July 3 Fast

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JMJ

"Be patient not only with regard to the big, chief part of the afflictions that may come to you but also as to things accompanying them and accidental circumstances.  Many people would be ready to accept evils provided they were not inconvenienced by them.  'I wouldn't be bothered by poverty,' one man says,'if it didn't keep me from helping my friends, educating my children and living respectfully as I would like.'  'It wouldn't bother me,' another says,'If people didn't think it was my own fault.' Another would be willing to suffer patiently false reports about him, provided no one believed his detractor.  Others are willing to endure part of the evil, so they think, but not the whole of it. "

(St. Francis deSales, Introduction the Devout Life, Part III, No.3)

It is a consequence of The Fall that man seeks to run from responsibility for his actions.  When God asked Adam and Eve if they had eaten of the forbidden fruit they immediately placed blamed on another for their sin.  Man is loathe to accept ownership of his faults and constantly accuses others or circumstances themselves for his various failings.  Due to this inclination, he finds difficulty in correcting them or, at least, having the desire to do so because he will not admit it is in his power to change his behavior.

Often, one may find himself saying, "I would be more patient with my children if only they were not so little and so close in age"; "I would forgive my spouse if only he had not done something so hurtful,"; or, "I would be more joyful if only I didn't have to work with exasperating people all day."  Well, of course it would be easy to practice virtue if others cooperated so amicably! But then, that would not require too much effort.  To be a saint demands hard work, indeed.

Virtue does not wait for a convenient time to be practiced.  Like an athlete who gains the upper hand on an opponent by additional training, even when he is tired or sore, so, too, a person can only really increase the strength of his character by practicing virtue when  the circumstances are the most trying.

When men and women are first placed on the road to canonization they are given the title,"Venerable" after their lives have been thoroughly examined to reveal they have displayed "heroic virtue."  To be a saint is to be a hero in the supernatural life.  

What distinguishes the Christian spouse from others?  It is that he not only fulfills the demands of his vocation but does so with a servant's heart.  He learns to be patient even when he is stressed and tired; he is joyful even when he feels like being irritable; merciful when he feels like holding a grudge; helpful when he feels like being lazy.  He knows a marriage and family cannot survive on self-serving excuses, only on selfless actions.  And he also knows that God has given him the necessary graces to perform these heroic deeds.  It will do to always remember these words written by Father Thomas Dubay in his Prayer Primer:

"The best thing husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, can do for each other and for their children is to become saints, men and women of burning prayer." (emphasis mine)

June 5 Fast

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JMJ

"As Pope Paul VI observed, 'contemporary man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he listens to teachers it is because they are witnesses'. In the Church, the treasure of the family has been entrusted first and foremost to witnesses: to those fathers and mothers, sons and daughters who through the family have discovered the path of their human and Christian vocation, the dimension of the "inner man" (Eph 3:16) of which the Apostle speaks, and thus have attained holiness. The Holy Family is the beginning of countless other holy families. The Council recalled that holiness is the vocation of all the baptized. In our age, as in the past, there is no lack of witnesses to the "gospel of the family", even if they are not well known or have not been proclaimed saints by the Church. The Year of the Family is the appropriate occasion to bring about an increased awareness of their existence and their great number." (Letter to Families, St. John Paul II, 1994)

When reading the lives of the Martyrs one is struck by the great joy that contemporaries observed in those courageous Christians who were condemned to cruel torture for their fidelity to Christ.  From the Acts of SS. Felicity and Perpetua:

"The day of their victory dawned, and they marched from the prison to the amphitheater joyfully as though they were going to heaven, with calm faces, trembling, if at all, with joy rather than fear."

The Romans not only admired the Christians' incredible fortitude but more importantly were impressed by the hope that strengthened them as they awaited their crown of martyrdom.  Hope is not just an optimistic outlook; it is a gift from God and a trust in His promise of eternal life.  In his encyclical on hope, Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI said,"One who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life."

Living with hope does not mean ignoring the reality of the present culture; rather, it means not allowing an oppressive milieu to cloud our vision so much that we no longer clearly see that joy that await us, the future happiness that should animate our daily lives. Cynicism and bitterness cannot be the barnacles of our vessels.  Our lives, our families must instead be buoyed by our hope in Christ so that when everyone else is sinking in the storm, our barque will stand as a sign to others that, as St. Josephine Bakhita said,

"I am definitely loved and whatever happens to me - I am awaited by Love."

We have been born into this time for a purpose.  We have been blessed with the baptism of the Holy Spirit for a reason: "[To] go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."  This is not an option but an obligation.  Our marriages, our families must be witnesses to the faithful and merciful love of God.  We must not despair for lack of eloquent teachers or for the minority of witnesses.  It does no good to continually curse the darkness.  Rather, let us live our lives with true joy and take to heart the message of St. John Paul II:

"To the family is entrusted the task of striving, first and foremost, to unleash the forces of good, the source of which is found in Christ the Redeemer of man. Every family unit needs to make these forces their own so that. . . the family will be 'strong with the strength of God"."

 

May 1st Fast

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JMJ

"Do not say it is impossible for me to influence others.  If you are a Christian it is impossible for this not to happen.  Things found in nature cannot be denied; so here, for it is a question of the nature of a Christian.   Do not insult God.  If you say that a Christian cannot help others, you have insulted God and called Him a liar.  It is easier for the sun not to give warmth or shine than for the Christian not to shed his light. . . . The light of a Christian cannot escape notice.  So a bright lamp cannot be hidden." (St. John Chrysostom)

One can easily get discouraged by the current culture that is not only opposed to the inherent dignity of human life and God's plan for it, but does not even have space for common sense and reason anymore. Each news story beings fresh worries and anxiety for the future.  How can we promote a culture of truth, of beauty, of goodness when we are almost forced into silence?

Silence.  How unused to it we are!  How ironic that we have have lost the ability to communicate when we  have all the means of communication available.  The early Christians certainly faced a predicament even more dire than our own, and yet they had no Roman Senators to plead their case, no wireless mediums to defend their cause; in fact, their most prominent leaders were daily being martyred.  They could not take to the pages of the Roman Sentinel to articulate their position nor march in droves to win others to their side.  How is it that they succeeded?  Through sacrifice and silent witness.

The early Church had no other means but their lives to propagate the Faith, and pass it down to the next generation.  Their martyrdoms were the culmination of lives given wholly to Christ.  Their age was just as dominated by supreme selfishness, and so the antidote they offered was self-sacrifice: first, in their families, and then, often, in the arena.

The Christian family must and can bring joy to a society steeped in selfishness, and therefore drowning in depression.  In Lumen Gentium, one of the documents of Vatican II, the Church stated:

"In connection with the prophetic function is that state of life which is sanctified by a special sacrament obviously of great importance, namely, married and family life. For where Christianity pervades the entire mode of family life, and gradually transforms it, one will find there both the practice and an excellent school of the lay apostolate. In such a home husbands and wives find their proper vocation in being witnesses of the faith and love of Christ to one another and to their children. The Christian family loudly proclaims both the present virtues of the Kingdom of God and the hope of a blessed life to come. Thus by its example and its witness it accuses the world of sin and enlightens those who seek the truth."

Promoting a culture of life begins in deed, and leads to The Word Made Flesh.  We are Children of the Light; let us live our lives accordingly.

Good Friday Fast

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JMJ

"We must have confidence, not in spite of our miseries, but because of them, since it is misery which attracts mercy.  Oh, this word, mercy- misericordia- "miseris cor dare," a Heart which gives Itself to the miserable, a Heart which nourishes Itself on miseries by consuming them. Meditate on this word."

(I Believe in Love, Father Jean C.J. d' Elbee)

March 6th Fast

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JMJ

"Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.  She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.  Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?  Tell her to help me.'
The Lord said to her in reply, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.'" (Lk. 10:38-42)

Our vocations are given to us as God's chosen path for us to sanctity.  But, what does it mean to be saints? A saint is someone who enjoys eternal happiness while beholding the face of God forever in Heaven.  Wanting us to desire this reality, He sets before us the path in life where we can best see Him in others and so learn to love and yearn for Him here on earth.  Yet, what if we are too busy to take notice? Perhaps, we have become too attached to the things of this world to appreciate the beauty that gives us a foretaste of the next?

In his book, Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A Personal Portrait, Father Leo Maasburg noted one of the quiet ways Bl. Mother Teresa practiced charity:

"When she turned to speak to someone, she concentrated on them completely.  It was as if she and that person with their questions and concerns, were the only people there."

What a wonderful challenge this presents!  The "gift of self" often referenced by St. John Paul II is not simply a general term applied in an overall vocational sense.  No, it is a phrase that is meant to be lived daily, moment by moment, with each person we encounter.  
 How frequently does one fail to make the effort to put aside mental or material distractions for the- often short- time they are in a loved one's presence.  What does this say to the other?  Distractions take on different forms but can easily be justified by one reason or another.  Yet simply because technology or our mental faculties allow us to multi-task does not mean we always should.  

To turn one's whole heart and mind to another expresses the value we place on their importance in our life and the love and respect we have for them.  Blessed Mother Teresa once said:

"Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well."

In a culture where soundbites rule and moments are captured on phones, it certainly goes against the grain to take in the whole of a moment, and not be satisfied with a piecemeal approach.  Yet, what joy there is when one learns to patiently and lovingly attend to the other!  What great peace comes, when we refuse to be rushed, and can fully enjoy the other without the voices of restlessness and anxiety that perpetually tell us we are wasting time and must busy ourselves with something else.   Like Mary, who constantly "pondered these things and kept them in her heart," let us too learn to patiently ponder the hidden beauty that lies waiting to be discovered in those closest to us; a beauty that foretells of the infinite beauty that is awaiting us in Eternity.