August 1 – Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s Story (September 27, 1696 – August 1, 1787)

Moral theology, Vatican II said, should be more thoroughly nourished by Scripture, and show the nobility of the Christian vocation of the faithful and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world. Alphonsus, declared patron of moral theologians by Pius XII in 1950, would rejoice in that statement.

In his day, Alphonsus fought for the liberation of moral theology from the rigidity of Jansenism. His moral theology, which went through 60 editions in the century following him, concentrated on the practical and concrete problems of pastors and confessors. If a certain legalism and minimalism crept into moral theology, it should not be attributed to this model of moderation and gentleness.

At the University of Naples, Alphonsus received a doctorate in both canon and civil law by acclamation, at the age of 16, but he soon gave up the practice of law for apostolic activity. He was ordained a priest, and concentrated his pastoral efforts on popular parish missions, hearing confessions, and forming Christian groups.

He founded the Redemptorist congregation in 1732. It was an association of priests and brothers living a common life, dedicated to the imitation of Christ, and working mainly in popular missions for peasants in rural areas. Almost as an omen of what was to come later, he found himself deserted after a while by all his original companions except one lay brother. But the congregation managed to survive and was formally approved 17 years later, though its troubles were not over.

Alphonsus’ great pastoral reforms were in the pulpit and confessional—replacing the pompous oratory of the time with simplicity, and the rigorism of Jansenism with kindness. His great fame as a writer has somewhat eclipsed the fact that for 26 years he traveled up and down the Kingdom of Naples preaching popular missions.

He was made bishop at age 66 after trying to reject the honor, and at once instituted a thorough reform of his diocese.

His greatest sorrow came toward the end of his life. The Redemptorists, precariously continuing after the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, had difficulty in getting their Rule approved by the Kingdom of Naples. Alphonsus acceded to the condition that they possess no property in common, but with the connivance of a high Redemptorist official, a royal official changed the Rule substantially. Alphonsus, old, crippled and with very bad sight, signed the document, unaware that he had been betrayed. The Redemptorists in the Papal States then put themselves under the pope, who withdrew those in Naples from the jurisdiction of Alphonsus. It was only after his death that the branches were united.

At 71, Alphonsus was afflicted with rheumatic pains which left incurable bending of his neck. Until it was straightened a little, the pressure of his chin caused a raw wound on his chest. He suffered a final 18 months of “dark night” scruples, fears, temptations against every article of faith and every virtue, interspersed with intervals of light and relief, when ecstasies were frequent.

Alphonsus is best known for his moral theology, but he also wrote well in the field of spiritual and dogmatic theology. His Glories of Mary is one of the great works on that subject, and his book Visits to the Blessed Sacrament went through 40 editions in his lifetime, greatly influencing the practice of this devotion in the Church.

Reflection

Saint Alphonsus was known above all as a practical man who dealt in the concrete rather than the abstract. His life is indeed a practical model for the everyday Christian who has difficulty recognizing the dignity of Christian life amid the swirl of problems, pain, misunderstanding and failure. Alphonsus suffered all these things. He is a saint because he was able to maintain an intimate sense of the presence of the suffering Christ through it all.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori is the Patron Saint of:

Theologians
Vocations

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Sermon Notes – July 30, 2023 – The Most Important Thing

The Most Important Thing

 Father Peter Fitzgibbons

July 29 – 30, 2023

Gospel:  Matthew 13:44-52

The last time I took a vacation up north, I was listening to the radio to catch up on the local news, and there was a news item about Taylor Swift.  I have no idea who she is, but apparently, she’s a performer and a good one.   One father bought tickets for his daughter to go see Taylor Swift for $2,500.  Really?  Haven’t people heard of a thing called “radio”?  How many CDs would that buy?  I’m just saying!   People are paying $2,500, and that’s just for tickets, but they also have to pay for parking and food.  People like to go to Carolina Panthers games, paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege, and that’s usually in the “nosebleed” section.   Hmmm.  How much does it cost to come to see the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, Christ Incarnate, present here in the Tabernacle?  Let’s do a cost/benefit analysis on that one, shall we?   God, Himself, is here in the Tabernacle – for free – but not many people show up.  You get to look at God and God gets to look at you.   And it’s better for you.   Now, if you have the money and want to spend it, that’s up to you.  Enjoy yourself . . . that’s your right.  But don’t forget Who is most important.   If you lose Christ, that is a price beyond measure.   

I had a baptism, a wedding, and a wedding preparation session yesterday . . . all in a foreign language – Spanglish.  My Saturdays are never dull.  “Don’t worry, Father – your Spanish is very good.”  Spanish is my fourth language.  Actually, it’s my fifth language – I speak Army proficiently.  So, it’s my fifth language, although I’m not very good at my first.  People think I’m bright – but I’m not.  People want to come in and decorate the church and have a big rehearsal.  And that’s wonderful.   Priests say that they would prefer ten funerals to one wedding.  Funerals are easier to manage, but they are even beginning to get out of hand with the nonnegotiable demands of families.  The decorations in the church are important, although I wish the brides would wear more modest dresses.  I’m a hospital chaplain.  I’ve seen more body parts in 40 years than you will ever have.  Believe me . . . it’s not a thrill.  The most important thing that happens at a wedding is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass . . . the presentation of our Lord’s constant sacrifice before the Father in Heaven.  His greatest act of love which will continue until the end of time for our salvation.  

The second most beautiful thing in a wedding is a man and a woman responding to the love of God.  By saying their vows, they are saying “yes” to Almighty God, and they receive a new vocation.  Their love for God makes them confident enough to say “yes” to Him and to procreate according to the Law of Nature.  Then they are taken up into the Holy Sacrifice and offered to the Father.  That’s the most beautiful thing.  Uniting themselves to God gives meaning to everything.   By focusing on all the other stuff, you are missing what is truly beautiful – the Real Presence of Christ in the Tabernacle.  That’s the most beautiful thing and the one on which we should focus. 

There is a policy book on what to do and not to do regarding decorations in the church.   I had a wedding in a Quonset hut in Korea in the Demilitarized Zone with a broken-down organ.  The American soldier’s parents were there, and they looked worried.   Yeah, if something happens, we’re all dead.  Don’t worry about it.   When I arrived in Korea, I received a briefing from the base commander who said, “Gentlemen, our orders are to die in place.”   I have gone to bed with happier thoughts.   No female soldiers were allowed where we were.  One came by accident, and when it was discovered that the soldier was female, she was gone in less than an hour.  But I remember vividly that wedding and the couple exchanging their vows in a Quonset hut built by Marines in 1953.   Yet that moment was cosmic because the couple found the Pearl of Christ in their vocation . . . the vocation of God.  Everything else in life would take its proper place and have more meaning.  Their personal wants and desires were all sacrificed for one goal . . . building up the love between them by first building up the love of God. 

This is what I tell couples during marriage preparation, and it’s what I told the couple yesterday.  Pray together every day, especially the Rosary.  Bishop Sheen said that.  They didn’t teach that in seminary.  I went to seminary during a very bad time, but I also learned from the ancient masters.  Pray the Rosary every night out loud and not the way the French do.  They really need to take some Valium and slow down.  It’s French – not “mumble.”  Let God hear it.  Words have meaning. 

We are given the pearl of Christ at Baptism, and it can be disguised as all sorts of things we encounter in the world.   He becomes a part of us in Holy Communion and in all the Sacraments to give us purpose, to give us strength, to give us hope, and to give us consolation.  This is what He offers us.  Once our focus is on Him, everything else falls into line appropriately.  When the people we encounter, whether it’s on the highway or in the supermarket, aren’t exactly nice, we tend to go haywire.  “They don’t like me!  They were so mean to me!”  First, look at what Christ puts up with.  And second, those people who were mean to you may be having problems.  “I think everyone should be nice to me because I’m a really nice guy.  Oh wait, I’m supposed to forgive the faults of others out of love for Him.”  Right.  By the way, this lesson will be repeated over and over again.  Mother Teresa and the Sisters of Charity spend a minimum of two hours a day in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.  They get their strength through the Mass and prayer. 

The church is open every day.  God is waiting here for us.  I have plenty of room at Mass, and I am not overburdened with confessions.  I wish I were.  The pearl of Christ wants to come into your soul.

How will you apply this message to your life?  ________________________________________

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Saint of the Day – July 31 – Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Story (October 23, 1491 – July 31, 1556)

The founder of the Jesuits was on his way to military fame and fortune when a cannon ball shattered his leg. Because there were no books of romance on hand during his convalescence, Ignatius whiled away the time reading a life of Christ and lives of the saints. His conscience was deeply touched, and a long, painful turning to Christ began. Having seen the Mother of God in a vision, he made a pilgrimage to her shrine at Montserrat near Barcelona. He remained for almost a year at nearby Manresa, sometimes with the Dominicans, sometimes in a pauper’s hospice, often in a cave in the hills praying. After a period of great peace of mind, he went through a harrowing trial of scruples. There was no comfort in anything—prayer, fasting, sacraments, penance. At length, his peace of mind returned.

It was during this year of conversion that Ignatius began to write down material that later became his greatest work, the Spiritual Exercises.

He finally achieved his purpose of going to the Holy Land, but could not remain, as he planned, because of the hostility of the Turks. Ignatius spent the next 11 years in various European universities, studying with great difficulty, beginning almost as a child. Like many others, his orthodoxy was questioned; Ignatius was twice jailed for brief periods.

In 1534, at the age of 43, he and six others—one of whom was Saint Francis Xavier—vowed to live in poverty and chastity and to go to the Holy Land. If this became impossible, they vowed to offer themselves to the apostolic service of the pope. The latter became the only choice. Four years later Ignatius made the association permanent. The new Society of Jesus was approved by Pope Paul III, and Ignatius was elected to serve as the first general.

When companions were sent on various missions by the pope, Ignatius remained in Rome, consolidating the new venture, but still finding time to found homes for orphans, catechumens, and penitents. He founded the Roman College, intended to be the model of all other colleges of the Society.

Ignatius was a true mystic. He centered his spiritual life on the essential foundations of Christianity—the Trinity, Christ, the Eucharist. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, Ad majorem Dei gloriam—“for the greater glory of God.” In his concept, obedience was to be the prominent virtue, to assure the effectiveness and mobility of his men. All activity was to be guided by a true love of the Church and unconditional obedience to the Holy Father, for which reason all professed members took a fourth vow to go wherever the pope should send them for the salvation of souls.

Reflection

Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg in 1517. Seventeen years later, Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society that was to play so prominent a part in the Catholic Reformation. He was an implacable foe of Protestantism. Yet the seeds of ecumenism may be found in his words: “Great care must be taken to show forth orthodox truth in such a way that if any heretics happen to be present they may have an example of charity and Christian moderation. No hard words should be used nor any sort of contempt for their errors be shown.” One of the greatest ecumenists was the 20th-century German Jesuit, Cardinal Augustin Bea.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola is the Patron Saint of:

Retreats

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Saint of the Day – July 30 – Blessed Solanus Casey

Blessed Solanus Casey’s Story (November 25, 1875 – July 31, 1957)

Barney Casey became one of Detroit’s best-known priests even though he was not allowed to preach formally or to hear confessions!

Barney came from a large family in Oak Grove, Wisconsin. At the age of 21, and after he had worked as a logger, a hospital orderly, a streetcar operator, and a prison guard, he entered St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee—where he found the studies difficult. He left there, and in 1896, joined the Capuchins in Detroit, taking the name Solanus. His studies for the priesthood were again arduous.

On July 24, 1904, Solanus was ordained, but because his knowledge of theology was judged to be weak, he was not given permission to hear confessions or to preach. A Franciscan Capuchin who knew him well said this annoying restriction “brought forth in him a greatness and a holiness that might never have been realized in any other way.”

During his 14 years as porter and sacristan in Yonkers, New York, the people there recognized Solanus as a fine speaker. James Derum, his biographer writes, “For, though he was forbidden to deliver doctrinal sermons, he could give inspirational talks, or feverinos, as the Capuchins termed them.” His spiritual fire deeply impressed his listeners.

Father Solanus served at parishes in Manhattan and Harlem before returning to Detroit, where he was porter and sacristan for 20 years at St. Bonaventure Monastery. Every Wednesday afternoon he conducted well-attended services for the sick. A co-worker estimates that on the average day 150 to 200 people came to see Father Solanus in the front office. Most of them came to receive his blessing; 40 to 50 came for consultation. Many people considered him instrumental in cures and other blessings they received.

Father Solanus’ sense of God’s providence inspired many of his visitors. “Blessed be God in all his designs” was one of his favorite expressions.

The many friends of Father Solanus helped the Capuchins begin a soup kitchen during the Depression. Capuchins are still feeding the hungry there today.

In failing health, Solanus was transferred to the Capuchin novitiate in Huntington, Indiana, in 1946, where he lived for ten years until needing to be hospitalized in Detroit. Father Solanus died on July 31, 1957. An estimated 20,000 people passed by his coffin before his burial in St. Bonaventure Church in Detroit.

At the funeral Mass, the provincial Father Gerald said: “His was a life of service and love for people like me and you. When he was not himself sick, he nevertheless suffered with and for you that were sick. When he was not physically hungry, he hungered with people like you. He had a divine love for people. He loved people for what he could do for them—and for God, through them.”

In 1960, a Father Solanus Guild was formed in Detroit to aid Capuchin seminarians. By 1967, the guild had 5,000 members—many of them grfrom bearing the burdens of the people who visited him. “Long since, he had come to know the Christ-taught truth that pure love of God and one’s fellowmen as children of God are in the final event all that matter. Living this truth ardently and continuously had made him, spiritually, a free man—free from slavery to passions, from self-seeking, from self-indulgence, from self-pity—free to serve wholly both God and man” (The Porter of St. Bonaventure’s, page 199).ateful recipients of his practical advice and his comforting assurance that God would not abandon them in their trials. Solanus Casey was declared Venerable in 1995, and beatified on November 18, 2017.

Reflection

His biographer James Patrick Derum writes that eventually Father Solanus was weary from bearing the burdens of the people who visited him. “Long since, he had come to know the Christ-taught truth that pure love of God and one’s fellowmen as children of God are in the final event all that matter. Living this truth ardently and continuously had made him, spiritually, a free man—free from slavery to passions, from self-seeking, from self-indulgence, from self-pity—free to serve wholly both God and man” (The Porter of St. Bonaventure’s, page 199).

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Saint of the Day – July 29 – Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus’ story (c. 1st century)

Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus were evidently close friends of Jesus. He came to their home simply as a welcomed guest, rather than as one celebrating the conversion of a sinner like Zacchaeus or one unceremoniously received by a suspicious Pharisee. The sisters felt free to call on Jesus at their brother’s death, even though a return to Judea at that time seemed to spell almost certain death.

Martha’s great glory is her simple and strong statement of faith in Jesus after her brother’s death. “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world’” (John 11:25-27).

No doubt Martha was an active sort of person. On one occasion, she prepares the meal for Jesus and possibly his fellow guests and forthrightly states the obvious: All hands should pitch in to help with the dinner. The Lord recognizes that Martha is “worried about many things,” also noting that Mary, who has spent the preparation time at Jesus’ feet listening to his words “has chosen the better part.” John 12:1-8 describes Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet at Bethany, an act which he praised highly.

Immediately after we are told that the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus “because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.” Lazarus was the one of whom the Jews said, “See how much he loved him.” In their sight Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead.

Legends abound about the life of Lazarus after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He is supposed to have left a written account of what he saw in the next world before he was called back to life. Some say he followed Peter into Syria. Another story is that despite being put into a leaking boat by the Jews at Jaffa, he, his sisters, and others landed safely in Cyprus. There he died peacefully after serving as bishop for 30 years.

It is certain there was early devotion to the saint. Around the year 390, the pilgrim lady Etheria talks of the procession that took place on the Saturday before Palm Sunday at the tomb where Lazarus had been raised from the dead. In the West, Passion Sunday was called Dominica de Lazaro, and Augustine tells us that in Africa the Gospel of the raising of Lazarus was read at the office of Palm Sunday.

Reflection

In its 2021 decree on combining veneration of Mary and Lazarus with Martha, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said, “In the household of Bethany, the Lord Jesus experienced the family spirit and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and for this reason the Gospel of John states that he loved them. Martha generously offered him hospitality, Mary listened attentively to his words and Lazarus promptly emerged from the tomb at the command of the one who humiliated death.”

Saint Martha is a Patron Saint of:

Cooks
Homemakers
Restaurant servers

Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are Patron Saints of:

Siblings

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Saint of the Day – July 28 – Blessed Stanley Rother

Blessed Stanley Rother’s Story (March 27, 1935 – July 28, 1981)

On May 25, 1963, Stanley Francis Rother, a farmer’s son from Okarche, Oklahoma, was ordained for his home diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa. Having flunked out of the area seminary due to his difficulty with Latin, Fr. Rother finally accepted an invitation to attend Mount St. Mary Seminary in Maryland, where he finished his studies and was approved for ordination.

After serving in his local diocese for five years, Fr. Rother joined five priests, three religious sisters, and three laypersons to staff a Guatemalan mission in Santiago Atitlán serving the Tz’utujil people. The Oklahoma City diocese heard the call of Pope John XXIII to send missionaries to foreign lands, especially Central America. These twelve individuals felt the call, and with their bishop’s approval, left the comforts of the United States to live and work in Guatemala.

By 1975, Fr. Rother was alone at his parish in Santiago Atitlán, the others having returned home for various reasons. He served the Tz’utujil people for 13 years and won their hearts and souls. Ever the farmer, and always unpretentious and mild mannered, Fr. Rother experimented with various crops as well as fulfilling his heavy pastoral duties which included as many as five Masses in four different locations on a given Sunday and as many as 1,000 baptisms a year.

Guatemala’s civil war reached the highlands and Lake Atitlán by 1980. Government troops camped on the parish farm and Fr. Rother witnessed the assassination of a number of his parishioners, including the parish deacon.

Warned of imminent danger, Fr. Rother returned to the United States for three months early in 1981, to visit with his family and friends. Against the advice of his family and the local bishop, Fr. Rother returned to Atitlán to be with his people. He remembered a Sisters’ community who had fled the country and later tried to return but the people asked, “Where were you when we needed you?”

On the evening of July 28, three masked men entered the rectory and shot Fr. Rother to death. His beloved parishioners mourned him repeatedly crying, “They have killed our priest.”

Pope Francis declared Stanley Rother a martyr on December 2, 2016. He was beatified in Oklahoma City on September 23, 2017.

Reflection

The declaration of a blessed or saint is always a celebration of the Church as the people of God. To single out an individual for his or her holiness and service builds up the entire community of faith. But this is doubly true for the Church in the United States and in Oklahoma, as one of our own is both declared a martyr for the faith and enrolled in the ranks of those declared Blessed by the Church. May the dedication, faith, and service of Blessed Stanley Rother be a source of strength for all in this country.

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Saint of the Day – July 27 – Saint Titus Brandsma

Saint Titus Brandsma’s Story (February 23, 1881-July 26, 1942)

Given the birth name Anno, Brandsma and his siblings grew up on their parents’ dairy farm in rural Frisia. As devout Catholics, the family was in the minority among their Calvinist neighbors. From age 11 Anno was educated at a preparatory school for boys who were studying for the priesthood. He joined the Carmelite novitiate in 1898, taking the name Titus in honor of his father.

In the years following his 1905 ordination, Brandsma received a doctorate in philosophy and initiated a project to translate the works of Saint Teresa of Avila into Dutch. One of the founders of the Catholic University of Nijmegen, he served as a professor of philosophy and the history of mysticism at the school. While there Brandsma was known more for his availability to faculty and students than for his academic achievements.

Working as a journalist Brandsma served as ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. His long-standing opposition to Nazi ideology came to the attention of the Nazis when they invaded the Netherlands in 1940. In direct opposition to the Third Reich, the Conference of Dutch Bishops sent a letter ordering Catholic newspaper editors not to print Nazi propaganda. Fr. Brandsma was arrested while hand delivering the letter in January 1942. After being imprisoned in several other facilities, in June he was taken to the Dachau camp in Germany.

During his brief time at Dachau Fr. Brandsma was well-known for his kindness and spiritual support of other prisoners. His death on July 26, 1942 was a result of the Reich’s program of medical experimentation on prisoners. He gave a wooden rosary to the nurse who administered the fatal injection; she later became Catholic and testified to his holiness. In recent years Brandsma has been honored by both the cities of Nijmegen and Dachau. Titus Brandsma was beatified in 1985, and canonized in 2022.

Reflection

Conscience often creates martyrs. That was the case for Titus Brandsma. Many people “go along to get along,” not realizing that by doing so they are destroying themselves internally. In his homily at the canonization Mass Pope Francis said, “Holiness does not consist of a few heroic gestures, but of many small acts of daily love.”

Saint Titus Brandsma is a patron saint of:

Catholic journalists
Friesland
International Union of Catholic Esperantists
Tobacconists

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Seeing is NOT Believing

We must place our faith in Christ in order to allow him to save us. But what does it actually mean to have faith? What does it look like? Does it mean you just “agree” with everything Jesus and his Church say? Or is it deeper than that?

Today, Fr. Mike draws a sharp distinction between faith and mere “agreement”, and calls us to a more radical trust in our savior.

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Catechism Answers – July 24, 2023

Have questions about the Catechism? We have answers!

📣 Catechism expert Dr. Scott Sollom from Franciscan University will be going LIVE each week to answer your questions about the Catechism as we journey through The Catechism in the Year podcast! Join us every Monday at 12:30pm ET.

Dr. Scott Sollom is a Professor of Theology at Franciscan University and the Director of the Catechetical Institute at Franciscan’s Center for Evangelization and Renewal. He has been blessed to engage in various catechetical workshops across the country as well as consult for the USCCB Institute for the Catechism. Scott has previously served as a DRE in Stillwater, Minnesota, and College Station, Texas, and as a youth minister in Hudson, Wisconsin. Scott and his wife, Mary, have five children and enjoy spending time outdoors as a family.

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 208 – Completing the Earthly Pilgrimage

The effects of the Anointing of the Sick are numerous and deeply transformative. In times of great need and temptation, this sacrament brings us strength, courage, peace, and the forgiveness of sins. Fr. Mike explains that these effects aren’t only for the individual recipient but for the whole ecclesial community. We learn that when a person approaches the threshold of death, joining this anointing with Reconciliation and the Eucharist as viaticum constitute “the sacraments that complete the earthly pilgrimage.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1520-1525.

Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/GPICk60pNJs