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You probably don’t outright lie on a regular basis. But, do you exaggerate? Do you give half truths sometimes, or leave things unclear on purpose? Do you hide some facts in order to smooth things over?
Today, Fr. Mike shows us the very-human reasons we all struggle with these “white lies”, and how to tell the “full” truth more often.
“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” —Jesus in Matthew 5:37
If you profess to be a Christian, that means that you profess to follow Jesus Christ. But, of course, that presupposes that you know who Jesus is—where he came from, what he came to do, where he went, and what he continues to do until the end of time.
Our understanding of Jesus can be shaped by our parents, our schooling, our culture, and our own ignorance. But, today, Fr. Mike redirects us to the primary revelation about Jesus that we have access to: scripture.
The Catechism wraps up its overview of the Eucharist by reminding us that the sacrament of Holy Communion is a foretaste of what is to come in heaven. Fr. Mike exhorts us to prepare our hearts here on earth so that they might be conformed to God, ready to unite with him forever in heaven. The Eucharist is a most excellent path to such unity. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1402-1405.
Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/5GBhLnoyjqA
The sacrament of Holy Communion unites the faithful together in a most profound, visible way. It also makes disunity in the Church all the more painful and apparent. The Catechism reveals the Church’s teachings regarding the Eucharist and Christian churches who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Fr. Mike addresses a most common and difficult question: “If a non-Catholic believes that the Eucharist is truly Jesus, why can they not receive him in the sacrament?” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1396-1401.
Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/apkookyx7IU
As the popular adage goes, “you are what you eat.” The Catechism tells us that, as food nourishes the body, so Jesus present in Holy Communion nourishes the soul. It especially highlights the Eucharist’s role in separating us from sin. Fr. Mike reminds us we must be open to change if Jesus is going to change us in the reception of Holy Communion. If—to use Fr. Mike’s analogy—Holy Communion is a “shower” of graces, we must ensure that we’re not wearing a raincoat. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1391-1395.
Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/6OM0l0cMkvw
The Catechism goes over the prerequisites to receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, as well as how often the faithful can and should receive him. Fr. Mike ensures that we understand the gravity of our obligation to go to the sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving Communion. As St. Paul said, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1384-1390.
Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/tAI4giwA86E
Saint Henry’s Story (May 6, 972 – July 13, 1024)
As German king and Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was a practical man of affairs. He was energetic in consolidating his rule. He crushed rebellions and feuds. On all sides he had to deal with drawn-out disputes so as to protect his frontiers. This involved him in a number of battles, especially in the south in Italy; he also helped Pope Benedict VIII quell disturbances in Rome. Always his ultimate purpose was to establish a stable peace in Europe.
According to eleventh-century custom, Henry took advantage of his position and appointed as bishops men loyal to him. In his case, however, he avoided the pitfalls of this practice and actually fostered the reform of ecclesiastical and monastic life. He was canonized in 1146.
Reflection
All in all, this saint was a man of his times. From our standpoint, he may have been too quick to do battle and too ready to use power to accomplish reforms. But granted such limitations, he shows that holiness is possible in a busy secular life. It is in doing our job that we become saints.
Saint John Jones (c.1530 – 1598) and Saint John Wall (1620 – 1679)
These two friars were martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny their faith.
John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power. John ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in 1596. He was condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was executed on July 12, 1598.
John Wall was born in England but was educated at the English College of Douai, Belgium. Ordained in Rome in 1648, he entered the Franciscans in Douai several years later. In 1656 he returned to work secretly in England.
In 1678, Titus Oates worked many English people into a frenzy over an alleged papal plot to murder the king and restore Catholicism in that country. In that year Catholics were legally excluded from Parliament, a law which was not repealed until 1829. John Wall was arrested and imprisoned in 1678, and was executed the following year.
John Jones and John Wall were canonized in 1970.
Reflection
Every martyr knows how to save his/her life and yet refuses to do so. A public repudiation of the faith would save any of them. But some things are more precious than life itself. These martyrs prove that their 20th-century countryman, C. S. Lewis, was correct in saying that courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, that is, at the point of highest reality.
Saint Benedict’s Story (c. 480 – c. 547)
It is unfortunate that no contemporary biography was written of a man who has exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West. Benedict is well recognized in the later Dialogues of Saint Gregory, but these are sketches to illustrate miraculous elements of his career.
Benedict was born into a distinguished family in central Italy, studied at Rome, and early in life was drawn to monasticism. At first he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world—pagan armies on the march, the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a low ebb.
He soon realized that he could not live a hidden life in a small town any better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the mountains for three years. Some monks chose Benedict as their leader for a while, but found his strictness not to their taste. Still the shift from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and permanent worship in one house. Finally he began to build what was to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world—Monte Cassino, commanding three narrow valleys running toward the mountains north of Naples.
The Rule that gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labor, and living together in community under a common abbot. Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding countryside. In the course of the Middle Ages, all monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Rule of St. Benedict.
Today the Benedictine family is represented by two branches: the Benedictine Federation encompassing the men and women of the Order of St. Benedict; and the Cistercians, men and women of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.
Reflection
The Church has been blessed through Benedictine devotion to the liturgy, not only in its actual celebration with rich and proper ceremony in the great abbeys, but also through the scholarly studies of many of its members. Liturgy is sometimes confused with guitars or choirs, Latin or Bach. We should be grateful to those who both preserve and adapt the genuine tradition of worship in the Church.
Saint Benedict is the Patron Saint of:
Europe
Kidney Disease
Monastics
Poisoning
Schoolchildren
Saint Veronica Giuliani’s Story (December 27, 1660 – July 9, 1727)
Veronica’s desire to be like Christ crucified was answered with the stigmata.
Veronica was born in Mercatelli, Italy. It is said that when her mother Benedetta was dying she called her five daughters to her bedside and entrusted each of them to one of the five wounds of Jesus. Veronica was entrusted to the wound below Christ’s heart.
At the age of 17, Veronica joined the Poor Clares directed by the Capuchins. Her father had wanted her to marry, but she convinced him to allow her to become a nun. In her first years in the monastery, she worked in the kitchen, infirmary, sacristy, and also served as portress. At the age of 34, she was made novice mistress, a position she held for 22 years. When she was 37, Veronica received the stigmata. Life was not the same after that.
Church authorities in Rome wanted to test Veronica’s authenticity and so conducted an investigation. She lost the office of novice mistress temporarily and was not allowed to attend Mass except on Sundays or holy days. Through all of this Veronica did not become bitter, and the investigation eventually restored her as novice mistress.
Though she protested against it, at the age of 56 she was elected abbess, an office she held for 11 years until her death. Veronica was very devoted to the Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart. She offered her sufferings for the missions, died in 1727, and was canonized in 1839. Her Liturgical Feast Day is July 9.
Reflection
Why did God grant the stigmata to Francis of Assisi and to Veronica Giuliani? God alone knows the deepest reasons, but as Celano points out, the external sign of the cross is a confirmation of these saints’ commitment to the cross in their lives. The stigmata that appeared in Veronica’s flesh had taken root in her heart many years before. It was a fitting conclusion for her love of God and her charity toward her sisters.