Indulgences

Last month, I wrote the following in my post entitled "The Year of Mercy":

Also during the year, indulgences (which mean some or all punishment for sin is remitted) will be granted to those who, between one and 20 days, do all of the following; pass through a designated Holy Door (I am happy to say Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell is one such place in the Archdiocese of Boston!), perform one of the seven spiritual and/or seven corporeal works of mercy, go to Confession, receive the Eucharist, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.   All of this must be done with a firm resolve not to sin, even the most venial of sins.  Again, more information on this is available out there which I encourage everyone to avail themselves of.

I do need to make a few slight corrections to that.  First off, the Shrine, while it is a Center of Mercy due to its frequent Confession and Eucharist times, is not a place where there is a Holy Door.   For people here in the Archdiocese of Boston, that is only at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. (Please look on the website for your own Diocese for the location of the Holy Door in your diocese if you are not local here.)   Secondly, if you do go through a Holy Door , then you do not need to necessarily also do an act of Mercy also to receive the indulgence.  Third, the sick and the imprisoned can obtain the indulgence in their own surroundings; the sick by receiving Communion in their home, and the imprisoned by crossing the threshold of their cell, which signifies their passage through the Holy Door.
All of the above indulgenced works, however,  be it a work of mercy, a visit to a Holy Door, or a special act done by the sick or imprisoned, must also be done in conjunction with the normal conditions for an indulgence;  participation in Confession, in Eucharist (with a reflection on mercy during this Year) , and praying for the intentions of the Holy Father.

What exactly is an indulgence?  There was a little pamphlet put together by the Shrine staff that seeks to explain indulgences in as simple terminology as possible.

Getting a “handle” on Indulgences

When we sin, it’s always the case that our relationship with God is wounded.

Invariably, people around us also get hurt in some way

- sometimes slightly, sometimes grievously.

Even when we are forgiven,

for what we have inflicted on ourselves and on them,

the “scars” from those wounds will remain for a long time

- the more grievous the wound,

the deeper and longer lasting will be the “scar”!

We might call this the “temporal punishment due to sin”

- we inflict it, mostly it’s others who suffer it in space and time.

In life, healing such “scar” tissue by making amends

takes time - sometimes a lifetime and even beyond!

Prayer is key: it softens hearts and heals memories

Indulgences can perhaps best be appreciated in this context.

By virtue of our prayer, the “scar” marks resulting from the wounds

we inflicted on ourselves and on other members of the Body of Christ

and for which we are responsible

can be erased partially or completely depending on the

intensity and sincerity of our prayer.  By means of “indulgences,”

the Church (the Body of Christ in space and time) by its prayer guarantees

to make up the difference!  Not to worry if our prayer was sufficient!

This can even impact those who have departed space and time (the dead)

and who can no longer make amends for themselves.

Indulgences help with the remission of the punishment due to sin, not with the forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness only comes through Confession, and that is still the most important and necessary thing.  Salvation is possible only with forgiveness of sins.   We can receive as many indulgences as we like, but if our sins are not also forgiven, we have no hope of entering heaven.
However, just because we are forgiven from sin, the effects of sin remain.   Indulgences help with dealing with the punishment, or scars, due to sin.  We cannot enter heaven until we are free from the scars of sin.  (As long as our sins are forgiven, we will enter heaven, but it will take us longer to get there the more scars we have.)  To help speed us along this road to heaven, we have indulgences.  They are part of the spiritual goods of the Church which are meant to be shared.  In the Body of Christ, we do not go at it alone; we have each other, as well as the Saints in heaven, to help us carry our burdens.  Therefore, indulgences are not an illogical thing. 

I encourage you to read up on indulgences.  There are some that are just for this Year of Mercy, but there are always indulgences that can help us on our journey to heaven.

Joseph, protector of Holy Church, pray for us.

Shrine

Friends, as you may have noticed, the name of this blog has changed.  I have begun doing more work directly with the Shrine, and in an effort to ensure that there is absolutely no inference that the opinions and views expressed in this blog are necessarily reflective of the views of the staff of Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell, MA, I have decided to change the name of the blog to make it more personal, and less directly associated with the Shrine.

The Shrine now has a Facebook page that I am helping develop, and I encourage you to like it, so you can become familiar with all that is going on at the Shrine, and in the local and universal Church, as well.   On the Facebook page, you will find interesting information on events at the Shrine, causes that are important to the staff at the Shrine, the Year of Mercy, and information about Catholicism in general.

This year 2016 is a special year at the Shrine in several ways.  First, as I have stated, it is a center of Mercy during this Jubilee of Mercy.  Secondly, it is the 200th anniversary (tomorrow actually) of the founding of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate who staff the Shrine.  Finally, it is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the church as a Shrine.
A "shrine", according to code 1320 in Canon Law, "means a church or other sacred place which, with the approval of the local Ordinary, is by reason of special devotion frequented by the faithful as pilgrims. "   A shrine is distinct from a parish because it is visited frequently by people for different reasons, not just because people live close to it.  (A shrine, unlike a parish, has no "boundaries".)  In other words, there is something special about it that sets it apart from the typical parish. 
In the case of Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine, one can see many things that set it apart.  There is the three times daily Mass, and twice daily Confessions.  There is the numerous statues with corresponding votive candles.   There is the book store.  There is the Oblate museum.    I am sure different people could give you different reasons why the Shrine is special to them.

The Shrine is making an effort to get itself and its message known to a greater audience through social media.  I am a small part of that effort.   I want to ensure that my blog in no way causes confusion or at worst, hinders that mission.  Therefore, I am making the name change out of respect to the good people there, and the mission of the Shrine.

I love the Church.   I love the Shrine.  I love where the Lord has led me at this point in my life.  My life is not perfect, but I consider myself blessed in many ways.  First and foremost is the gift of my Catholic Faith, which is the greatest gift any man or woman could hope for.  Second, is the gift of my family and friends.  Third, is my job.  Finally, being able to live in Lowell, and regularly attend the Shrine, and now beginning to get to know some of the people there, is a gift that I am tremendously grateful for.

I look forward to continuing to speak on the Year of Mercy as it goes on.   The Shrine, with the position of being able to hold frequent public times for Reconciliation and Eucharist, is a privileged place this year to receive Mercy.   This year will hold a lot of spiritual fruit for me, I pray, with all the wonderful things going on there this year that I just spoke of.  I pray that through this blog, and through my life in general, that if I am graced enough to receive spiritual fruit, that you dear readers and friends, will be sharers in that, and even take most of it.

So, even though the name of the blog will no longer bear the name of the Shrine, or the name of its patron, I pray that the same Spirit that has given this blog life continues to work through its very imperfect author, and through the intercession of Saint Joseph, and bear fruit for many souls.

Saint Joseph, pray for me, and pray for all the readers of this blog.

Wineskins

In yesterday's post, we spoke about wine, and how it is symbolic of what we are to be and to give to others.  Today's Gospel reading continued that theme.  Our Lord says, "Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined.  Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”  (Mark 2: 21-22)  The point of today, as I see it, is if we are to live the life of the Spirit (which the wine symbolizes), then the bodies and souls where the Holy Spirit reside, the temple of the Holy Spirit, needs to be "new", as well.  Trying to live the life of the Spirit without attending to where the Spirit will reside would be like putting on a new dress while forgetting to take a shower, or putting a brand new Mercedes in a barn garage, it just does not fit right.  Or, thinking liturgically, it would be like putting the Blessed Sacrament in a pencil box as opposed to an adorned Tabernacle.  Something is not right with all of these examples.

In this Year of Mercy, it is important that we set ourselves up so that we are in the best possible condition to receive God's mercy.  God can give us His Mercy no matter what; however, if we are not ready to receive it, we can "burst" just like an old wineskin will do if fresh new wine is poured into it.  How can we prepare to receive God's Mercy, and not fall apart when doing so?   Here is what we can to do start (and yes it will read like a Bible tract...but only to a point).

1)  Accept that you are a sinner just like everyone else.
2)  Acknowledge that as a sinner, you are not God.
3)  Believe that God loves you, and is coming for you, even if that may be a struggle right now to truly believe that.
4) Tell the Lord that it is hard for you to believe that He loves you, and ask Him for that gift of faith to help you believe.
5) Tell the Lord you want to be made "new", and to become a "new person".


At this point, my Protestant brothers and sisters would say that you can receive Jesus into your heart, by accepting Him as Lord and Savior, and your sins will be forgiven, and you will be saved.   They will say that you have now received God's Mercy and you have been made "new".

Are you, though, truly forgiven and truly "made new" at this point?

The following Scripture passages (some of which we have looked at already in this blog) make it hard to argue against the Catholic teaching that the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, and not verbal professions of faith, are the normal ordained means of salvation and sanctification.  To me, they say that one must be immersed in the life of the Sacraments to be made "new", to be that temple of the Spirit so one can receive the Mercy of God as He intended. Our Lord says in John 3:5 "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."  In  other words, we cannot enter be saved or enter new life without receiving Baptism.  He says in John 20:23, "If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."  To have assurance of the forgiveness of sins, we must go to a priest in Confession, not just tell Him we are sorry.  Jesus says in John 6:53,"Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."  To have any life within us, we must go to Mass and consume Him in the Eucharist.   Believing in Him and receiving Him into our hearts is not enough, we must also eat Him.


I know it may not be easy for some of us to hear this.   We may say that there must be a simpler, easier way to receive mercy.  One might object that that is too much ritual, that he or she was looking for a "personal" God.  (Never mind the fact that one cannot get more personal with something than "consuming" it, something I have spoken of previously.)   It may not be what some of us want to hear.
However, if we withhold the truth, we are being anything but merciful.  The only way to become new wineskins is to be immersed in the Sacramental life of the Catholic Church.   We can begin the journey to mercy outside the Church, but any journey to mercy must ultimately end up in the Church.  Granted, this possibility does exist that one could finalize that journey only in the Church in heaven, while not at any point formally becoming a Catholic and entering the Sacramental life of the Catholic Church here on Earth.  However, God has revealed that the Sacraments are the normal means of salvation, that He founded One Church upon Peter the Rock, and so, anyone who deliberately resists that path is putting their salvation at risk, and may not have that chance to experience the Church in heaven.

So in this Year of Mercy, let us resolve to become more immersed ourselves in the sacramental life of the Church.  Perhaps we should get baptized if we have not.  Perhaps we should go to Confession if we have not been for some time or go a little more often than we have been.  Perhaps we should go to Mass every Sunday instead of just some Sundays, or go once or twice during the week, too,  if we have been going on Sundays.  Let us encourage those whom we love to do the same.  In that way, we will all experience mercy like we have never known before.

Saint Joseph, foster father of the Merciful Savior, pray for us.

Wine

Today's Gospel reading (John 2:1-11) was the wedding feast at Cana. I alluded to it briefly in my post at the beginning of this year which spoke of Mary as the Mother of Mercy.  Mercy is about compassion and she showed compassion with the plight of the people at this wedding whose wine ran short.  Running out of wine was considered a real insult in those days, so there was definite embarrassment and shame for the couple, so this was something serious.  (Running out of alcohol, I guess, isn't considered something good today, either, when you think about it.)   Mary had pity on them, and asked Jesus for help.
Jesus helps by turning water into wine.  In our last post, we spoke of water.  Water is a sign of life, and we cannot survive without it.  So why would Our Lord want to turn water into something else?  Well, we can physically survive without water, but we cannot live spiritually without wine.  Wine is the sign of splendid, divine life.   Water quenches our thirst.   Wine quenches more than our thirst, it quenches our soul.  When we think of wine, we think of good taste, using it to celebrate something, and we think of the effects on us.   So, yes, we can "get by" and "survive" with water, and it is absolutely necessary, but to thrive, to be a champion, to be spiritualized, we need wine, and it is Our Lord Jesus Christ who gives us the finest wine, as the headwaiter in today's Gospel noted.

Mercy is like fine wine.  One who drinks wine feels like a "new" person.  The same holds true for one who has received mercy.   The one who gives wine feels like he or she has provided a fine gift, and they feel noble in doing so.  The same holds true for who one who extends mercy to another.
We use wine as the matter through which the Blood of Christ comes to us at the Eucharist.  Whatever or whoever is soaked in the Precious Blood of Christ is soaked in mercy.

In this Year of Mercy, as we are feeding the hungry, and giving drink to the thirsty, we must also realize that while those works are necessary, and noble, and we cannot be saved without doing them (as we have noted), those works are not enough.  Those works are the "water".   We also need the spiritual works of mercy, which are the "wine".  (We will speak more on those as this Jubillee Year goes on.)  We need to, as Mary did in today's Gospel, not just do go good deeds, but lead people to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.  We need to proclaim Him as Lord and Savior.  We need to tell the world that His Body and His Blood are the fine food and wine that will satisfy our thirst well beyond the physical thirst.  We need to help bring people to the Eucharist and to the other Sacraments of the Church, be it for the first time, or back to the Sacraments if they have been away from them.

Saint Joseph kind of took a back seat to Mary and Jesus.   He is the quiet one, and allows them to do the talking.  We can learn from him in that regard.  All the good deeds that we do should not be about us, they should be about Christ.   Christ can turn our works from having a temporal effect like water does, to having consequences that can change a person in his or her core  (like wine does) because it brings them to Jesus.   Let us seek the wine of mercy, and let us bring wine of mercy to others.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Water

"To give drink to the thirsty" is one of the corporal works of mercy we are being asked to learn and practice during this Year of Mercy.
Water is central to our existence. It is indispensable for living.   The present Holy Father, Pope Francis, said water is "the most essential element for life", and "humanity's future depends on our ability to care and share it.".  Some of you may recall my post on November 29 when the Holy Father was in Africa and he spoke about the need for clean water in many of the communities there.  There are clearly still parts of the world where access to clean drinking water remains an issue.
The late Saint Pope John Paul II wrote, "As a gift from God, water is a vital element essential to survival, thus everyone has a right to it."   He wrote that the need for water precedes the "market logic".  Some natural rights come before any "ism" that might exist today (socialism, capitalism, etc.); life and family are good examples, and right to water is another.  Water is essential to the survival of the human race, and thus, anyone has a God-given right to it, whether that person is rich or poor, lives in the First World or the Third World, lives in a democracy or in a dictatorship. 
John Paul II was influenced by the solidarity movement in his native Poland, and this influenced a lot of his thought and teaching.  It was a movement designed as a response to the Communist government's abuse of human rights.  (We spoke about the issues of Communism in a post on August 8.)  The essential philosophy of that movement was that we stand with each other, in recognition of our common, basic human rights.
With regards to the basic human right to water, we all must stand together.  The rich must stand with the poor, the First World with the Third World, as the issue of getting access to drinking water may be an issue that developing countries may not be able to accomplish by themselves.
In standing with one another, we become compassionate with one another, and this is at the essence of mercy.  So, this Year of Mercy is certainly a good time to try and help bring some people who are thirsty some water. 

Lest we think of this particular corporal work of mercy as merely some kind of environmental feel-good thing, let's remember some of the words of Our Savior.  He said from the Cross,  "I thirst." (John 19:28).   He says to those damned to hell, "I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink."  (Matthew 25:42).  Thirst is a serious matter for Our Lord.  If we do not seek to satisfy His thirst by quenching the thirst of our brethren, not only will we and they not feel good, but we may lose our salvation.

Finally, I want to call attention to a particular group of  people in our own country who are crying out for water.   I am thinking those whom we condemn to death prematurely when we withhold food and water from them.   The right to food and water is a non-negotiable.  That right just does not disappear when we enter any kind of state, even if it be a vegetative or comatose one, or we just simply grow old.   These rights, as I stated, are foundational, from God, and they exist before any government, or any other entity, even a person's family member, can grant it or take it away.  My friends, if we say we have a "right" to withhold basic care, the basic essentials of food and water from anyone, we are setting a very dangerous precedent, and starting down a very slippery slope.  Well, we already have.
Many of these brothers and sisters of ours whom we withhold food and water to  may not be able to talk, but if we continue to do these things to them without repenting, we may very well hear those aforementioned words of Our Lord when we least want to hear it, at the judgment seat, and they will be so awful to hear, and the torment will never end.   This slippery spoke I spoke of could lead all the way to hell for those of us who participate in this without repenting.

Joseph most just, pray for us.

Baptism

Yesterday was the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  
I heard it said once that the Sunday Scripture readings are meant to nourish us for the entire week, not just for one day.  Therefore, it is not necessary to exhaust all the possibilities from yesterday's Feast in one post.  I am thinking, in connection with the Year of Mercy, which is the focus of our posts this year, that there are two angles I could take; one related to the corporal work of mercy "to give drink to the thirsty", and the other related to Mercy and the Sacrament of Baptism.  I will do the latter (the Sacrament of Baptism) now, and then the former (the corporal work of mercy) later this week sometime.

Baptism is merciful.   We spoke in a recent post about how we need to be merciful to children.  Bringing them to this Sacrament is one very important and real way to show them mercy.  Check out what Paragraph 1250 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states (emphasis mine on certain words because they relate to mercy):
Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth.

In 1964, there were about 1.3 million baptisms in the United States.   In 2013 (the last year we have full and complete data for), there were a little over 713,000.  This is almost a 50% drop!   A lot of this has to do with the declining birth rate overall, which we have discussed in previous posts.  However, I think we need to realize, too, that likely, many of us have stopped taking our children to be baptized because we do not consider it to be important anymore.  We are robbing our children  of their spiritual birthright. How unmerciful we are being to them!  This needs to stop!   What better time is there than now, the Year of Mercy, for this to do just that.

Lest we think that Baptism is not important, or even necessary, let us heed the words of Our Savior in John 3:5  ""Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."   He doesn't say that no one can enter the Kingdom unless they are good people.  He doesn't say that no one can enter the Kingdom unless he or she does certain good deeds.  He doesn't say that no one can enter the Kingdom unless they avoid such and such a sin.  No, he says that no one can enter the Kingdom unless they get baptized, period. With all due respect to my Protestant brothers and sisters, it is clear from Jesus' words here that Baptism is necessary for salvation, confessing Christ as Savior alone is not sufficient.
Mercy is all about compassion.   God wishes to enter into our lives to join us in our trials and tribulations, and raise us to new life.  He cannot do that without first coming to us in the Sacrament of Baptism, which begins the Divine Life in us.  He has told us this.  This Sacrament is merciful in and of itself, and we cannot experience any more mercy in our lives without it.

In closing, I must say the following.  We have all got to stop presuming that we will all be saved, no matter what we do or do not do.  Parents of young children and babies, this especially pertains to you regarding your salvation and that of your children.  Do not ignore the words of Our Lord.  Don't take a chance.  Give Him the benefit of the doubt that His words are true.  Bring your child to the Sacrament of Baptism; bring yourself if you have not received it yourself yet.  Be merciful to yourself and your children in doing so.  Receive this wonderful gift of mercy from Our Lord, this gives that forgives sins, and makes us "partakers of divine nature".

Joseph most prudent, pray for us.

Hunger

Another of the corporal works of mercy that we are asked to do, especially during this Year of Mercy, is to feed the hungry.   Our Lord warns us that the fires of hell await us if we fail to give food to the hungry (Matthew 25:41), because He associates Himself with the poor.  If we fail to feed them, we fail to feed Him, and that is very serious.   This is just not a matter of doing something to feel good.  We do no often say it this way, this bluntly, but we have to: doing the works of mercy doesn't just make us feel good, doing them helps us stay out of hell.   With all due respect to our Protestant brothers and sisters, they are wrong when they say once saved, always saved.   Our salvation is determined, in part, by our actions.  It is faith and works, not just faith.   Therefore, if we don't do the works Our Savior commanded, like feeding the hungry, we could be facing eternal damnation.

 

It goes without saying that there are many hungry people in the world today.  It seems we have been saying that for years and years and years and years and years and years.  Getting food to places where it is needed, one would think would be easier today with better means of travel, communication, and overall technology.  However, it still seems difficult in many pieces, despite all that.  It is an indictment against us as stewards of God's Creation that hunger still exists in some parts of the world, and in pockets of every country all over the globe. 

Each of us is responsible to one degree or another for the fact that we are not feeding the hungry as we ought to be.  It is not the government's fault, it is not society's fault, it is our fault, yours and mine.  Again, we will each be held responsible for this, and each of us could possibly lose our salvation as a result.  The governments of the world will not be seated at the judgment seat of God.  You will.  I will.   Therefore, we need to each pray what we can each do about this.   Can we give time and/or money regularly to a local soup kitchen?  Can we give more money regularly to the Saint Vincent de Paul box at our local parish (or Saint Anthony box for the poor like exists at the Shrine)?  Can we sponsor a child from a country that is in famine?  Can we cut back on some of the money we spend on groceries and give that to a more needy family? Can we get involved with some group that sends food to those places (as long as that group does not compromise on any other Catholic values)?  We all can do something.

 

Catholics in particular should have a particular affinity to solve this problem.  Why?  Because the highlight of our lives is eating God (yes you are reading that correctly, eating God).  The Eucharist, which we have spoken of before, is, while being a sacrifice, also at the same time, a sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and blood (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1382).  Jesus says in John 6:53, "Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you." While many speak of having a "personal relationship" with Jesus, Catholics go beyond that.  We eat Him!  How much more personal can one get?

Eating, therefore, is rich in meaning. It is personal.  Just like a babe sucks on the breasts of his mother, we eat of the flesh of the Son of God.  The fact that God decided that the highest form of communion He can have with us is by allowing us to digest Him as food, shows that He places high value on the act of eating and drinking and therefore, those who go without that ability, must cause God to weep, and therefore, must cause us to weep too. 

 

So during this Year of Mercy, let us resolve to no longer think of feeding the hungry as something feel good or humanistic, something to make us feel better and the world a better place .  Let us realize this work of mercy in the full grandeur of what it is.  Feeding the hungry helps save us from hell, and is something dearly intimate to the heart of Him who is deeply concerned about satisfying hunger in all forms, and demonstrated that by becoming edible for us.

 

Saint Joseph, protector of the flesh of Christ who became food for all, pray for us.

 

 

 

 

 

Myrrh and mercy for the dead

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the manifestation of the Child Jesus to the world.  In the liturgical realm, this is a huge feast, almost as important as Christmas itself, even though that is not the experienced reality in the secular culture.  Christmas can be likened to Epiphany in this way; when a baby is born, that is Christmas for the parents and other immediate family members.  Epiphany is when that child is revealed to the extended family, and to the neighborhood.  The birthday is the more treasured date, but what would life be like if the baby was only revealed to his or her immediate family?  No, the manifestation of that child to the larger world is very important, and that is what Epiphany is for Our Lord, and why Catholics celebrate it with such solemnity.
One of the gifts the three wise men gave to Jesus on His Epiphany was myrrh. Myrrh was used as an anointing oil, and was commonly given to kings.  However, it is also an embalming oil, and is a spiritual symbol of death.  This was another foreshadowing of where Our Lord's life was going to lead.

One of the seven corporal works of mercy we are being asked to do during this Jubilee Year is "bury the dead".   Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who was merciful to so many during her life, especially the poor and downtrodden,  is going to be canonized this fall, towards the end of this Year of Mercy.  How appropriate!
One of the many beautiful things she did was allow so many to die a dignified death.  She would find people in the streets with no friends or family, and bring them in so she and her order could take care of them and they could live out their last days in dignity. She once said, " A beautiful death is for people who lived like animals to die like angels- loved and wanted." 

During this Year of Mercy, we need to make a renewed effort to make sure our compassion for others does not stop once they are near death, and /or have passed on.   Like Mother Teresa, even if their lives have been full of either of a lot of personal sin, and/or they have tragically been destitute as a result of other's sin, we need to show mercy, and give them dignity during the dying process, and after their death.  
In paragraph 2299 and 2300 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we read:

2999 The dying should be given attention and care to help them live their last moments in dignity and peace. They will be helped by the prayer of their relatives, who must see to it that the sick receive at the proper time the sacraments that prepare them to meet the living God.

2300 The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy;⁹² it honors the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit.

 

Too often in the world we live in today the dying and dead are thrown aside and forgotten about.  We have to try and change that.  Let's be merciful to the dying and deceased during this Year of Mercy.

 

Saint Joseph, patron of a happy death, pray for us.

 

Children

I saw a sight at Mass today that made me sad for some reason.   During the Eucharistic Prayer, right around the time of the Consecration,  a little child was running headlong down the center towards the altar.  His mother came running behind him, swooped him up with force, and said something to him as she got hold of him and walked quickly back to her seat with her upset child in her arms. 
I don't know all the background and details here, so why did this make me sad?   I think it was just the visual image.  A child was running to the altar, where Our Lord was about to make Himself truly and substantially present in the bread and wine.  He was excited.  Then, he was stopped.  It was like the child was running to meet Jesus, and was prevented from doing so.

Thinking in broader terms, isn't this too often true nowadays?  Our Lord says "Let the little children come to me."  (Matthew 19:14) .  Yet, very sadly, they are not allowed to.   Far too many parents do not bring their children to Mass.   They don't take them to visit churches where Our Lord resides in the tabernacle or is exposed in a monstrance during Eucharistic Adoration.   Children want to see Jesus, and they far too often are not being given the opportunity to do that.

In this Year of Mercy, it is not just about the Church proclaiming God's mercy to the wider world.  The Church Herself needs to ask for and receive God's mercy for the sins her members have committed (which is all of us). Regarding children specifically, there is the obvious, horrible very serious sin of the sexual abuse of children by clergy and other ministers in the Church, and Bishops who often did not do the right thing to address these horrible sins and crimes.  The Church has asked for forgiveness for this, and is trying (although not always successful) to make right some of the wrongs done, and at least bring some good out of this horrible situation.   The Church, has, and continues, to need to ask for forgiveness for these horrendous sins, and members of the Church who have been wronged, as well as all the faithful, need to be ready to indeed forgive those who committed those sins and crimes, if this is truly going to be a fruitful Year of Mercy.

In this Year of Mercy, the Church and the world need to show more compassion for children.  First off, we need to stop aborting them.  We need more children!  Then, of course, we need to do everything we can to stop and prevent physical and spiritual abuse of them by members of the Church or anyone.  Then, we need to spend more time with them, and be less focused on our career and financial pursuits.  Parents need to be merciful them by not dropping them off at the doors of the educational institutions in our country, and start being more involved as their primary educators. They need to raise them in the Faith, which includes bringing them to the Sacraments of Eucharist and Confession regularly, allowing them to receive the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, and training them to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony or Holy Orders when they are older.  All of this is being compassionate, or merciful, to children.

This Year especially, let's be merciful to our children!

Saint Joseph, Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.

Mary, Mother of Mercy

During this Year of Mercy, this blog is going to try and follow the Holy Father's lead and use this as an occasion to reflect a lot on Mercy. 

On a previous post I did on December 10 about the Year of Mercy , I stated that I felt perhaps that this could be "our last chance" so-to-speak before a chastisement or a purification of some sort begins.  I could be wrong; it might not come at all, it might come later, or it might have already begun.  Regardless of whether it has or has not, or does or does not come, we need to be sure we take advantage of this time as a Church to receive mercy, to live it, and to teach about it to the world.  If you are not Catholic, now is your big chance to really receive the heart of the living God, and that is His Mercy.  This blog will do what it can to fulfill the request of our Holy Father Pope Francis, and devote a good majority of its posts this year to the topic of mercy. 

Here is the dictionary definition of mercy:

"compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm."

We will start by talking about Mary as the Mother of Mercy.

Today, January 1, as always, is the Solemnity of the Mary, Mother of God.  On this day, we honor Mary's maternity.  It was a maternity like none other before or since.   She was a Virgin when she conceived (and remained one her whole life).  Also, since she herself was conceived without Original Sin, and received the fruits of Christ's redemptive acts in advance, her pregnancy was free of the physical labor pains that typically come with it.  Now, the external circumstances around the birth and early years of Jesus certainly caused trouble (i.e. not being able to find a normal place to give birth, having to flee to Egypt due to Herod's order that firstborns be killed, losing Jesus in the Temple), but nothing inside of Mary's body caused trouble for the pregnancy, nor during the upbringing of the child Jesus, because she was sinless.

One of the titles of Mary is the "Mother of Mercy".  We see this in the well known prayer, "Salve Regina" ("Hail Holy Queen" )

Hail Holy Queen

Mother of Mercy

Our life, our sweetness, and our hope

Why is it right and just to refer to Mary this way ?

1) Mary is the masterpiece of God's Mercy because of her Immaculate Conception.  She was immaculately conceived (as stated above).  She did not "merit" that.  She did not "ask" for it.  Yet, God, in His Wisdom and goodness, chose her to be the vessel for His Son to be born in our world.  It would not be appropriate for Our Lord to be born from a sinful body, so the Father chose among sinful men and women, one to stand out and protect from the stain of Original Sin, so His Son could be appropriately brought into the world.  An infant child is loved naturally by his or her parents through no "merit" of his or her own, not because of anything that he or she has done.  It is the same with the Blessed Mother and God.  She was loved by God because of who she is, and because she received a gift that she did not earn or merit,  she is an example of Mercy like none other, a "masterpiece" of His Mercy.

2) She is the Mother of the Savior, and thus literally brought mercy into the world.     Jesus is Mercy Incarnate, the Merciful God made flesh.  Mary is His Mother.  Therefore, Mary is rightly called the Mother of Mercy and it can be said, therefore, that all mercy flows through her.

3) She shows us how to be merciful.  There have been many apparitions of the Blessed Mother in which she talks us about ways to avoid going to hell; saying the Rosary, fasting, conversion.  This, saving people from hell, is definitely merciful.  Let's also think of some of her characteristics that she shows in Scripture that reflect on her being merciful, or living as a fruit of mercy.

• She was a virgin her whole life.  We all knows it requires a special grace to be able to live chastely like that our whole life.  In fact, in the Hail Mary, we recognize that reality when we say, like the angel did,  "Hail Mary, full of grace."   This grace is definitely a sign of God's Mercy.  However, for things to work out as they did, Mary had to say yes, and correspond with that grace, and she did just that.  
• She was humble.  In her Magnificat (which we posted in its entirety in a recent post), she praised the "great" God for what he had done for her, and referred to herself as "lowly".  She knew she was nothing without God's Mercy. 
• She also practiced the works of mercy herself.  Remember, mercy is not just about forgiveness, it is also about compassion (recall the dictionary definition above.)  Mary showed compassion to two notable people in the Gospels; her cousin Elizabeth, and the couple at the wedding feast at Cana. When she heard her much older cousin Elizabeth was pregnant with child, Mary rushed to help her, even though she was with child herself  (Luke 1:39-56) .  What compassion she had for her cousin!  At the wedding (John 2:1-11) Mary noticed the couple was running out of wine.  Mary mentioned this to Jesus, who proceeded to take care of the situation by turning water into wine.  In wanting to avoid the couple embarrassment, she showed them tremendous compassion.

Mary was merciful to all of us by giving us an example of how to live like and for Her Son Jesus Christ.

So, let's turn to Mary at this still early stage of the Year of Mercy as an intercessor, and ask her to be merciful to us by bringing us to Her Son.   Let's ask her this year to help us become more merciful.  Let's learn from her example, and live the virtues she possesses (faith, humility, devotion, purity, obedience, poverty, patience), some of which we have covered or hinted at already in previous posts or today, some we may later.  Living these virtues will help us recognize more our need for mercy, and help us become more merciful ourselves to ourselves and others.

From the litany to Saint Joseph, we pray:

Mary, pray for us

Joseph, Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us