October 15—St. Teresa of Avila, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Try these quotations on for size:  “May God deliver me from gloomy saints.”  “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”  “To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.” “Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.”  “Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”  “Don't let your sins turn into bad habits.”  “Pain is never permanent.”  “We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”

What a wealth of wisdom!  St. Teresa of Avila was a reformer in Spain in the 16^th century, helping turn spiritually weak nuns into spiritually strong nuns.  She reformed her religious order of Carmelites.  She is one of four women who have been declared Doctors of the Church along with St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thérèse of Lisieux and, this month, St. Hildegard of Bingen.

Wisdom is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we really need this gift in these times.  “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pr. 9:10).  Fear of the Lord refers to knowing our place before God as his creatures.  When we know that, we can start on the path to wisdom.  Further, Jesus told his disciples, and us:  “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt. 10:16).  St. Teresa truly was one of the wise virgins:  “Anyone who truly loves God travels securely.”  Let us be wise, love God, and travel through life secure in the Lord.

October 7—Our Lady of the Rosary

The entire month of October is dedicated to Our Lady and also to the rosary.  On this feast day we celebrate both together!  This memorial was originally founded in 1573 to commemorate a victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, which was credited to praying the rosary.  The rosary itself is an ancient custom in which 150 Hail Marys were substituted for praying the 150 psalms, which the monks and nuns sang weekly in the monasteries.

The use of the rosary as a means of prayer is an excellent devotion.  There are 20 mysteries focusing on the childhood, ministry, passion, and exultation of Jesus.  Pope John Paul the Great added the five Luminous Mysteries in 2002 dedicated to the ministry of Jesus including:  The Baptism of Christ; The Wedding Feast at Cana; The Proclamation of the Gospel; The Transfiguration; and The Institution of the Eucharist.  

The rosary contains the essential elements of the Gospel message of Good News.  By meditating on the mysteries and praying the Hail Mary, the Our Father, and the Glory Be we are uniting ourselves to God’s will.  We are praying for the intercession of Mary in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.  We are also giving praise to God, the Trinity.  The prayers are scriptural; the first part of the Hail Mary comes from the Gospel of Luke and the Our Father is from the Gospel of Matthew.  The repetition of the prayers helps focus our entire being on Jesus.  It is a Marian prayer in that we go to Jesus through Mary, Our Mother.  What better prayer to share with our children than the prayer that unites our hearts to Mary’s Immaculate Heart to Jesus’ Sacred Heart!

October 4—St. Francis of Assisi, Deacon and Religious

 

What would happen if you took the Gospel literally?  Would you “sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor” (Lk. 18:22)?  You might argue that Jesus does not call all of us to that state and you would be right.  But there are some who are called to living a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  St. Francis of Assisi was called to that life and he embraced it with wide open arms, even to the point of giving up the clothes that he received from his earthly father.  

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and ecology.  He founded three Franciscan orders; one for men, one for women, and one for the laity.  He was a deacon.  He was a stigmatist.  He tried to become a martyr when he went to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade and even spoke to the Caliph, but that grace was denied to him.  Instead, he ended up doing what he heard a voice telling him:  “Francis, go out and build up my house, for it is nearly falling down.”  He originally thought that meant for him to put stones and mortar together to build up a church building that had fallen into ruins.  Rather, he ended up building up the whole Church in the 13^th century with his orders and his example of loving Lady Poverty.

St. Francis embraced poverty as his role in the Body of Christ.  We each need to embrace our role.  It may not be poverty, but it may mean donating food, clothing, time, talent, and treasure for the sake of the poor.  There are homeless shelters we can serve at.  There are thrift stores we can contribute to.  There are scholarship funds we can donate to so we can help families provide their children with a better education.  There are single mothers we can befriend, encourage, and assist so they don’t have abortions.  Though we are not always called to follow the Gospel literally, we can take one line at its word:  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt. 16:24).

September 23—St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Priest & Religious

Padre Pio is one of the more amazing saints of the 20^th century.  He levitated when he was in intense prayer; he bilocated, that is, he could be in two far separated places at about the same time; he had the gift of prophecy; he could read hearts; he could bring about conversions.  However, he is most famous for the gift of the stigmata, the wounds of Christ visible on his hands, feet, and side. 

Padre Pio received much acclamation and much criticism for these spiritual gifts.  But he only wanted to love God and bring about the salvation of souls.  He would spend hours each day in the confessional listening to words of sorrow; challenging those who needed to express true penitence; forgiving with the words of absolution:  “God the father of mercies through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins through the ministry of the church.  May God give you pardon and peace and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

We are called to forgive and be forgiven:  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We are called to the confessional so that the priest, who is our spiritual doctor, may bring us to spiritual health through the sacrament.  Some say that we don’t need a priest; God forgives us anyway.  The purpose of the priest is to help us, not judge us.  The priest is “in the person of Christ” forgiving us in the name of God as Jesus said to his apostles:  “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn. 20:23).  Who, in suffering in serious illness or injury, would refuse to go to a doctor?  Why do we refuse to go to Christ’s doctors, his priests?  Padre Pio gave his life to bring about salvation for others.  Every priest shares in that desire.  When was the last time you went to confession?

September 20—St. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, St. Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, Holy Man, and Companions—Martyrs

The Church in Korea had no priests to celebrate the sacraments for twelve years!  Yet, when the first priest arrived there were 4,000 Catholics.  The Korean saints were martyred from 1839 to 1867; Pope John Paul II canonized 98 Koreans and three French missionaries in 1984 when he visited Korea.  Of those, 47 were laywomen and 45 were laymen.  Today there are almost 5.1 million Catholics.

The New Evangelization preached and promoted by Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis depends not just on the hierarchy but on all of us, especially the laity.  We are called to re-propose “the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith” due to the secularization of the culture.  Most, if not all of us, know of friends, relatives, colleagues who have given up on Christ and his Church; who have fallen to the siren song of the modern rejection of God:  “Where is your God?”  Even Jesus was taunted on the cross:  “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him” (Mt. 27:43).  We are called, as the laity, to share our faith in the living God, in the Christ who saves us from sin and death and despair.

How do we do that?  By loving and being willing to stand up for the faith, for the Church, for God.  The Korean martyrs faced physical torture and death.  We need to face the emotional and social torture that will come.  We need to pray for our society, for our persecutors, for those who revile the truth.  We need to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist frequently.  And thus, we will be willing to be the Body of Christ for our world.  Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

If you are interested in reading more about the saints, go to Mr. Mueting’s Saint Weblog at http://mrmuetingsaints.blogspot.com/.

September 13—St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

The Greek word “Chrysostom” means Golden-mouth.  St. John Chrysostom had a golden mouth, meaning that he spoke with great eloquence.  He started out as a monk in Antioch and became very popular due to his homilies.  He was ordained Patriarch, or Archbishop, of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire in 398.  Constantinople was a place of intrigue and luxury.  Once ordained he began to reform the discipline of the church in Constantinople.  He also preached for better morals among the elite of government, including the empress.  Others, including some bishops in the East, feared his power in deposing corrupt bishops, and wanted him out.  Eventually, the displeasure of the empress along with those who opposed him in the Eastern Church led to his exile and ultimately to his death.

St. John Chrysostom’s homilies, writings, and letters were extensive and influential in supporting Church dogma and doctrine.  Thus, he is a Doctor of the Church.  They were also what led him to his exile because he spoke for greater moral behavior, especially among the rich, who were told to share their wealth with the poor, as befits Christians who should care for others.  In other words, St. John spoke truth, earning him enemies among the powerful.

We are called to seek truth.  We are called to live truth.  We are called to speak truth.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  When we seek Him; when we live the truth of his love; when we speak the truth of caring for others, especially the poor, even at the risk of sacrificing money, comfort, possessions, and reputation, we will also make enemies among those who think we go too far.  But love also means standing up for the truths of the faith.  We cannot have a “social” Gospel and leave it at that.  Jesus was not a social worker.  He is our Savior.  We must have the fullness of the Gospel and the fullness of the truth it contains.  The Catholic Church teaches the fullness of the Gospel and has been blessed with a magisterium that, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, can guide us in truth.  St. John Chrysostom was a preeminent member of the magisterium because of his words, but also because of his deeds.  We would do well to follow our bishop and pray for him.

If you are interested in reading more about the saints, go to Mr. Mueting’s Saint Weblog at http://mrmuetingsaints.blogspot.com/.

September 3--St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

There are only four popes who have been called “Great”, St. Leo the Great, St. Nicholas the Great, soon to be St. John Paul the Great, and St. Gregory the Great.  St. Gregory was born in Rome at the end of the sixth century.  After serving in various public offices in Rome, he quit public life to become a Benedictine monk.  But his diplomatic skills required his services as an ambassador to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.  He was elected pope in 590 and served until 604.  In that time he wrote extensively on theological and moral subjects as well as writing hundreds of letters.  He is credited with introducing Gregorian Chant into the liturgy.  He sent missionaries to England to evangelize the Germanic tribes there.  He organized the processes of giving donations and food to the poor in Rome.  He is also considered the pope who revitalized the papacy and brought the institution of the papacy to its central place in the Church as first in charity and authority.  He introduced the title Servum servorum Dei, “Servant of the Servants of God”, which is the last of the eight titles of a pope.

There is a great deal that St. Gregory accomplished for the Church.  As pope he had care for all people’s spiritual needs, but he also cared for the physical needs of those in Rome who had been brought low by bad economics and war.  He even cared for the needs of those who weren’t Christian by sending missionaries.  Servanthood is founded upon Jesus’ commitment to serve us:  “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.  I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (Jn. 13:14-15).

We are servants and friends of Jesus if we do as he commands.  What greater thing can we do than serving each other and our society by our lives of Christian love and fellowship?  Our worship together on Sunday solidifies our solidarity in living as Christ calls us:  “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34).  This is the true legacy that St. Gregory the Great, and all the saints, gives us.

August 29—The Passion of St. John the Baptist

August 29—The Passion of St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist is commemorated in two feasts, his birth and his death.  We know from Scripture that he died due to the whims of Herodias, the invalid wife of Herod Antipas, and the acquiescence of her daughter, who is traditionally known as Salome.  Salome danced before Herod, who was so delighted that he promised to give her anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom.  Herodias told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist, who had condemned her marriage to Herod because she was wife to Herod’s brother, Philip.  John the Baptist was not killed for his love for Christ as such; as the last of the prophets, he was killed because he witnessed to God’s truth of the sanctity of marriage.

Marriage is a sacred covenant, symbolic of Jesus’ love for the Church.  Marriage freely vows the husband and wife to a life of love as demonstrated in their acceptance of fidelity, permanence, and openness to each other in fertility, that is, willingness to accept children as gifts from God.  Jesus raised the institution of marriage to a sacrament and stated, “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.  For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother [and be joined to his wife], and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mark 10:6-9).  

Marriage is not about the fulfillment of a sexual desire, or a statement of civil rights, but rather it is a witness to the love of Christ for the Church.  Therefore, every sacramentally married couple participates in a special way in the very love of Christ for us, his Church.  And so it is up to every sacramentally married couple to witness to that love by their faithfulness to each other, by the permanence of their marriage until death do them part, and in their willing acceptance of children as conceived in accord with the great gifts of unity and potential procreation in each act of marital love.  These are the truths for which St. John the Baptist died.  He can be called the patron and defender of marriage in our day and age.

August 20—St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was the most famous man of the 12th century. When he was about 23 he joined the monastery at Citeaux with thirty other young noblemen. However, three years later he was sent out to establish a new monastery, at Clairvaux, whereupon he was chosen abbot. He became known as a persuasive writer and speaker even to the point that he was asked by the bishops of France to judge between two rival claimants to the papacy. St. Bernard decided that Innocent II was the legitimate pope and succeeded in helping Innocent be recognized as such. He even counseled the successor to Innocent, Eugenius III on how to be a good pope. Pope Eugenius had previously been a follower of St. Bernard. He also asked St. Bernard to preach the Second Crusade. After its failure, many blamed St. Bernard, but he attributed the failure to the sins of the crusaders. St. Bernard is called the last of the Church Fathers, a group of men who taught theology based on Scripture from the time of the early Church. He was also named Doctor Mellifluous, or “Honey-voiced” Doctor due to his eloquence in speaking and writing truths of the faith.

We have much to be thankful for regarding St. Bernard. He had a great devotion to Our Lady and composed the Memorare. He wrote many volumes on Scripture, especially about the Song of Songs, in which he saw the main characters as allegories, or symbols, of Jesus and the Church. The love shared between the two is the same as the love of Christ for his Church. St. Bernard was no stranger to controversy, pointing out error where he saw it. He also founded 163 monasteries which, by the time of his death, had expanded to number 343. We can look to St. Bernard as a saint who was deeply in love with God and deeply involved in the affairs of man for the sake of God. We need to be as deeply in love with God as he was and as willing to be involved in making our society holier.

August 14—St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

August 14—St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a martyr in the new age of martyrs, the 20^th century.  But as with all martyrs, St. Maximilian showed love, God’s love, in his martyrdom.  Imprisoned at Auschwitz, Fr. Kolbe volunteered to take the place of another prisoner chosen to be starved to death in retribution for an escape.  After two weeks with no food or water St. Maximilian was still alive when the other nine chosen to be killed with him had died.  He then was given an injection of carbolic acid, whereupon he entered into heavenly glory.

Some may say that the age of martyrs was over sixteen hundred years ago when the Romans killed men and women who stood up for their faith.  Actually, the 20^th century is THE age of the martyrs.  Blessed Pope John Paul II canonized or beatified 266 martyrs of that century.  The situations varied:  the Spanish Civil War, Communist persecution, the Mexican Revolution, Nazi occupation.  But each man, woman, or child died due to hatred of the faith or hatred of the Church.  Each also died forgiving those who persecuted them.

Blessed Pope John Paul II declared in Tertio Millennio Adveniente (On the Preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000) that, “At the end of the second millennium, the Church has once again become a Church of martyrs. The persecutions of believers —priests, Religious and laity—has caused a great sowing of martyrdom in different parts of the world. The witness to Christ borne even to the shedding of blood has become a common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants, as Pope Paul VI pointed out in his Homily for the Canonization of the Ugandan Martyrs” (37).

Martyrs are honored as witnesses to Christ, as those who love one another as Christ loved us, with their very lives.