Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul

We commemorate the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul because the Church wants us to remember the importance of consecrated places in which the worship of God takes place. It is a testimony to the importance of the consecration of every Catholic Church throughout the world. It is a reminder to us of the incarnational principle on which our faith is based – that God extends His spiritual blessings to us through the use of physical things. He took human flesh upon Himself. He has instituted seven sacraments which use outward forms to communicate inward grace. He has established a hierarchical Church, with a physical presence in the world, to be a sign of His own presence with us.

Defend thy Church, O Lord, by the protection of the holy Apostles: that, as she received from them the beginnings of her knowledge of things divine; so through them she may receive, even to the end of the world, an increase in heavenly grace; 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.

"He shall come again, with glory..."

Jesus said to his disciples, “In those days, after that great tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory."

- St. Mark 13:24-26

St. Mark reports to us words of Christ when He speaks about His return on the last day. It’s a reminder to us that the season of Advent is but a few weeks away, when we are bidden by the Church to prepare for the coming of Christ. There are two aspects to our preparation; first, that of preparing for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, and second, reminding us that we need to be spiritually prepared for the day when Christ will return in glory.

The message of this Gospel reading has an urgency about it, felt by Christians from the earliest days of the Church. There is, running throughout our faith, what is known as the “messianic hope” which is expressed in this Gospel. It is the expectation we profess every time we say the Creed, that the exalted Lord Jesus will return in glory. Throughout the New Testament there is the eager note sounded again and again about “waiting for the coming our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Some of the very earliest Christians made the mistake of trying to pin down the time of Christ’s return, as there have been those throughout history who have made the same mistake, forgetting that our Lord taught us that “no man knows the day or the hour” of His return. But we do believe that Christ will return to us; we believe “that he shall come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead.”

We live in the “last days,” and those last days began with the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the time of His ascension into heaven, the promise was given to the apostles that “this Jesus, whom you have seen taken from your sight, will return in the same way as you have seen Him go.” The second coming of Christ is a doctrine of our faith.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “In those days, after that great tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven...” And so when considering the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are four main features which call for our attention:

First, He will come in truth and with an unmistakable reality. Christ tells us, “They will see the Son of Man coming...” In other words, there won’t be any doubt about who He is. Up until the moment of His return, deception is possible. There were many false prophets in the Old Testament; we’re warned about false Christs in the New Testament. In fact, people were so accustomed to false Messiahs and false prophets, that even on the day of the Resurrection, two of the disciples said sadly on the way to Emmaus, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel...” thinking that Jesus was just one more in a long line of men who gave false hope. The rising up of false leaders giving false hopes is part of the common history of mankind. Certainly, we can understand that for those who don’t believe that Christ has come, they might be prepared to accept a self-styled Christ with the right credentials; but for those who believe that Christ has already come, it’s harder to understand how they could be fooled; however, Jesus warned of this very possibility, when He said, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” These false prophets will work on the fears and prejudices and doubts of the faithful, and there will be any number of movements and false apparitions and empty promises to fool even those who belong to Christ. We’ve seen these things come and go, even in our own lifetime, with people chasing after some charismatic speaker, or some supposed apparition, even some smooth-talking world leader. But at His true second coming, Christ will stand before the whole world, unmistakable as the one and only Saviour and Lord.

Secondly, Christ will be manifested universally. He tells us that He will be seen “from the far ends of the earth to the far ends of the heavens.” That’s what will happen. But for now, it is our responsibility to carry the message of Christ throughout the world. Dark corners need the Light of Christ so that we can help bring about the day when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” But the coming of Christ, when it happens for the second time, will not be so gradual, and it won’t depend upon our efforts. Rather, it will be like the flash of lighting which races across the dark sky. Lightning seems to follow no law. It penetrates everywhere with a frightening beauty, and there’s a split-second silence before the roar of the thunder is heard. Here’s a way to distinguish false Christs from true: the whole world will, all at once, know that He has come, just as the bolt of lightning illumines the whole sky.

Thirdly, Christ will come with “great power and glory.” This will be manifested first in the changes that will come over the material heavens. The sun will be darkened, the moon will no longer shine with the sun’s reflected light; the stars will appear to fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will shake, in preparation for their demise. And then, there will be the appearance of the Son of man. What will be His sign? Perhaps a fiery Cross, remembering the sign of our salvation; or maybe a new sign, corresponding to the new heavens and the new earth. We don’t know. But there will be some signal so that everyone will know of this glory which will surround Christ in His second coming. We can scarcely imagine such a thing, and we cannot really put it into words before it happens.

And finally, when Christ comes again, He will search out those who belong to Him. “He will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds...” Scripture records the words which tell us that the first time Christ came, He came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” When He did that it was more modest, and more quietly done. Nicodemus came to him “by night.” Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple, “but secretly, for fear of the Jews.” Many of the rulers “believed in Him, but did not confess Him.” But how different it will be when He returns! All His elect will be gathered, openly and conspicuously, in the face of the billions of people in the world. Then those who have been cleansed of their sins through His blood, will be openly gathered around Him, to be with Him forever.

This is the Scriptural teaching which the Church confesses about the Second coming of Jesus Christ. It reminds us, once again, that God is the God of history. He acts in history, and just as He began history, so He will end history by coming in glory at the end times. We catch a glimpse of this at every Mass, when Christ comes to us under the forms of bread and wine which have been changed into His Body and Blood. For that moment, history stands still, as God makes our Altar His throne, just like the earth will be His throne on the Last Day.

Advent will soon begin, that time when we consider the coming of Christ - not just His coming as a baby in Bethlehem, but also His triumphant coming in the final days as well. It reminds us that we must, at all times, be ready. Our hope must be in God; it must not be misplaced in man – and that’s important to remember, especially if we are discouraged about recent events in the life of our own nation.

We must wait for the return of Jesus the Lord, not for some new discovery which will supposedly transform our lives. We must place our faith in the blood of Christ, and not in the technology of men. The world would want us to make a trade-off, but it would be a bad one. It would want us to give up heaven for earth, to give up God for gadgets, to give up the coming of Christ for the coming of some man-made paradise. But that we cannot do, if we take the truth of our faith seriously.

The Son of man will come with great power and glory. When Jesus speaks of the passing away of heaven and earth He says that it is known only by the Father – that even He, Jesus, by His own consent chooses to remain ignorant of the exact time… and He wants us to get the message: we’re not supposed to work out dates and timetables as to the end of things. It is enough for us to know that the time will come. Day by day we need to simply do our duty to God and to others, and live in such a way that it does not matter when Christ returns, because we will be ready for it – whenever it happens.

______________________________

Pictured: The medieval Doom Painting in the Church of St. Thomas Becket, Salisbury, is the largest and best preserved in the United Kingdom. Painted c.1470, it was covered with lime whitewash at the time of the protestant reformation and not seen again until 1819. It was restored in 2019, bringing it back to its vibrant, detailed glory.

St. Margaret of Scotland

St. Margaret lived in the 11th century, and she was the great-niece of St. Edward the Confessor. She was a Saxon princess, but she was raised in Hungary in exile. Eventually, she and her parents returned to England, but she was forced to flee once again after the Battle of Hastings. She went to the court of Malcolm, who was the King of Scotland.

Malcolm was an unrefined man, and Scotland was a wild place – but Margaret and Malcolm came to love one another, and they were married. Margaret, in her gentle way and through her exemplary life, lived her Catholic faith in such a way that Malcolm and the people of Scotland gradually changed their ways to be more conformed to Christ’s teaching.

Margaret was a model mother and queen who brought up her eight children in an atmosphere of great devotion and she continued to work hard to improve the lives of the people of Scotland. She had a particular love for the poor, and provided for them out of her own resources, very often serving them herself.

O God, who didst call thy servant Margaret to an earthly throne that she might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and didst endue her with zeal for thy Church and charity towards thy people: mercifully grant that we who ask her prayers and commemorate her example may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious fellowship of thy Saints; 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. Gertrude the Great

At the General Audience in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday, 6 October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI offered this reflection on the life and witness of St. Gertrude:

“St Gertrude the Great, of whom I would like to talk to you today, brings us once again this week to the Monastery of Helfta, where several of the Latin-German masterpieces of religious literature were written by women. Gertrude belonged to this world. She is one of the most famous mystics, the only German woman to be called “Great”, because of her cultural and evangelical stature: her life and her thought had a unique impact on Christian spirituality. She was an exceptional woman, endowed with special natural talents and extraordinary gifts of grace, the most profound humility and ardent zeal for her neighbor’s salvation. She was in close communion with God both in contemplation and in her readiness to go to the help of those in need.

Gertrude was born on 6 January 1256, on the Feast of the Epiphany, but nothing is known of her parents nor of the place of her birth. Gertrude wrote that the Lord himself revealed to her the meaning of this first uprooting: 'I have chosen you for my abode because I am pleased that all that is lovable in you is my work…. For this very reason I have distanced you from all your relatives, so that no one may love you for reasons of kinship and that I may be the sole cause of the affection you receive' (The Revelations, I, 16, Siena 1994, pp. 76-77).

Gertrude was an extraordinary student, she learned everything that can be learned of the sciences of the trivium and quadrivium, the education of that time; she was fascinated by knowledge and threw herself into profane studies with zeal and tenacity, achieving scholastic successes beyond every expectation. If we know nothing of her origins, she herself tells us about her youthful passions: literature, music and song and the art of miniature painting captivated her. She had a strong, determined, ready and impulsive temperament. She often says that she was negligent; she recognizes her shortcomings and humbly asks forgiveness for them. She also humbly asks for advice and prayers for her conversion. Some features of her temperament and faults were to accompany her to the end of her life, so as to amaze certain people who wondered why the Lord had favoured her with such a special love.

On 27 January 1281, a few days before the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, towards the hour of Compline in the evening, the Lord with his illumination dispelled her deep anxiety. She had a vision of a young man who, in order to guide her through the tangle of thorns that surrounded her soul, took her by the hand. In that hand Gertrude recognized 'the precious traces of the wounds that abrogated all the acts of accusation of our enemies' (ibid., II, 1, p. 89), and thus recognized the One who saved us with his Blood on the Cross: Jesus.

Looking forward to never-ending communion, she ended her earthly life on 17 November 1301 or 1302, at the age of about 46.”

O God, who didst prepare a delightful dwelling for thyself in the heart of the Virgin Saint Gertrude: graciously bring light, through her intercession, to the darkness of our hearts; that we may joyfully experience thee present and at work within us; 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. Albert the Great

The life of St. Albert covered almost all of the 13th century. His father was a very wealthy German nobleman, and Albert was able to receive an excellent education at the best universities of his day. He was a philosopher, a bishop, a prolific writer, and one of the most influential scientists of the Middle Ages. We are familiar with the phrase, “a know-it-all” – but St. Albert really was, and in the best sense. 

He was able to compile a complete system of all the knowledge of his day. The subjects he encompassed included astronomy, mathematics, economics, logic, rhetoric, ethics, politics, metaphysics and all branches of natural science. It would take him more than 20 years to complete this phenomenal presentation.

St. Albert taught that there is no discrepancy between theology and science; rather, they are simply different aspects of a harmonious whole. Among his most important contributions to the development of scientific thought in the Middle Ages was helping the scholarly community to recognize the value of Aristotle’s philosophy, and he had as one of his chief students, St. Thomas Aquinas. It was Thomas who carried St. Albert’s teaching out to its logical conclusions.

St. Albert was appointed by Pope Alexander IV to be the bishop of Regensburg and he was installed in January 1260, but he found life as a bishop to be unsuitable and after the death of the pope in 1261, Albert was able to resign his episcopal see and return to the life he loved most - that of being a scholar and teacher.

St. Albert is the only scholar of his time to have earned the title "Great" - a title that was applied to him even during his lifetime.

O God, who gavest grace unto blessed Albert, thy Bishop and Doctor, to become truly great in the subjection of human wisdom to divine faith: grant us, we beseech thee, so to follow in the footsteps of his teaching; that we may enjoy the perfect light 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.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized, was a naturalized citizen, having been born in Italy in 1850. Her parents were simple farmers, accustomed to hard work and little money, but always ready to welcome another child. In fact, St. Frances was the thirteenth child, and her mother was fifty-two years old when she was born. It was a devout Catholic family in which she was raised, and at night after the day’s work was done, the children would listen to their father read them stories of the saints. Young Frances was especially fascinated by the saints who went on missions to foreign countries.

St. Frances had a great desire to help others, and after she finished school she assisted in the local parish by teaching catechism, and visiting the sick and the poor. She also taught school, and supervised the running of an orphanage, where she was assisted by a group of young women. Their work became so well-known that the bishop in a neighboring diocese heard of their work, and he asked Frances to establish a missionary institute to work in the area of education. Frances did as the bishop requested, and she called this new community the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. They opened an academy for girls, and before long the work spread with the establishment of new houses.

One day Frances was contacted by Bishop Scalabrini, an Italian bishop who had a great concern for the many immigrants who were leaving Italy for a new life in the United States. It was not easy for these immigrants, and upon their arrival in America they would endure tremendous hardships, and were not being given adequate spiritual care. As Bishop Scalabrini described the situation to Frances, she was very moved by what he said, but it did not occur to her that she might have a part in the solution. It was not until she had an audience with Pope Leo XIII about the future of her religious foundation that she changed her plans. It was her intention to receive papal permission to go to the missions of the orient, but the Holy Father had another suggestion. “Not to the East, but go to the West,” he said to her. “Go to America.”

Now known as Mother Cabrini, she had no hesitation when she heard the Pope’s words. To America she went, and she landed in New York in 1889, immediately establishing an orphanage, and then set about her life’s work – that of seeing a need, and then working for a solution. She built schools, places for child care, medical clinics, orphanages, and homes for abandoned babies. The poor had no place to go when they became seriously ill, so she built a number of hospitals for the needy. At the time of her death, there were more than five thousand children receiving care in the various institutions she built, and her religious community had grown to five hundred members in seventy houses throughout North and South America, France, Spain, and England.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was a frail woman, of a very small stature, but she amazed others with her energy and imagination. She was constantly traveling, sailing the Atlantic twenty-five times to visit her various religious houses and institutions. It was in 1909 that she adopted the United States as her country and formally became a citizen.

As she reached the end of her life, she had given thirty-seven years to the works of charity she loved so much. In her final illness she was admitted to a hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She died while making dolls to be given to orphans at an upcoming Christmas party, her last activity being a simple act of charity. Mother Cabrini was beatified in 1938, and canonized in 1946 by Pope Pius XII.

God our Father, who didst call Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini from Italy to serve the immigrants of America: by her example, teach us to care for the stranger, the sick, and all those in need; and by her prayers help us to see Christ in all whom we meet; 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.

St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

St. Josaphat was born about the year 1580 in what was the Polish province of Lithuania and was raised as an Eastern Rite Catholic. He had a deep devotion to the suffering of Christ, and looked at the schism between East and West as a wound in the Church as the Sacred Body of our Lord. As a young man in his mid-twenties he entered religious life, joining the Ukrainian Order of Saint Basil (known as the Basilians), and as a monk he gave himself over to penance and mortification, going barefoot even in winter, and eating only the poorest food.

In 1618, after living as a monk for nearly fifteen years, he was appointed to be archbishop of the Eastern Rite Diocese of Polotzk, and he devoted his energies to work for the reunion of the Church, all the while deepening the faith of his people through his preaching and his example. There were those in the Orthodox Church, not in union with Rome, who were very much against his work towards unity, and a group of them decided he must be stopped, making plans to assassinate him. In fact, St. Josaphat knew there were many who did not want unity, and he knew his life was in danger; however, he pressed forward in his work to heal the rift between East and West.

One day when he was visiting part of his diocese in territory which is now in Russia, his enemies made an attack on the place where he was staying, and many of those who were traveling with St. Josaphat were killed. Quietly and with humility, St. Josaphat went toward the attackers and asked them why they had done such a thing, saying to them, “If you have something against me, see, here I am.” The crowd screamed at him saying, “Kill the papist!” They ran towards him with their weapons, killing him with an axe-blow to his head.

St. Josaphat's body was thrown into the river, but it remained on the surface of the water, surrounded by rays of light, and was recovered. Those who had murdered him, when they were sentenced to death, repented of what they had done. Through the gentle example of St. Josaphat and helped by his heavenly intercession, through the grace of God they became Catholics.

Stir up in thy Church, we pray, O Lord, the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat: that, as he laid down his life for the sheep; so through his intercession we, too, may be strengthened by the same Spirit and not fear to lay down our life for our brethren; 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.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae (1872-1918)

November 11th

NOVEMBER 11th, known originally as Armistice Day, marked the end of World War I at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" in 1918. Known as VETERANS DAY in the United States, it is a day on which we honour all military veterans. Throughout the Commonwealth nations it is known as REMEMBRANCE DAY, honouring armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.

__________

In the United States of America, for those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces:

O LORD God of Hosts, stretch forth, we pray thee, thine almighty arm to strengthen and protect those who serve in the armed forces of our country. Support them in the day of battle, and at the time of peace keep them safe from all evil; endue them with courage and loyalty; and grant that in all things they may serve without reproach; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

__________

In the Commonwealth nations, for Remembrance Day:

O LORD our God, whose Name only is excellent and thy praise above heaven and earth: we thank thee for all those who counted not their lives dear unto themselves but laid them down for their friends; grant us, we beseech thee, that having them always in remembrance we may imitate their faithfulness and sacrifice; 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. Martin of Tours

When he was merely a boy, Martin became a Christian catechumen against his parents' wishes, and at the age of fifteen he was forced by his father, a pagan soldier, to be enrolled in the army.

It was on a winter's day, while stationed at Amiens, that Martin met a beggar almost naked and frozen with cold. Having nothing to give him, Martin cut his cloak in two and gave poor man half.

That night in a dream Martin saw Our Lord clothed in the half cloak, and heard Him say to surrounding angels: "Martin, yet only a catechumen, has wrapped Me in this garment." He decided to be baptized, and shortly after this he left the army.

Martin succeeded in converting his mother, but he was driven from his home by the Arian heretics who were powerful in that place, and he took shelter with the bishop, St. Hilary. Near Poitiers they founded first monastery in France, and in the year 372 St. Martin was made Bishop of Tours. The people of that area, though Christian in name, were mostly still pagan in their hearts and in their daily practice. Unarmed and attended only by his monks, St. Martin destroyed the heathen temples and groves, and then completed this courageous act by preaching the Gospel.

After witnessing many miracles at the hand of their bishop St. Martin, there was a complete conversion of the people. St. Martin’s last eleven years were spent in the humble work of travelling throughout Gaul, preaching and manifesting the power of God through his works and by the purity of his life.

O God, who seest that we are not able to stand in our own strength: mercifully grant that, through the prayers of blessed Martin thy Confessor and Bishop, we may be defended from all adversities; 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 Widow's Offering

[Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.”

- St. Mark 12:41-44

We know exactly where Jesus was when he said this. In the Temple there were the various Courts – the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of the Israelites, the Court of the Priests – each one leading closer to the Holy of Holies. A person would go through these various Courts to get to the next one, as far as he was allowed. In this particular passage, Jesus was speaking in the Court of the Women. Men could be there, but women could go no further. Located there were thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles, each one assigned to receive offerings for a different purpose – for the wood that was used to burn the sacrifice, for the incense that was burned on the altar, for the upkeep of the golden vessels, and so on. It was near these receptacles that Jesus was sitting.

He looked up and saw several people making their offerings, including a poor widow. She had two small copper coins to give, worth only a fraction of a penny, but Jesus said her offering far out-valued all the other offerings, because it was everything she had.

When it comes to a gift, there is the spirit in which it is given. A gift which is given unwillingly, a gift which is given with a grudge, a gift given for the sake of prestige or of self-display loses a lot of its value. The only real gift is that which flows out of a loving heart, something given out of a deep desire of the one giving it.

And there also is the sacrifice which the gift involves. Something which is virtually nothing to one person may be a huge amount to someone else. That day in the Temple, the gifts of the rich, as they flung in their offerings, didn’t really cost them very much; but the two coins of the widow cost her everything she had. The rich had probably calculated how much they could afford; she gave with a kind of reckless generosity which could give no more.

Giving does not begin to be sacrificial giving until it hurts. A gift shows our love only when we have had to do without something or have had to work doubly hard in order to give it. No gift, if given in love, is too small. Nothing escapes the notice of God, from whom no secrets are hid.

_______________________________

Painting: "The Widows Mite" [O óbolo da viúva]

by João Zeferino da Costa (1840-1915)

Dedication of St. John Lateran

On November 9th the Catholic Church throughout the world celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour in the city of Rome, known also as St. John Lateran. On the façade is carved the proud title “Omnium Urbis et Orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput” – “The Mother and Head of all Churches of the City and of the World.” It is the cathedral of Rome – it is the Pope’s Cathedral, and so is, in a sense, the Cathedral of the world – senior in dignity even to St. Peter’s Basilica.

One of the reasons we celebrate this Feast is because the Church wants us to remember the importance of consecrated places in which the worship of God takes place. It reminds us of the importance of the consecration of every Catholic Church throughout the world. It is a reminder to us of the Incarnational principle on which our faith is based – that God extends His spiritual blessings to us through the use of physical things. He took human flesh upon Himself. He has instituted seven sacraments which use outward forms to communicate inward grace. He has established a hierarchical Church, with a physical presence in the world, to be a sign of His own presence with us.

O Most blessed Saviour, who didst vouchsafe thy gracious presence at the Feast of Dedication: be present with us at this time by thy Holy Spirit, and so possess our souls by thy grace; that we may be living temples, holy and acceptable unto thee; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

A Prayer for Our President-Elect

Almighty and eternal God, we beseech thee to bless our President-elect, Donald Trump. Protect him from all danger, grant him wisdom and grace in the exercise of his duties, and give him courage in leading us, that there may be peace in our nation and throughout the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop

Charles Borromeo was born into an aristocratic, very wealthy Italian family. The family lived in a beautiful castle and lived lavishly, with an extravagant life of entertaining a court of noblemen. Charles was very good at athletics, music, art, and he enjoyed all the fine things that went along with the life of a rich and famous family. His mother was one of the Medici family, and one of his uncles was the pope. As was usual in those days, his uncle the pope made Charles a cardinal when he was only twenty-three and gave him many honours and titles. He was appointed papal legate to Bologna, the Low Countries, the cantons of Switzerland, and to the religious orders of St. Francis, the Carmelites, the Knights of Malta, and others.

When Charles’ father died, everyone thought that Charles would give up his ecclesiastical positions, and that he would marry some young noblewoman, and become the head of the Borromeo family. But Charles didn’t do that. Instead, he discerned a vocation to ordination, and he became a priest. Not long after, he was appointed bishop of Milan, a city that had not had a resident bishop for over eighty years.

Although he had been accustomed to a rich and extravagant life, when Charles was ordained and then became the Bishop of Milan, he spent much of his time dealing with hardship and suffering. There was a terrible famine in the year 1570 and he took on the responsibility of providing food to feed 3,000 people a day for three months. Six years later, another plague swept through the region. Bishop Borromeo organized his priests, religious, and lay volunteers to feed and care for the almost 70,000 people living in part of his diocese. He personally cared for many who were sick and dying, and he spent all his money doing it. In fact, he even ran up huge debts so that he could feed, clothe, and provide medical care, as well as build shelters for thousands of plague-stricken people.

He once ordered an atonement procession and led it with a rope about his neck, with bare and bloody feet, a cross upon his shoulder, thus presenting himself as an expiatory sacrifice for his people to ward off divine punishment. He died in 1584 at the age of forty-six, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, holding a picture of Jesus Crucified in his hands. His last words were, "See, Lord, I am coming, I am coming soon."

Keep, O Lord, thy Church by the continual protection of Saint Charles Borromeo: that as his zeal for thy flock did render him glorious; so his intercession may ever make us fervent in thy love; 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. Charles Borromeo Ministering to the Plague-Infected"

by Caspar Franz Sambach (1715-1795)

Love: The Fulfilling of the Law

One of the scribes came up to Jesus and asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. "

- St. Mark 12:28-31

A question comes to our Lord from an expert in the Law, a Scribe. "Which commandment is the first of all?" In other words, “If you could summarize everything that Moses taught in one simple commandment, what would that commandment be?”

In fact, this was a question to which the scribes really did want to have an answer. They were the experts in the Law who drew out from the Torah rules and regulations for every possible situation. They knew God expected His law to be obeyed, and they were always interested in what the Law required. There were certain “schools of Pharisees” who wanted to know “what is the minimum, the bottom line, the summary?” The rabbis were searching for “the Torah in a nutshell,” a least common denominator, kind of “bumper-sticker-sized” slogan that would fully capture the Law of God. So far, all they had managed to do was multiply the commandments. In fact, God had summed things up pretty neatly in what we call the "Ten Commandments," but the Jewish religious leaders had managed to expand things to 613 “do's and don'ts,” and they were still counting!

Of course, there have always been religious people, including some religious leaders, who do their best to render religion non-demanding and harmless, looking for a minimum – a religion that asks “What's the least that I have to do?” “How often do I really have to go to church?” “How much do I really have to give God?” “How often do I really need to pray?” “How much do I really need to know?” “What's the bottom line?” This kind of “minimal religion” tries to keep things practical and painless. It delights in loopholes, and bargains with God to keep standards low. It tries to pare the Law down to a more manageable size. It substitutes niceness for perfection, morality for holiness. But God didn't say "Put in a little bit of effort to be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." He said, "Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."

The scribe in today’s Gospel may well have started out by trying to set a trap for Jesus. He may have been wondering, “How far would this rabbi from Nazareth be willing to dilute the Law?” So he tries to get Jesus to single out one law as being “most important.” Jesus knew the trap, and so He replies with not one, but with two great commandments – because there is always more with Jesus, always more than you are asking for. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” To list “heart, soul, mind and strength” is the Hebrew way of saying “all of you,” every last bit of you, with nothing held back from God. Love God with every fiber of your being. That is the first and great commandment.

Jesus goes on, “the second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The two go side by side, hand in hand. The love of God and the love of our neighbor are inseparable. We cannot claim to love God if we don't love our neighbor. On these two commandments - the love of God and the love of neighbor - the entire Law and the Prophets hang. They’re like twin hooks that hold up the entire Law of God. So Jesus teaches that the entire law of God can be boiled down to two simple commandments: Love God with your whole being; and love whomever God puts in your path as much as you love yourself.

In fact, Jesus distilled the Law down to one word: Love. St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law… Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

And yet, there are those who have trouble with the word "love." They think it's a feeling, something you “fall into,” a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside. But love, as Jesus is teaching us, is not primarily a feeling; rather, love is an orientation of the will in action toward another. To love God and to love our neighbor doesn’t mean that we have particular feelings about God or our neighbor. That's not to say that love doesn't have feelings associated with it: certainly, it does. But love itself, in its essence, is not a feeling.

There was a priest who always asked couples when they came to him for marriage preparation, why they wanted to get married. Invariably, they would say, "Because we love each other." And he would usually say something like, "That's very nice, now come up with a good reason why you want to get married!" His point was that love doesn't define or shape marriage; rather, marriage defines and shapes love. It is an orientation between husband and wife because they are husband and wife. The same could also be applied in the other direction, when couples want to end their marriage because they “don't love each other any more.” What should be said to them is, “That’s not good enough. Come up with a legitimate reason for separating."

We should understand that love isn't something that you “fall into.” We fall into holes and ditches, not into love. It's a curious expression, "to fall in love." Falling means losing your balance, losing your control. Falling is an “out of control” experience. But instead of a “falling” experience, love is really a deliberate action of the will. To love means deliberately to turn ourselves toward another, to give away something of ourselves to someone else without any regard for what we might get in return. The Scriptures describe love in self-sacrificing terms: "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." To love is to be turned inside out, toward someone outside of yourself - whether toward God or toward your neighbor.

As Jesus taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan - our neighbor – the one who is to be the object of our love - is anyone whom God has put in our path, anyone who has need of us at any particular moment. That may be someone with whom we have a brief encounter on the street or while we’re waiting in line at the grocery store or at the doctor's office. It may be the person who is in the hospital bed next to us. Our neighbor is a member of our household, it’s your husband or wife, it’s your children, it’s your in-laws. Your neighbor is the person who lives next door, or two and three doors down the street. Your neighbor is your fellow Christian, your coworker, or your classmate at school, or perhaps someone you’ve never met personally.

We have lots of neighbors, often more than we realize. Think of all the people with whom you come into contact each day. Those are the people whom the Law says we are to love, whether they’re kind to us or not, whether we like them or not, whether we feel like it or not. And if we don’t love our neighbor whom we see, how can we claim to love God whom we do not see?

Jesus links the love of our neighbor with our love of God. We love God by loving our neighbor. The cup of water we give to someone who is thirsty, we’ve given to God. The food we give to the hungry, we’ve given to God. The comfort we give to someone who is suffering, we’ve given to God. The time we spend enriching the lives of others is time offered to God.

And what it comes down to is this: our love flows from God's love. When we love, it’s because we have first been loved by God in Jesus Christ. Christ’s death and resurrection free us to love God and to love our neighbor. We no longer have to love; rather, we are allowed to love. We don't love in order to get to heaven; we love because heaven is already ours in Christ. We don't love in order to win God's favor; we love because we already have God's favor in Christ. We don't love so that God will love us; we love because God has loved us in Christ with the greatest love we will ever know, the crucified love of Jesus Christ.

________________________

Painting: "Les pharisiens questionnent Jésus"

by Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902)