The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

Site of the Crucifixion, Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.

After the crucifixion of our Lord on the hill of Calvary, and after His subsequent resurrection from the nearby tomb where His body had been placed, there was a concerted effort by both the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem to obliterate any physical evidence or reminder of these events. They didn’t want there to be any rallying-place for the disciples of Jesus to gather, so dirt was piled up over the general site, and with the passage of time there were pagan temples built on top of it. But a persistent story was passed from generation to generation; namely, that the Cross on which Christ had died had been hidden somewhere underneath the site which was subsequently covered by pagan places of worship.

Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, was nearing the end of her life. A devout Christian, she received the divine inspiration that she should journey to Jerusalem to excavate the area where the Holy Sepulchre was, and attempt to locate the True Cross. The year was 326, and she set off on her pilgrimage. When St. Helena arrived in Jerusalem she was able to find someone who was very familiar with the story of where the Holy Cross had been hidden, and she ordered the excavation to begin – obviously able to arrange such a project because she was the Emperor’s mother.

The excavation was a success, but the problem was that three crosses were found on the spot. How was St. Helena to determine which one was the True Cross of Jesus? What happened next has come to us down through history in a tradition which tells us that St. Helena, along with the Bishop of Jerusalem, devised an experiment. The three crosses were taken to a woman who was near death; when she touched the True Cross, she was healed. This confirmed to St. Helena that the actual Cross upon which our Lord was crucified had been found.

Such a discovery called for celebration, and along with the great rejoicing and prayers of thanksgiving to God, the Emperor Constantine ordered that two churches be built – one at the site of the burial of Christ (the Holy Sepulchre) and one on the site of the crucifixion (Mount Calvary). Because the sites were very close to one another, the churches were actually connected by a great colonnade, and today they are fully incorporated as one structure. The solemn dedication of the churches took place on September 13 and 14, in the year 335. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was fixed on September 14th, spreading from Jerusalem, on to other churches, until by the year 720 the celebration was kept throughout the whole Church.

The story doesn’t end there. In the early seventh century, the Persians conquered Jerusalem. The Persian king looted the city and stole the True Cross, taking it to Persia. Eventually, however, the Emperor recaptured the True Cross and brought it back to Jerusalem. The tradition says that he carried the Cross on his own back, but when he attempted to enter the church on Mount Calvary, he was unable to take another step. Bishop Zacharias of Jerusalem saw that the emperor was having difficulty, and so advised him to take off his royal robes and crown, and to dress in a penitential robe instead. As soon as the Emperor took the bishop’s advice, he was able to carry the True Cross into the church, where it was enshrined for the veneration of the Faithful. Eventually, smaller pieces of the relic were distributed throughout Christendom.

Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world unto himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor

St. John Chrysostom is known as one of the greatest preachers in the long history of the Church, and surely his homilies form a major legacy, but John lived at a time and in circumstances which demanded great holiness – something which God granted him in abundance.

John was born in 347, the son of Christian parents. His mother, Anthusa, was widowed at the age of twenty, soon after his birth. Anthusa gave all of her attention to her son. She gave him the best classical education available, and he was enrolled as a catechumen when he was eighteen. He came under the influence of Bishop Meletius of Antioch, who baptized him and ordained him lector.

At this time, John felt called to lead the life of a monk-hermit. He took up residence in a cave, spent his time studying the Scriptures, and put himself under the discipline of an elderly hermit named Hesychius. The discipline was demanding and austere, eventually breaking the health of John. He returned to Antioch, where he was ordained a priest, and he came to be known as a great preacher.

During the next twelve years the people of Antioch were enthralled with his sermons. He preached with a depth of knowledge and persuasiveness that were memorable to those who heard him. It was during this time that he received the nickname of Chrysostom, or “golden mouth,” because it was commonly said that “his words are like pure gold.” In the year 397, the Emperor Arcadius appointed John Chrysostom to the vacant See of Constantinople. It was feared that John’s humility would lead him to refuse the position, so he had to be lured to Constantinople, where he subsequently was consecrated bishop in 398.

It was not a peaceful or holy place in which John Chrysostom found himself. There was an abundance of political intrigue. Fraud and extravagance were the order of the day. Those around him were driven by their raw ambition to be advanced in their positions. John Chrysostom brought about immediate changes: he cut back expenses; he gave generously to the poor; he constructed hospitals. He set about reforming the clergy, called the monks back to a life of discipline, and reminded all the people of the importance of leading faithful and moral lives.

As might be expected, his program of reforms made enemies – especially the Empress Eudoxia along with Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria. With the city of Constantinople in an uproar and his life under threat, John was exiled by the emperor in the year 404.

The situation continued to deteriorate, with the papal envoys being imprisoned, and John (who was defended by the pope and who had ordered John to be restored to his See) was sent even further into exile. Eventually he found himself six hundred miles from Constantinople, across the Black Sea. St. John Chrysostom was weary and he was sick. He died in exile in the year 407, and yet his last words were, "Glory to God for all things."

O God of truth and love, who gavest to thy Bishop John Chrysostom eloquence to declare thy righteousness in the great congregation, and courage to bear reproach for the honour of thy Name: mercifully grant to the ministers of thy Word such excellence in preaching; that all people may share with them in the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Most Holy Name of Mary

Following upon the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary which was celebrated on September 8th, it is on September 12th that we commemorate the giving of her name by her parents, Ss. Joachim and Anne. They chose the Hebrew name of Miryãm, which means “lady” or “sovereign.” The feast of the Holy Name of Mary originated in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513. It was Pope Innocent XI who extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683, and for a very special reason. It was an act of thanksgiving to our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683 by John Sobieski, king of Poland, over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West.

What happened was this: the Turks had been hammering the city of Vienna for a couple of months, and finally enough was enough. Under the leadership of Poland’s king an army comprised of Germans, Austrians and Poles made their move against the Turks, routing them completely. It was such an important victory that the Pope was inspired to do something special – thus, what had been a localized commemoration was now an act of thanks from the whole Church. But there’s more to the story…

When the Turks made their hasty retreat there were all sorts of things left behind, including several sacks containing a strange bean unknown to the victors. Thinking it was food for the invaders’ camels, the Viennese were about to dump it all in the Danube. But there was a citizen of Vienna who had been a captive under the Turks. He knew these beans were roasted by the Turks, and after grinding them up they would put them in hot water, making a drink they really seemed to relish. This man, Kolinsky, received exclusive permission to make and sell this new and unfamiliar drink – coffee.

The Viennese people hated it. It was bitter. The grounds got stuck in their teeth. It didn’t seem much better than drinking a cup of mud. Then a friend of Kolinsky made a suggestion. Strain out the grounds. Put a little milk in it to lighten it up. Add some sugar to make it more palatable. After following that advice, the people flocked to buy it, and so the first coffee house was born.

But let’s face it – what’s a cup of coffee without something to go with it? And with that came a new pastry which not only tasted good, but poked a stick in the eye of the defeated Muslim invaders. The delectable comestible was formed into the shape of a crescent – that symbol which had become so hated during the Turkish occupation – and with every bite of these wonderful pastries the Viennese were able to have another small victory over their invaders.

So there we have it. There’s the story of how Turkish coffee was made drinkable, and how the croissant – the “Turkish crescent” – came into being. And it all happened as part of the victorious triumph achieved under the banner of the Most Holy Name of Mary.

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that thy faithful people who rejoice in the name and protection of the most holy Virgin Mary, may by her loving intercession be delivered from all evils on earth and be found worthy to come to everlasting joys in heaven; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Trinity XIII: Lost and Found

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

- St. Luke 15:1, 2

There was something about our Lord’s stories and how He told them, that many people found attractive. If a person had been living in a way that was contrary to God, there was something about Christ’s words that made him stop and think. Certainly, not everyone repented. But hearts were touched, if even for a moment, at Christ’s simple revelation of the immense love which God has for every one of His children.

On the other hand, there were many others, especially among the scribes and Pharisees, who were utterly scandalized by Christ’s words. And they were equally scandalized by the sorts of people who listened to Him. According to the Gospel accounts, there was a lot of murmuring going on among the scribes and Pharisees. They would complain about Jesus. “How can he even think of being around people like that?” they would say. “He should know that they’re bad people, and that he’s taking the risk of making himself unclean by hanging around with them,” they would state, in a very self-righteous tone. So lines were drawn in the sand.

“This man receives sinners and eats with them,” the scribes and Pharisees murmured. And in response to their condemnation, our Lord Jesus Christ tells some parables.

The first parable tells the story of the shepherd who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. He looks for it, finds it, puts it on his shoulders, and returns joyfully to the sheepfold. Then we hear of the housewife who possesses ten silver coins, and she loses one. She searches the whole house, finds it, and invites her neighbors in to celebrate the recovery. And the third parable in this set of parables is the story of the Prodigal son. We know well the parable of the father who has two sons. One wastes his share of the inheritance while the father anxiously looks for his return. When he finally returns home, his father welcomes him with open arms and celebrates with a great feast.

Although each one of these parables focuses on something different, the point in each story is the same: it has to do with the joy of finding something after losing it. In slightly different ways, they all tell us the same thing: that if God is filled with joy when a sinner is converted and repents, then we should be as joyful. This was Christ’s message to the scribes and Pharisees, and it is His lesson for us.

The shepherd, the housewife, and the father are all anxious to recover what they have lost, and Jesus is reminding us that so is God eager to recover what has been lost, when it comes to each one of us. It doesn’t take a profoundly theological mind, in the light of these parables, to grasp right away that we all are the lost sheep, the lost silver coin, the wandering son. But because of His infinite and tireless patience, the Lord will not abandon any one of us. He is concerned about each individual. He wants to restore His relationship with every person who has rejected it. He will never force anyone, but He will always show His love for each one of us, because He wants every one of us to have the experience of being found.

This is what St. Paul described in his epistle to St. Timothy, when he wrote, “I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted Christ, yet I received mercy… and the grace of the Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul was a man filled with the joy of having been found. He had been far off from God, but then he was reconciled, and he can scarcely contain his joy. And we can understand that. Who hasn’t suddenly felt overwhelmed with joy when a broken relationship is healed – when a marriage headed for breakup gains a new footing and a firmer foundation – or when a friendship which has exploded in anger is finally repaired? If that experience of healing is important to us in our human relationships, certainly it is vastly more important in our relationship with God.

There is a phrase in St. Paul’s epistle which states clearly the aim of God: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” And Paul presents himself as a prime example of someone who has benefited from this mercy. He tells us his own circumstances so that we might realize that we are all pardoned sinners, that we will need pardon until the very end of our lives, and that our salvation does not come from ourselves, but through God’s mercy.

We learn from these parables that God is infinitely patient in His care and in His searching for us, and that being reconciled with him – being forgiven and restored to communion with Him – is a very wonderful and joyful thing.

But there is another lesson, and it comes at the end of the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is why the three parables really go together. Remember the older son? He returns from the fields, and he hears the noise of the feast and he asks what all the excitement is about. And when he hears, he goes into a fit of jealousy. He makes the point loud and clear: his brother has been a good-for-nothing, and now they’re holding a party just because he’s come back home? He, as the older son, has always done the right thing, but he’s never received a thing. Jesus makes this point in direct answer to the scribes and Pharisees – and also to plenty of us today. There is that attitude among all too many that really doesn’t want to see others benefiting from forgiveness. They would rather carry on the grudge, they would rather be seen as “the good ones.” There are those who want to think that God couldn’t possibly love that person over there every bit as much as He loves me! Christ includes this last part of the parable to remind us: we are all sinners in need of pardon. He even included it in the prayer He taught to His disciples: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…”

Our whole life needs to be grounded on pardon – the pardon we need to give to others, and the pardon we ourselves need to receive from God. And if we acknowledge that we are sinners, constantly receiving pardon from God, then we should be anxious and happy to pardon others, and we should be overjoyed when God finds them and forgives them, just as He has found and forgiven us.

Instead of being scandalized, the scribes and Pharisees should have been happy to see Jesus concern Himself with sinners. And there is a lesson for us: we, too, need to know how to rejoice over goodness, whoever is doing it, and whoever benefits from it. We need to learn the joy of forgiving others, just as we have experienced the overwhelming joy of having been forgiven ourselves.

Each of us should think carefully: is there someone whom I need to forgive? Today is the day to do it.

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Image: "The Lost Sheep" by Sir John Everett Millais, Bt (1829-1896)

Remember and pray...

 

World Trade Center, 9/11

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of thy servants departed, and grant them an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Pentagon, 9/11

For none of us liveth to himself,

and no man dieth to himself.

For if we live, we live unto the Lord,

and if we die, we die unto the Lord.

Whether we live, therefore, or die,

we are the Lord's.

Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 9/11

Thou only art immortal, the creator and maker of mankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and unto earth shall we return. For so thou didst ordain when thou createdst me, saying, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." All we go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

May she rest in peace, and rise in glory...

O GOD, who desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that all mankind should be saved: we beseech thee mercifully to grant that thy handmaid ELIZABETH, who has passed from this world, may by the intercession of Blessed Mary ever-Virgin and of all thy Saints come to enjoy with them everlasting blessedness; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Peter Claver

A native of Spain, the young Jesuit priest Peter Claver left his homeland forever in 1610 to be a missionary in the colonies of the New World. He sailed into what is now Colombia, and he was ordained there in 1615.

By this time the slave trade had been established in the Americas for nearly 100 years, and Cartagena was a chief center for it. Ten thousand slaves poured into the port each year after crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul and inhuman that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Although the practice of slave-trading was condemned by Pope Paul III and later labeled "supreme villainy" by Pius IX, it continued to flourish.

Fr. Peter Claver's predecessor, Jesuit Father Alfonso de Sandoval, had devoted himself to the service of the slaves for 40 years before Fr. Claver arrived to continue his work, declaring himself "the slave of the Negroes forever."

As soon as a slave ship entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the ill-treated and exhausted passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the ship like chained animals and shut up in nearby yards to be gazed at by the crowds, the young priest plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread, brandy, lemons and tobacco. With the help of interpreters he gave basic instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and God's saving love. During the 40 years of his ministry, he instructed and baptized an estimated 300,000 slaves.

His apostolate extended beyond his care for slaves. He preached in the city square, gave missions to sailors and traders as well as country missions, during which he avoided, when possible, the hospitality of the planters and owners and lodged in the slave quarters instead. 

After four years of sickness which forced the saint to remain inactive and largely neglected, he died on September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his kindness toward the slaves, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with great pomp.

He was canonized in 1888, and Pope Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among those who are in slavery or any kind of forced servitude.

O God, who madest Saint Peter Claver a slave of slaves, and strengthened him with wonderful charity and patience as he came to their help: grant, through his intercession; that, seeking the things of Christ, we may love our neighbour in deeds and in truth; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"The day of the Nativity of the Mother of God is a day of universal joy, because through the Mother of God, the entire human race was renewed, and the sorrow of the first mother, Eve, was transformed into joy." - St. John Damascene

The birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated as a liturgical feast at least from the sixth century. Its origin can be traced to the occasion of the consecration of a church in Jerusalem just inside St. Stephen’s Gate, near the Pool of Bethesda, on the traditional site of the house of Ss. Joachim and Anne. Within a few years the liturgy was celebrated in Rome, having been introduced by monks from the East, and the celebration included a procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Although the actual date of Mary’s birth isn’t known, the Church settled on September 8th, and the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception was fixed on December 8th, as the date corresponding to nine months before the celebration of her Nativity.

These two feasts can be seen as a kind of bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. With the conception and birth of the Blessed Virgin, God completed the new Ark – the living Temple – in which He would dwell. Through Mary, Jesus the Incarnate God has come to us.

O Lord, we beseech thee, bestow on thy servants the gift of heavenly grace: that as our redemption began to dawn in the child-bearing of the Blessed Virgin Mary; so this festival of her Nativity may yield us an increase of peace; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

On August 26, 1910 a baby girl was born to a couple of Albanian heritage in Skopje, Macedonia. She was baptized with the name of Agnes, and she grew up in a loving and devoutly Catholic household. When she was eight years old, her father died, leaving her mother with the responsibility of supporting the family, which she did by opening a shop which dealt in embroidery and fabric.

Young Agnes helped her mother, and was also deeply involved in the life of their parish church, but when she was eighteen she felt the call to religious life. She left home in September of 1928, travelling to Dublin, Ireland, where she was admitted as a postulant at the Loreto Convent. It was there that she received the religious name of Teresa, after her patroness, St. Terese of Lisieux, and she was known as Sr. Mary Teresa.

After her postulancy in Ireland, Sr. Teresa was sent to India, where she was to spend her novitiate. She arrived in Calcutta on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1929, and went immediately into the Loreto convent in Darjeeling. It was on May 24, 1937, that she professed her final vows, and during the 1930’s and 1940’s she taught at a Catholic girls’ school in Calcutta, and came to be known as Mother Teresa.

It was on September 10, 1946 that she was on the train going from Calcutta to Darjeeling. As she later recalled it, it was during that journey that she was given what she termed a “call within a call.” This was when she received the inspiration which would lead to the founding of the Missionaries of Charity. Within her call to religious life she felt the call to establish a new religious institute which would have as its mission, “to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the cross for love of souls,” and this would be accomplished by “laboring for the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor.” This came to fruition on October 7, 1950, when the new congregation of the Missionaries of charity was erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

Her work had begun in a small way. She washed the sores of sick children; she nursed a woman dying of starvation and tuberculosis; she cared for a homeless man who was without any family, and near death. One by one, some of her former students joined her in the work. Their day would begin with Mass and Holy Communion, and then they would set out on the streets of Calcutta – they were recognizable by their white saris with blue borders – and they had the purpose of caring for the “poorest of the poor,” who had no one to care for them. They searched them out as though searching for Jesus Himself.

Throughout the 1950’s and into the 1960’s the work expanded, as did the number of those joining the Missionaries of Charity. They worked not only in Calcutta, but throughout India. Then, in 1965, Pope Paul VI raised the congregation from an archdiocesan institute to one of pontifical right, and they began to spread throughout the world, going first to Venezuela, then into Europe and Africa, eventually opening houses in Australia, the Middle East, and North America.

In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and by that time there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations throughout the world, and its growth continued, until by 1997 there were nearly 4,000 Sisters in 600 foundations, in 123 countries of the world. In the summer of 1997, after an extensive trip to visit her sisters in Rome, New York, and Washington, Mother Teresa’s health was failing. She returned to Calcutta, and on September 5, 1997, she died at the Motherhouse, very near the Loreto convent where she had arrived some sixty-nine years earlier.

At her death she was mourned throughout the world. Hundreds of thousands came to Calcutta to pray and pay their respect to this remarkable woman. She was given a state funeral, and her body was taken in procession throughout the streets of Calcutta, where she herself had searched out the “poorest of the poor.” After only two years, in recognition of her sanctity, special permission was given to open her cause.  She was beatified on October 19, 2003 and was canonized on September 4, 2016. In speaking of her, St. John Paul II called her “an icon of the Good Samaritan.”

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us, we pray thee, from an inordinate love of this world, that, inspired by the devotion of thy servant, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, we may serve thee with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Labor Day

Labor Day, observed each year on the first Monday in September, has become synonymous with barbeques and bargains, and for most of us it marks the end of summer. It was instituted originally as a day to honour workers, and it has in the past featured the place of organized labour in our society. Labor unions have had an up-and-down place in the history of our nation, but whatever one's view of unions, nonetheless it is a good thing to honour workers and their labour.

The patron saint of labourers is St. Joseph the Worker. The actual commemoration of this title falls on the first day of May, but it is appropriate to remember him on Labor Day too, as a way of accentuating the dignity of labour and as a reminder of the spiritual dimension of work.

The teaching of the Church reaches back into the Old Testament, when we read in the Book of Genesis that God created man, and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend to it. From that time, God, who is the creator and ruler of the universe, has called men and women in every age to develop and use their talents for the good of others, and as a way of sharing in the creative work of God. In every kind of labour we are to remember that we are obeying the command of God to use our talents, and to receive the fruit of our labours. Our work allows us to provide for our own needs, and for the needs of those for whom we are responsible. It also allows us to show proper charity toward those who are in need.

As we celebrate Labor Day, we should look to St. Joseph and follow his example of work, by which he showed his love and responsibility for the Blessed Virgin Mary and for the Child Jesus. St. Joseph shows the dignity of work – and whether it is manual work, or any other kind of work, we are to do it in a spirit of cooperation with God, and as an offering to Him. Any task, well done, is an offering to God. When we work, we should see it as a work done for God, and it is part of what shows that we are created in His image. In creation itself, God worked for six days, and rested the seventh. So in our own lives, we are to keep that balance between using our energy for work, and then out of respect for our minds and bodies, give a day for our spiritual and physical renewal.

O LORD Jesus Christ, who in thy earthly life didst share man’s toil, and thereby hallow the labour of his hands: prosper all those who maintain the industries of this land; and give them pride in their work, a just reward for their labour, and joy both in supplying the needs of others and in serving thee their Saviour; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "Christ in St. Joseph's Workshop"

by Matteo Pagano (1515-1588)

Trinity XII: Discipleship

“What man can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills?”

- Wisdom 9:13

“I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.”

- Philemon vv.10, 12

“If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

- St. Luke 14:26,27

When we first hear today’s three Scripture readings a common thread is not immediately evident, but upon a closer consideration we can find a unity in them which speaks to us about Christian perfection, about real Christian discipleship.

We begin with a basic truth – a first step in our Christian life – which we hear in the book of Wisdom: “What man can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills?” Even though human knowledge is increasing rapidly we must constantly be reminded that we do not know everything, nor can we ever know everything. There are some things beyond our capacity to know – there are things of God that we will never fully understand in this life. Man’s problem is that he often confuses the difference between “knowledge” and “wisdom.” Our approach to God must have a sense of proportion and humility, knowing that there is far more about the things of God and about His creation than we can ever know.

That leads to the second reading, which is a portion of a very brief letter from St. Paul written to a Christian named Philemon. Philemon had a slave by the name of Onesimus. Onesimus had run away, and had gone to Paul, who had originally taught Onesimus the Christian faith. Paul was in prison at this time, and Onesimus wanted to stay with Paul to serve him in his imprisonment, and Paul had become quite fond of this runaway slave. But after some qualms of conscience, Paul and Onesimus decided that Onesimus should return to his master. So Paul writes a letter for Onesimus to take back to Philemon, and it is a letter which is shot through and through with the very question we heard in Wisdom, “What man can learn the counsel of God?” The civil law was on the side of Philemon – after all, according to the law in that time and place Onesimus was his property. But St. Paul puts it to Philemon in such a way as to say that the escape of Onesimus was really part of the mysterious plan of God. Paul writes, “Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother…” In other words, “God’s ways are not necessarily our ways.” If we do not understand something at first, it may well be part of the wisdom of God, which must not be ignored. If we needed further proof, history indicates to us that this Onesimus may well have become the Bishop of Ephesus some years after the writing of this letter, showing us the unexpected wisdom of God: that a slave should become the spiritual superior of the man who had once owned him!

And that brings us to the portion of the Gospel appointed for this day. The previous readings have led us on to its message, by telling us first that God’s wisdom is higher than our wisdom; and second, as in the case of Onesimus, God can turn things upside down in order to accomplish His purposes. And we now get to the crux of the message: namely, what it is to be a disciple of Christ, and what this discipleship involves. The bottom line, according to Christ, is this: “Whosoever of you does not renounce all that he has, cannot be my disciple.” And our Lord uses some difficult words to make this point: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple…”

How unexpected, that Christ should call us to “hate” in order to follow Him! But we need to understand that what is translated as “hate” comes from an Aramaic word which means “to love less” – a much different meaning than our English word “hate.” In other words, Christ’s disciples are to love their families and themselves less than they love their duty to Christ. Or, to turn it around, our Lord demands a primary and undivided allegiance, and no one can be given precedence over Him in our lives.

Now certainly, Christ was not despising natural family ties – He instituted the Sacrament of marriage; He blessed little children; He taught us to call God “Our Father;” at His death he gave His own mother into the care of the beloved disciple. Certainly, He highly valued those relationships. And yet, He requires an immediate and unqualified loyalty to Himself first. And why? Because He is the Divine Incarnate Word, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity; He is God Himself – and we can have no love, no affection, no loyalty, which is greater than that which we are to have for God.

Christ says also that if we would be His disciple, each one must “carry his own cross” and come after Him. Each one of us has a cross – a requirement from God – which has been fitted for us individually, and it means we must put aside our own sense of what we think is important, so that we can find the will of Christ. The meaning is clear: the peace which comes from doing the will of God is the only real peace we can ever have – it passes our understanding. As we willingly carry the cross given to us, it means that we “die to ourselves” – it is like a seed that has to die so that the plant can grow and flower and bear fruit. That is how we seek and find God’s Kingdom. We will not grow beautiful roses if instead we plant weeds. We will not know the goodness and abundance of the fruits of God’s Kingdom it we plant only the seeds of our own selfish and conceited ideas.

The God who does the unexpected; whose wisdom cannot be fathomed; who calls a slave to be a bishop in His Church – will not be satisfied with half-hearted disciples. We cannot simply be “along for the ride.” If we are not standing totally with Him, then we might find ourselves standing against Him. Our vocation is to serve Christ, and that means we look for His Will, and follow that Will, because it is in our obedience to Him that we find true happiness, and the holiness to which we are called.

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Painting: "Christ Appearing to His Disciples"

by Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-1260-c.1318-1319)

Pope St. Gregory the Great

St. Gregory, known as "the Great," served the Church as Supreme Pontiff from 590 until 604. Before this he had served the city of Rome as a senator and prefect, all by the age of thirty. He then dedicated himself to God by entering religious life as a Benedictine monk. It was during his time as abbot that a well-known incident took place.In about the year 573 A.D. the abbot Gregory, during a walk through the marketplace, saw some fair-skinned people being sold as slaves. When he asked about them he was told they were Angles. He responded, “Non Angli, sed angeli” (“Not Angles, but angels!”).  

After he became the pope he decided he needed to send missionaries to their people, to bring them the knowledge of the Gospel. England had once known the faith, but the Angles and the Saxons had conquered the land and had driven the Christians out. But now the time had come to re-evangelize, and St. Gregory chose St. Augustine and thirty monks to make the unexpected and dangerous trip to England. Augustine and his monks had the task of finding what few Christians there were and bringing them back into the fullness of the Faith, and to convince the war-loving conquerors to become Christians themselves.

Pope St. Gregory also had a tremendous influence on the liturgical and musical life of the Church, and in an ancient account it says, “St. Gregory established at Rome two schools of song, that one beside the church of S. Peter, and that other by the church of S. John Lateran, where the place is yet, where he taught the scholars, and the rod with which he menaced them is yet there.”

Pope St. Gregory well-deserves to be called “the Great,” not just for his re-evangelization of England, but for his liturgical, musical, and spiritual influence upon the whole of the Western Church.

O God, the strength of them that put their trust in thee, who didst stablish thy blessed Confessor and Bishop Saint Gregory with the strength of constancy to defend the freedom of thy Church: grant, we pray thee, that by his prayers and good example, we may manfully conquer all things contrary to our salvation; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "St. Gregory the Great, Pope" 

by Francisco José de Goya (1746–1828)

A Simple Hymn

O precious Lord, once born for us

in stable small and poor;

be born again within our hearts,

and there let us adore.

As once our Saviour thou didst come,

both Man and God divine,

so now thou givest Flesh and Blood

'neath forms of bread and wine.

Sweet Fruit of Virgin Mary's womb,

once hid from earthly sight,

may we thy children fruitful be,

and show the world thy Light.

Now stay with us, Lord Jesus Christ,

in solemn Mystery,

that when our work on earth be done

thy glory we may see.

Tune: "St. Botolph" by Gordon Slater (1896-1979)

Text: Fr. Christopher G. Phillips, 1992

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Painting: "Madonna dell'Ulivo"

by Nicolo Barabino (1832-1891)

St Aidan, Bishop, and the Saints of Lindisfarne

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne has a recorded history from the 6th century AD. It was an important center of Christianity not only under St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, but also is known for its association with St. Finan, St. Eata, St. Colman, and St. Cuthbert, Northumberland's patron saint. Notable saints who were students at Lindisfarne include St. Chad, St. Cedd, and St. Wilfrid.

St. Aidan studied under St. Senan, one of the great Irish monk-saints, and he became a monk at Iona in about the year 630. His obvious virtues caused him to be selected as first Bishop of Lindisfarne in 635.

Lindisfarne is an island of about one thousand acres, and is off the northeast coast of England. It served as a home base for the evangelizing of the mainland, and in time St. Aidan became known as the "apostle of Northumbria," because the king of Northumbria, Oswald, asked him to come and spread the Christian faith among the people. St. Bede spoke highly of the spiritual care given by St. Aidan to his people. King Oswald had studied in Ireland and because of their common spiritual heritage he eventually became a close friend of St. Aidan, supporting him in his work to the end of his life.

St. Aidan died at Bamborough on 31 August 651, and his remains were taken to Lindisfarne. St. Bede writes that "he was a pontiff inspired with a passionate love of virtue, but at the same time full of a surpassing mildness and gentleness."

O Everlasting God, who didst send thy gentle Bishop Aidan to proclaim the Gospel in Britain: grant that, aided by his prayers, we may live after his teaching in simplicity, humility, and love for the poor; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Ss. Margaret Clitherow, Anne Line, and Margaret Ward, Martyrs

The three martyrs we commemorate on August 30th are numbered amongst the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, who suffered death for the Catholic faith which had been outlawed in the kingdom. These three women – St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Anne Line, and St. Margaret Ward – were all martyred because they protected Catholic priests from the Elizabethan authorities, who were seeking out all Catholic priests for execution. During this dark time in history, it was illegal for priests to be in the country, as it was illegal for Catholics to receive the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

ST. MARGARET CLITHEROW was a convert to the faith. She became a Catholic when she was eighteen. Although her husband was not a Catholic, he supported her in the practice of her faith, along with their son Henry, who was studying for the priesthood. Margaret’s husband even went so far all to allow her to welcome priests into their home for the celebration of Mass, and 1586 she was arrested for giving shelter to a priest. She was condemned to the horrifying death of being slowly crushed to death, being made to lay upon a sharp stone with a door placed upon her while nearly eight hundred pounds of stone were gradually added on top of the door. This took place on Good Friday in 1586. She died with the name of Jesus upon her lips.

ST. ANNE LINE was also a convert, and was completely disowned by her family. In 1586 she married a man who was also a convert to the faith, but who was soon exiled from the country, leaving Anne by herself. She eventually managed two “safe houses” where travelling priests could hide, but was arrested on February 2, 1601, when she assisted a priest in escaping arrest. When she was brought to court, she fully admitted what she had done, and told the judge that her only regret was that she had not helped more priests. St. Anne Line was hanged in London, and before her death she repeated what she had said in court, stating clearly that she did not repent for her actions, but that she wished she could have done it a thousand times.

ST. MARGARET WARD was an unmarried woman, and so is a virgin-martyr. She helped a priest escape from the prison where he was being held by smuggling him a length of rope with which he could lower himself over the prison wall. She was eventually accused of giving assistance to the priest because it was known that she was the last person to have visited him, and therefore was the most obvious person to have given the rope to the prisoner. St. Margaret Ward was bound by chains, hung up by her hands, and was brutally scourged, as the authorities demanded to know where the priest had gone. She steadfastly refused, and was hanged publicly in London on August 30, 1588.

Although these three martyrs were canonized in 1970 among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, they are commemorated on a separate day because of the particular reason for their deaths; namely, their deep respect for the priesthood, and their zealous protection of priests.

Steadfast God, as we honour the fidelity in life and constancy in death of thy holy Martyrs Margaret Clitherow, Anne Line, and Margaret Ward: we pray thee to raise up in our day women of courage and resource to care for thy household the Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.