St. Josemaria Escriva

"God wants his children to be on the offensive. We cannot stay on the defensive. Our business is to fight, wherever we may be, as an army in battle array."
From the Furrow #790

Rest in Peace

Please pray for the souls of three St. Patrick's parishioners.
Bernice Sieler
Mary Mathis
Marie Grieving

a day late

we remember St. Josemaria Escriva, who died on June 26, 1975. He is best known as the founder of the Opus Dei movement, which is based on the idea that our sanctity can be achieved through the performance of our daily work. Even the most mundane tasks, such as scrubbing the floor or collecting garbage become supernatural when done for the glory of God.

We can learn a lot from the teachings of St. Escriva. Often times we look for a magnificent or elaborate way to serve God, while ignoring the many little tasks that await us each day. Doing each of those ordinary tasks well will do more for our salvation than the large task that never comes along.

Where are the men in your parish?

I'm looking for:
1. Men who go to Mass and have gotten other men to go
2. Men who were away from Mass for years and what got them back to the pews
3. Women who have gotten men (husbands, brothers, sons) to go to Mass
4. Insights into why so many men don’t go to Mass; what's their problem, what turns them off?
5. Suggestions on how to get men to go

Try to keep suggestions somewhere between "take them by the ear and pull" and "tell them that a smoking pit of sulphur awaits if they don't!"

Year of St. Paul

The Year of St. Paul concludes on Monday June 29. One year ago I encouraged everyone to read the letters of St. Paul. St. Jerome says, “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.” In case you did not follow my good instructions I have put together a small list of scripture passages for you. There is a great wealth of truth in the letters of St. Paul. Words that will lead us to eternal life in the next world and to peace in this world.

Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

1 Corinthians 13:13 “Faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”

Galatians 4:6-7 “As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father! So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.”

Philippians 1:6 “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 1:24 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 “We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good both for each other and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 “If anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.
We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.”

1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.”

2 Timothy 1:6-10 For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed preacher and apostle and teacher.”

Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ.”

A very good story

Go here for a great story!

Philipians 3

Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A green vestment on Sunday: Haven't done that since February
It is nice to have a regular Sunday. We have the long seasons of lent and Easter and then Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi. Now it is officially summer, since I am wearing a green chasuble on Sunday.

Sacred Heart and IHM

Yesterday, Friday, was the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Today, Saturday is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Mary shared fully in the joy of the incarnation. She also share fully in the passion of Jesus at the cross. Therefore she shares fully in the glory of God in Assumption and Coronation.
St. Paul teaches us that if we die with Christ we will also reign with him. As much as we do not like to talk about the cross is the way to glory. Tomorrow we go back to the Sundays in Ordinary Time. Do not forget to offer up your sufferings as the ordinary way of the Christian life.

St. Cyprian c. 258 AD

All Christ did, all he taught, was the will of God. Humility in our daily lives, an unwavering faith, a moral sense of modesty in conversation, justice in acts, mercy in deed, discipline, refusal to harm others, a readiness to suffer harm, peaceableness with our brothers, a wholehearted love of the Lord, loving in him what is of the Father, fearing him because he is God, preferring nothing to him who preferred nothing to us, clinging tenaciously to his love, standing by his cross with loyalty and courage whenever there is any conflict involving his honor and his name, manifesting in our speech the constancy of our profession and under torture confidence for the fight, and in dying the endurance for which we will be crowned - this is what it means to wish to be a coheir with Christ, to keep God's command; this is what it means to do the will of the Father.

The only honest reason to be a Christian is because you believe in Christ's claim to be God incarnate. The only honest reason to be a Catholic is because you believe the Church's claim to be the divinely authorized Body of this Christ.
Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity

A prayer for marriage

Look down with favor, O Lord, we beseech Thee, upon these Thy servants, and graciously protect this, Thine ordinance, whereby Thou hast provided for the propagation of mankind; that they who are joined together by Thy authority may be preserved by Thy help; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Who can receive Holy Communion?

1. those who are baptized Catholics
2. those who have reached the age of reason
3. those who have fasted from all food and drink for one hour.
4. those who are not aware of having committed a mortal sin.
Many years ago people would go to confession as often as they intended to receive Holy Communion. They were perhaps too strict, seeing a mortal sin in almost every action of life. Today people go to communion frequently without giving any thought about the state of their soul. Some people receive Holy Communion every week without going to confession for several years. This is a deplorable practice. It is not uncommon for people to skip Mass, destroy the reputation of their neighbor through gossip, commit adultery and fornication, even cooperate in murder and still think nothing of receiving Holy Communion.
Before we approach the Blessed Sacrament we should remember the words of St. Paul,
“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” 1 Corinthians 11:27 -29

Why do we genuflect in church?

We genuflect in church as a sign of worship of God who is present in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. We do not genuflect to the cross. We should genuflect with reverence and knowledge of what we are doing. It is understandable if old age or the frailty of the body prevent a person from genuflecting. Those who are able ought place their right knee on the floor before entering the pew. If your skirt or dress is too short or tight to genuflect properly then you should not wear it to Mass since it is immodest.

From an old book - on the "Rectory"

A priest's house should be a perfect model of the Christian home. There should be nothing in it smacking of luxury or worldly desire: peace and sobriety should reign in it supreme.

moving my brother

I helped my brother move his books from the rectory at St. Patrick in Wichita over to St. Paul's at Wichita State. Aren't I a good brother?
If you are looking for some free books now is the time to hit up your priest friends who are getting transferred. When moving you begin to hate your possessions and want to get rid of them. You can capitalize on this feeling by offering to take the books off their hands.

June 1979—The Nine Days of John Paul II

June 4th, 2009 by George Weigel

Thirty years ago this week, the Bishop of Rome returned to Poland for the first time since his recent election to the papacy. America’s premier Cold War historian, John Lewis Gaddis of Yale, is not ambiguous in his judgment of what happened next: “When John Paul II kissed the ground at the Warsaw airport on June 2, 1979, he began the process by which communism in Poland—and ultimately everywhere—would come to an end.” Professor Gaddis is right: the Nine Days of John Paul II, June 2-10, 1979, were an epic moment on which the history of the 20th century pivoted, and in a more humane direction.

What did John Paul talk about during the Nine Days? He didn’t talk about politics; indeed, beyond the ritual exchanges of formalities with government officials at the arrival ceremony in Warsaw on June 2 and the departure ceremony from Cracow on June 10, the Pope acted as if the Polish communist regime did not exist. Rather, he spoke over, around, and beyond the regime directly to the people of Poland, not about what the world usually understands as power, but about people power—the power of culture and spiritual identity. “You are not who ‘they’ say you are,” the Pope proposed, in a number of variations on the same theme; “let me remind you who you really are.”

During the Nine Days of June 1979, John Paul II gave back to his people their history, their culture, and their identity. In doing so, he gave Poles spiritual tools of resistance that communism could not match. And he did all that by reminding his people that “Poland” began with its 10th century baptism—with its incorporation into the Christian world. That reminder created a moral revolution that eventually brought down the communist god that failed. For on June 4, 1989, Solidarity swept the first reasonably free elections in post-war Polish history and set in motion an unstoppable chain of events across east central Europe. The Iron Curtain collapsed in Poland, five months before the Berlin Wall fell in Germany.

What can we learn from the Nine Days, three decades later? Several important things, I’d suggest.

The first thing the Nine Days and the subsequent Solidarity revolution teach us is that history doesn’t work through politics and economics alone. The power of the human spirit can ignite world-historical change.

The second lesson from the Nine Days is that tradition can be as powerful a force for dramatic social and political change as a revolutionary rupture with the past. “Revolution,” in the Solidarity experience, meant the recovery of lost values and cultural truths and their creative re-application to new situations. Tradition, according to an old theological maxim, is the living faith of the dead—a lively faith that can move history forward rather than dragging it backwards.

The third thing we ought to learn from the Nine Days and what followed in Poland is that moral conviction can be the lever once sought by Archimedes—the lever with which to move the world. There is nothing more potent in history, for good or ill, than ideas. The history of the 20th century prior to 1979 had been unspeakably bloody because of the power of false ideas and lies. The Solidarity revolution proved that the opposite could also be true, with its insistence on truth-telling amidst the communist culture of prevarication (or, as one famous slogan of the day had it, “For Poland to be Poland, 2+2 must always = 4”).

The fourth thing we learn from the Nine Days and the moral revolution they ignited is that “public life” and “politics,” “civil society” and “politics” are not the same. Rather, the health of politics depends on the moral health of civil society.

And the fifth thing we learn about from the Nine Days of John Paul II is what the Pope later came to call “the subjectivity of society.” Free associations of men and women who are citizens, not subjects, are where democrats are made, for it’s in those free associations that we learn the habits of heart and mind that make it possible for us to be self-governing.

I don't know where the church is located from yesterday's blog, but I can find out.

"God is always present, giving us being." St. Theresa of Avila

another picture

Church for sale

I received this picture yesterday. This church is closing and everything in it will be sold. Amazing!

Pilson Pilgrimage

A few hearty souls will be walking to Pilson on Friday.
Friday: Mass at 6:00 AM - after mass they will head north.
They will arrive in Pilson on Sunday around 2:00.

The feasts of June

June is the month of the Sacred Heart. You could add a prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to your daily prayers.

June 1 - St. Justin the Martyr
June 5 - St. Boniface - apostle to the Germans (there is a nice stained glass window of him at St. Anthony's Church in Wichita.