Philadelphia Chapter

CHOSEN ONES

For the last time Jesus sat at table with the Twelve. The supper was finished and the Gentle Master was saying His final farewell. Tenderly He looked upon His disciples gathered about Him as He spoke to them words of counsel and comfort to sustain them when He would be gone. With His heart overflowing with ardent affection He told them of the depths of love He bore them, told them of the special place they held as the objects of His own predilection. “You have not chosen Me,” He reminded them, “but I have chosen you.”

“I have chosen you.” How much those few words told the Apostles of their relations with Jesus! How much those same words whispered to us by the same Divine Master should tell us of the place we hold in His affections!

“I have chosen you.” Chosen me? Is it possible? The great, all-holy God has deigned to single me out in a personal, individual way to be one of His close familiars? Yes, not only possible, but a blessed, undeniable truth. And oh, how much it should mean to me! In the hours of loneliness which are certain to be the portion of all of us at times; when we find ourselves abandoned by those who once were a strong support to our weakness; when our efforts to live lives that bear at least some resemblance to that of our Lord mark us as an object for ridicule or as one to be shunned even by those from whom we have a right to expect quite other treatment, what a blessed thing it is to hear in our soul the gentle whisper: Child of My Heart, I have chosen you, chosen you for My very own. What does it matter, then, if creatures reject me!

Jesus, Gentle Master, have mercy on us.

EPISTLE: Ezech. 18: 1-9

If we will reject the evil deeds of our life and practice perfectly the Christian law of penance and charity, God will give us His grace and everlasting reward.

In those days the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is the meaning that you use among you this par-able as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are set on edge?
As I live, saith the Lord God, this parable shall be no more to you a proverb in Israel.
Behold all souls are Mine: as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, the same shall die.
And if a man be just and do judgment and justice, and hath not eaten upon the mountains nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel: and hath not defiled his neighbor’s wife, nor come near to a menstruous woman: and hath not wronged any man, but hath restored the pledge to the debtor: hath taken nothing away by violence: hath given his bread to the hungry and hath covered the naked with a garment: hath not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase: hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity and hath executed true judgment between man and man: hath walked in My commandments and kept My judgments, to do truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord almighty.

GOSPEL: Mt. 15: 21-28

If we practice the Christian law of penance and charity, our prayer will be granted as was that of the woman who belonged to the accursed race of Canaan, but whose faith was great.

At that time Jesus went forth, and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to Him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David: my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil. Who answered her not a word.
And His disciples came and besought Him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us.
And He answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.
But she came and adored Him, saying: Lord, help me.
Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children and to cast it to the dogs.
But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.
Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt.
And her daughter was cured from that hour.

FRAGMENTS

The Gentle Master stood lovingly watching the multitude gathered before Him. They had come from afar to be near Him, these ardent lovers of Jesus, and His Heart had been moved to compassion as He beheld them hungry and without food to sustain them on their homeward journey. And now, with evident joy, He watched the effect of His merciful miracle as the mystified Twelve passed from one to another dispensing the few loaves and fishes which increased to an unfailing abundance.

Then, when all had had their fill, He spoke the simple command that comes to us down the ages freighted with heavenly wisdom: “Gather up the fragments,” He told the disciples, “lest they be wasted.”

“Gather up the fragments.” Ah, if only we would do so! If only we would garner the precious fragments of spiritual nutriment so habitually wasted! The whole loaves, the great graces offered, the grand opportunities of spiritual progress, these, no doubt, by God’s good help, we would not knowingly squander. But the fragments, the trifling graces, as we deem them, the lesser opportunities of growth in holiness, how shamefully we do waste them! The moments of time “in between” so carelessly idled away, the whispered inspirations neglected, the little pains that tease the body or prick the spirit, a dreary day, a sharp word spoken, a snub from one we love, the failure of a cherished plan, a bit of unjust treatment, just such as these and many, many more that every life affords in such abundance, what precious fragments which, if only gathered zealously by thrifty hands, would soon accumulate until an abundant store of precious merits would be deposited for us in God’s eternal treasury.

Jesus, Gentle Master, have mercy on us.

EPISTLE: III Kings 19:3-8

Elias, before walking unto Horeb and seeing the glory of the Lord, fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert.

In those days Elias came to Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant there, and he went forward, one day’s journey into the desert.
And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said: It is enough for me, Lord, take away my soul: for I am no better than my fathers.
And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree: and behold an Angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him: Arise and eat. He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth cake, and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and fell asleep again.
And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said to him: Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way to go.
And he arose, and ate, and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb.

GOSPEL: Mt. 12:38-50

We are all called to take the place of the rebellious Jews: let us make ourselves worthy of the fruits of penance as did the men of Ninive, who listened to the voice of Jonas, and the queen of Saba, who came from her country to learn the wisdom of Solomon. We shall share then in the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, symbolized by the Prophet Jonas, who, after remaining three days in the whale’s belly, was vomited out alive.

At that time some of the Scribes and Pharisees answered Jesus, saying: Master, we would see a sign from Thee. Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the Prophet.
For as Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas.
And behold a greater than Jonas here. The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here.
And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith: I will return into my house from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation.
As He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold His mother and His brethren stood without, seeking to speak to Him. And one said unto Him: Behold Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, seeking Thee.
But He answering him that told Him, said: Who is My mother and who are My brethren? And stretching forth His hand towards His disciples, He said: Behold My mother and My brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of My Father that is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.

 

“It is sad and humiliating to note that as laxities were introduced by the hierarchy and local churches into the laws of fasting and practices of severe penance, the members of the Church have suffered immeasurable spiritual loss – a loss of at least part of the rigor of those sacred times set apart to cleanse their bodies and souls of imperfections and the corrupting spirit of the world. In our modern times, the spread of permissiveness, liberalism, deterioration of morality and the general practices of purity, have led to a spirit of relaxation and the loss of a general effort, on the part of the faithful, to strive for a life of holiness and of union with God through the practices of self-denial, mortification, piety and renouncement of the spirit of the world – a spirit which is opposed to the spirit of a true Christian life and the very possibility of eternal salvation.” – Dom Prosper Gueranger

THE MASTER’S TEST

It was on the Mount of the Beatitudes. The sermon was almost ended. Many and beautiful had been its lessons, and now the Gentle Master was speaking words of warning lest the heavenly doctrine planted in the hearts of His hearers be snatched away by false prophets. And the norm for detecting the false from the true, the lawful teacher from the impostor, Jesus expressed in the simple formula: “By their fruits you shall know them.”

“By their fruits you shall know them.” It is a thought to make me pause, to force me to ponder. How would I stand the test of scrutiny with such a rule for distinguishing the worth while from the worthless?

“By their fruits you shall know them.” My fruits—my thoughts and words and actions, all my dealings with God and with my fellow men, in public and in private, what do they tell, when viewed in their varied details, of him who produced them? Are they a praise or a blame, a reason for joy or a just cause for shame and confusion?

My spiritual life, my life of prayer, my life of union with God—what does the quality of that fruit tell of the source from which it arises? My life in the home, by the family hearth, does it produce sweet fruit, the fruit of Christlike peace and holy joy of which I may justly be proud, or is my presence there a source of fruit that is bitter in the tasting? And as I move among my fellow toilers in the great workshop of the world, what of the fruit of example given to those who observe my conduct?

“By their fruits you shall know them.” What does my conscience say of my worth as judged by that standard?

Jesus, Gentle Master, have mercy on us.

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

EPISTLE: Is. 58:9-14

We must struggle by solemn fast and by works of charity against our passions, and “the Lord will give us rest, and will fill our souls with brightness.”

Thus saith the Lord God: If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger and to speak that which profiteth not. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday.
And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail.
And the places that have been desolate for ages shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thine own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify Him, while thou dost not thine own ways, and thine own will is not found, to speak a word: then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

GOSPEL: Mk. 6:47-56

Come and See

There was joy in the Heart of Jesus. There was welcoming love in the words that fell from His lips in reply to the question of His new-found disciples. They had been won by His irresistible charm and, longing for closer acquaintance, had asked with childlike simplicity: “Master, where do You live?” We can almost see the light of gladness sparkling in the eyes of Jesus as He hears the question. We can almost catch the note of eager hope in His reply as, turning again and leading the way along the path He had been traveling, He bids His new-won followers: “Come and see.”

“Come and see.” If only we would do so! If only, with the wisdom of Andrew and John, we, too, would heed the invitation of the Master and follow along the path He travels before us until we find at last where He dwells.

“Come and see.” And where does He lead us? The path will hardly be the most alluring. Indeed, at times it will be drab and dreary. It will undoubtedly be steep in places, and rough and painful, too. It will turn sharply from the broad and noisy ways where worldlings revel and lead through solitary places where earth’s maddening cries are hushed and prayerful silence lingers; where childlike hearts glow warm with love’s pure fire and generous kindness breathes a native air; where self is lost in sacrifice for others and humble lowliness is honored guest.

Yes, such are the chosen spots where Jesus makes His dwelling. If I have failed at times to find Him perhaps it is because I have not sought Him there.

Jesus, Gentle Master, have mercy on us.

TODAY’S EPISTLE AND GOSPEL, Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE: Is. 58:1-9

The external works of penance such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, which should be practiced during Lent, have no value in the sight of God unless they are accompanied by the spirit of interior sacrifice or self-denial.

Thus saith the Lord God: Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins. For they seek Me from day to day and desire to know My ways, as a nation that hath done justice and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of Me the judgments of justice: they are willing to approach to God. Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not regarded: have we humbled our souls, and Thou hast not taken notice? Behold in the day of your fast your own will is found and you exact of all your debtors. Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high. Is this such a fast as I have chosen, for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thine own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear; thou shalt cry, and He shall say: Here I am. For I, the Lord thy God, am merciful.

GOSPEL: Mt. 5:43-48; 6:1-4

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

From Fr. Z’s Blog:

I’ve seen this from different sources, including lots of email.  However Dcn. Greg Kandra has the most prominent post.

An idiot deacon – listed among the Permanent Deacons of St. Rose of Lima Church in Eddystone in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia – put on a dog mask with vestments at the ambo.

Oaf For A Day!

No, it’s not cute or clever.  No, the Eagles game is no excuse.

This is stupid and this is sacrilege.

The culpability of sin can be diminished due to ignorance.  However, deacons ought to know better.  Alas, some permanent deacon formation programs have in the past not been very good, to put it mildly.  Good men with good intentions were cheated of even barely adequate formation.

At the same time, there is the pastor of the parish who must be held to account.  If he signed on on this, he, too, is guilty of sacrilege.

The fact is: When you are a cleric, it is difficult to claim ignorance.  There is such a thing as culpable ignorance.

There is also such a thing as invincible ignorance.

At that point, one must wonder how the program of formation as well as those who approved them for ordination.  One must wonder about their supervision, at the level of the pastor and above.