Philadelphia Chapter

MY GENEROUS FRIEND 

Was there ever a heart that did not respond to the strong appeal of generous love? When another spends himself for me, when another suffers for my welfare, my heart expands with feelings of gratitude and I long to prove my deep appreciation.

Yes, so it is with my friends here on earth. But is it always so with my Divine Friend? Never was there a friend so generously devoted as He. Never was there a friend who suffered so much to prove His affection. Utterly self-forgetting, He sets no bounds to His giving. All that I am or have He has given me out of His infinitely bountiful love. My very life is a gift from His generous hand. My body with its wonderful powers, my soul with its more wonderful faculties, all come to me from my Divine Friend.

And more than this! He not only gives me temporal gifts, but an eternity of unimaginable joys in His own bright heaven He has prepared for me when life’s day is over.

But He did not stop there. When, by my sins, I offended my heavenly Father and lost my rich inheritance, He took my guilt upon Himself and suffered and died to atone for my wickedness.

Such is the generous love of my Divine Friend. And how do I respond to His infinite goodness? Am I not shamefully shabby at times in my treatment of Him? How seldom I go out of my way to let Him know that I appreciate His bountiful love! And when He comes to ask favors of me, the merest trifles though they always are, how often I find it in my heart to seek excuses to avoid the giving! Shaming, is it not?

Dear Jesus, Divine Friend, have mercy on us.

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL:  Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE:  Dan. 14: 27-42

The Epistle foretells the approaching Passion of the Messias and the rejection of Israel. Daniel destroying Bel is the figure of Christ denouncing the crimes of the world.

In those days the Babylonians came to the king and said to him: Deliver us Daniel, who hath destroyed Bel, and killed the dragon; or else we will destroy thee and thy house. And the king saw that they pressed upon him violently: and, being constrained by necessity, he delivered Daniel to them. And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was there six days. And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but then they were not given unto them, that they might devour Daniel. Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and was going into the field to carry it to the reapers. And the Angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the dinner which thou hast into Babylon to Daniel, who is in the lion’s den. And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den. And the Angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon, over the den, in the force of his spirit. And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee. And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God, and Thou hast not forsaken them that love Thee. And Daniel arose, and ate. And the angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place. And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel: and he came to the den, and looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great art Thou, O Lord, the God of Daniel. And he drew him out of the lion’s den. But those that had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him. Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for He is the Savior, working signs and wonders in the earth; Who hath delivered Daniel out of the lion’s den.

GOSPEL:  Jn. 7: 1-13

Jesus denounces the crimes and the sins of the world; the Jews seek to kill Him.

At that time Jesus walked in Galilee, for He would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ feast of Tabernacles was at hand. And His brethren said to Him: Pass from hence and go into Judea, that Thy disciples also may see Thy works which Thou dost. For there is no man that doth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly: if Thou do these things, manifest Thyself to the world. For neither did His brethren believe in Him. Then Jesus said to them: My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you: but Me it hateth, because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go you up to this festival day, but I go not up to this festival day: because My time is not accomplished. When He had said these things, He Himself stayed in Galilee. But after His brethren were gone up, then He also went up to the feast not publicly, but as it were privately. The Jews therefore sought Him on the festival day, and said: Where is He? And there was much murmuring among the multitude concerning Him. For some said: He is a good man. And others said: No, but He seduceth the people. Yet no man spoke openly of Him, for fear of the Jews.

Latin High Mass – Missa Cantata will be offered on the Feast of St. Joseph, Monday, March 19, 2018 at St. Joseph Church 500 Woodlawn Ave. in Collingdale, Pennsylvania at 7:00 p.m. as part of their annual 40 Hours Eucharistic Devotions.

IF YOU KNEW 

The way had been long and the Master was weary. When they reached the well the others went into the village to purchase food for the evening meal while Jesus sat on the well-curb to rest. A woman came to draw water. Jesus asked her for a drink from the well—He a Jew, she a Samaritan. It was an unheard-of thing and she expressed her astonishment. “If you knew the gift of God,” the Master replied, “and who He is that says to you: Give Me to drink, you perhaps would have asked of Him and He would have given you living water.” The implication was of her deplorable ignorance with the consequent privation of an immense good.

“If you knew the gift of God.” Some day life for me will be almost over—life with its wondrous opportunities. Eternity, vast, unchangeable, will be closing in upon me. In a few brief moments my everlasting destiny shall be irrevocably fixed.

I wonder if in that solemn hour I shall hear ringing in my ear the voice of my Divine Friend: “If you knew the gift of God.” If you knew the gift of God that lay in the trials and sufferings of life from which you shrank so impatiently! If you knew the gift of God hidden in the humble duties of your prosaic life, in the weariness, the loneliness, the monotony of it all! If you knew the gift of God in the voice of conscience urging you to repentance, in the whispered inspiration of grace, in the wonderful Sacraments—if you knew, think what you might be now: a saint of God . . . but now it is too late!

Dear Jesus, Divine Friend, have mercy on us. 

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE: Is. 49:8-15

The Prophet Isaias sees hastening from all sides the Christian people who are waiting with holy impatience for the Easter Feast, when at last their souls may quench their thirst in the springs of grace through the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance.

Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth and possess the inheritances that were destroyed: that thou mightest say to them that are bound: Come forth: and to them that are in darkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be every plain. They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them: for He that is merciful to them shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of waters He shall give them drink. And I will make all My mountains away, and My paths shall be exalted. Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country. Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth; ye mountains, give praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy on His poor ones. And Sion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee, saith the Lord almighty.

GOSPEL:  Jn. 8:12-20

To those who are in darkness Jesus gives light, for He is “the light of the world, and he who followeth Him, walketh not in darkness, but in the light of life.” Let us ask Christ to fill our minds and our hearts with the light of His grace.

At that time Jesus spoke to the mul-titudes of the Jews, saying: I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said to Him: Thou givest testimony of Thyself: Thy testimony is not true. Jesus answered and said to them: Although I give testimony of Myself, My testimony is true: for I know whence I came and whither I go: but you know not whence I come or whither I go. You judge according to the flesh: I judge not any man: and if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone: but I and the Father that sent Me. And in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that give testi-mony of Myself: and the Father that sent Me giveth testimony of Me. They said therefore to Him: Where is Thy Father? Jesus answered: Neither Me do you know, nor My Father: if you did know Me, perhaps you would know My Father also. These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple: and no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come.

MY UNKNOWN FRIEND

There must have been disappointment in His voice as well as in His Heart as He asked the question: “Philip, have I been so long a time with you, and have you not known Me?” Humanly speaking it must have been downright discouraging. Three long years the gentle Master instructed them, keeping them close to Himself that they might come to know Him well. And now when the end had almost come one of His chosen Twelve made it clear that, in spite of His efforts, He still was unknown to them.

My indignation rises at the thought, and yet I wonder if at times my Divine Friend might not quite justly put a like question to me. Yes, so long a time indeed, has He been with me, and still is it not true that it would sometimes seem as if I really did not know our Lord?

So long a time has He been with me caring for all my needs like a tender father, leading me by the hand along the dark ways of life, being my companion in my lonely hours, bearing with me in my weakness, forgiving my faults and failings, whispering words of comfort and counsel, yes, even feeding my soul with His Flesh and Blood and making Himself a Prisoner in a dark cell—and all just to be with me, His poor sinful child.

And I? Ah, surely I often treat Him as if I knew Him not. Like an unknown stranger I pass Him by. Hour by hour He stands by my side and I heed Him not. Creatures, ah yes, how well I know them! But my Divine Friend—what a matter for shame that I should know Him so poorly!

Dear Jesus, Divine Friend, have  mercy on us.

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal 

EPISTLE:  III Kings 17:17-24

Raising of the dead by the Prophet Elias.

In those days the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? Art thou come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son? And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed, and he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, hast Thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord and said: O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech Thee, return into his body. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elias: Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.

GOSPEL:  Jn. 11:1-45 

Resurrection of Lazarus.

At that time there was a certain man sick, named Lazarus, of Bethania, of the town of Mary and of Martha her sister. (And Mary was she that anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair: whose brother Lazarus was sick.) His sisters therefore sent to Him, saying: Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick. And Jesus hearing it said to them: This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He still remained in the same place two days. Then after that, He said to His disciples: Let us go into Judea again. The disciples say to Him: Rabbi, the Jews but now sought to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again? Jesus answered: Are there not twelve hours of the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world: but if he walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him. These things He said, and after that He said to them: Lazarus our friend sleepeth: but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. His disciples therefore said: Lord, if he sleep he shall do well. But Jesus spoke of his death: and they thought that He spoke of the repose of sleep. Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead: and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe: but let us go to him. Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples: Let us also go that we may die with Him. Jesus therefore came, and found that he had been four days already in the grave. (Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) And many of the Jews were come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Martha therefore as soon as she heard that Jesus was come, went to meet Him: but Mary sat at home. Martha therefore said to Jesus: Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. Jesus said to her: Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith to Him: I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live: and every one that liveth and believeth in Me shall not die forever. Believest thou this? She saith to Him: Yea, Lord, I have believed that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, Who art come into this world. And when she had said these things, she went out and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: The Master is come, and calleth for thee. She, as soon as she heard this, riseth quickly, and cometh to Him: for Jesus was not yet come into the town, but He was still in that place where Martha had met Him. The Jews therefore who were with her in the house and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she rose up speedily and went out, followed her, saying: She goeth to the grave to weep there. When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was, seeing Him, she fell down at His feet, and saith to Him: Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Jesus therefore when He saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and was troubled, and said: Where have you laid him? They say to Him: Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept. The Jews therefore said: Behold how He loved him. But some of them said: Could not He that opened the eyes of the man born blind have caused that this man should not die? Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself, cometh to the sepulcher. Now it was a cave, and a stone was laid over it. Jesus saith: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to Him: Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days. Jesus saith to her: Did I not say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God? They took therefore the stone away: and Jesus lifting up His eyes said: Father, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people who stand about have I said it: that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. When He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth. And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: Loose him and let him go. Many therefore of the Jews who were come to Mary and Martha, and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in Him.

All Meditations are taken from the book Minute Meditations, from Angelus Press: https://angeluspress.org/products/minute-meditations?mc_cid=517d5bdeb0&mc_eid=1ea5146073

DO YOU LOVE ME?

It was on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius. The golden beams of the morning sun came dancing merrily over the waters hand in hand with the fresh crisp breeze as it gently skimmed the silvery surface and awakened the tiny wavelets from their slumber. Breakfast was over—that wonderful breakfast prepared and served by Jesus after the miraculous draught of fishes. The Master had drawn Peter aside and the two were strolling along the sandy beach. For a time they were silent. Then Jesus spoke and His voice was full of tender pathos: “Simon,” He said, looking gently upon the once faithless, now deeply repentant Apostle, “Simon, do you love Me?”

“Do you love Me?” It was a question that spoke of the unfathomed depths of ardent yearning in the dear Heart of Jesus. It was a question that told of wounded affections, yet still all-forgiving and faithful.

“Do you love Me?” Ah, how often I, too, hear it—that same touching question, whispered by Jesus in accents no less pathetic than when Peter first heard it!

“Do you love Me?” Softly it comes in moments all unexpected, the voice of the Master patiently pleading.

When the path of godliness grows painful and I would desire to abandon it for the broad way that leads to death; when virtue has lost its attraction and willful nature demands pleasure at whatever price; when the flesh rises up against the spirit and my truant affections rebel against restraint; in the hour of darkness and discouragement or the hour of sunshine and success, softly it comes, that same pleading question, now tenderly urging, now gently reproving: Child of My Heart, do you love Me?

And dare I answer with Peter: “Lord, You know that I love You”? Dare I?

O Divine Light, be my Light! 

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE:  IV Kings 4:25-38

Eliseus, who is a figure of Christ, raises the son of the Sunamite woman.

Thus saith the Lord God: Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from Mine eyes: cease to doIn those days a Sunamite woman came to Eliseus to Mount Carmel: and when the man of God saw her coming towards him, he said to Giezi his servant: Behold that Sunamitess. Go therefore to meet her, and say to her: Is it well with thee, and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well. And when she came to the man of God to the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let her alone: for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me and hath not told me. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me? Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose there-fore, and followed her. But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen. Eliseus therefore went into the house, and behold perversely, learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. And then come and accuse Me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you be willing, and will hearken to Me, you shall eat the good things of the land: saith the Lord almighty. the child lay dead on his bed: and going in he shut the door upon him, and upon the child: and prayed to the Lord. And he went up and lay upon the child: and he put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he bowed himself upon him: and the child’s flesh grew warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called, went in to him. And he said: Take up thy son. She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and took up her son, and went out, and Eliseus returned to Galgal.

GOSPEL:  Lk. 7:11-16 (From the 15th Sunday of Pentecost)

 

A SAD COMPLAINT

“O My people, what have I done to you or wherein have I molested you? Answer Me.” Strange, pitiful cry of the heavenly Father wounded by the waywardness of His rebellious children! Strange, indeed, yet stranger still that same sad lament on the lips of the Gentle Master!

“What have I done to you? Wherein have I molested you?” Our Divine Friend, our heavenly Benefactor, kind, with more than a father’s strong kindness; loving, with more than a mother’s tender love; prodigal in His bountiful giving even to the last drop of His own life’s blood—and yet His very children treat Him as if He were a tyrant who by wanton cruelty has deserved their hatred!

And myself? True, I may not have to accuse myself of anything so wicked as that. I love our Lord, of course I do, and yet I cannot deny that He has ample cause to address to me that heartbroken query: “What have I done to you?”

With creature friends I take such care to give no cause for pain, but with Jesus—well, at times I just seem not to care. I disregard His precious love to take a creature’s love instead. His gifts, unstintingly bestowed, I grasp with scarcely a word of thanks—at times I even use those very gifts to wound Him. The promises I sometimes make, I break at will, and even utterly disregard His commands. His company I seldom seek, and when I do I am so very rude. And when He comes to visit me I act almost as if He were a nuisance in my life.

Ah! Worthy indeed am I of that sad complaint: “What have I done to you?” And what shall I answer?

O Sweetest Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may ever love You more and more.

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE:  Is. 1:16-19

Our souls shall be made white as snow.

Thus saith the Lord God: Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from Mine eyes: cease to do perversely, learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. And then come and accuse Me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you be willing, and will hearken to Me, you shall eat the good things of the land: saith the Lord almighty.

GOSPEL:  Jn. 9:1-38

Healing of the man blind from his birth, who was sent to wash himself in the pool of Siloe.

At that time Jesus, passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth: and His disciples asked Him: Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world. When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay upon his eyes, and said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe (which is interpreted, Sent). He went therefore and washed, and he came seeing. The neighbors therefore, and they who had seen him before that he was a beggar, said: Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said: This is he. But others said: No, but he is like him. But he said: I am he. They said therefore to him: How were thine eyes opened? He answered: That man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes, and said to me: Go to the pool of Siloe, and wash. And I went, I washed, and I see. And they said to him: Where is he? He saith: I know not. They bring him that had been blind to the Pharisees: Now it was the Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Again therefore the Pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. But he said to them: He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see. Some therefore of the Pharisees said: This man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath. But others said: How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say therefore to the blind man again: What sayest thou of Him that hath opened thine eyes? And he said: He is a prophet. The Jews then did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight and asked them, saying: Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said: We know that this is our son and that he was born blind: but how he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not: ask him; he is of age, let him speak for himself. These things his parents said, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had already agreed among themselves, that if any man should confess him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore did his parents say: He is of age, ask himself. They therefore called the man again that had been blind, and said to him: Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He said therefore to them: If He be a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. They said then to him: What did He to thee? How did He open thine eyes? He answered them: I have told you already, and you have heard: why would you hear it again? Will you also become His disciples? They reviled him therefore, and said: Be thou His disciple: but we are the disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses: but as to this man, we know not from whence He is. The man answered and said to them: Why, herein is a wonderful thing, that you know not from whence He is, and He hath opened mine eyes: now we know  that God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of God and doth His will, him He heareth. From the beginning of the world it hath not been heard, that any man hath opened the eyes of one born blind. Unless this man were of God, he could not do anything. They answered and said to him: Thou wast wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when He had found him, He said to him: Dost thou believe in the Son of God? He answered and said: Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him? And Jesus said to him: Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. And he said: I believe, Lord! (Here kneel.) And falling down, he adored Him.

DO NOT BE AFRAID

In the darkness of night a tiny boat is riding in the midst of the troubled sea. An ominous murmur moves over the waters. Then, with a shock and a roar the tempest swoops down from the mountains. A group of terrified seamen strain at the sails and the oars in vain endeavor to ride out the storm. Then, in the distance, approaching them, walking upon the waters, they behold a human form. They think it a phantom and cry out for fear. It is Jesus, the Master. He sees their alarm, and sweet and clear above the roar of the tempest comes the voice they know so well: “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

“It is I. Do not be afraid.” To us also, as to the frightened Apostles, our Divine Friend must often speak the same words of assurance. For we too have our hours of fear, we too often see phantoms approaching.

The failure of our cherished plans, the dying of a long-clasped hope, the abandonment of one we have loved, temptations, humiliations, sickness—such may indeed have the appearance of specters stalking in our pathway. Pause and look closely, and we shall find that the loving hand of the Master has ordered it all, or at least has permitted it, to chasten our hearts and lift them up from earthly attachments to heavenly longings. “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Ah, then, let the winds rave, let the storm rage on! I have heard His sweet voice: “It is I. Do not be afraid,” and I know that with Jesus near all will be well.

Dear Jesus, Divine Friend, have mercy on us.

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE:  Ex. 32:7-14

God announced to Moses His intention to destroy the ungrateful race of the Jews. Almighty God had seen His people prostrated before the Golden Calf. Moses prayed and his prayer appeased the anger of God. Let us do penance and our Lord will hear our prayers

In those days the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go down from the mountain; thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst show them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And again the Lord said to Moses: I see that this people is stiff-necked: let Me alone, that My wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is Thine indignation enkindled against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech Thee: He craftily brought them out, that He might kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth: let Thine anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of Thy people: remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou sworest by Thine own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever. And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which He had spoken against His people.

GOSPEL:  Jn. 7:14-31

Jesus confounds His perfidious enemies by appealing to the authority of Moses, but fails to change their hearts.

At that time, about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them and said: My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will do the will of Him, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. But He that seeketh the glory of Him that sent Him, He is true, and there is no injustice in Him. Did not Moses give you the law: and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why seek you to kill Me? The multitude answered and said: Thou hast a devil: who seeketh to kill Thee? Jesus answered and said to them: One work I have done, and you all wonder. Therefore Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers): and on the sabbath day you circumcise a man. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken: are you angry at Me, because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment. Some therefore of Jerusalem said: Is not this He Whom they seek to kill? And behold He speaketh openly, and they say nothing to Him. Have the rulers known for a truth that this is the Christ? But we know this Man whence He is: but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is. Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying: You both know Me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, Whom you know not. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He hath sent Me. They sought therefore to apprehend Him: and no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come. But of the people many believed in Him.

MY DIVINE TEACHER

He is a wonderful teacher—my Divine Friend. Whatever the lesson that puzzles my ignorance, I need only listen to His teaching and all doubts will be solved, for all things are clear to Him. He is infinitely wise.

And His method of teaching, how perfect it is! He speaks words of wisdom, indeed, words crystal-clear, words of heavenly doctrine, but He does not stop with words. No, each lesson that falls from His sacred lips finds more potent expression in His actions. He teaches by word, but more by example.

He asks me to flee the world’s foolish vanity, to make a companion of poverty, to deem suffering a blessing. Though the great King of heaven, He was born in a stable, His bed was a manger: from the crib to the cross His life was a martyrdom.

He asks me to be kind and gentle and merciful. He walks before me, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead to life; He constantly speaks words of comfort to the sorrowing, of pardon to sinners, of hope and encouragement.

He tells me that love is shown more in deeds than in words. For love of me He came to earth, clothed Himself in human flesh, bore poverty, pain, and sorrow, even took upon Himself the guilt of my sins, saved me from punishment by offering His body to a frightful scourging, bore insult and injury, and at last died a terrible death on a gibbet of infamy.

What a wonderful Teacher, indeed, is my Divine Friend! Strange, is it not, that with so incomparable a Master my progress in heavenly wisdom should be so utterly meager!

Dear Jesus, Divine Friend, have mercy on us. 

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE:  III Kings 3:16-28

The famous judgment of Solomon. The wisdom of this king, admired by the whole world, is a figure of the wisdom of the true Solomon, our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose doctrine comes to regenerate the world.

In those days there came two women that were harlots, to king Solomon, and stood before him, and one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord: I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber. And the third day after that I was delivered, she also was delivered: and we were together, and no other person with us in the house, only we two. And this woman’s child died in the night: for in her sleep she overlaid him. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I thy handmaid was asleep, and laid it in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently when it was clear day, I found it was not mine which I bore. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is dead and mine is alive. On the contrary she said: Thou liest: for my child liveth and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay, but thy child is dead, and mine liveth. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king: Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. But the woman whose child was alive said to the king (for her heart was moved for her child): I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. The king answered and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed: for she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.

GOSPEL:  Jn. 2:13-25

Jesus drives out the sellers from the Temple. He foretells His Resurrection.

At that time the Pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem: and He found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when He had made as it were a scourge of little cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers He poured out, and the tables He overthrew. And to them that sold doves He said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of My Father a house of traffic. And His disciples remembered that it was written: The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews therefore answered and said to Him: What sign dost Thou show unto us, seeing Thou dost these things? Jesus answered and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou raise it up in three days? But He spoke of the temple of His body. When therefore He was risen again from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had said. Now when He was at Jerusalem at the Pasch upon the festival day, many believed in His name, seeing His signs which He did. But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men, and because He needed not that any should give testimony of man: for He knew what was in man.

From the site Liturgy Guy. Posted by Brian Williams

(Photo courtesy of the Catholic News Herald)

A very interesting thing happened in the Archdiocese of New York last year. Despite having well over 400 parishes, Father Patric D’Arcy was the only man ordained to the priesthood in 2012. What is even more interesting, however, is that Father D’Arcy chose to offer his first Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

In June of this year, the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina ordained to the priesthood Father Renaurd West. For his first Mass Father West chose to offer it in the Extraordinary Form.

That same month Father Jason Christian was ordained in my home Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina. Father Christian also chose to offer his first Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

Last year there were a total of three men ordained to the priesthood in the Charlotte Diocese. One of those three, Father Jason Barone (pictured above), offered his first Mass, a Solemn High Mass , in the Extraordinary Form as well.

It’s clear that both Ecclesia Dei (1988) and Summorum Pontificum (2007) are producing much good fruit, and vocations, for the Church.

Concurrent with this is the ever increasing offering of weekly Traditional Latin Masses in the United States. Even just since 2007, when Pope Benedict issued his motu proprio, the total number of weekly masses in the Extraordinary Form have nearly doubled from roughly 225 to over 400 currently.

So what exactly is it about the Traditional Latin Mass, or the Extraordinary Form, that so many seminarians and young priests find appealing?

In May 2010 the excellent online site New Liturgical Movement posed this question to newly ordained Father Patrick Beneteau of the Diocese of London, Ontario. Father Beneteau’s beautiful explanation is worth quoting at length (emphasis mine):

The entire experience of preparing to celebrate the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite has been an enriching one. In my second year of seminary I read Cardinal Ratzinger’s, “Spirit of the Liturgy” and some of Louis Bouyer’s works on liturgy.

I realized that, in many respects, the Liturgical Movement was still in need of being actually implemented and taught. Thus began my keen interest in the traditional celebrations of the Church’s liturgy in both forms of the Roman rite.

In celebrating this past Sunday’s Solemn High Mass, I was struck with how Christ-centered the entire Mass was. Every gesture, chant, rubric and prayer offered by either myself, the deacon, or subdeacon, focused my attention constantly on the fact that this sacrifice was being offered to the Father, through Christ’s sacred action, not my own – and this was very liberating. The ad orientem direction of liturgical prayer emphasizes this fact so clearly.

An Increase in Vocations

As Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) recently confirmed, this current years total for post graduate level seminarians (3,694) represents a 10 per cent increase from 2005. While the improvement is modest, the trend is clear.

Following the release of Summorum Pontificum, priestly formation for many of these young men now includes learning how to offer the Mass in both forms of the rite. As we have seen from so many of the recently ordained, it is their liturgical and theological formation that has moved them to offer the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

Father Jason Barone of the Diocese of Charlotte explained his decision to offer his first Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Father Barone told the Catholic News Herald that he wanted to “give God thanks for this great gift of a vocation, and to do so in the most solemn and beautiful way that I can … in a way that He has led me.”

Having spent a year of studies at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska (operated by the FSSP), Father Barone was drawn to the Extraordinary Form because it places “a stronger emphasis on sacrifice … there’s something there that really appeals to the heart, to offer God’s sacrifice.”

It has been over six years since our Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, moved by the Holy Spirit, issued his motu proprio; and yet, far to many dioceses have still not made the Extraordinary Form easily available to the faithful.

As you can see by viewing Father Barone’s First Mass Highlight Video, there is much fruit being borne from the continuing reform of our sacred liturgy. As availability to the Traditional Latin Mass further increases in the coming years, we will continue to be blessed with vocations to the priesthood, such as those of Father D’Arcy, Father West, Father Christian, Father Beneteau and Father Barone.

COME AND REST 

“Come apart and rest a little.” It was a kindly invitation of the loving Master; and the Apostles, weary with the strain of their earliest missionary endeavors, must have profited greatly by it.

“Come apart and rest a little.” To us also, as to the tired Apostles, Jesus often whispers a like invitation, and we should heed and answer it. Indeed, for the health of our souls worn with the neverending struggle with Satan and sin, we should spend some time in retreat at the feet of our Blessed Lord.

For our own good, with generous frequency, we ought to turn our steps aside from the milling multitudes that throng the highways of life and, far from the maddening noise of business and pleasure, take ourselves to a quiet, prayerful retreat alone with Jesus.

In the silence it would do us good, here and hereafter, to pause and ponder the great eternal truths, the purpose of our life here below, time’s fleeting brevity, the vastness of the unending life beyond the grave. Earth’s empty vanities will lose a deal of their dangerous attraction, and the tinsel toys that worldlings treasure will appear at their true worth, when viewed in the light of eternity.

Yes, life may have its sorrows, its ways may at times be furrowed deep with toil and pain, but never will the journey be too taxing, nor the strain of godly living unduly great if only from time to time we heed the voice of Jesus and “come apart and rest a little” at His sacred feet.

O Divine Light, be my Light!

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Epistle and Gospel are the same as those of Laetare Sunday, below.