March 17, 2016 - St. Patrick

Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 18, 2007

We just heard the story of a young boy whose life was misdirected by love of riches and pleasure. After his so called friends abandoned him and he suffered hunger and want for a period of time, he came to his senses and returned to his father. He returned a changed person. Fortunately, he had a loving and forgiving father who accepted him unconditionally. The point of the story is abundantly clear when we consider the relationship between the father and his younger son. As regards the relationship between the father and the older son, Jesus leaves the conclusion open-ended. We have to reflect on what might have happened, whether the older son gave in to his father’s pleading to be forgiving or whether he refused. How we end the story will tell us a lot about ourselves.

I want to tell you about another young man whose story is somewhat similar. He was Catholic to start with but admits that he was not a very good one. His father was a government official and this young man enjoyed the comforts of those who were well off. He described himself at sixteen as a scatterbrained youth who had “turned away from God and did not keep his commandments.” As his story goes, he was kidnapped and sold as a slave and made to labor on a farm for six years. Like the prodigal son who was without friends and who suffered without adequate food or shelter, this young man came to his senses and he learned obedience through what he suffered. He discovered (and we quote) ”God showed me how to have faith in him forever, as one who is never to be doubted.” After six years God spoke to him in a way that he heard with his own ears. He would escape and God audibly told him when to leave and what direction to go in order to accomplish his escape. Miraculously God protected him along the way until he arrived back home. Like the prodigal son, he came home a new person. Although his parents wanted to keep him at home with them, his love for God led him to want to serve God as a priest. Even more than serving as a priest, his love for others led him to want to return to the people who captured and enslaved him and teach them about God. And that he did. After overcoming many obstacles, including rejection by the hierarchy, a breach of confidence by a friend to whom he entrusted a confession of his past life, his lack of education and social graces, he returned as a bishop to the people who had enslaved him. Once he arrived he wasn’t greeted with open arms. Again, in his own words, he said “daily I expect either murder, or robbery, or enslavement.” He writes elsewhere “they seized me with my companions. And on that day they most eagerly desired to kill me; but my time had not yet come. And everything they found with us they plundered, and myself they bound in chains.” He feared nothing, for even if he were to be put to death, he felt that would have been the supreme act of love for his God. But God had other intentions than that he should be a martyr. For 30 years he served God and the people who once enslaved him and his work was blessed. He ordained many bishops and priests, established convents, monasteries and schools and in thirty years saw the conversion of almost all of Ireland. And of course you all know I’ve been talking about St. Patrick, who is one of our patronal saints and whose statue is under the choir loft. His work was so successful that in a short time Ireland was sending out missionaries to revitalize the faith of Europe which had fallen into decline. Irish missionaries have been a blessing to the Church ever since.

For those who are Irish and who honor Patrick, the best way to truly honor him is not by drinking a Guinness. We should respond to his example and his call to holiness. Again quoting Patrick, he asks those who believe in him and love him to “strengthen and confirm your faith…That will be my glory, for a wise son is the glory of his father.”

And for those who are not Irish and who think too much is made of St. Patrick on March 17th, I would like you to think of how our faith has been strengthened by the witness of many Irish saints and how our civilization has been preserved by the scholarship of the Irish during the days when mainland Europe was being overrun by barbarians. The great heritage of western civilization, from the Greek and Roman classics to Jewish and Christian works, would have been utterly lost were it not for the holy men and women of unconquered Ireland. These Irish recorded the great works of western civilization in their monasteries and convents (remember all books had to be written by hand). They brought this learning back to Europe after it began to stabilize in the eighth century under Charlemagne. Whether you’re Irish or not, we all owe a great debt to the Irish and we pray that our patron, St. Patrick, blesses our parish and our families.

                R. Our Lord teaches us to help people in need.

                We see that in the Gospels –

                We see how Jesus turned the water into wine
                    at the Wedding –

                We try to follow Jesus and giving and
                    helping others –

                Jesus shows us we need to help others
                    He gives us in abundance

                Tonight Watch

                    St. Patrick Video

                Given March 14, 2016

                R. We see distortedly. In heaven we will
                see – We receive the beatific vision.

                    God gives us a sharing in His life in
                baptism. Our knowing and loving
                capacity is elevated. We can know
                and love on a supernatural level,
                but to know the truth this way – we
                must be led by God.

                    A man cannot count on his own
                natural ability to arrive at these
                Divine truths – to see supernaturally.
                A man must be docile to the touch
                of the Holy Spirit – a man must
                want to be led by God – be open
                to allow God to lead him.

                    How could a teacher lead a person
                in the way they need to go when the
                pupil is willful and wants to do
                it on their own.

                    I used to teach piano and if a person
                would not listen – they just wanted
                it to come naturally – from the first
                lesson they wanted it their way –
                whether counting or fingering – they
                wanted me to watch them play and
                would not listen.

                    Whether it is piano or math or
                whatever – we have to go to God to
                know the things of God, supernaturally,
                we have to be docile to the hand of
                God working in us, moving us to know
                through His guidance and leading us
                about the supernatural.

                    God can give us the infused
                supernatural virtues in baptism,
                but we need God's guidance and
                direction to lead us in the supernatural
                life – this takes docility and the
                desire to listen and to be lead by
                God. This takes God's guidance.

                    The gifts and virtues help
                perfect man's actions. There
                must be right reasoning and
                control of the passions.

                    We need the Holy Spirit to come into our
                soul and to dwell there and to give us the
                gifts of the Holy Spirit.

From the Holy Spirit Novena

Prayer for the Holy Spirit and His Gifts

Come Holy Spirit, come, come into our hearts, inflame all people with the fire of Your love.

Leader: Send forth Your Spirit and all will be reborn.
All:  And You will renew the face of the earth.

We pray for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we ask for perfection in our souls to make us holy, holy souls likened to God.

Dear Holy Spirit, we give ourselves to You soul and body. We ask You to give us the Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.

                R. The gifts working in man's soul
                produce the fruits. 

Galatians 5: 19

                R. The Holy Spirit works in love. We need
                to know our place – there must
                be the proper order in the man.

                    Man because of passions of
                anger, lust, gluttony – pleasure
                seeking actions can be enslaved
                and not free by his vices (bad habits).
                These can be so hidden in the man –
                his desire for being above everyone
                else and having his way can be
                passed down in generations –
                just like other bad habits, man
                seeing himself at odds with women
                rather than seeing the plan of God
                in life and the role God has given
                to men and women and their need
                to work under God, as God's design
                for them.

                    There can be such hidden anger
                and aggression in a man for
                disorder – he is not in his
                prejudice and slighted vision even
                seeing his own anger and passion
                to control things so that he
                rules: It can be white ruling
                black, black seeking to rule white
                (racial discrimination, passed on from
                generations past).

                It can be a man who has grown
                up with such conviction to rule
                over women – from his past,
                mixed with culture, mixed with
                anger from his own hurts to be
                scorned by a woman – he can
                act out like a blind dog who
                is let loose in a china shop.

                    Distorted vision, such is this,
                out of order by pride and anger
                and the sense pleasures – seeking
                drama and attention will
                drastically impede the working
                of the Holy Spirit in love in the soul.
                The Holy Spirit works in love. The Holy
                Spirit works in justice and proper
                order. The Holy Spirit works in mercy and
                forgiveness and a docile heart
                wanting to be led in the supernatural
                life by God who has infused in
                the soul supernatural virtues –

                    I have an i-phone, but I do not
                even know all I could do with it –
                There is much, I do not know and
                will never know because I do not
                develop these capacities.

                    In baptism man has infused
                virtues given to him, but because
                of the deadly sins he may never
                seek to use these tremendous gifts
                given to him.

                    A man can walk – out of order –
                with regard to authority his
                whole life. A man who fears
                authority – rather than obeying
                just authority under God, can
                work out his fear in all different
                ways. He sees authority, not as
                a friend, but an enemy and if
                he can force (through passive-
                aggressive ways, through disobedience,
                through some power using the
                system) his way, he can try to turn
                those under authority over
                the authority –

                    The devil uses this way to
                try to weaken and discredit
                the authority – to raise those
                under – in rebellion against
                the system of order and operation
                under just authority.

                    With a weak will – those also
                under will follow the man trying
                to usurp or weaken the proper,
                just authority and then there
                can be utter pandemonium and
                chaos – not order at all.

                    Just order is a friend.
                Order exists so things can
                be productive and bear fruit.
                We see in the Garden, Eve disobeyed
                God because she was out of order –
                She wanted to be equal to God.

                    These hidden blind - sights of
                prejudice against race, against
                women or men can be passed on
                from generation to generation.

                    A person needs to walk in
                justice, in truth, in right
                reasoning, but their anger to
                enforce their way in terms of
                race or male or female
                dominance, can be so blind-sided
                they will use actions without
                reason or justice to lead their
                blind-sided ways to tear an
                establishment apart. They can
                be so led by their passion and
                wrong reasoning to enforce
                those who are under with
                authority they should not have
                and threaten and tear down
                "the good guys" who have the
                authority, because of passion of
                fear and anger and control of the
                blinded - sided man.

                    God works in order. God
                is the Creator, the one who
                created man. We are creatures,
                but God has loved us so much
                that He gives us baptism.

                    God created us in His image
                and likeness. In baptism we
                are given infused virtues and
                our knowing and loving capacity
                is elevated so that we can
                perform supernatural acts, but
                it must be as God gives us
                guidance and grace to do this.

                    A man out of order is
                out of order. Pride, envy
                jealousy, anger, slothfulness,
                lust, gluttony are deadly sins
                that make man out of order.

                    Man must know what is
                right and what is wrong –
                know good and evil.

                    Man must seek actions
                that are the actions God wants
                of him. Man must have the
                right attitude about good
                and evil.

                    The Holy Spirit operates in
                love. Man's heart must be
                that of a loving heart – not clouded
                by evil desires of pride, anger,
                jealousy, envy, slothfulness,
                lust and gluttony.

                    The presence of God is in
                the Holy Spirit operating in the man,
                in proper order, in love.

                    A man, and how he acts
                when he is threatened by
                evil, can show you how
                a man is walking in holiness.
                We do not call the man with –
                an 'eye for an eye' or a 'tooth
                for a tooth' attitude, having an attitude
                like Jesus.

                    We receive infused virtues
                in baptism and the Holy Spirit
                perfects this in love.

                    Here are the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

                        Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel,
                        Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety
                        and Fear of the Lord.

                    Here are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

        Charity, joy, peace, patience,
        benignity (kindness), goodness,
        long-suffering, mildness,
        faith, modesty, continency,
        and chastity.

                    Here are the beatitudes.

Matthew 5: 1-12
The Beatitudes

Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was
seated his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak. This is
what he taught them:

How blessed are the poor in spirit:
the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Blessed are the gentle:
they shall have the earth as inheritance.
Blessed are those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Blessed are those
   who hunger and thirst for uprightness:
they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown them.
Blessed are the pure in heart:
they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
they shall be recognised
   as children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
   in the cause of uprightness:
the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when people abuse you and perseute you and
speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this
is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

                R. The more the man is growing
                in the image and likeness of
                Christ – the more the presence
                of God is in him, the more he
                is happy.

                    One must not have a weak-
                will and easily give into satan
                in anger and jealousy and
                pride, envy, slothfulness,
                lust and gluttony. 

                    True happiness is found
                when God has inhabited the
                soul and is guiding the soul
                in performing acts as God desires.
                God intends us to interact with
                each other in justice and love
                and to have relationships.

                    God intends us to grow to
                perform supernatural acts
                of loving God and neighbor
                and self – He has given us
                this elevated knowing and
                loving capacity in baptism –

                    We seek absolute truth –
                we do not want to have bad
                habits of anger passed on
                because of blind-sided hidden
                prejudices of race or sex or
                intelligence or whatever can
                be in a man to strike
                out in distorted vision against
                another woman or man,
                man or woman, against
                authority, using authority as
                power against the innocent,
                black against white etc.

                    We seek peace and unity,
                we seek purity, cleanliness
                in heart.

                    The man of meekness in heart
                is likened to Jesus – the man
                of mischievous heart, combatal heart,
                disordered heart, malicious heart,
                is not like the Heart of Jesus.

                    The man with a heart like
                Jesus is not prejudice hidden
                against sex, color, authority
                etc. – ready to force their views
                on everybody else.

                    The man with a heart like
                Jesus lives meekly and walks
                humbly under God – they
                walk in love – not stiff-necked
                ready to get their way of
                evil before men for their hidden
                blindnesses. They are not secretly
                manipulating their own control
                for their plan.

                    A man with a heart like
                Jesus is just – He gives God
                His due in loving Him and
                obeying Him – He is loving
                to his neighbor and he does
                not abuse pleasures for himself or
                give into unruly passions –
                He is a man of right, seeking
                God first in His life and His plan –
                seeking God's will above his
                own –

                    He is at peace with his
                neighbors – not divided to
                prove his slighted vision.

                    God is merciful, God is
                full of compassion, God's
                heart is LOVE!

                    The ultimate goal is to
                attain the vision of God –
                Not distorted vision seeking
                unruly pleasures and wrong
                reasoning –

                    A man of right reasoning
                sees before him the goal of
                the heavenly vision as his
                ultimate happiness.

                    The man of virtues who is
                living with the gifts of the
                Holy Spirit is experiencing the fruits
                of the Holy Spirit and is living the
                beatitudes.

                    This man is seeking for his
                distorted vision to be
                transformed one day so he
                will have the beatific vision.

                    We know that the man
                of virtue is a happy man –

                    The man who gives into
                the deadly sins is an
                unhappy man. The more
                the man gives into the
                deadly sins – the more he is
                fighting inside himself.

                    Vices lead to actions
                that are wrong actions and
                lead him into bad consequences.

                Can you imagine what it would be like
                to be in perfect sync with your body
                and to be able to just experience depth
                in your spirit without any pressure
                from distorted vision through your
                ancestors, or through your own bad habits
                etc.

                Baptism is such a gift – we receive a sharing
                in God's life. Our knowing and loving capacity
                is elevated. We receive infused virtues so
                God can guide us to live more as God wants us
                to live – to know and love supernaturally
                with God's grace.

                Do you really meditate and think heaven is
                the most beautiful of all you have ever
                experienced and God wants us there with Him
                eternally, but we must be pure and ready
                for this.

                We are imperfect – we have a wounded human
                nature – we must die to our selfish ways
                and grow in the image of Jesus. That is
                the Plan of God the Father for us to be more
                perfected like Him.

                    Physically we take in food, sunlight,
                water etc. We must discard what is
                waste. We would get sick if we do not.

                    Spiritually we need to grow – so we
                must die to the ways, not like Christ.

                    Heaven is for lovers. We do not see
                clearly, here. God is the ultimate mystery –
                We must seek what is good and God's will
                for us and get rid of evil.

                Given March 15, 2016

                R. Justice leads to order and happiness
                in society. Justice gives to other men
                what is their due. Justice leads to
                respect for others.

                    Justice means you give to others
                what is their due. Justice for
                something can be contracted in a
                community. Injustice means a man
                is selfish and has no regard for the
                rights of others or the agreement made.
                Injustice is a bad habit. Injustice
                destroys unity of community, it destroys
                stability, suspicion and hate replace
                trust and love when a man is injust
                in the contract arrived at that was
                to be honored.