Father Damien Quote by the "Saint of Urakami"

LENT IS THE ANNUAL CATECHUMENATE FOR ALL

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

         

          The restoration of the adult catechumenate (RCIA) by the Second Vatican Council and the return of the Easter Vigil by Pope Pius XII a decade earlier led to the recovery of the baptismal character of Lent.

Correct context

          In previous times Lent was about doing without treats, and concentrating on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

          The adjustments of postconciliar renewal have brought the observance of Lent into clearer focus by emphasizing that it is a season of catechumenate for all the baptized, when all review the meaning of  putting on Christ by our baptismal consecration, not only those who will be baptized or brought into full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil.

The Lenten liturgy

          The first days of Lent after Ash Wednesday and the following two weeks of Lent suggest a penitential spirit.  The prayers and readings of the Masses and Liturgy of the Hours ask us to examine our faithfulness to our Christian commitment.  Are we becoming more Christlike? 

          The tone shifts in the Gospels of the next three Sundays of Lent to reflecting on the meaning of baptism and how well we are imitating Christ:  Jesus and the woman at the well; Jesus curing the blind man; Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  They ask how we are responding to Christ’s call to partner with him. 

          These questions remind the already baptized to experience again a new catechumenate and preparation to join with Christ in his redemptive mission.

Today’s challenge

          In this third millennium Catholics are challenged to confront and correct a culture of secularism that rejects the biblical vision of the human person and human relationships.  Not an easy task, but it can be a great adventure when we live in the confidence of the Easter Vigil and realize that love is stronger than death. 

          The annual catechumenate of Lent prepares us to be missionary disciples of Christ who bring his redemptive grace to others because we have experienced it in our own lives through baptism.  Baptism is about going down into death with Christ and being raised up with him in glory.  Lent is about dying to self for the life of others, about knowing the deepest meanings of life are found in Jesus.  Activating our baptismal grace makes this possible.

          

LENT IS ABOUT BAPTISM

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

        For those of a certain age Lent raises memories of giving up something we enjoyed – candy, movies, and other things we liked especially.  The old sense of Lent saw this time as one of self-imposed penance and spiritual discipline.  The religious expression of the season took the form of the Stations of the Cross, daily Mass, and other devotional practices.  The general feeling that prevailed is that Lent was to be endured.

        A sense of prayer, sacrifice, and charity toward others are authentic hallmarks of the Lenten season.  We sense a genuine need to identify again with the suffering of Jesus.  The new challenge is to see all these practices and prayers in the light of the Church’s annual retreat in preparation for the Easter Triduum.  During those three days new Christians will be born from the font of Baptism, and all Christians will welcome them with a with an enthusiasm rekindled anew through reliving our own rebirth in Christ.

        Above all Lent is about the Sacraments of Initiation.  Baptism is about going down into death with Christ and being raised up with him to glory.  This death and rising can be celebrated only after it has been experienced and lived in the daily fabric of human life.  Lent is about dying to self for the life of others.  Lent is about dying to all human supports which blind us from seeing that true life is in God alone.  Lent is as serious as coming to know that the deepest meanings of human life are seen in Jesus, who fights every temptation to take the world by power, force, or the razzle-dazzle of miracles.

        When Lent begins on Ash Wednesday we are signed with ashes in the form of a cross because we live under and in that sign.  The sense of Lent as preparation for Christian initiation and its renewal is clearly proclaimed in the Sunday readings.  Our practices of prayer and charity lead us to the renewal of our baptismal promises in solidarity with the catechumens who will unite themselves with the Church through Baptism.  This is our special time of opportunity to enter more deeply the mystery of our faith, the Paschal Mystery.  Holy Thursday is the last day of Lent.  With the celebration of the evening  Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Lent ends and the Christian community enters into the annual celebration of the Passover of the Lord and unbounded joy.

        Lent launches the neophyte on the journey to our eternal destiny and re-commissions the initiated.  Lent commissions us and energizes us.

                        “Look upon us as we enter these Forty Days

                bearing the mark of the ashes,

                and bless our journey through the desert of Lent

                to the font of rebirth.

                May our fasting be hunger for justice;

                our alms, a making of peace;

                our prayer, a chant of humble and grateful hearts.

                All that we do and pray is in the name of Jesus.

                For in his cross you proclaim your love

                for ever and ever.”

LENT- A PARADIGM OF CHRISTIAN LIVING

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

        To see Lent only as a period of spiritual practices, penances, and self-imposed deprivations would be distorted and limited.  Some understand Lent solely as a time of painful spiritual exercises accepted more or less willingly.  But with reflection and by following attentively the Lenten celebrations brought to us by the Church and its liturgy, we come to recognize that Lent is a paradigm of Christian life.  We come to recognize the wisdom of St. Benedict’s admonition that the lives of Christians and of the Church “ought to be a continuous Lent.”  Lent is a reminder of our baptismal consecration to live as other Christs in our circumstances.

        Lent is an important time of the liturgical year aimed at redressing Christian life.  The works of Lent – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – do not have their value in themselves, as the Scriptures proclaim on Ash Wednesday and the following Thursday and Friday.  All actions have a God-centered motive and aim.

        In encouraging us to a greater emphasis on private and liturgical prayer, the Church does so to help us to recapture during Lent  their rightful place in Christian life at all times.

        Almsgiving and sharing practiced during Lent are part of a movement of conversion regarding the use of goods.  Far from jealously and selfishly keeping material goods for themselves, Christians learn to possess them not as possessing them.  They manage their possessions as good stewards, with constant concern for those less fortunate.  This is not an occasional practice either.  The ideal continues to be relevant at any time there is a need.

        Primarily, fasting concerns restricting our bodily intake of food and drink.  Whatever value is assigned to seasonal or even habitual fasting, fasting is essentially an attack on uncontrolled appetite for earthly goods of all kinds.  We are called to learn to restrain our greed for earthly goods, and to have concern for the needs of others (Is 58: 6-9).  People yield easily to such an appetite, especially in countries where over-consumption is a matter of course.  Not to curb the search for bodily and material satisfactions is pagan.  Christians seek to rectify their behavior in order to balance their everyday lifestyle in harmony with their faith and hope.  The pagans think we should eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.  But the dead are raised, and now we know that Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep (1Cor 15). 

        The lessons from Scripture proclaimed during Lent help us raise our eyes to God and His plan of salvation, to Christ and His mystery that brings this plan to realization, to its fulfillment here and now in the Church and in the world.  Of course, this can be said of all seasons of the liturgical year.  What characterize Lenten liturgies are the density, the wealth, and the strength of the texts.  Especially challenging are the Gospel readings for Christian initiation, the selected apostolic catecheses, and the remembrance of the most significant steps of salvation history.  In this way Lent proves to be catechumenal for all baptized persons and not only for those preparing for baptism.  With special insistence Lent repeats the never-ceasing call: “Become what you are.” 

        Lent is a paschal journey because it leads us to the Easter celebrations.  It has a fixed place in the liturgical calendar, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Thursday before the evening Mass.  But Christian life is wholly paschal because it is an exodus toward our eternal Father.  From this point of view, Lent is a parable of the lives of Christians and a paradigm of the Church.  What is experienced intensely for forty days must give new and enduring dynamism to our lives in all the days of the Lord.

       

          

Things to Do this Lent

Here are some suggestions that may help you grow spiritually this Lent.  Of course, the best suggestion I can give you is to try to attend Holy Mass daily and pray the Holy Rosary daily and/or with your family.

1.  Drink only water during the week and Saturday.  Save your juices, carbonated beverages, etc. for Sunday.

2.  Meditate on Jesus' words:  "I thirst" and refrain from drinking even water for at least five minutes or so, especially when you are very thirsty.

3.  Eat only meat on Sundays.  During the week, practice abstinence from meat.

4.  Unite yourself with the starving people around the world by eating what you have in your refrigerator or cupboards/pantries.  Necessity is the mother of invention they say.  I can almost promise you that you will come up with good and tasty recipes with the grains, beans, canned fish, vegetables you already have on hand, when you know you cannot go shopping for what you want.

5. Shop only when necessary.  That goes for food, clothes, cleaning supplies, and so forth.

6. Take advantage of sales and buy food to share with your church's outreach or homeless shelters.  If you want to stick with shopping only when necessary, then go through your own pantry and share your food with others in need.

7.  If you are not in the habit of eating meals with your family at the table, at least try to eat dinner together, at the table.

8.  Catholics celebrate Mardi Gras for a reason.  It used to be customary to cook with the oils, butters, sugars on Fat Tuesday and abstain from using them during Lent.  Try to abstain for fats, sugars, and too much salt, during the week during Lent.

9.  Make a holy hour of Adoration at least once a week during Lent.

10.  Refrain from watching mindless television shows such as sitcoms, suggestive movies, etc. during Lent.  Watch spiritual movies, family classics and Catholic programming instead.

11.  Instead of just giving up one thing during Lent, try to sacrifice different treats such as snacks, movies, plays, dinners, lunches and drinks,  and give the money you save to Aid to the Church in Need.

12.  Prepare a little reading nook in either your bedroom or somewhere quiet.  You will need a comfortable chair, a little table and if possible and ottoman.  Place some good Catholic books you want to read on the little table, along with a journal and a nice pen.  Place a fragrant candle on the little table too.

13.  Spend at least 1/2 hour a day doing spiritual reading.  See list of recommended reading below.

14.  If you are on any social networking sites, start sharing about God's mercy.  You can quote from various the saints, St. Faustina's diary, Pope Francis, and the Holy Bible. There are endless sources for God's mercy.

15.  Make more acts of charity, either spiritual or corporal, at least once a day.

16.  Send a note or email to someone you hurt and apologize.  If you cannot do that, say a prayer or request a Mass for that person.

17.  Go through your home and try to see what is essential and what is not.  In the book A Song for Nagasaki, the author writes about Dr. Takashi Nagai's love of huts.  According to the writings of Buddhism, the Yuima Sutra,  "You best meet the Supernatural, if you make your heart like a hut, that is empty of everything but the bare essentials."  Dr. Nagai, a convert to Catholicism must have related it to God, He is our supernatural.  I just thought it was a very beautiful thing, to clear out anything that keeps us from God and only keep the bare essentials.  So, why not start with our own homes.

18.  Practice devotion of the Stations of the Cross each day at Church.  If this is not possible, at least try to make it on Fridays when most parishes hold them for the faithful.  Two I would recommend are The Way of the Cross with excerpts from St. Faustina's Diary as well as St. Alphonsus Liguori's traditional Way of the Cross.  I believe you can order a little booklet containing both from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy. You can also call them at 1-800-462-7426.

19.  Keep a spiritual journal.  The format I use is as follows:  +JMJ+ on top as well as the Feast of the Day or the Saint of the Day.  Then Ex of C:  Examination of Conscience:  I write down all my sins and failings of the previous day.  Then I ask our Blessed Mother in writing, to help me overcome these faults.  I thank her and I tell her how much I love her.  I also take notes when I read and jot down excerpts, quotes or prayers that help me spiritually.

20.  Try to do everything required of your daily duty with love, patience and even if it is something mundane like washing dishes, wash those dishes the best you can.  Do it for God.

21.  Give up breakfast or lunch, or both on Fridays during Lent.  Better yet, also during the week.

Spiritual Reading Recommendation:

A Song for Nagasaki by Father Paul Glynn
The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Preparation for Death by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Victories of the Martyrs by St. Alphonsus Liguori
The Holy Eucharist by St. Alphonsus Liguori
The Port of St. Bonaventure (Father Solanus Casey) by James Patrick Durum
He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Ciszek, S.J.
The Road to Damascus (Stories of Conversion) edited by Father John O'Brien
The Life of Faustina Kowalska by Sister Michelenko
The Secret Fiary of Elisabeth LeSeur

Also, the Holy Bible, available free with the EWTN app for your ipad and the Diary of Sister Faustina.

May you and your loved ones have a very blessed Lenten journey.

St. Paul Miki and Companions -

We celebrate the feast of the Japanese martyrs on February 6th.

Father Paul Miki, a Jesuit and twenty-five other Catholics sang the Te Deum as they were forced to walk 600 miles from Kyoto to Nagasaki, where they were crucified on February 5, 1597.  The concentration of Catholic Christians were then in Nagasaki, Japan.

It was thanks to Saint Francis Xavier that the Catholic faith was first brought to the Japanese people. It was from that time, the time of the Samurai until the late 1800's, that a small number of Catholics continued to preserve the faith.  Many times, this had to be done without the presence of a priest. This was the same place that many years later Saint Maximilian Kolbe would come to continue to spread the faith.  It was also the place where tragically, the Atomic bomb was dropped, devastating so many innocent lives as well as their beloved and historic cathedral.

In the book A Song for Nagasaki, Father Paul Glynn relates how the heroic Christians and martyrs in 1864 gave their lives for their Catholic faith.  These true stories of torture came hundreds of years after the twenty-six martyrs but it shows what the Catholics endured for the love of Jesus Christ.

Jinzaburo was the father of the old priest in Nagasaki whose family helped preserve the Catholic Faith.

In the bitterly cold winter Jinzaburo, (22 years old) and other Christians were plunged through the ice of a frozen pond, held under with hooked poles and fished out just in time to stay alive.  Then they were shoved close to a fire.  Then the process was repeated and the victims often passed out.

Yasutaro was a friend of Jinzaburo.

Twenty-six year old Yasutaro had died in a box too small for him to sit, stand or lie down.  He was nailed up in it and left there in the depths of winter until merciful death took him home to God, 20 days later.

When the commander and former samurai couldn't break Jinzaburo, he went after his 14 year old brother, Yujiro.

The lad was taken down a short distance from Jinzaburo's cell, stripped and whipped mercilessly.  He groaned in pain but held out.  He was tied up naked on a cross, jabbed with bamboo poles and taunted for belonging to a foreign superstition.  He was fastened onto bamboo slats that cut into his knees and ice-cold water was poured over him until he went blue.  For 14 days the lad endured such brutalities on a near starvation diet.  Finally, his body could take no more and he fell into unconsciousness.

There is no question about the cruelty of this commander in order to have the leader denounce his faith.  But God works in all circumstances, good or bad.  Even when there is evil in the works, God's hand guides.  The commander later had deep remorse for what he had done.  His son would later become a Catholic Brother, whose story must have impacted those unbelievers.

Our Catholic brothers and sisters in some parts of the world are experiencing this type of hatred and persecution.  Maybe they are being tortured even worse than the Japanese martyrs.  So we must continue to pray for the conversion of the Islamic terrorists and for the protection and strength for these persecuted followers of Christ.

I leave you with an animated film about a young Christian boy who loved Jesus deeply.  I found it while searching for the old movie. 26 Martyrs of Japan: Ware Yo ni Kateri

Blessed Jacob Gapp, S.M. - A MODERN MARTYR CHAMPIONED THE CATHOLIC PRESS

Picture source

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

          Blessed Jacob Gapp, S.M., may well be considered another patron of the Catholic press as well as a patron of justice and peace advocates.  Because the Gestapo condemned him for his unwavering adherence to the Catholic faith and his unabashed denunciation of National Socialism (Nazism), Father Jacob Gapp was guillotined by the Nazis in Berlin at the Ploetzensee Prison on August 13, 1943.  Pope John Paul II beatified him in1996.

          Before entering the Society of Mary in his native Austria, this intrepid Marianist priest had served in the Austrian army in World War I, was wounded and decorated for valor, and suffered as a prisoner of war in northern Italy.  This experience taught him to loathe war, selfishness and greed, arrogant pride, political and social injustice.  As a young Marianist religious and teacher of religion he was unstinting as a militant advocate for the poor, the needy, and the oppressed.

          This action made Father Gapp a serious irritant to the Nazis after they annexed Austria in 1938.  For his own safety and for the welfare of the Marianist school where he was teaching in Graz, his superiors moved him from place to place for parish work.  The Nazi regime forbade him to teach.  Some pupils in the Tyrol told a school inspector in October 1938 that Father Gapp explained to them the Gospel message of brotherly love and their obligation to love and respect “Frenchmen, Czechs, Jews, and communists alike, as they were all human beings.”  He insisted, “God is your God, not Adolf Hitler.”

          Realizing that the spoken word and the printed word clearly possessed a power lacking in the sword of militarism, he employed the Catholic press as a weapon of choice.  And he read avidly to study the thorny problem of National Socialism and all its ramifications.

          Imbued with the message of Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge and the statements of the Austrian bishops, Jacob Gapp had formed a lucid and sound judgment about the utter incompatibility of National Socialism and Christianity.  In his preaching he emphasized this truth fearlessly, and he taught the uncompromising law of love for all people without reference to nationality or religion. 

          In a fateful sermon in his home parish of St. Lawrence at Wattens in the Tyrol on December 11, 1938, this seasoned Marianist priest staunchly defended Pope Pius XI against the attacks of the Nazis, knowing that his words were being monitored by the Gestapo.  He urged the faithful to read Catholic literature rather than Nazi propaganda, and to follow the lead of the Catholic press.  This bold move forced him to leave his native country and escape to France.  A few months later his anti-Nazi audacity required that he flee Bordeaux and enter Spain, where he assisted in several  schools and parishes served by the Marianists.   He was adamant in his rejection of the Nazi diatribe.  His zeal for the cause he so fervently espoused was not diminished.

          In the summer of 1942 the beleaguered Father Jacob Gapp visited the British consulate in Valencia to inquire about a visa to England.  He also wanted to learn what was really happening in Germany and in Nazi-occupied Europe, especially concerning the Church.  The consulate staff gave him a stack of newspapers and magazines.   Among them were copies of The Tablet, a weekly journal edited by Catholic laity in London.  The Tablet provided reports about the persecution of the Church, internment camps, pastoral letters like that of the Bishop of Calahorra in Spain criticizing the Nazi ideology, and objective reports from the war fronts.  Shunning the biased propaganda material, Father Jacob began to distribute The Tablet, returning regularly to the consulate for new copies.

          Shadowed by the Nazis over the years, he was arrested through a deceptive trap that lured him across the border into occupied France, where the Gestapo arrested him and hustled him to prison in Berlin.  He was deceived by a certain Father Lange, a German priest in whom he had confided, but who was secretly a Gestapo agent. In January 1943, for two long and intense days he was interrogated nonstop by the Gestapo.  Jacob Gapp welcomed the opportunity to present his case.  The Gestapo interrogators were particularly interested in his visits to the British consulate in Valencia, and in the “subversive propaganda against the Fatherland” he had repeatedly collected there and distributed.  Calmly and firmly the prisoner explained that The Tablet was not propaganda: “It is a good, Catholic journal.  The writing is sound, and I even intended to subscribe.”

          Willingly and vigorously the martyr-to-be not only admitted he consistently opposed the Nazi regime and all it represented, but explained when and why he had done so.  He virtually flew in the face of the interrogators.  His reasoning and candor stunned the Nazi agents.  First and foremost he was a Marianist religious and Catholic priest, conscience-bound to place God before Caesar.  Since the Nazis were bent on destroying the Church, he was convinced it was his duty to blaze a trail of resistance and opposition, to educate with truth, and to be a role model of fidelity.

          For his honesty and integrity Father Jacob Gapp was sentenced to death for treason and guillotined.    His body was destroyed because the Gestapo feared the people would revere him as a martyr.  Reportedly Heinrich Himmler, the cunning manipulator of the Nazi leadership, expressed the opinion that Germany would win World War II without difficulty if there were a million party members as committed as Jacob Gapp.  Even the enemy admired his tenacious and unstinting adherence to conviction.

          Today we honor Blessed Jacob Gapp as a modern-day champion of the Catholic press, which strives to be a source of truthful reporting. Because he respected the Catholic press as the vehicle the Church employs to reveal the Good News for our day, we are invited to call on him to help us to appreciate and promote a more effective Catholic press – print and electronic -- with a wider readership, and to use the Catholic press as he did for the cause of truth and justice. 

          As the Church regards St. Francis de Sales as patron of the Catholic press, who intercedes for writers and publishers, we can call on Blessed Jacob Gapp as a patron for readers of the Catholic press. We can request him to assist all who turn to the Catholic press for a reliable source of information.  

Year of Mercy Holy Door - Hawaii

Bishop Larry Silva opened the Door of Mercy on December 13th, 2015.  He has designated the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace as a church with a door of mercy where the faithful can enter and gain plenary indulgence.  He also designated other churches in the neighboring islands with this honor.

The usual conditions for plenary indulgences apply.

One may enter these holy doors in order to gain plenary indulgence, once a day.

Book Review - Seven Saints for Seven Virtues

Seven Saints for Seven Virtues is well-known Catholic blogger Jean M. Heimann's new book.

Jean knows her saints. On her blog she writes about their lives, especially on their feast days.  She just doesn't share about well-known saints but she also writes about the lesser known ones.  It was inevitable that she would write a book about some of our heavenly friends.

With all the endless saints the Catholic church has canonized, it must have been a very difficult task to narrow the choices down to seven. It is clear the selection was inspired by the Holy Spirit because they were perfectly suited for their virtuous example.

Jean has a very comprehensive style of writing and she is quite a story teller.  The reader will find themselves engrossed from the very beginning with each chapter.  First we learn about the saint's life.  We then learn about the virtue attributed to that particular saint.  Jean makes each story interesting because she shares personal stories along with the lessons for the seven virtues.

I found myself taking notes as I read for future reference and to share excerpts with others.  I particularly liked the way she explains certain topics such as the deadly sin of sloth, with the definition given by holy people such as Archbishop Fulton Sheen or Father John Hardon.

I think that a reader will benefit greatly from reading this lovely little book.  In our journey to seek holiness we need more books like Seven Saints for Seven Virtues.

Mahalo nui loa, Jean!

Reminder - Epiphany Blessing for the Home - 2016

"Adoration of the Three Kings" by Girolamo da Santacroce 

Picture source

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.  Traditionally, the Church celebrated it on January 3rd.

The following is the blessing for the home.

Epiphany Blessing of the Home & Household - 2016

The traditional date of Epiphany is January 3, but in the United States it is celebrated on the Sunday
after Christmas, between January 2 and January 8. The whole of the Christmas season, especially on
the feast of the Epiphany, is a traditional time to bless homes, including passageways and doorways.

Often related to these blessings is a ritual of “chalking” the doors of the home with the numbers of the year separated by the initials, CMB. The letters traditionally refer to the legendary names of the three kings: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar (Scripture neither names them nor says there were three of them). Another tradition refers to it as the abbreviation of the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem
benedicat, translated as “May Christ bless this house.”

Here is one form of an Epiphany House Blessing:
V. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
A. Amen
V. Peace be to this house and: to all who dwell here, in the name of the Lord.
A. Blessed be God forever.

V. A reading from the holy gospel according to St. John
A. Glory to You, O Lord.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be….. And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only
Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3.14)
A. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ

After the prayers of the blessing are recited, each room of the home is sprinkled with holy water. The
year and initials of the Magi are inscribed above the doors with the blessed chalk (Casper, Melchior
and Balthasar with the first two numerals of the year preceding the C and the last two numerals of the
year placed after the B).

20 + C + M + B + 16

As you inscribe the initials say: “Christus Mansionem Benedicat” which means “May Christ bless this house”.)

V. Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness and the keeping of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our love for each other may go out to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

A. Amen.