What Will You Do with Your Last Week of Advent?

Fr. Barron on the Queenship of Mary

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them O Lord, and let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them

Today is the Feast of All Souls' so I thought I would re-post the following from this time last year.  Enjoy and you're welcome. ;)

All Saints & All Souls: Highlighting the Body of Christ

Tuesday we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints' - a holy day of obligation giving us the opportunity to glorify God through all His holy saints who constantly intercede for us; a day to celebrate the Church Triumphant.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of All Souls' - a day to intercede for the Church Suffering, the holy souls in Purgatory.

To what are the terms Church Triumphant, Church Suffering and Church Militant referring and what is significant about these holy days and the doctrine of Purgatory?

The Church is the Body of Christ - Christ is the head and we are the members of the body.  The Church is made up of both those who are living on earth and those who have passed on and are awaiting the resurrection.  The 'Church Triumphant' are those members of the Body of Christ, the Church, who have entered into the glory of God in heaven and who pray to God for us that we may also enter into the joy of eternal happiness with Him:

"And another angel came and stood  at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God." - Rev. 8: 3-4

The saints have triumphed over sin and Satan through the holy 'blood of the Lamb' and therefore are referred to as the 'Church Triumphant':

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. - Rev. 12: 11

Then we have the 'Church Suffering', who are the holy souls in Purgatory.  Purgatory is often a misunderstood doctrine - and, yes, Purgatory is a doctrine of the Holy Church - always has been, always will be.  Doctrines and dogmas of the Church are unchanging because Truth does not change.  Purgatory is not something the Church just 'made up' - it is a part of the sacred deposit of the Faith given by Christ to the Apostles and handed on to us by them as well as having Scriptural basis.  The Catechism #1030 says this about Purgatory:

All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

Purgatory does not mean that Christ's sacrifice for us was not sufficient.  Purgatory is actually a great grace of God and reinforces the fact that Christ's redemptive act is effective.  When we sin we incur a dual punishment: eternal and temporal.  Eternal punishment is hell; temporal punishment is repairing the damage our sin has caused.  Again, this does not mean that we are working our way toward heaven apart from Christ or that Christ's sacrifice was not sufficient.  Let's look at the words of St. Paul:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church... - 1 Colossians 1: 24

Does Paul mean that Christ's sacrifice was not good enough?  No, of course not.  The sacrifice of Jesus was perfect and complete.  But God loves us so much that He wants us to be in a relationship with Him, uniting our imperfect sufferings to the perfect suffering of Jesus, thereby, echoing St. Paul's words, "I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions..."  In Revelation 21, St. John describes the "the holy city, new Jerusalem", heaven.  At the end of the chapter he says, "But nothing unclean shall enter it...".  Purgatory is a part of the redeeming blood of Jesus having its effect in cleansing us that we may be clean to enter heaven.

In the whole land, says the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.  And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.  They will call on my name, and I will answer them.  I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'.  - Zech. 13: 8-9

Purgatory is a cleansing fire from which all our impurities and disordered attachments are purified as gold in the fire that we may be clean through the blood of the Lamb to enter into the joy of heaven.  Contrary to many misconceptions, Purgatory is not a permanent state.  Those who are being cleansed in Purgatory are assured of heaven but are simply being purified before entering.  We speak of this in terms of space and time, because that's how we experience life, so we say things like 'in' Purgatory and 'how long' someone is in Purgatory, but God is not limited by space and time, so how that actually all looks we don't know because it has not been revealed.

We have the opportunity to pray for the holy souls in Purgatory and offer our sufferings on earth to God in union with the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf, just as St. Paul mentions in 1 Colossians.  So All Souls' Day is a day particularly set aside for that very purpose, though we are called to pray for the holy souls often.  An example of praying for those who have died is provided in 2 Maccabees 12 in which the leader of the army brought his dead soldiers to be buried and he and all with him prayed for those who had died:

In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection.  For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.  But if he was looking to the splendid reward that  is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.  Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.  - 2 Maccabees 12: 43-45

One saint who was particularly devoted to the holy souls in Purgatory was St. Gertrude.  She composed the following prayer for the holy souls:

Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all  the Masses said throughout the world today, for the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those within my home and within my family.

Read more about Purgatory from Catholics United for the Faith here.  I highly recommend reading it.

The 'Church Militant' are those of us still here on earth fighting the good fight so as to win the prize:

For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - 2 Tim. 4: 6-7

Each day, because of concupiscence (the tendency to sin) and the temptations of Satan, we engage in a battle to choose Christ over sin.  This is why we are called the 'Church Militant' because we are engaged in a battle.  Thanks be to God that Jesus has won the ultimate victory over sin and death - we must, however, choose to partake in that victory by His grace.

This charge I commit to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you, that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. - 1 Tim. 1: 18

So the Solemnity of All Saints and the Feast of All Souls are important because they remind us that we are all one body in Christ and have an initimate connection to one another and can assist each other in being holy children of God and guide one another on the path to the new Jerusalem, the holy city: heaven.

May the saints intercede for us to our God, may we pray for each other and encourage one another in living holy lives pleasing to the Lord and may we pray for the holy souls in Purgatory who no doubt pray for us as well: May perpetual light shine upon them and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Halloween = All Hallow's Eve = Eve of All Saints' Day

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..."
Yep - "hallowed" means holy.  So the word Halloween comes from the Catholic holy day of the Solemnity of All Saint's - all the holy people partyin' up in heaven.
It all makes sense really when you learn about the feast day - unfortunately most of the American Halloween experience today has obviously become quite secularized and, well, strange.  But there are still elements of the Catholic roots that still exist.
Take this for example:

Where and what is this, you may be asking.  First, let's point out that during this time of year you see skeletons and bones everywhere.  Well, obviously these are bones, but the interesting thing is where they are located.  This is the inside of a chapel in the Church of All Saints' in the Czech Republic.  The words that are supposed to come to one's mind upon seeing this are: memento mori - remember death.  This is meant to help us remember our mortality and one day we will each stand before Almighty God. It is a reminder that God is God and we are not.  It is an encouragement to live a life of virtue and holiness; to live and love well because one day we will all look like that guy in the picture.  Unless you're really holy, then you might look similar to this:

This is St. Bernadette who entered eternal life in 1879 and still looks like she's just sleeping.   The likelihood that we will look like St. Bernadette 150 years after our deaths is slim, unless, of course, God wills it, but the reality remains that we are all called to holiness.  Death was not meant to be a part of the picture, but because of sin we have brought it upon ourselves.  The Good News, quite literally, though is that Christ came to set us free from the power of death.  "Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?" (1 Cor 15: 54-55)  At the Resurrection, the body and the soul will be reunited to live forever for those who live in Christ.  "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Cor. 15:  57-58)  As human beings we are made of both body and soul integrally.  Our full humanity will shine forth in glory at the Resurrection when we will no longer be subject to the effects of sin and will live, body and soul, forever in the New Jerusalem, the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Read this Q&A from the Word on Fire blog for more on the Catholic roots of All Hallow's Eve here.

Happy Memorial of Bl. John Paul the Great!

"It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness, he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fulness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal." - Bl. John Paul the Great

Go, rebuild my Church...

Today is the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi.  Francis was born to a wealthy family in the 12th century, but renounced all his wealth to live a life of poverty in imitation of Christ, founded three religious orders, received the stigmata (the first known case) and was instrumental in the 'new evangelization' of that time period.  When Francis was praying in the Church of St. Damian, the Lord spoke to him through the crucifix saying, 'Go, rebuild my Church which is falling into ruin.'  Francis, taking the statement to mean that the church building itself was in need of repair, did exactly that, but later realized that it was the Church herself that was in need of spiritual repair.  Francis, therefore, went about preaching and seeking holiness by fully embracing the Gospel.

While not all of us are called to literally renounce possessions by living in the same manner of St. Francis, we are all called to renounce wealth in the sense of being detached from it.  God alone is God and we know we have some conversion to take place in our hearts when we are too attached to worldly possessions or creatures and have made idols out of them.  Francis is a great example for the current new evangelization - his preaching was quite important (though Francis was not a priest, he was a deacon), however, the primary way that he affected a renewed vigor in the faith was simply by his example and witness of the love of God.  His personal search for holiness was the primary way in which he inspired the people to do the same.  This created a ripple effect throughout all Italy and eventually the world.  When the Church's children seek authentic holiness and union with Christ, She is strengthened and "rebuilt".  Holiness - that is the task of the new evangelization.  And you have an integral and indispensable role in it.  Do not just think of becoming a saint as a far off fairy tale or nice thought.  Make it your life's goal.  Your growth in personal sanctity by God's grace will be the conduit through which God will breathe his life into the world making it "more human and more fraternal" (JPII).

On another note, the crucifix through which God spoke to Francis is awesome and full of symbolism.  The San Damiano Crucifix as it is called, was painted by an unknown artist, but remains to this day in the Basilica of St. Clare in Assisi.  Full of figures who were present at the Passion such as Our Lady, St. John, St. Mary Magdalen and even St. Longinus, who was the soldier who pierced the Lord's side with a lance, the crucifix is a helpful source of contemplation.  Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR wrote a short little explanation of the symbolism which you can read here.

Touched By An Angel...Not Just a TV Show....

Today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels - a great day to begin the habit of asking for your guardian angel's intercession everyday and thanking him for the numerous occasions he has saved you from harm and bestowed God's graces upon you:

"Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God entrusts me here, ever this day be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and to guide.  Amen."

Angels are legit.  Angels are pure spiritual beings (they don't have bodies) with intellect and will.   When people die, they do not 'become angels', they remain humans - angels are totally separate creatures who are pure spirit.  Humans are an integration of body and soul and though the body and soul are separated at death (but will be forever reunited again in the resurrection), our nature as human beings does not change into that of an angel upon death.

 Scripture is full of the assistance of angels.  Angels minister to the Lord during his agony in the Garden and temptation in the desert.  The angel Gabriel appears to Mary during the Annunciation, speaks to Joseph and Zechariah and a host of angels appear to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus.  Angels appeared after the Resurrection speaking to the women who came to the tomb.  They appeared to the apostles upon the Ascension and assisted them during their time of spreading the Gospel, even freeing Peter from jail.  In the book of Revelation there are many references to the angels.  My favorite Scriptural story of an angel is the book of Tobit when the archangel Raphael leads Tobias to marry Sarah and heals the blindess of Tobit.  There are also many stories of the angels throughout the Old Testament, often including times when God sends angels as guardians of the Israelites.

Guardian angels are an important part of our faith and life.  As the Catechism says, "From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession.“Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.” Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God." (CCC336) 

Padre Pio's words to one of his spiritual daughters about the guardian angels:

O Raffaelina, how consoling it is to know that we are always under the protection of a heavenly spirit, who never abandons us, not even (most admirable fact!) in the very act by which we displease God! How sweet this great truth is for the believing soul! What can the devout soul fear that is diligent in loving Jesus, and that always has such a distinguished fighter present by its side? Oh, was he not perchance among those many who, together with St. Michael the Angel there in the empyreal heights defended the honor of God against Satan and all the other rebellious spirits, finally reducing them to perdition and casting them into hell (Cf. Dan. 10,13; 12, 1; Apoc. 12,7)?

Well then, know that he is still powerful against Satan and his satellites. His charity has not grown less, nor will it ever fail to protect us. Form the beautiful habit of thinking about him always. How close to us stands one of the celestial spirits, who from the cradle to the grave never leaves us for an instant. He guides us, he protects us like a friend, like a brother. This ought to be, moreover, a constant consolation for us, especially in our saddest hours.

Know, O Raffaelina, that this good angel prays for you: he offers to God all your good works that you accomplish, as well as your holy and pure desires. In the hours in which you seem to be alone and abandoned, do not complain about not having a soul-mate to whom you can open (your heart) and to whom you can confide your sorrows: - for the love of God, do not forget this invisible companion who is always present to listen to you and always ready to console you.

O delightful intimacy, O blessed companionship! Oh, if only all men knew how to understand and appreciate this very great gift that God, in the excess of His love for men, has assigned to us this celestial spirit! Recall frequently his presence: you ought to fix your mind's eye upon him. Thank him, pray to him. He is so finely mannered, so discreet: respect him. Have continual fear lest you offend the purity of his gaze.

Invoke frequently this (your) Guardian Angel, this benefactor angel. Repeat often the beautiful prayer:"Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom the heavenly Father's bounty entrusts me here; enlighten me, guard me, guide me now and forever." How great, my dear Raffaelina, will be the consolation, when, at the hour of death, your soul will see this angel, who is so good, who has accompanied you throughout your life, who was so ample in his maternal care! Oh that this sweet thought may make you, may render you continually more fond of the Cross of Jesus! This is namely what your good angel desires!  May the desire to see this inseparable companion of your entire life enkindle in you that charity which moves you to desire soon to leave the body.

Oh, what a holy and salutary thought it is to see this our good angel! It is this aspiration, namely, that should make us escape ahead of time from this dark prison in which we are detained. O Raffaelina, where are my thoughts flying to now? How many times, alas, have I made this good angel weep! How many times have I lived without the least fear of offending the purity of his regard! Oh, he is so finely mannered, so discreet. My God, how many times did I respond to the ample, more than maternal care of this good angel without any sign of respect, affection or acknowledgment! It is this thought that presently rather fills me with confusion: alas -- hear this and be horrified -- such is my blindness that I feel no remorse at this. And what is worse still, I treat this dear little angel, I do not say as a friend, but as a member of my family. And to tell the truth, this dear angel is not the least offended at being treated like this by me. How precious he is, how good!"

Read more about Padre Pio and his guardian angel here.

Mother Teresa, Pray for Us

Today is the feast day of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Much could be said about this extraordinary woman, but to hear it in her own words is often much more powerful:

 

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Fra Angelico

Today is the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  I first want to recommend two books to you if you would like to get to know Our Lady and her role better.  The first is Scott Hahn's Hail, Holy Queen in which he beautifully looks at Mary's role in salvation history through Scripture.  Next, is my favorite book on Our Lady, not to mention one of my favorite books, period - Fulton Sheen's The World's First Love.  This book is simply great.  Read it!

Mary is the greatest of all creatures, being preserved from the stain of all sin by God's grace that she may be the Ark of the New Covenant in bearing the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  She alone has this unique role in salvation history to be the Mother of the King.  As Dr. Hahn mentions in his book about Our Lady, in ancient times, those who ruled kingdoms were the King and the Queen Mother.   The queen was not the wife of the king but rather was his mother.   Throughout Scripture there are many instances that foreshadow Mary's queenly role or point directly to it.  When we honor Our Lady Jesus is immensely pleased.  As St. Louis de Montfort said, "We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor Him all the more perfectly."  Jesus loves his Mother who has also become our Mother by grace.  Because of her 'yes' to the Holy Spirit, the Lord came into the world to save us from our misery.  Mary always points us to her Son - her final words in Scripture even being "Do whatever He tells you."  Tota pulchra Maria - you are all beautiful Mary - how appropriate that the Lord would bestow such beauty upon her and crown her as the Queen Mother.  Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us.

"...at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir...I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations..." - Psalm 45

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.  For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed..." - Luke 1:46-48

 

More reading on Mary's Queenship:
Knowing Mary Through the Bible: Mary's Queenship in Revelation 12