Caritas Christi Urget Nos

Category: Saints

  • Solemnity of St. Joseph

    Solemnity of St. Joseph

    Today’s readings [display_podcast]

    It doesn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to know that St. Joseph was a very special man. He was, of course, of the line of David, but he is the specific person in that line that God chose to be the foster father of his only Son.

    In Joseph, we see righteousness. He was a devout follower of the law. Even his initial unwillingness to take Mary into his home shows that he joseph.jpg was a man who walked in the way the Law taught. But righteousness means more than that. It means following whatever way puts us in right relationship with God and others. His righteousness went beyond mere observance of the Law, and followed in the way God laid out for him, as uncertain as that must have been.
    In Joseph, we see justice. He was a hard worker, and a skilled carpenter. He gave what his customers asked. He was also just in his dealings with Mary, accepting her into his house because of God’s command.

    In Joseph, we see faithfulness. He practiced his faith and was obedient to God. He protected his family from hardship and oppression, and evil intent. He raised his Son and taught him the Law. He was faithful to Mary.

    The real gift of this celebration of St. Joseph is that he is a great model for our faith. Men particularly don’t often have role models of faithfulness and righteousness, but in St. Joseph we have all of that. Joseph is the patron of fathers and of workers for a reason: in him we see both of those vocations raised to glory because St. Joseph was a man who lived his faith in all of his life.

    When we find faithfulness difficult, we have Joseph to look to for help. Through his intercession, may our work and our lives be blessed, and may we be found faithful to the word of the Lord.

  • Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, apostle

    Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, apostle

    Today’s readings | Today’s feast

    Today we celebrate the feast of the Chair of St. Peter the apostle. This is a feast that commemorates Jesus giving the servant authority of the Church to St. Peter, as we heard in today’s Gospel. This is a special day of prayer for the Pope, the successor of St. Peter among us.
    Peter & the Keys

    It’s important to remember that Peter was not chosen because he was perfect, but instead because he was faithful. Even after he denied Jesus, he turned back and three times professed his love. In today’s Scripture, he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the One who comes in God’s name. Making that proclamation is the task of the Church in every place, and in every age. We disciples are called to faithfulness, just as Peter was, and we are called to witness to the authority of Christ in every situation: in our Church, yes, but also in our workplaces and in our homes. With the Lord as our shepherd, there is nothing we shall want in any situation.

  • St. John Bosco, Priest

    St. John Bosco, Priest

    Today’s readings

    St. John Bosco was a master catechist who knew the meaning of Jesus’ question in today’s Gospel: “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?” He was a priest who was concerned with the whole person of the young people he taught: he wanted them to fill both their minds and their souls.

    John was encouraged to enter the priesthood for the specific purpose of teaching young boys and forming them in the faith. He was ordained in 1841. This began with a poor orphan, who John prepared for First Holy Communion. Then he was able to gather a small community and teach them the Catechism. He worked for a time as a chaplain of a hospice for working girls, and later opened an oratory – a kind of school – for boys which had over 150 students. The needs of teaching them also encouraged John to open a publishing house to print the catechetical and educational materials used in the classrooms.

    He was known for his preaching, and that helped him to extend his ministry by forming a religious community – the Salesians – to concentrate on education and mission work in 1859. He later formed a group of Salesian Sisters to teach girls. By teaching children self worth through education and job training, John was able to also teach the children of their own worth in the eyes of God.

    Jesus says in the Gospel, “For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” St. John Bosco was tireless in his devotion to teaching this truth to young people. In today’s Eucharist, may our thanksgiving be for the teachers in our lives, but perhaps we can also commend the teachers and catechists of today’s young people to the patronage of St. John Bosco.

  • St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor

    St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor

    Today’s readings

    thomasaquinas“But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property.” Not many have done more to strengthen the house of the Church than St. Thomas Aquinas. I have to admit that reading him in seminary was rather a challenge, because it was often hard to follow his line of reasoning – not because it was disorganized or anything like that, but because his thinking was so high above what I was used to.

    At the age of five years old, Thomas was promised to the famous Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino. His parents were hoping that one day he would become the abbot of that community, which was a very prestigious and politically powerful position. He later went to Naples to study, and a few years later abandoned his family’s plans for him and instead joined the Dominicans. By order of his mother, Thomas was captured by his brother and brought back home, where he was kept essentially in house arrest for a year.

    Once free, he resumed his stay with the Dominicans and went to Paris and Cologne to study. He held two professorships at Paris, lived at the court of Pope Urban IV, and directed the Dominican schools at Rome and Viterbo. He is very much known for his prolific writings, which have contributed immeasurably to theology and the Church. Thomas spoke much of wisdom revealed in Scripture and tradition, but also strongly taught the wisdom that could be found in the natural order of things, as well as what could be discerned from reason.

    His last work was the Summa Theologiae, which he actually never completed. He abruptly stopped writing after celebrating Mass on December 6, 1273. When asked why he stopped writing, he replied, “I cannot go on…. All that I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.” He died March 7, 1274.

    Thomas has taught us through his life and writing that the only thing that can cause the house of the Church to crumble is ignorance. We strengthen ourselves and our community by studying the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church, applying reason and revelation to the challenges of our world and our time. “Hence we must say,” Thomas tells us, “that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge” (Summa Theologiae, I-II, 109, 1).

  • St. Francis de Sales

    St. Francis de Sales

    Today’s readings | Today’s saint

    “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar.” This quote pretty much sums up the way St. Francis de Sales approached life and ministry. Francis de Sales took seriously the words of Christ, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.” As he said himself, it took him 20 years to conquer his quick temper, but no one ever suspected he had such a problem, so overflowing with good nature and kindness was his usual manner of acting. His perennial meekness and sunny disposition won for him the title of “Gentleman Saint.”

    This is a quality that we all wish more people had, and perhaps we wish we had it as well. For all of us who seek to overcome a quick temper, or overcome the disposition to say something we wish we hadn’t, St. Francis de Sales is our patron. Certainly if Saul sought that quality more in his life, his reign as king might not have ended so tragically. The Scriptures end up portraying him as kind of a pathetic package of jealousy, a person who couldn’t see clearly because he couldn’t see past his own ego. This jealousy put the Lord’s anointed, David, in great peril.

    Jealousy and ego can ruin an otherwise graced life. When we are constantly on the lookout for what other people have or what other people are doing, then we often miss the great gifts that God is placing right in front of us. Maybe they aren’t the gifts we wish we had, but they are the gifts we really need, or God would never have sent them our way.

    And so in praying for gifts, may we call on God for meekness, and humility, and patience. As St. Francis de Sales tells us: “The person who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender towards everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light.” Who wouldn’t want to look at the world that way?

  • St. Anthony, Abbot

    St. Anthony, Abbot

    Today’s readings | Today’s saint

    We people of God have a certain responsibility. And having been given that responsibility, and the Spirit with which to carry it out, we had better be ready to fulfill our duties, because the consequences are just too great. St. Anthony the Abbot – this is not the St. Anthony who is the finder of lost objects – was a man who knew well the urgency of fulfilling his responsibilities to the Lord. He gave everything and pursued a solitary life of contemplation, and later developed a rule of life for monasteries. He lived a life of voluntary poverty and complete devotion to God.

    But then there’s poor Eli, the subject of today’s first reading, and really yesterdays. Because in the first reading yesterday, we heard all about the call of Samuel, and of Eli teaching young Samuel to respond to the voice of the Lord by saying “Here I am.” But in the verses that got left out, we have the reason for the disaster that happens in today’s first reading. God has found Eli and his sons guilty of abdicating their responsibility. The people of Israel have become depraved, have worshipped idols, and Eli and his sons have done nothing to turn their hearts. That was their only responsibility, and they failed to accomplish it. So what happens? Not only does Israel fall to the idolatrous Philistines, but the Ark of the Covenant, the great symbol of their commitment to God is taken from them. That’s almost okay though, because the Israelites had long since abandoned the covenant! And then, in the part of the reading we don’t have today, Eli on hearing the news falls over and breaks his neck. His daughter-in-law practically dies in childbirth and names her son Ichabod, a name which means “the glory is gone from Israel.”

    We people of God must take absolute care to fulfill our responsibilities because the cost is just too great. We must proclaim the message far and wide as did the overjoyed leper in today’s Gospel. We must be people of forgiveness and mercy. We must reach out to the poor, needy and oppressed. We must preach the Gospel through every word and action. Because the cost of not doing so is just too great.

  • St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

    St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

    Today’s readings | Today’s saint

    StJohnBig“He saw and believed.” The “other” disciple, often called the “beloved” disciple or the disciple “whom Jesus loved,” is St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, the one we celebrate today. St. John had a very special relationship with Christ. He wasn’t as zealous and boisterous as Peter could be, but he had a faith as strong as Peter’s in his own way. His was a faith that observed and processed and believed. His was a faith that grew quietly, as he made connections between what Jesus prophesied and what came to pass. It’s no wonder that when he stood at the tomb, “he saw and believed.”

    In John’s writings, the theme of love is almost overwhelming. We hear that in today’s first reading, from John’s first letter. That love is bound up in the whole theme of fleshly existence. John proclaims that because God loved the world so much, he could not bear to be apart from us or aloof from our nature. Instead, he took on our fleshly existence, this body that can so often fail us, can so often turn to sin and degradation, can so often lead us in the wrong direction. Taking on that flawed human flesh, God proclaims once and for all that we have been created good, that we have been created in love, and that nothing can ever stand in the way of the love God has for us.

    John’s preaching of love and the goodness of our created bodies is a preaching that has a very special place in the celebration of Christmas. It was because of that love that God had for us, a love that encompasses our bodies and our souls, that he came to live among us and take flesh in our world. His most merciful coming was completely part of his loving plan for our salvation. That’s the message St. John brings us on his feast day today, and throughout this celebration of Christmas.

  • St. John of the Cross

    St. John of the Cross

    Today’s readings | Today’s saint [ more ] Mass for the school junior high students.

    StJohnCrossDo you know what a prophet is? Not a p-r-o-f-i-t profit, but a prophet who is a person. In the broadest sense, a prophet is someone who foretells what is to come. But in terms of our faith, a prophet is even more than that. A prophet is a person who helps us to see God.

    Because lots of times we don’t see God. We’re either too busy to notice God, or too wrapped up in ourselves to care about God, or just completely disinterested in the whole notion of God. Sometimes we just don’t want to see God because we would rather be doing what we want to do and not what’s best for ourselves and others. God can see through all of that, and prophets help us to see through it too.

    We hear from three prophets today. The first is the prophet Isaiah, and we heard from him in today’s first reading. The people of Israel had turned away from God a whole lot.
    God often made a new covenant with them, and then after a while, they would lose interest and get distracted and turn away from God all over again. And Isaiah is trying to wake them up once again. He tells them if they had stayed on the right path, the path God marked out for them when he made a covenant with them, if they had followed his commands, they would have been blessed by good fortune, many descendants, and a rich land and nation that would never have been destroyed. It’s too late for them to turn back now, but maybe by seeing what caused their misfortune, they can turn back to God and let him heal them. Which is something God is always longing to do.

    The second prophet we hear from today is St. John the Baptist, and we hear about him in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus is telling the people of Israel – again! – that just about nothing could get their attention. When John the Baptist went around fasting and staying away from strong drink, the people thought he was weird and couldn’t relate to the kind of life he was calling them to lead. But when Jesus came along asking them to live that same life, and eating and drinking just as they did, they judged him harshly and wouldn’t follow him either. So they always had an excuse, it was never their fault, they wouldn’t dance for joyful songs on the flute or mourn for funeral songs. Basically, no matter who was calling them to reform their lives and no matter how they proclaimed that message, the people wanted to do what they wanted to do, and nothing was going to persuade them to change.

    The third prophet we hear from today is St. John of the Cross, whose feast we celebrate today. St. John of the Cross was a Carmelite friar, a kind of monk who was vowed to poverty, chastity and obedience. He was called by God and by his friend, St. Teresa of Avila, to reform the Carmelite Order. The Carmelites had relaxed some of their rules over time, and had basically turned away from the life that had been envisioned when the Order started. St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila founded a reformed Carmelite Order, and St. John suffered for it terribly. In those days, religious affairs were all tied up in the government of the nation, and so there was a lot of politics. People didn’t agree with St. John, so he was taken prisoner for over nine months. Even when he was released, his fellow friars who didn’t agree with him went around to all the monasteries making trouble for him. He was oppressed for his preaching of reform almost until the day he died.

    Each of these prophets had been given a message by God. Isaiah and St. John the Baptist called the people of Israel to turn back to God. St. John of the Cross called his fellow Carmelites to turn back to the ideals on which their Order was founded. All of them suffered for their witness to the truth. Prophets don’t usually have an easy life. But if we will get past the politics and get over ourselves, we might hear from them a call that leads us back to God who will make us happier than we’ve ever been.

    During Advent, we remember that Christ is always near to us, and we remember that we must always turn back to him and let him be born in our hearts once again, stronger than ever. And so during Advent, we hear from the great prophets like Isaiah, John the Baptist, and John of the Cross who are calling us to turn back to God and to prepare a way for Christ in our lives, in our hearts, and in our world.

    Today in our Psalm we hear what God is trying to tell us through all these prophets:

    Blessed the one who follows not
    the counsel of the wicked
    Nor walks in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the company of the insolent,
    But delights in the law of the LORD
    and meditates on his law day and night.

    And we will be happy too, if we hear God’s call through the prophets and follw in his ways.

  • St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

    St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

    Today’s readings | Today’s saint [ more]

    saintlucyMany of our young people can tell you of the difficulties they face in trying to remain pure, especially before marriage. But we cannot think of that as simply one more of our modern problems, because it has been a problem for a long time now. St. Lucy could tell you that. She was born of noble parents in Sicily around the year 283. Her father died early in her life, and so she was dependent on her mother. She consecrated her virginity to God and sought to renounce worldly possessions in favor of caring for the poor. Her mother, after suffering from a hemorrhage for several years, decided to make a pilgrimage to Catania, to see the relics of St. Agatha. She was indeed cured, and in her joy consented to Lucy’s desire to give greatly to the poor.

    But that generosity, probably mixed with frustration over her commitment to virginity before marriage, was viewed with great skepticism by her unworthy suitor, who denounced her as a Christian to the Governor of Sicily. She was condemned to a life of prostitution, but prayer rendered her immovable and she could not be dragged off to the house of ill repute! At that point, logs were piled around her and a fire was set, which had no effect on her at all. She was finally dispatched with a sword and suffered martyrdom for her belief in Christ.

    As one of the prominent figures of Advent, St. Lucy, along with John the Baptist in today’s Gospel reading, points the way to the coming Christ. The details of her story have been disputed, but the point of the story is not to provide a historical record, but rather a spiritual record. Her commitment to Christ, and her desire to make the pathway straight, as did John the Baptist, provided a rich and unobstructed pathway for the entrance of Christ into her heart.

    We too have challenges along the way to Christ. We might not be called to give our lives rather than forsake our virginity or even our belief in Christ, but we are called to lay down our lives to cover the rough places in the road so that others can come to find Him. Along the way, we are encouraged by great saints like Agatha, Lucy and John the Baptist. Every single one of them points us in the right direction: to Christ the One of whom Isaiah speaks: Christ who will be our redeemer. “But you shall rejoice in the LORD,” Isaiah tells us, “and glory in the Holy One of Israel.”

  • St. Nicholas, Bishop

    St. Nicholas, Bishop

    Today’s readings

    nicholasWell, did you all put your shoes outside your door for St. Nicholas to fill? I was going to do that, but I have such big feet, I didn’t want Fr. Ted to trip over them and fall down the stairs! St. Nicholas day was never a big feast in my family, but I had a friend in seminary who used to dress up as St. Nicholas and give candy canes to everyone in the refectory at lunch. Now that took guts! Especially when he brought one to the Rector of the seminary who informed him that impersonating a bishop could disqualify one from receiving Holy Orders!

    But I have to admit that the legend of St. Nicholas – and that’s pretty much all we have is a legend, by the way – is compelling in a romantic sort of way. And just because it’s a legend doesn’t mean there isn’t truth to be found in it. One of the great stories about St. Nicholas is that he once helped a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters. St. Nicholas helped him by tossing a bag of gold through the man’s window on three different occasions, enabling the man not to give his daughters up to prostitution to provide the dowry. St. Nicholas’s generosity was thus legendary, and evolved into the belief about Santa Claus, which itself is a turn of the Dutch name for St. Nicholas.

    Today’s Gospel encourages us to build our spiritual houses on the rock foundation of Jesus Christ. Those who hear the word and act on it, Jesus tells us, will enter the kingdom of heaven. The obligation of generosity and compassion to others was one that Jesus proclaimed with his very life, and one that he expects his followers to embrace. On this St. Nicholas day, it might be beautiful to reach out in hope and generosity to someone who least expects it. Because that’s just the way our Lord reaches out to us.