MOTHER OF OUR SORROWS

 

Today should be the feast of OUR LADY OF SORROWS but being Sunday, it is passed by this year. That does not mean we should not pray to our Mother who is aware of the sorrows in our own hearts.

         Jose Luis Castrillo-Spain

This feast of Our Lady of Sorrows dates back to the twelfth century. These seven sorrows were foretold by Simeon in the Temple when he encountered Mary and Joseph at the Presentation of Jesus. Many do not know what these seven sorrows are:

The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)

The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)

Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50) 

Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)

Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)

The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)

The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Mother of God, stand by us in our trials and care for us in our many needs.  Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.  Amen!

MISSIONARY IN SUFFERING

 

One example of a not so ordinary man, is the newly beatified JAN HAVLIK, a seminarian of the Congregation of the Mission.  During the Angelus on September 1, Pope Francis called for a round of applause highlighting the steadfastness in the faith of this young man.

Bl.Ján was born in 1928 in Vlékovany near Skalica (now Dubovce) Slovakia, into the family of  poor worker, Karol Havlík and his wife Justina née Pollékova. In his handwritten curriculum vitae, we read, “Because I wanted to continue my studies, for two years I attended the Civic School in Holic, to which I walked 16 kilometers (almost 10 miles) each day. After two years, I began to attend the Junior High School in Skalica, traveling 36 kilometers  (22 miles) every day by bicycle.”

 Ján grew up in times of great economic crisis and coming into adulthood in the atmosphere of World War II. In 1943 he went to Banska Bystrica and entered the Apostolic School (“minor seminary”) of the Congregation of the Missions of Saint Vincent de Paul, while at the same time completing his high school studies. After the war, the political regime was changing radically. “The victorious February 1948,” as it was called, actually meant the advent of communist totalitarianism and the beginning of an open struggle against the Church.

On 29 October 1951, he was arrested along with the other seminarians of the Congregation in Nitra. The terrifying State Police interrogated and tortured him for 16 months, leaving him hungry and cold. After his trial, which lasted from February 3-5, he was sentenced to ten years in prison.  After the trail he said to his mother: “Don’t cry, mother. We wanted to offer God the sacrifice of the altar, but now we will offer our suffering and our very lives instead of the Blessed Sacrament.”

At the end of February 1953, Ján Havlík was escorted to the Jachymov lager as a miner in the uranium mine. It is in this atmosphere of fatigue and suffering that he discovered that, if he cannot be a priest, he can be a missionary.

To his close friend Anton Srholec he said, “I feel like I am on a mission. No missionary could choose a better and more difficult mission site.”

 He underwent a second trial in 1959 and another year was added to his sentence. Even in prison, he was interrogated, mistreated, tortured, and left without food and in the cold, yet he always behaved valiantly.

 In August 1961, Ján fainted at his workplace. The diagnosis in the infirmary was, “The patient’s condition requires immediate hospitalization.” When he was released from prison, he was sent home as a terminally ill invalid.

Only a wreck remained of the young man who had once been as strong as a tree. However, until the Lord called him to Himself, he still made time to describe his spiritual experience, thoughts, and prayers on paper in two small  notebooks: “The Way of the Cross of Little Souls” and “Diary.” 

These writings are important because they allow us to discover his personal conversations with God.

In spite of everything, Ján had not drunk his cup of bitterness to the bottom. When the sound of the ambulance spread through the village, everyone knew that Ján was being rushed to the hospital in Skalica.

On his name day, the feast day of St. John the Evangelist, December 27, 1965,  Ján died on the streets of Skalica. He had not yet turned thirty-eight. In the last few weeks, he perceived ever more the value of his sacrifice, as is clear from his writings: “Today, the altar of sacrifice is my sickbed and my decaying body.”

Almost fifty-eight years later, the Church acknowledged his extraordinary stature as a martyr of the faith by declaring Ján Havlík blessed. This brave young man acknowledged and welcomed the missionary opportunity amid the circumstances in which he unwillingly found himself.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE- A SAINT!

 

 

 St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, felt for most people  life was chiefly about making ordinary everyday life something extraordinary.

 “God doesn’t pull you out of your environment, He doesn’t remove you from the world, nor from your state in life, nor from your noble human ambitions, nor from your professional work... but, there, He wants you to be holy!” 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops defines a saint as “the members of the Church who have arrived at perfect union with Christ, who join their wills to the will of God in praying for those in the Church.”

This past month the relic of the new saint, Carlos Acuti, was in Anacortes (the small mainland town where we catch the ferry). Many we know went to pay homage to this young man who had a great devotion to the Eucharist and was a very savvy user of the internet. Why we ask, would 70 year old people go to pray before a recognized saint, but one who was still a teenager when he died?

 When we look at many of the new saints, we see people of all walks, some who led a “strange” life, which we may question, “why them”?  But what sets all apart, is a great love of Christ and the willingness to share that love with others- often in hidden ways. 

What we tend to forget is, most saints were not extraordinary individuals, but ordinary people striving for holiness within their call in life, be it in a monastery, in a factory, in a family. They lived their lives not on a pedestal but down in the trenches of life, closely connected to God through prayer.

To be a saint is what we are all called to be, and while the Church has given us examples to imitate, there are thousands of people who live holy lives without being noticed by those around them. 

Remember, sanctity is not as uncommon as people think. All it takes is to be a lover of Jesus Christ.  Many new holy people have come to my attention this summer and I will be presenting some in the weeks ahead.

Tapestries:  Los Angeles Cathedral- John Nava

JESUS IN ECUADOR

 

This Sunday (Sept. 8 to Sept. 15), the 53rd INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS will gather thousands of faithful from around the world in Quito, Ecuador, to celebrate the Eucharistic presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

In July, the United States held its first National Eucharistic Congress in 83 years.

This is the first time an Andean country has hosted an international congress and coincides with the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus made in 1874.

The very first international Eucharistic congress was held in France in 1881, and since then, they have occurred every one to five years. The only time that pattern was broken was in the years following World War I and World War II, with a gap of eight years and 14 years.

The theme for this year’s international congress is “Fraternity to Heal the World”. This certainly is a fitting one to address the widespread hatred and strife that seems to grow in the world with each passing day. The aim is to strive for unity in Jesus Christ. 

The “Basic Text of the 53rd Congress” states, “Fraternity is a dream that the whole of humanity is experiencing. It is not a utopia, but rather, the opportunity to fulfill the vocation of each person: the call to meet with others. For this reason, in our historical time everyone has the task to explore the theme of fraternity: the depths of Christianity, religions, politics, philosophy and science must be plumbed. Apart from fraternity all can be lost”.

“The Eucharist offers healing to the world wounded in fraternity. Where sin has caused us to ignore each other as brothers and has placed us in a relationship of opposition and rivalry, the Eucharist calls us to sit at the same table of the Body and Blood of Christ as children of the same Father and, therefore, brothers and sisters of one another.”

 According to the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, “The first congresses were inspired by a lively faith in the Real Presence of the Person of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. As a consequence, Eucharistic worship was expressed particularly in solemn adoration and in grand processions intended to celebrate the triumph of the Eucharist.”

The first congress was amazingly enough, organized by a laywoman. Following the French Revolution in the late 18th century, the Church in France was on the decline due to the growing prevalence of secularism.  Marie-Marthe-Baptistine Tamisier, under the inspiration of Bishop Louis Gaston de Ségur and with the help of Pope Leo XIII, began to plan an event that would gather people to glorify the “source and summit” of the Christian life. (Marie’s first cousin, Jean Tamisier, would bring that love for the faith to America, settling in Missouri).

Marie’s idea to hold such a congress was spurred by her encouragement of the French people to make pilgrimages to sites where Eucharistic miracles were commemorated, such as Avignon, Ars, Douai, Paris and Paray-le-Monial. After witnessing 60 members of the French Parliament kneel before the Blessed Sacrament in St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s chapel at Paray-le-Monial and pledge to resist the secularist policies of the French government, Marie was convinced of the power of faith in the Eucharist and realized her dream in 1881. 

It seems not much has changed in 140 years as our world is still in turmoil, yet throughout the years, international Eucharistic congresses have served as key moments in the life of the Church, gathering together the mystical body of Christ as one in the Eucharist. They are characterized by large open-air Masses, Eucharistic processions through city streets,  catechetical sessions and public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We pray those who attend the events during this week, return to their countries, spreading a deeper love and reverence for our Eucharistic Lord.

The theme on Monday, Sept. 9, will be “A Wounded World.” Juan Manuel Cotelo, a Spanish Catholic filmmaker and journalist, will present his film “El Mayor Regalo” (“The Greatest Gift”), which talks about forgiveness as a way to heal the world’s wounds and achieve fraternity.

 On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Sister Daniela Cagnavina, secretary-general of the Latin American Confederation of Religious, will share testimonies of the lives of great witnesses of faith in the Americas.

 On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the topic “The Eucharist and the Transfiguration of the World” will be discussed with the participation of one of the foremost leaders of the National Eucharistic Congress initiative in the United States, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota.    In the afternoon, Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of the Diocese of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain will speak about the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

 On Thursday, Sept. 12, the theme “For a Synodal Church” will be the focus with the presence of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and Mari Wu, adviser to the Council for the Lay Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Taipei. On this day there will also be Masses in several languages, highlighting fraternity in diversity.

On Friday, Sept. 13, the theme to be discussed will be “Eucharist: Psalm of Fraternity” followed by a concert with Argentine singer-songwriter Pablo Martínez along with Marco Antonio Espín, author of the hymn for the International Eucharistic Congress, as well as the group Solideo. This will be a time dedicated especially to young people.

 On Saturday, Sept. 14, at 4:30 p.m., a Mass will be celebrated outside St. Francis Church in the St. Francis Plaza, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.

 After the Mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be carried in procession through the streets of the Colonial Quarter, which will be “decorated with carpets of roses, to the Basilica of the National Vow, where a special blessing will be given for Quito, Ecuador, Latin America, and the world.

 Finally, on Sunday, Sept. 15, on the day of the closing ceremony, also at 10 a.m. on the esplanade of the Bicentennial Park in Quito, the Statio Orbis or final Mass will be celebrated by the pontifical legate, Cardinal Baltazar Porras, archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela.

 In addition to the main events, there will also be an exhibition of relics of saints who loved the Eucharist, which will allow the faithful to venerate those who have lived their faith in an exemplary manner.

Top poster from Eucharistic Congress held in Amsterdam 100 years ago- Artist- Jan Toorop

Middle  photo- Cathedral in Quito Ecuador

CARE FOR CREATION

In 2015, Pope Francis established September 1 as the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church.

In doing so, he acknowledged his debt to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which has observed September 1, the beginning of its liturgical year, as a similar day of prayer since 1989.

 “As Christians we wish to contribute to resolving the ecological crisis which humanity is presently experiencing. In doing so, we must first rediscover in our own rich spiritual patrimony the deepest motivations for our concern for the care of creation.”

 He added:

The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live. The celebration of this Day, on the same date as the Orthodox Church, will be a valuable opportunity to bear witness to our growing communion with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. 

Artist: Suzi Dennis, Watercolor painting- First Christian Church, Hot Springs, Arkansas