Humility’s true greatness

Humility’s True Greatness

When the disciples were arguing about greatness, our Lord, that master of humility, took a little child, saying: Whosoever of you shall not have been converted and become as a little child cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And that he might not seem merely to teach this and not do it, he fulfilled the precept by example when he washed the disciples’ feet, when he received his betrayer with a kiss, when he spoke with the Samaritan woman, when he discussed the Kingdom of heaven as Mary sat at his feet, when he rose from the dead and appeared first to mere women.

Moreover, Satan fell from the height of the ­archangels for no other reason save pride—the opposite of ­humility. And [those who], because they claimed for themselves the chief seats and greetings in the market place, [were] succeeded by the people…who had previously been accounted as a drop of a bucket. Likewise Peter and James, the fishermen, were sent to oppose the sophists of their time and the wise men of this world, ­wherefore the Scripture says: God resists the proud, but to the humble he gives grace.

Saint Jerome

How to avoid the rich man’s fate

How to Avoid the Rich Man’s Fate

Pride can exist only in those who believe that they possess something. The fallen angel and the first man became proud and fell only because they imagined and believed that they possessed something. For neither angel nor man nor anything else has being; only one has it, God.

Humility exists only in those who are poor enough to see that they possess nothing of their own. In every case when God permits evil to happen, he makes it benefit the growth in being of those who are good. For this reason he saw to it that his Son—who possessed being more than one can say—became more poor than any saint or any person had ever been. He saw to it that he became so poor that it was as if he had no being, but it seemed thus only to sinners who were deprived of the true light; to those with understanding it did not—and does not—seem thus.

This truth is so profound—namely, the truth about the virtue of poverty, how it is the root and mother of humility and every good—this is so profound that it ­cannot be written about. Whoever possessed this ­virtue could never fall into ruin and deception. They could never retain anything for themselves, and would also perceive how God loved true poverty.

Saint Angela of Foligno

Strength for the Journey

Strength for the Journey

“Oh gentle Jesus, it is really true that you are our peace, our tranquility, our serenity of conscience. No bitterness or sadness or poverty can touch the soul in whom you live by grace.” 

It stands to reason that such a soul should have perfect happiness and ample wealth, for God is happiness itself without a trace of sadness or bitterness, and God is wealth itself, never failing, safe from any thievery.

So I beg you tenderly, be conscientious in the bit of time left to you, for it is a very consoling thing to live well and virtuously. This is why I told you that I want you to be a true knight, never abandoning the holy task you have undertaken, armed with true solid virtue and supported by the pillar of the holy cross, which will protect you against being bitten by the devil or anyone else who would seduce you away from virtue. Give no attention or credence to the advice of people who would turn you aside from your holy purpose. Go to confession often, and seek the company of people who will help you possess God in grace. I’ll say no more. Bathe your memory in his overflowing blood.

Saint Catherine of Siena

Light from Jesus

Light from Jesus

May Jesus continue to grant you his holy love; may he increase it in your heart, transforming it completely in him….

What should I say to you in the name of this most sweet God become Man? I repeat, a thousand times and I will always repeat what I have always said to you: Do not fear. Jesus is with you. He is working within you and is pleased with you, and you are entirely and always in him.

This is the entire and only truth. Who assures you of this? The very authority that God himself has constituted as your guide; the authority that loves you, which does not want to and cannot misguide you, the authority that represents God and who speaks to you in the name of the same God….

You are right to complain at finding yourself more often than not in darkness. You seek your God, you sigh for him, you call him and cannot always find him. Then it seems to you that God hides himself, that he has abandoned you! But I repeat, do not fear. Jesus is with you and you are with him. In darkness, times of tribulation and spiritual anxiety, Jesus is with you. In that state, you see nothing but darkness in your spirit, but I assure you on behalf of God, that the light of the Lord invades and surrounds your entire spirit. You see yourself in tribulations and God repeats to you through the mouth of his prophet and that of authority: I am with the troubled soul. You see yourself in a state of abandonment, but I assure you that Jesus holds you more tightly than ever to his divine Heart. Even our Lord on the cross complained of the Father’s abandonment. But did the Father ever and could he ever abandon his Son, the only object of his divine pleasure?

There are the extreme trials of the spirit. Jesus wants it so. Fiat! Pronounce this fiat in a resigned manner and do not fear. By all means complain to Jesus as you like: Pray to him as you wish, but adhere firmly to the words of him who speaks to you in the name of God.

Saint Pius of Pietrelcina

He Called

He Called

These coins I count,

pinched from kindred flesh

strained from blood,

stain my hands and soul

mark me deep in debt

among my own.

A place of no return:

No gauge to know 

the length I’ve gone

until a line is thrown:

“Follow me.”

A rope that reached

and begged my heart “take hold.”

A voice that leapt

into the depths,

a rescue and a probe.

A way to count among my own,

a call I didn’t earn, 

a chance to leave the coins I’ve squeezed,

the lead to my return.

I stand up straight

and walk away,

yet dare not even crawl.

The debt I owe, I can’t repay.

I come this way because

He called.

Rita A. Simmonds

Learning from the women who followed Jesus

Learning from the Women Who Followed Jesus

The meaning of [a] creative culture hinges upon the religious significance of woman. This is what Léon Bloy expresses with the words: plus une femme est sainte, plus elle est femme. This is to say: “the holier a woman is, the more she is a woman.” This also is Dante’s meaning in that wondrous passage of his great poem when he looks upon Beatrice while her eyes remain steadfastly fixed upon God. Here Dante…sees God because her glance is upon God. This is the religious significance of woman and at the same time the meaning of the love between man and woman, recognized and portrayed in its ultimate depths. Here the symbol of the mirror, which so often appears in poetry, rises to its highest potentiality…. Woman, who along the broad lines of earthly import denotes the union of all creation, on the higher plane signifies also the glance toward the Creator….

For cultural life, then, the absence of the one half of existence has an import similar to that which heresy means for the Church. Heresy is always the outcome of one-sidedness and isolation. By substituting a part for the whole, and making that part absolute, it falsifies the truth. Again the image of the Eternal Woman becomes visible over the destiny of the woman in her times: Mary, according to the teaching of the Church the conqueror of heresy, restores through the mystery of charity the totality that God wills.

Baroness Gertrud von Le Fort

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Gaze upon your Savior, Jesus

Love’s sweet victim crucified,

Lovingly he pleads for comfort

For your love he sweetly died….

“If you look upon My sufferings, 

Contemplation will reveal

No sound spot on My body;

Wounded, bleeding, see Love’s seal.

“See My Face with spittle covered; 

Blood blinds eyes all-seeing now; 

Mouth with gall is all embittered 

Crown entwined about my brow….

“Not with roses have they crowned Me, 

Thorny wreath has pierced My head. 

Not one found to help or pity

Midst a throng by fury led.

“Look once more, hands, feet are bleeding, 

Riven by huge, cruel nails:

There is no soundness in My Body,

Wound on Wound My love reveals.

“See the dwelling for my loved ones 

Where the lance has forced its way! 

Here the soul who loves Me only 

Lives detached; I am her stay.”

Saint Paul of the Cross

Pope Francis on the prodigal son

Pope Francis on the Parable of the Merciful Father

by Pope Francis

I am always struck when I reread the parable of the merciful father; it impresses me because it always gives me great hope. Think of that younger son who was in the father's house, who was loved; and yet he wants his part of the inheritance. He goes off, spends everything, hits rock bottom, where he could not be more distant from the father. Yet when he is at his lowest, he misses the warmth of the father's house and he goes back. And the father? Had he forgotten the son? No, never. He is there, he sees the son from afar; he was waiting for him every hour of every day. The son was always in his father's heart, even though he had left him, even though he had squandered his whole inheritance, his freedom. The father, with patience, love, hope, and mercy had never for a second stopped thinking about him, and as soon as he sees him still far off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach: his son has returned! And that is the joy of the father. In that embrace for his son is all this joy: he has returned! God is always waiting for us; he never grows tired. Jesus shows us this merciful patience of God so that we can regain confidence, hope-always! A great German theologian, Romano Guardini, said that God responds to our weakness by his patience, and this is the reason for our confidence, our hope (see Glaubenserkenntnis [Würzburg, 1949], p. 28). It is like a dialogue between our weakness and the patience of God; it is a dialogue that, if we have it, will grant us hope.

I would like to emphasize one other thing: God's patience has to call forth in us the courage to return to him, however many mistakes and sins there may be in our life. Jesus tells Thomas to put his hand in the wounds of his hands and his feet and in his side. We too can enter the wounds of Jesus; we can actually touch him. This happens every time we receive the sacraments with faith. St. Bernard, in a fine homily, said: “Through the wounds of Jesus I can suck honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock (see Deut. 32:13), I can taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (On the Song of Songs 61:4). It is there, in the wounds of Jesus, that we are truly secure; there we encounter the boundless love of his heart. Thomas understood this. St. Bernard goes on to ask: But what can I count on? My own merits? No. “My merit is God's mercy. I am by no means lacking merits as long as he is rich in mercy. If the mercies of the Lord are manifold, I too will abound in merits” (61:5). This is important: the courage to trust in Jesus' mercy, to trust in his patience, to seek refuge always in the wounds of his love. St. Bernard even stated, “So what if my conscience gnaws at me for my many sins? 'Where sin has abounded, there grace has abounded all the more' (Rom. 5:20)” (61:5).

Maybe someone among us here is thinking, My sin is so great, I am as far from God as the younger son in the parable; my unbelief is like that of Thomas. I don't have the courage to go back, to believe that God can welcome me and that he is waiting for me, of all people. But God is indeed waiting for you; he asks of you only the courage to go to him. How many times in my pastoral ministry have I heard it said, “Father, I have many sins”? And I have always pleaded, “Don't be afraid, go to him, he is waiting for you, he will take care of everything.” We hear many offers from the world around us; but let us take up God's offer instead: his is a caress of love. For God, we are not numbers, we are important; indeed we are the most important thing to him. Even if we are sinners, we are what is closest to his heart.

---

Removing the Beam

Removing the Beam

I implore and I beseech and I exhort you to confess to God frequently. I do not lead you into a theater of your fellow-servants…. Open your conscience in the presence of God, and show him your wounds, and seek medications from him. Show them not to one who will reproach you but to one who will heal you; for even if you remain silent, he knows all….

If we have been neglectful to the present moment, let us proceed immediately to the work of destroying sin through confession and tears, and by accusing ourselves of our sins, for there is nothing more destructive of sin [when] joined to repentance and tears. 

Have you condemned your sin? You have put aside your burden! Who says so? God himself, who renders judgment. First tell your sins, so that you may be justified (cf. Is 43:26). Why, pray tell, are you ashamed, why do you blush to tell your sins? Do you tell them to a man, such as might reproach you? Do you confess them to a fellow servant, such as might make them public? No, you expose your wound to the Master, to the Guardian, to the Benefactor of mankind, to the Physician…. Unless you tell the magnitude of your debt, you do not experience the abundance of grace. “I do not oblige you,” he says, “to come into the middle of a theater and to be surrounded by many witnesses. Tell your sin to me…so that I may heal your wound and release you from your pain.”

Saint John Chrysostom

The Power of the Hail Mary

The Power of the Most Holy Name of Mary

I have no image of God from my childhood, having been brought up in complete atheism…. Humanly speaking, my childhood should have been very happy…. I lacked for nothing. However, I can say that my childhood was a long drawn out moral Calvary. From the time I was five I liked to be alone in order to think. The problem of life was what tormented me. Why life? What was its purpose? To what did it lead? A painful mystery, because there was no answer. After every pleasure, every caprice satisfied, the void became greater. I felt an immense need of plenitude, of the Infinite; the transitoriness of everything oppressed me…. A little crumb, far from satisfying me, increased my hunger….

My first knowledge of God came to me as a gratuitous gift of mercy, granted to me at eleven years of age. For the first time in my life I heard the Hail Mary. It was being recited by a little girl. I did not know to whom it was addressed, and took good care not to ask. But having a good memory I remembered the first part of the prayer; and when I was alone, or in bed at night, I used to say instinctively this half of the Hail Mary, I do not know why. I found a certain pleasure in saying these strange words, without reasoning what they meant. The meaning came of itself. That is all. When I was thirteen we visited Lourdes when on a tour in the Pyrenees. As we arrived inside the Domain of the Grotto a poor little procession was coming out of the Basilica. I gazed at it in astonishment. What kind of people were they? Choir-boys, bishops, priests in surplices. “Play-actors out of doors,” my grandmother told me. The evening before, on coming on a Calvary, I had asked who was the man hanging on the cross? “A malefactor of long ago.” Ah, they did well to punish him…I replied. And now, in order to have a laugh at “those play-actors,” we followed them up to the grotto.

They all went down on their knees and began to say the rosary. And I said the words of the Hail Mary with them in a complete community of spirit…. I do not know what happened after that…. I followed all the prayers, and in spirit adored the Christ on the cross whose image I had seen the evening before. He was my God whom I ardently loved. Everything was clear, luminous, fulfilled, for the first time in my life. I was happy! It was a happiness which was never to leave me again, and which has become more profound with the years. I look upon their passing with joy, because each day brings me nearer to the time when, enveloped in his love, I shall rejoice with Christ in the life of the Holy Trinity.

An anonymous Carmelite nun, aged 53

The true joy of the beatitudes

The True Joy of the Beatitudes

It may often seem that even when the prayers we have made for the Beatitudes have been in some measure answered this very answer evokes in us only feelings of disgust. And in the face of this—the enthusiastic request on the one hand, and the rejection of what we had requested on the other—we are overcome with disgust at ourselves. We should be ready in advance for this experience even if our joy is currently in good shape….

“Enter into the joy of your Master” (Mt 25:23) is said to the good servant when he has finished his serving. This is the joy that beatitude or happiness consists in. This is the joy that is no longer fragile, a sun that shines steadily with no changes or eclipse. Our joy, the joy that we experience in our human hearts is fragile and comes and goes.

As for the Beatitudes, they are the absolute opposite of what people call joy; as soon as they are separated from Faith they are seen to be contradictions. Each one of them carries within it either its own cross or the threat of a weighty, tangible, certain cross; but at the same time each brings with it its own hope which is either the hope of a good that is present but invisible or a good that is in the future. But we never succeed in bearing our cross without it remaining a mystery.

If all the great virtues of the Gospel can, by the grace of God, be activated by us through our own good will, they are only Jesus’ virtues when the Spirit of Jesus gives them to us fully through giving them those new dimensions which are those of the cross and only of the cross.

Venerable Madeleine Delbrêl

Power came forth from him

“Power came forth from him”

Mighty is the work of sanctification. Over the chaos of our miseries, over the dry and empty waste of our poor heart, is seen the Spirit; and his fruitful breath causes a richer and more beautiful creation to arise than that which sprang forth in the beginning of time from the hands of the Almighty. A holy soul: there is no richness that can equal it or any work of art that is comparable to it. It is the delight of God because he sees in it a likeness of his Word, the Son of his eternal joys. 

And how is this masterpiece produced? It comes into being as the material world was formed: greatness from above, and baseness from below. From on high is the Spirit who passes over the waters; from below is our soul, which receives the divine breath and which, as a docile instrument, responds obediently to the action, the will, and the thought of God. Sacred Scripture says that Wisdom reaches from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly (Wis 8:1). In similar fashion is the work of holiness accomplished, for it is a result of might and of mildness. 

To sanctify souls, great power is needed—indeed, infinite power. Who can make him clean, that is conceived of unclean seed? Is it not Thou who only art? (Job 14:4). To sanctify souls, there was required the force of the wisdom that fashioned the Incarnation, and the might of the sorrow that wrought the mystery of Calvary, and the power of love, strong as death, which produced the Eucharist. 

The action of God in the sanctification of each soul is a marvel of power…. What might is in the divine voice that calls us to enter into the land of mystery, the land of vision!

Servant of God Luis Maria Martínez

The Prodigal Son's Poem

The Prodigal Son by Rudyard Kipling

Here come I to my own again,
Fed, forgiven and known again,
Claimed by bone of my bone again
And cheered by flesh of my flesh.
The fatted calf is dressed for me,
But the husks have greater zest for me,
I think my pigs will be best for me,
So I'm off to the Yards afresh.

I never was very refined, you see,
(And it weighs on my brother's mind, you see)
But there's no reproach among swine, d'you see,
For being a bit of a swine.
So I'm off with wallet and staff to eat
The bread that is three parts chaff to wheat,
But glory be! - there's a laugh to it,
Which isn't the case when we dine.

My father glooms and advises me,
My brother sulks and despises me,
And Mother catechises me
Till I want to go out and swear.
And, in spite of the butler's gravity,
I know that the servants have it I
Am a monster of moral depravity,
And I'm damned if I think it's fair!

I wasted my substance, I know I did,
On riotous living, so I did,
But there's nothing on record to show I did
Worse than my betters have done.
They talk of the money I spent out there -
They hint at the pace that I went out there -
But they all forget I was sent out there
Alone as a rich man's son.

So I was a mark for plunder at once,
And lost my cash (can you wonder?) at once,
But I didn't give up and knock under at once,
I worked in the Yards, for a spell,
Where I spent my nights and my days with hogs.
And shared their milk and maize with hogs,
Till, I guess, I have learned what pays with hogs
And - I have that knowledge to sell!

So back I go to my job again,
Not so easy to rob again,
Or quite so ready to sob again
On any neck that's around.
I'm leaving, Pater. Good-bye to you!
God bless you, Mater! I'll write to you!
I wouldn't be impolite to you,
But, Brother, you are a hound!

Pope Benedict prayer for September 11 2001

O God of love, compassion, and healing, 
look on us, people of many different faiths 
and traditions, 
who gather today at this site, 
the scene of incredible violence and pain. 
We ask you in your goodness 
to give eternal light and peace 
to all who died here-- 
the heroic first-responders: 
our fire fighters, police officers, 
emergency service workers, and 
Port Authority personnel, 
along with all the innocent men and women 
who were victims of this tragedy 
simply because their work or service 
brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion 
to bring healing to those 
who, because of their presence here that day, 
suffer from injuries and illness. 
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families 
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. 
Give them strength to continue their lives 
with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well 
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss 
on the same day at the Pentagon and in 
Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 
Our hearts are one with theirs 
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: 
peace in the hearts of all men and women 
and peace among the nations of the earth. 
Turn to your way of love 
those whose hearts and minds 
are consumed with hatred. 
God of understanding, 
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, 
we seek your light and guidance 
as we confront such terrible events. 
Grant that those whose lives were spared 
may live so that the lives lost here 
may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us, 
strengthen us in hope, 
and give us the wisdom and courage 
to work tirelessly for a world 
where true peace and love reign 
among nations and in the hearts of all.

Pope Benedict XI--Prayer at Ground Zero 
New York, 20 April 2008 

Oracion

XXIV Sunday OT

Divine Mercy, a Divine Motif

Not without reason has Saint Luke narrated three parables in order: that of the sheep which was lost and then found, that of the drachma which was mislaid and was located, and that of the son who had died and was brought back to life. All of this so that, having been taught the lesson of the triple remedy, we can cure our wounds, for a threefold cord is not easily broken (Eccl 4:12).

Who, then, is this father, this shepherd, this mother? Could they not, perhaps, represent God the Father, Christ, and the Church? Christ carries you on his shoulders, the Church seeks you out, and the Father receives you. One, because he is Shepherd, continues carrying you; another, as Mother, ceases not to search for you; and then the Father comes back to dress you. The first, as a work of his mercy; the second, looking after you; and third, reconciling yourself to him. Each one of them matches these qualities perfectly well; the Redeemer came to save, the Church assists, and the Father reconciles. The same mercy is present in all divine activity…. The Shepherd calls out to the tired sheep, the drachma which had been lost is found, and the son, on his own initiative, returns to the father, fully repentant of his errors, which he accuses himself of….

And this drachma, which carries the imprint of the figure of the prince, is not something of little value. The riches of the Church consist in possessing the image of the King. We are his sheep. Let us pray so that we may become worthy of placing ourselves in the waters which give life (cf. Ps 23:2). I have said that we are sheep: let us ask for the pasture; and as we are sons and daughters, let us run towards the Father….

Truly, he will come out running to meet you, his arms will be all embracing—for the Lord lifts those who are bowed down (Ps 147:6)—and he will give you a kiss, a sign of affection and of love; he will order his servants to dress you, to put a ring on you and give you sandals. You still are fearful for the affront you have caused, but he returns to you the dignity which you had lost. You fear punishment, and he kisses you. Finally, you fear being scolded, but he entertains you with a banquet.

Saint Ambrose

Saint Ambrose († 397), known as the Pastoral Doctor, was a model bishop and an eloquent preacher. He was instrumental in the conversion of Saint Augustine.    

A reading from 
the holy Gospel according to Luke15:1-32

[For the shorter form (15:1-10), omit the text in brackets.]

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find 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 than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. 

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” 

[Then he said, “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns, who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”]

The Gospel of the Lord.

St Peter Claver

Collect

O God, who made 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 Jesus Christ,
we may love our neighbor in deeds and in truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

XXIII Sunday Ordinary Time

A reading from 
the holy Gospel according to Luke14:25-33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” 

The Gospel of the Lord.

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Christ makes this revelation: “If anyone comes to me without hating…even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” The Lord wants to give us a love that so exceeds even the highest human loves that we would be “a prisoner for Christ Jesus.” The kind of detachment that Jesus calls for in the Gospel today disposes us to receive all that God is eager to give us. The Lord insists that we carry our own cross, for that cross separates us from anything that “burdens the soul” and “weighs down the mind” so that we can follow Christ faithfully, for “thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.”

Renouncing All...

Renouncing All for the One Who Is Worth It

As time passes, Jesus makes his request more demanding. The call to follow him not only reflects readiness to acknowledge him as just and worthy of trust, but also the need to renounce oneself. In a certain sense, this is obvious: in order to follow someone, we have to abandon our own position, ourselves. This is what he asked of his disciples—to follow him at the cost of forsaking their attachments to either family life or possessions…. The profound meaning of this renunciation—the renunciation of “self” as a criterion—was destined to emerge later in the souls of those who followed him….

But Jesus not only demanded that they follow him by detaching themselves from their possessions. He asked them to live “for him” in the face of society. He also asks man to follow him in an exterior social way (witnessing), and makes man’s very worth, his salvation, depend upon this. If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven (Mt 10:32). But then, no relationship is complete and true if it is not strong enough to be revealed in public…. This is why the Lord insists on this process: that he be followed to the extent of abandoning everything, and adherence to him cannot be truly complete, even if one is detached from all things, until one stands with him before everyone.

Servant of God Luigi Giussani

The Mother of the Sabbath's Lord

The Mother of the Sabbath’s Lord

The love of God is infinitely condescending, for we know how far his humanity goes in giving us Mary as our Mother; but he is, he can only be, totally demanding, because he wishes us solely for himself…. The remarkable promises which the saints make in the name of God, to those who are devoted to Mary, must make us realize that the Blessed Virgin is a wonderful way for us to give all to Christ and to receive grace from him in return.

Marian spirituality strengthens us in our earnest attempt to make our wills one with God’s. It leads us to give to Mary, in our personal life, the role which she has in the plan of God. We may say with Dante that to do without her would be to want to fly without wings….

The plan of God is to “restore all things in Christ.” Christ is our Head and Sovereign Lord. For this reason, all must be submissive to him, related to him and endowed by him with life. All must go to God and receive from him divine life. It is God who has willed that Christ, the center of all things, should become man in Mary and through Mary. It is because of this unique link with the mystery of the Incarnation that Mary’s place is at the center of the divine plan. God who, through her, has given us Christ, wishes through her, to give us all things through her Son….

We may say that God who keeps her forever in his presence and on his own level lets her appear only that she may fulfill her role which is to receive and to give Christ: the Annunciation where her Fiat welcomes the Incarnation; the Visitation, in which she brings the grace sanctifying the precursor; the Nativity, where she gives Christ to the world; Cana, where her act of intercession opens the door to the public life, manifests the glory of the Son of God and awakens faith in his first disciples through this, the first of his miracles; the cross, where she is associated with the Redemption; finally, the Cenacle, where the members of the first community as the Church in visible form are united in prayer with “Mary the Mother of Jesus,” as they wait for the coming of the Spirit…. “God has thus willed that we should have all through Mary,” says Saint Bernard.

Father Joseph-Marie Perrin, o.p.