A Parable for Today, or Always Do Thy Duty
“All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable.”[1]
Some time ago an American missionary priest—we’ll call him Father Jim—was sent to a village in Nicaragua. He was appalled at the poverty and inertia of people whose spirit had been crushed by a negligent and oppressive regime. Here, certainly, was the periphery that Pope Francis had called us, as Catholics, to serve. Knowing something about the co-operative movement, he contacted a few of the more active men and women of the place and convinced them to pool the little money they had in order to purchase a lathe and a sewing machine. He then showed the men how to turn out artefacts, such as wooden bowls and containers. The women, too, began making simple garments, which they had no difficulty marketing as their prices were low and the quality was good. It would be an exaggeration to say that business flourished, but there was one stroke of luck. An acquaintance of the priest’s in the States was able to stock the products in his store, where they had a definite appeal as “native” craftwork. Soon a metal lathe was added to the workshop and an assortment of other tools, while the women were able to expand their list of products with the purchase of a loom. Their sales rose after the priest had an attractive brochure printed and circulated.
Father Jim remained the soul of the operation and found his time so fully occupied that sometimes he would come to the end of a weary day and only to realize that he hadn’t said a word of his breviary. “Well,” he thought, “the Lord understands,” and he went to bed. Not infrequently, so great was the press of business, he had to cancel daily Mass in order to meet a delivery deadline or supervise some minor disquiet in what had become almost a factory. Sundays, too, could be busy, and more than once he found himself mounting the pulpit without having given a moment’s thought to what he would say.
One day, into this transformed village, a Pentecostal minister arrived, and opened a chapel in an empty store. In no time, virtually all the Catholics—which meant the entire population—had stopped attending Mass, going instead to the new storefront chapel. A while later, the priest met one of his erstwhile parishioners in the street and asked him why he no longer came to Mass. The man replied, “Do not imagine, padre, that we do not appreciate all you have done for us. We do; but, you know, we need religion too.”
[1] Matt 13:34.
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
First Holy Communion: Sermon from May 16, 1943
Here is a sermon from the good old days by +Rev. Msgr. Vincent Nicholas Foy (August 14, 1915 – March 13, 2017), from 1943. Readers may recall that Pope Saint Pius X, by the decree Quam Singulari in 1910, lowered the customary age of reception of Holy Communion – after the rigours of the plague[…]Continue reading→
In the Glorious Light of Easter, Alleluia!
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour[…]Continue reading→
An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday
The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→
Europe’s Long Descent
(As we meditate on this day on Christ’s burial, and His descent into hell, it is fitting to ponder here with contributor Peter Marcus how the world seems to be heading there as well. The difference is that, although God cannot ‘redeem’ hell, nor those therein, He can and did redeem the world. There is[…]Continue reading→