Giving thanks

Today is the feast of St. Josaphat, one saint that I knew nothing about except that he entered the Order of St. Basil and was ordained a priest in the Byzantine rite in 1609. It seems that he was named Archbishop of Polotsk, Russia, in 1617 and worked for the union of the Ukrainian Church with Rome. He was slain by opponents in 1623 and became the first Eastern saint to be formally canonized in 1867.

The Gospel message is really about giving thanks. Jesus cures 10 lepers. Only one comes back to thank Jesus. He was a Samaritan. Jesus asks, "Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
How often I am one of the others who do not return giving thanks to God. Everyday I receive countless gifts from God. How do I express my gratitude? The one leper "returned glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him."
May Jesus find me there at his feet each day thanking Him for his many gifts to me!

St. Martin of Tours (316-397)

Martin was born in what was then Pannonia, now Hungary. He was a Roman soldier but was baptized a Christian at 18 and realized that he would need to leave military service as it was not compatible with a Christian life. He left the army and settled in Gaul(France)and founded a monastery there. The people of Tours proclaimed him their bishop in 371. He worked to spread the faith and he is the one who divided a diocese into parishes, which is still the way the Church organizes dioceses. The convent of the Sacred Heart and school called Marmoutier has some caves and ruins on the grounds where St. Martin is said to have retired to pray. I think it was the monastery he founded but forget the details. I was awed by the fact that I felt in touch with someone from the 4th century!
I also was able to sleep in the tower room that had been occupied by Saint Madeleine Sophie, foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart. I think the abbey that is now the school must have been built later but on the original site.
The legend has it that Martin met a beggar who was cold and so he used is sword to give him half of his cloak; the beggar was Jesus and he came to him later and that was whqat changed Martin for life. I do not remember details but liked the story.

St. Leo the Great

Leo was born in Tuscany and became Pope in 440. He kept Attila the Hun from sacking Rome, but three years later his peacemaking only kept the city from being burned. Leo is called Leo the Great for more than that - he influenced the Council of Chalcedon in 451 by his writings on the Incarnation. He also reminded us that "the reception of Christ's Body and Blood transform us into that which we consume." He was made a Doctor of the Church in 1754. Leo also said, "Unless Jesus were truly God, he could bring us no help; and if he were not truly human, he could offer us no example."

In Luke's Gospel today Jesus tells us to forgive even if someone wrongs us seven time in one day! If that one, he says, "Returns to you seven times saying 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him."
When the Apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, he replies: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea' and it would obey you."
My prayer today is "Lord, increase our faith; teach us to forgive, to love one another as You have loved us."

Feasr of the Dedicationof the Lateran Basilica in Rome

Again this Sunday we have a Feast reflected in the Liturgy which is centered on the fact that we are living stones of the eternal temple.
I have always loved Ezekiel 47 with the image of the water flowing from the temple and :wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes from the shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary."
The responsorial psalm has "The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High." The second reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians tells us "You are God's building....Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Finally, we come to the Gospel which shows us Jesus' zeal for his Father's house; it was not to be a marketplace, but a place of prayer. Here we see another side of Jesus. In his cleansing of the temple, we see how much he cares about his Father's house. When he cleanses us, the living stones, we know how much he cares for each of us. He told us that we need to be pruned in order to bear more fruit.

Mary, Mother and Model

I love the downcast eyes of the young Mary depicted above. It is the face of the original fresco on the wall at the Trinita in Rome. I did not plan to use this today, but it is Saturday and the suggested Mass is that of Our Lady. She plays such an important role in the life of all Catholics that I just want to honor her today in my blog. She is one who is always watching over us and pointing out what we need to her son, Jesus, as she did at the Wedding Feast when she told Jesus that "they have no wine." She also tells us, as she told the servants at the Feast, "Do whatsoever he tells you."

I have more to share from Dorothy Day's Diaries found in The Duty of Delight.
Dorothy wrote in 1957, "I must do much more in the way of voluntary poverty and manual labor for health of body and soul. Also not waste my time with idle reading. We have so much, we are so rich in interests, books, music, friends, ideas. God gives us such lights that it is a temptation to rest in them. 'One thing is necessary.'"

Let us go rejoicing to the House of the Lord...

The entrance antiphon for today's liturgy tells us: "Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek always the face of the Lord."

I am again reading The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day as I had only read from 1933 to 1955 before I went away last summer and I have been wanting to get back to this rather large book that is full of wisdom. Dorothy, in today's entry, quoted from Von Hugal's Letters to His Niece:
Live all you can, as complete and full a life as you can find--do as much as you can for others. Read, work, enjoy--love and help as many souls, do all this. Yes, but remember, be alone, be remote, be away from the world, be desolate, Then you will be near God."

Now that makes me think and maybe want to argue. However, here is Dorothy a few entries later saying: "This last week an infected heel, poison ivy in one eye, flu, arthritis in the feet. Miserable and more so because I could not help Tamar who has her hands full with Dave and his broken arm and the children. Slept in the children's play room and read Conrad's Chance. I do like him."

Dorothy was so human but she would have approved of us going rejoicing to the House of the Lord!

Joy when the lost sheep is found

Both readings are special for me today. In Philippians we read that Paul considers "everything a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
Jesus tells us a parable in today's Gospel. It is about a man who has a hundred sheep but loses one of them. He then leaves the others and goes to look for the lost sheep. When he finds it, "He sets it on his shoulders with great joy and upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents..."
How many times are we wandering around lost and Jesus comes to look for us; when he finds us, he carries us home with love and tenderness. This has been my experience and I am sure it has been yours, too.

Do everything without grumbling...

Paul tells the Philippians today in the first reading: "Do everything without grumbling or questioning...
As I reflected on this, I was struck by the fact that I often find myself grumbling; I hope it is just a passing interior grumble, but fear that it often has been exterior, too. Grumbling is not good! Neither interior or exterior grumbling is acceptable. How can we live in joy and gratitude and grumble? So away with all grumbling! Yesterday's Psalm had the line, "May your hearts be ever merry!" Merry people do not grumble!
In the Gospel today Jesus tells us "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." It is a very strong Gospel and Jesus says at the end that "every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple." Lord, help me to renounce all my grumbling and whatever I am clinging to still so that I may follow You in joy and gratitude!

St. Charles Borromeo

Charles was the second son of a rich family and destined for the Church. When only 22 years old and not yet ordained, his uncle became Pope Pius IV and made Charles the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan and Papal Secretary of State. This happened in the 16th century and shows how much the Church needed reformation! However, Charles lived an ascetic life and managed to reform his diocese and then helped reform the Church after the Council of Trent. He said: "Be sure you first preach by the way you live."
He also said that in prayer "we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in others."

Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians, tells us that we must have the same attitude that Christ had;then comes the beautiful hymn that tells us that Christ Jesus
"who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."
Then comes the part of how God exalted Jesus, but let us stop here and reflect on the whole mystery of our Redemption. Jesus, both divine and human, true God and true man, becomes obedient to death, even death on a cross! What a revelation of God's love for us!

Feast of St. Martin de Porres

Martin was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. His father was a Spanish knight and his mother an Indian from Panama, which made Martin and his sister half-castes and unacceptable in the Society in which they lived. Martin entered the Dominicans at fifteen and was soon noted for his care of the sick and the poor. He spent his nights in prayer and died in 1639.

Paul tells us in today's reading from Philippians: "Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.
" We are called to do this; the saints, like Martin, lived this.
Jesus tells us today in Luke's Gospel to "invite the poor, crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed with you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

In the United States we are voting early to avoid the long lines on Tuesday. By Wednesday we will know, I hope, who our next president will be. I hope and pray that we are big enough to look beyond racial differences. I also hope that the popular vote and the electoral votes are in agreement (we have a complicated process and I have been learning more about the electoral votes this year than ever before - I thought all the electoral votes of the state went to the party that won the popular vote but now know that two of the states decide the electoral votes by districts!); I hope that the election is a clear win this year without any doubt, but it seems very close according to some of the polls. The whole world is watching so may we have a clear and orderly election!

All Souls

This is the day we pray for all those who have died. The Mass of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed takes precedence over the Sunday Liturgy; this should not surprise us as November 2 was one of the two days that priests were allowed to say three Masses, the other being Christmas Day. This was, of course, before the reform of the Liturgy. The readings for today are very consoling:
We read in the Book of Wisdom (3:1-9) that "the souls of the just are in the hands of God." Psalm 23 tells us that The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want." Paul's letter to the Romans (5:5-11) tells us that the "love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit...God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." In John's Gospel (6:37-40) we read: "For this is the will of our Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life and I shall raise him on the last day."
All of us face death; it is good to know that others continue to pray for us after death!

Feast of All Saints

This feast of All Saints began in the Eastern Church for all the martyrs but by the 9th century the entire Roman Church was celebrating all the saints on November 1 to replace the pagan feast.
The Communion of Saints is one of the most consoling doctrines of our faith. It is really "a communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven all together forming one Church." This quote is from Paul VI and is cited in Peter Vaghi's The Faith We Profess: A Catholic Guide to the Apostle's Creed (Ave Maria Press, 2008). I love thinking about all the saints in my own family who are still praying for me in some way. Then there are all the canonized saints the Church gives us to help us on our journey to God.
The Preface for today's feast sums it up well: Today we keep the festival of your holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother. Around your throne the saints, our brothers and sisters, sing your praise for ever. Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us in your Church gives us inspiration and strength as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith, eager to meet them."
Lord, may the glory of the saints fill us with joy and inspire and strengthen us!

The first reading from the book of Revelation gives us the "vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb wearing white robes...They cried out in a loud voice, "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb."
The Gospel gives us the the Beatitudes, the heart of the teaching of Jesus and the way to live in order to be with the saints in heaven.