August 4--St. John Vianney, Priest

                                  

How does one become a priest?  First there needs to be a desire and ability to serve others.  Then there's the sense that God is calling that man to serve as a priest.  There also has to be discernment and evaluation by those who are responsible for the training and education of the candidate.  Finally the bishop, with help from the Vocations Director and the seminary rector, decides to accept and ordain the person to serve as a priest or to recommend a different path of service.  No man has a right to become a priest.

What about St. John Vianney?  Well, he had the desire and ability to serve and a strong sense of vocation, but he was not able to do well in his studies for the priesthood.  He had great difficulty listening to lectures in Latin.  But he persevered and was eventually ordained.  His zeal for the Lord also led him to become a great confessor, sitting in the confessional 11-16 hours a day reconciling God's people.  Thus, he was named patron saint of priests.

What does it mean to be a priest?  It means responding to God's call to serve in a special way; through ministering the sacraments, through preaching the Good News, and through leading God's people by a life of service.  We are called to love and serve the world in our daily lives, but priests are called to love and serve the People of God.  God has not stopped calling men to be priests; we just need to listen more carefully.  All of us are responsible for fostering priestly vocations through our prayers and our encouragement.

July 29--St. Martha, Friend of Jesus

   
Many times we think of St. Martha as a "busybody" saint, trying to get Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help her with the responsibilities of hospitality.  But we must not forget that she is also the woman who expressed complete faith in Jesus:  "I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world" (Jn. 11:27).  It was after this confession of faith that Jesus raised her brother Lazarus from the the dead.  She and her sister and brother were friends of Jesus.  When he came to Jerusalem, he stayed with them.  That can be taken as a sign of trust.

Maybe we have a "Martha" in our families.  Perhaps she is the grandmother or the aunt or mother or sister who goes around the house with an apron on and a washcloth in her hand, constantly finding things to clean and chores to do.  Maybe she is always making sure that guests, both invited and pop-ins, are welcomed and cared for.  Maybe she is also the person who strongly influences our faith by her constant prayer with the Morning Offering glued to the medicine cabinet mirror.  Maybe she has her rosary with her, praying at moments of rest.  Maybe she has a print of the crucifixion of Jesus above her bed a or a picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in the living room or a picture of the Last Supper in the dining room.

Martha is the patron saint of housewives, waiters, and waitresses.  These are the people who serve us and make sure that the necessities and niceties of hospitality are observed.  She is also very much the patron saint of those who love us and care for our everyday physical and spiritual needs.  They may not have the name of Martha, but they embrace her legacy.  May we be "Marthas" to others.

July 25--St. James, Apostle

                            

Ambition is defined as strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.  It is a good thing to have, depending on what we are ambitious for.  St. James was ambitious, but not always for the Kingdom of God.  His mother, St. Salome, once asked for the seats of honor for him and his brother, St. John, on the right and left of Jesus in the kingdom.  This was an ambition for worldly glory that Jesus rejected for himself and his followers.  Jesus' response was to remind them that glory in the Kingdom of God meant drinking of the cup that he drank from.  The glory of God is about love and sacrifice and service.  

St. James was able to drink of the cup of love, sacrifice, and service.  He became the first apostle to be martyred, killed by King Herod.  He belonged to the inner circle of Jesus' followers with St. Peter and St. John, witnessing the Transfiguration and being called to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane.  As an apostle he was sent forth to preach.  According to legend, St. James traveled to Spain and proclaimed the Gospel.  The shrine at Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain is the site of relics thought to be his.  It has been the site of a pilgrimage for about 1,000 years.  Every year over a hundred thousand pilgrims travel there.

As we can see, ambition for God, for love, and its necessary elements of sacrifice and service, is worthy of our efforts.  We are called to be zealous in our faith, share the Good News of salvation by our lives, our deeds, and our words, as St. James did.

July 14--St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin

Is there a Native American saint?  Yes, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, also known as Lily of the Mohawks or Flower of the Algonquins, is the only Native American to be canonized.  She was born of a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother in 1656.  She was orphaned at the age of four and eventually converted to Christianity at 19 under the influence of the Jesuits who were missionaries in French Canada.  She also took a vow of virginity, which was extremely unusual.

She underwent other hardships as well.  Because she did not work on Sundays, she was not permitted to eat.  She was in danger in her village because she was Christian.  She left it and walked 200 miles to a Christian Native American village near Montreal.  She also survived smallpox, but with half her sight and severe disfigurement.  However, she accepted her crosses and spent long hours in prayer, charity, and penance.

Do we accept our crosses in our ordinary lives?  Let us listen to St. Kateri and follow her example:  "I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus.  He must be my only love.  The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me.  All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing.  With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I'll give to my relatives and to the poor.  If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross.  He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure."

July 9--St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

    

Christianity has had a speckled history in China.  It was first introduced in the seventh century and then reintroduced in the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.  The Church has not expanded into China very well for a number of reasons, including being associated with Western colonial powers in the last centuries.  There have been times of growth and acceptance as well as setbacks and times of persecution.  Over 120 Chinese Catholic martyrs died between 1648 and 1930.  Most of them were born in China and were children, parents, catechists, or laborer ranging in age from nine to 72.  They were beatified at different times, but St. John Paul the Great canonized them together in 2000.

St. Augustine Zhao Rong was originally a soldier who escorted a bishop to his martyrdom.  St. Augustine was moved by his patience and eventually was baptized and ordained a priest.  He was then arrested, tortured, and also martyred within months of his conversion.

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity."  This saying from Tertullilan, an early Christian apologist, is true for the Church today and in China.  The Catholic Church in China has about 12 million members.  However, it is still in a state of flux.  There are two Catholic Churches, one the official Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association sponsored by the Chinese government, and the other, an "underground" Catholic Church. There have been some efforts to work together and try to regularize the situation but they are not complete.  We pray for the intercesssion of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and the Chinese martyrs to help Catholicism to grow in China.

July 1—St. Junipero Serra, Priest and Missionary

San Juan Capistrano, San Diego de Alcala, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Santa Clara. These are a few of the California missions founded by St. Junipero Serra.  Many of the cities of California started out as missions founded by Serra and the Franciscans as they conducted the last great spiritual conquest of Mexico starting with San Diego in 1769 and ending with the 21st mission in 1823.  

St. Junipero Serra founded the first nine as he trod north and south on the California coast baptizing over 6,000 natives and confirming 5,000.  St. Junipero Serra joined the Franciscan order and for the first years of his ministry he was a college professor in Spain.  He then went to Mexico to become a missionary.  He ministered in central Mexico and Baja California for 18 years, becoming president of the missions in Baja.  He began the "upper" California missions when he was 56 years old and continued for another 15 years. He not only worked among the natives, but also protected them from military leaders who were intent on subjugating the California coast in response to a Russian threat of invasion from Alaska.  His efforts resulted in a "Bill of Rights" for the Native Americans. 

Beatified and canonized saints are those whose lives demonstrate heroic virtue.  St. Junipero Serra showed his love and dedication to God by his love and dedication to the people he served.  He battled with military leaders; he risked death from the natives; he prayed, often throughout the night.  We are called to be saints by loving God through the people we are with daily.  Sometimes that involves heroic virtue as well!

June 24--The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

We celebrate only three birthdays in the liturgical year, Jesus' on December 25, Mary's on September 8 and today, St. John the Baptist's.  It is understandable why we celebrate Jesus' and Mary's births, but why St. John the Baptist's?  St. John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus, son of Elizabeth and Zechariah.  His birth was similar to amazing births in the Old Testament, namely to women who were considered barren: Sarah, the mother of Isaac, Rebekah, the mother of Jacob, Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, the mother of Samson and, Hannah, the mother of Samuel.  John the Baptist was also to be set apart for a special calling by God which was similar to Samson and Samuel.  Further, John was prophesied to be the messenger sent before God, like Elijah.

In other words, we celebrate his birth because it points us to Jesus.  Even the date of the birth points to Jesus.  We celebrate his birth on June 24th, six months before Jesus' birth and after the summer solstice when the days start getting shorter.  This symbolically demonstrates John's own role once the Messiah has come:  "He must increase; I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30).

All of us are called to point to Jesus.  The proclamation of the Gospel is not about us or our abilities.  It is not about our holiness.  It is not about our service.  It is about Jesus.  John's humility is in knowing his role and fulfilling it:  "I am 'the voice of one crying out in the desert, Make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said" (Jn. 1:23).  We have our roles as well.  We are called to fulfill them.

June 21—St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

                              

How can a young man living in Italy during the Renaissance, becoming a page in the court of Philip II of Spain be the patron saint of youth?  St. Aloysius Gonzaga is the patron saint of youth because he lived a holy life in the face of great temptations.  His father, a noble, wanted him to become a military hero, but at a young age he became attracted to a spiritual life. He eventually decided to join the Jesuits, even though many tried to persuade him to continue with a "normal" life as a nobleman.  He died at the age of 23 when he contracted the plague helping others.

Our "normal" lives today are not of nobility, but we do have lives of relative ease compared to the rest of the world and also history.  We have plenty of food, a car or two, cell phones, computers, multiple TVs, education, a house, and more.  We have a lot more! How do we resist the temptations of our age?  Those temptations are about ignoring those who we would rather not see, resisting service to others, complacency regarding important issues of our times, and more.

Youth tend to see hypocrisy in those who would give in to those temptations.  Youth tend to be idealistic and desire to find a better way of life for everyone. How can we foster their idealism and help them to bring about the kingdom of God on earth?  We can follow the example of the Jesuits, who teach about cura personalis, or care for the entire person.  We can also follow St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a youth who lived and died in service to others.