Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to Your most Sacred Heart.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I implore, that I may ever love You more and more.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I Trust in You!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Your Heart. Amen
It has been one of those weeks full of some very stressful spiritual and emotional moments added to that the normal work with interruptions and a busy schedule and the time for reflecting and writing has just slipped away and has been difficult to find…so what am I to do? Very simple, I will take some spiritual advice I often give…don’t be hard on yourself. If you don’t have the time for everything do what you can. Finally, a little bit of prayer is better than no prayer. Here is a short reflection with just a little bit of writing. Let’s begin with a quote from Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, “Although a great deal of nonsense has been written about the interior life of men in our day, it is still true that the twentieth century is still closer to God than the nineteenth century was. We are living on the eve of one of the greatest spiritual revivals of human history. Souls are sometimes closest to God when they feel themselves farthest away from Him, at the point of despair. For an empty soul, the Divine can fill; a worried soul, the Infinite can pacify. A self concerned, proud soul, however, is it accessible to grace.” (p17 “Way to Happiness”) These words always bring solace to my soul knowing even in the darkness God’s will is being done. Even in a week of craziness, pain and trouble, God’s will is being done. Even realizing these words of solace were written in the 1950’s God speaks to us through Sacred Scripture and says, “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Ps 90:4) Stay faithful. Stay true. Stay in the presence of Jesus. So…that is it for the week with these final words from St. Teresa of Avila
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away;
god never changes
Patience obtains all things
whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices. Amen
We are not there yet….but we can be with the help of everyone together…So once more, thank you to all who have supported our “Clean Shave for a Clean Start” campaign…if all goes well we will be shaving on the steps of St. Lucy Church on July 14th at around 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon. The money we are raising is to close the gap in the ADA and Capital Campaign so we can confidently plan for the renovations knowing we have the resources on hand to complete the full project. Attached is the link to donate…all gifts, large and small, are important in building the camaraderie of a community of joy.
If everything goes to plan in about one month I will be beardless. The fun and the silliness of our “closing the gap” campaign is bearing great fruit and it looks like the shaving will occur. I found myself the other evening as I brushed my teeth getting ready for bed to really take a good look at my beard and thinking in my mind…”Boy, does my beard look good!” and then sigh at the thought of it going away.
Many people have expressed the support of the beauty of my beard but for some odd reason many, many more have a dislike for my beautiful beard. Whatever the case I will be happy to sacrifice my beard for the good of the parish and the happiness of my Mom and my other family and friends who would like to see the beard go the way of the wooly mammoth.
Now, there is a spiritual gift involved in this for both those who are giving and hoping the beard goes and for me and the remnant who know beauty when they see it. The gift of giving in hope is a blessing of generosity and of community. Choosing to give of the self and join in a movement of good are important aspects of becoming one in a unity that makes us better in who we are as friends and neighbors. It is in building camaraderie we discover the blessing of who we are beyond the what we do.
It is also true for me, who will be loosing the beauty of the beard, and my loyal companions that we too build this unity and joy but also in the sacrificial offering of something greater. It builds the heart of humility of knowing there is a greater and grander plan God has for us in life.
Ultimately it is the camaraderie of who we are and not what we do on which I wish to focus. I know it took the beauty of the beard to get to this point but it is an important point. When the Catholic Church talks about vocation and how our Bishop Oscar Cantú from San Jose talks about building a culture of vocation this is the reality of the word: it is who we are and not what we do. If I use myself as an example: my vocation in the Catholic Church is that of an ordained priest. As a priest I do many things, and some of these works are reserved only to a priest, the calling to a vocation is still about becoming who God has made us to be created in his own likeness as sons and daughters. My mission isn’t to “do the work” of a priest but to conform my life to Jesus Christ in my vocation as priest. The becoming who we are cannot be done in isolation from the Body of Christ, the people of God. And this is how we understand all “vocation” as St. Paul reminds us, conforming ourselves to the image of Jesus is the ultimate goal of everyone. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Eph 5:25) In other words, dying to ourselves helps us find our true calling to serve and love our brothers and sisters.
Once again we cannot die to ourselves simply for ourselves…we must always do so in service of a greater good, a holy cause which draws a deeper and more profound love from our hearts. This is always first and foremost found in our prayer with and for others seeking to understand the blessings we have received and are called to share with the community.
God Bless
Fr. Mark
So once more, thank you to all who have supported our “Clean Shave for a Clean Start” campaign…if all goes well we will be shaving on the steps of St. Lucy Church on July 14th at around 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon. The money we are raising is to close the gap in the ADA and Capital Campaign so we can confidently plan for the renovations knowing we have the resources on hand to complete the full project. Attached is the link to donate…all gifts, large and small, are important in building the camaraderie of a community of joy.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.
This may be the most common prayer said by Catholics throughout time. It is a prayer that begins and ends all other prayers we may say throughout the day. It is the complete and full acknowledgment of the Trinitarian love of God. It is a prayer of blessing we offer to each other over and over again.
Why am I talking about the Sign of the Cross? This Sunday we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. And this is an important blessing within our faith and our understanding of who God is in our lives and how he desires to be in communion with his creation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior’s grace which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father. The sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties.” (#2157)
We can often see sports athletes make the Sign of the Cross. Many soccer players make this sign as they enter the game and baseball players often will make the sign before an at-bat. It is a reminder that these players aren’t making the Sign of the Cross to not swing at a ball outside the strike zone or to score a goal. They are making the sign as an offering to the glory of God. I remember many years ago in an interview a player was asked by a reporter why he made the Sign of the Cross? The player simply responded, “It was an act of thanksgiving. Thanking God for the gift of being able to play a game he loved so much.” He added, “While he never asked God to help him get a hit. He did ask God to help him do his very best.”
This of course is a wonderful and perfect answer. We make the Sign of the Cross as an act of thanksgiving in seeking to do the will of God in our lives, as we seek to allow God to fully participate in our lives. But this isn’t always what happens.
I like so many Catholics can fall into the hand wave habit of the signing of myself. I watch in fascination at times to the quick wave of the hand, the abbreviated motion, the half finished and other forms of the Sign of the Cross that happens at Mass, meals, meetings, in the street or wherever else Catholics pray. It can become, like many memorized prayers, a rote habit that looses all meaning and we fail to appreciate the power of the Cross in our lives. The Sign of the Cross is a mark of our faith and a tool to help us remember the presence of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our lives.
We are called to remember through this simplest of prayers how the Most Holy Trinity calls us into a relationship of love which they model. Jesus throughout the Gospels reminds us, his disciples, of how he and the Father are one and how he will send the Holy Spirit upon us to unite us as one with the Father. This is a promise we remember and hope to fulfill each time we make the Sign of the Cross.
My challenge for all of this week is each time we “cross” ourselves we do so intentionally recalling he words and the great mystery we profess. Trusting that this simple prayer surrounds and protects us from “all temptations and difficulties”
God bless
Fr. Mark
ps…don’t forget to click the link to support the Clean Shave for a Clean Start campaign….I thank you for your support.In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.
This should be kept in mind, in particular: whatever a priest may plan, resolve, or do to become holy, he will have to draw, for example and for heavenly strength, upon the Eucharistic Sacrifice which he offers, just as the Roman Pontifical urges: “Be aware of what you are doing; imitate what you hold in your hands.” (#56 Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia Pope St. John XXIII)
The quote above is one of my favorite as a reminder how I, as a Catholic priest and follower of Jesus Christ, am called to conform my life. Many of you know that this past week on June 4th I celebrated the 14th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. And I would like to take some time to reflect on my journey and how we are called to seek God in our vocation that is proper to our lives. When I entered the seminary in the fall of 2000 I had know idea of the blessings, the thorns, the joys, the sorrows and yes, the cross that God would ask me to share. I was heading off to my pastoral year at St. Catherine of Alexandria parish when the priest abuse scandal became widely known and I remember living in shock, anger and frustration during those months as the list of names and those removed from ministry continued to grow. But it was also a time of great spiritual growth and understanding how when we, as Catholics; priests, religious and laity, choose to conform ourselves to the Eucharistic sacrifice, we begin to see how the mercy, love and healing grace of God converts hearts and helps us overcome sin and continue to participate and work in the vineyard of our Lord.
Configuration to Christ in sacramental ordination places the priest at the heart of God’s people. It allows him to participate in a way proper to him, an in conformity with the whole structure of the ecclesial community, in the triple munus Christi. The priest, acting in person Chirsti Capitis, feeds the flock, the people of God, and leads them to sanctity. hence the need for credible witness to the faith in all aspects of priestly life and in his respect for the celebration of the sacraments. (p 22 “The Priest and the Third Christian Millennium”)
God placed me into the heart of his Church. It began at St. Martin of Tours, then Holy Spirit, then St. Catherine and now at St. Lucy. He placed me in the heart of his Church in my work with Worldwide Marriage Encounter and the Engaged Encounter community. He placed me in the heart of his Church in guiding parish schools, helping families to grow and nurture their faith. He has place me in the heart of his Church in my work with the young adults of our valley with the Young Catholic professionals and most recently in helping a faithful Catholic woman to found a ministry reaching out to young single mothers to help them heal and be re-united to the Body of Christ. In doing these ministries (and a few more) God has placed me into the heart of his Holy Catholic Church to witness to his love, his mercy and his forgiveness by seeking the face of his son Jesus Christ in all whom I am called to serve.
“The first service to render to the community is prayer. And therefore, time for prayer must be given a true priority in our life. I know that there are many urgent things: as regards myself, an audience, a document to study, a meeting or something else. But if we are not interiorly in communion with God we cannot even give anything to others. Therefore, God is the first priority. We must always reserve the time necessary to be in communion of prayer with our Lord.” (p 50 “The Priest: A Bridge to God” Pope Benedict XVI)
It is during those dark times that the Eucharist and prayer became real and my conversations with God became deeper and life-giving. It is where, in God’s classroom of silence, I discovered a beloved Father who waited for me with patience and my priority became His will and not my own. Yes, I still have my times of ego but they become less and less as I live with in the heart of his Church and see the example of the many holy people, who are the Catholic Church, seeking to do the ministry of God’s grace and life in the world. I have discovered my prayer with God, centered on the Eucharist, has become his voice whispering in my soul.
““Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” St. Peter expressed this well when he held up the example of a reverent and chaste life that wins over even without a word those who refuse to obey the word. It is therefore primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world, in other words, by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus the witness of poverty and detachment, of freedom in the face of the powers of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity.”(#41 Evangelii nuntiandi Pope St. Paul VI)
When Pope St. Paul VI wrote the above quote I am sure that he had know idea of the scope and damage the scandals of the last 20 years would do to the priests ability to witness to the faith. But here is the great part…St. Paul VI didn’t write this above quote to just priests…he wrote it to every faithful Catholic…he called us all to be witnesses to the faith and in doing so inspire priests, bishops, cardinals and even Popes to live their vows with joyfulness and hope…to truly be the holy people God calls us to be. As I end this short letter, I ask you to do three simple things: first celebrate the Eucharist as often as you can…it is life giving and our strength against evil, second pray daily for the sanctification of our Church and the holiness of your priests…it does work and it is powerful and lastly, as Pope Francis reminds us again and again, be joyful…bless those we meet and know with a joyful heart even as we carry our cross.
