Let us Imitate the Patience of the Saints
As the madness continues and we deal with patently irrational policies enforced in both the secular and the ecclesiastical realm, it is important for us to formulate a properly ordered perspective that acknowledges the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Sacred history teaches us that this is ultimately the end result in every struggle between good and evil. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Lk. 12:32). God’s plan will not be thwarted even by the most powerful of this world. We sometimes think God requires us to do great or impossible things to demonstrate our love for Him, but constancy and integrity in ordinary things are the hallmarks of a penitent heart and a virtuous life. A penitent heart is a humble and contrite heart and a virtuous life is a life of devotion to God and of fidelity to His commandments. It is good for us to be mindful of this as the Traditional Liturgical calendar marks Septuagesima Sunday. Our preparations for the celebration of the Easter Mystery begin today.
The Church’s efforts are always described as pastoral because the Church, like the Good Shepherd Himself, is concerned primarily with the good of souls. As we undertake the spiritual journey to the celebration of Easter what each one of us should seek for the good of our soul is a true spiritual resurrection, a vivid and fortifying re-incorporation into Christ by our paschal communion, a resolve to be faithful to our baptismal commitments and a new and more profound adhesion to Christ Our Saviour – a stronger and more serious dedication to a holy Christian life.
God does nothing haphazardly. Through the Logos there is an inherent logic to the created order and so too in the re-creation that is the Mystery of Salvation. Our yearly celebration of the Paschal Mystery of the Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Our Saviour encompasses past, present and future. It is all a unity. All this is communicated to us in the Easter Vigil but our pre-Lenten and Lenten observances are also a means by which the details of God’s plan of salvation are communicated to us, so that we might benefit from this yearly celebration.
What God effected partially by signs and types in the Old Testament He wrought more fully and perfectly by the historic actions of Christ in the New Testament. Our Heavenly Father carries this work on now on a new plane – that of sacramental signs. All of this He will bring to its conclusion at the Second Coming of Christ, the Parousia, when all these signs will give way to the thing signified. Past, present, future: our outlook must never lack this eschatological perspective.
When we speak of the saving action of God we speak of the Paschal Mystery or mysteries. We often think of a mystery as some truth which is beyond our understanding, but which we believe because God has revealed it to us. The word however, also has another meaning; it means an action done by God in carrying out some plan. The Paschal Mysteries are the event which takes place in the Church at Eastertide. They are spread over the whole week, beginning with Palm Sunday and their great climax is the great Paschal Vigil on Holy Saturday.
Easter then, is not simply a date but an event. I suppose this is why we don’t have a fixed date for its celebration. Easter happens, as it were in accordance with the cycles of the heavens. The plan of salvation continues to unfold in our time not in any vague way, but specifically for us in this particular time in history and even more specifically in the circumstances of our life now; in our souls, minds and hearts. Together, we whom God’s Divine Providence has gathered together are to carry out the paschal mysteries which as the Hebrew word pasch indicates, means a passing over from slavery to freedom.
Perhaps, given the our anomalous situation and that of the Church more or less everywhere, our commemoration of these mysteries this year, as it was last year, may afford us the grace of a real experience of liberation or at least the hope of liberation from the slavery of a health dictatorship. For nearly a year now, we have been dispensed from the obligation of attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Moreover, even our ability to visit the Blessed Sacrament is for the most part circumscribed and the reception of Holy Communion in many places is nearly impossible for those who wish to receive Holy Communion orally, in the traditional manner. This is perhaps most painful for both the faithful and for priests who have been forbidden to administer Holy Communion on the tongue. This is unprecedented in our history; but we must not despair of the aid of God’s grace for to do so would mean that we have succumbed to a temptation leading to despair. We must look to the future realistically of course, but not without hope for the operation of grace cannot be thwarted by the action of men. Men can resist this grace but God cannot be prevented from communicating His grace to those who seek Him and who love him.
Even if we should be deprived of the opportunity to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries in all their splendour and spiritual import, still we can beseech the Lord to apply here and now to our own souls what Our Saviour did for us long ago. To understand these mysteries therefore, and to profit from this understanding we must bear in mind that the whole plan of salvation which includes us in our time was in action from the earliest days of human history, is an action taking place now, and it will not be complete till the end of time.
St Augustine of Hippo observed that against Christ’s army the world arrays a twofold battle line. It offers temptations to lead us astray; and it strikes terror into us to break our spirit. Hence, if personal pleasures do not hold us captive, and if we are not frightened by brutality, then the world is overcome. At both of these approaches Christ comes to our aid, and the Christian is not conquered. It is not wrong to think of ourselves as an army for we are the Church Militant. This knowledge disposes our hearts and minds rightly and in reality. The ‘pandemic’ that appears to govern the life of the world today is a pandemic of fear, and both the governed and those who govern are either the passive or active agents of this fear – irrational fear.
If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom.8:31). This is something we must never forget, trusting in the Providence of God which governs all things. The dispensation of Divine Providence is now such that we who wish to cling to Christ, to His truth, to His grace and to His unfailing love must resolve to persevere in unchartered paths. Our churches may not be open and may not even be accessible to us. We may be forced to make our own way, but the grace to be found in this is that God may be liberating us from another form of bondage, the pressure of conformity. We must conform ourselves to Christ alone; not to the state, not to those who wield power and not even to the dictates of a worldly church in collusion with the powers of this world that serve the prince of this world.
In our Epistle reading St Paul compares our life to an arena where we must fight and mortify ourselves, if we wish to obtain the victory; and in our Gospel text the parable of the vineyard shows us that we must all work to obtain the reward of eternal life. We disciples of Christ must live disciplined lives of prayer, devotion and of charity. This is our work and it is a work that we undertake not only for our own personal salvation but no less in union with one another and in Christ for the world’s salvation. Together, we whom God’s Divine Providence has gathered together are to carry out the paschal mysteries in union with our Saviour who wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Our challenging times call us to be witnesses of this truth by trusting in the power of God’s saving grace; never compromising our belief that our salvation and the ground of truth on which we establish our lives is Christ Our Saviour. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). Our times are such that they bid us to imitate the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Rev. 14:12).
May the prayers of Our Lady at the foot of the Cross be for us both an encouragement and a source of strength as we look to our deliverance from bondage to the freedom and glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:21).
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→