For this week’s homily please watch the video below.
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There once was a little girl who loved to write “love”.
Over and over she wrote the lovely word.
Straight. Crooked. Curved. Upside down.
“Love”, “Love”, “Love”…
She drew hearts and placed all around.
And in a corner she planted the sun.
Day after day she pecked away.
A little hen marking the ground where she play.
All kinds of chicks came to stay.
She lined her dolls in pretty little rows.
A beauty pageant, all kinds of hair.
Straight. Curly. Blond. Brown.
She loved them all.
Did she favor?
She rotated each day.
She knew who needed extra care.
Though all to be happy.
That the only rule.
No room in her garden for overcast days.
And how her family grew.
She had, my God, so many to attend!
Amazing she could even keep track.
Yet each tiny doll held a special place.
She simply made room.
A little girl who loved to write “love”.
Over and over she wrote the lovely word.
Straight. Crooked. Curved. Upside down.
“Love”, “Love”, “Love”…
She drew hearts and placed all around.
And in a corner she planted the sun.
———
Miriam…Marie…Maria…
Mary…
I guess it depends on the day.
Accent. Pronunciation. Spelling.
Even eye color may change.
But it’s always the same little girl.
Age to age.
Place to place.
The same little girl
Helping save the human race.
The same little girl
In the fullness of time
Forever known:
“Full of Grace“
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—Howard Hain
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Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
—Matthew 6:28
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Does a flower make pronouncements? Does it define itself? Does it box itself in with titles, names, and distinctions?
And yet, “not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:29)
———
A flower simply exists.
And its existence glorifies God.
There is no need for it to do more.
By its very existence it magnifies what cannot be further magnified: God’s Presence, God’s Glory, God’s Beauty…
———
“I’m a flower.”
“I’m a rose.”
“Look at me!”
Statements such as these we shall never hear.
Flowers are divinely indifferent to the world’s definitions and distinctions, to its approval and applause.
After all, it’s a person who receives the medal at an orchid show, and not the flower herself. No, her finely-placed petals would only be weighed down by such metallic-based ribbons.
What a gift it is to simply exist.
———
Flowers don’t cling to seasonal life.
When it’s time to go, they gracefully drop their heads and lose their pedals.
Never has there existed a man as poor as a flower.
Never has mankind so possessed the richness of fleeting, transitory, and momentary life.
It’s their genius to instinctively believe that death leads to new abundant life.
———
Flowers graciously receive:
Ladybugs, drops of dew. Beams of light, the relief of shade.
Flowers give and receive as if not a single thing has ever been made by man.
They welcome sun as well as rain.
They never cry over fallen fruit or a stolen piece of pollen.
They quietly applaud instead, rejoicing that their little ones have the opportunity to travel abroad—perhaps even the chance to help nurture a neighbor.
———
A flower, perhaps most of all, knows it place.
It never wishes to be bigger or thinner…greener or higher…it never dreams of being more like a tree.
A flower’s blessing is simplicity beyond you and me.
———
Christ is a flower.
He is the one true perfect eternal flower, through whom all other flowers partake, toward whom all other flowers reach.
Christ is a flower. His ways are not our own. He simply exists. Bowing His head. Dropping pedals. Feeding hungry bees. Giving and receiving. His identity is crucified—leaving nothing behind but being “qua” being.
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If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
—Matthew 6:30
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—Howard Hain
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(Dedicated to Brother Jim, a man who knew how to simply exist.)
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AUGUST 30 Mon Weekday 1 Thes 4:13-18/Lk 4:16-30
31 Tue Weekday 1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11/Lk 4:31-37
SEPTEMBER 1 Wed Weekday Col 1:1-8/Lk 4:38-44
DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
2 Thu Weekday Col 1:9-14/Lk 5:1-11
3 Fri Saint Gregory the Great, Pope Memorial Col 1:15-20/Lk 5:33-39
4 Sat Weekday Col 1:21-23/Lk 6:1-5
5 SUN TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Is 35:4-7a/Jas 2:1-5/Mk 7:31-37
We’re beginning to read from Luke’s Gospel this week as Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, and we’ll be reading Luke till the end of November, as the season of Advent begins. A good time to take an overall look at the Gospel of Luke, Here’s the Introduction from the New American Bible.
The readings from I Thessalonians end Monday and Tuesday with Paul’s teaching on the last days. Then we read from the Letter to the Colossians. Good introduction and notes from the American Bible .
September 1 is a day for praying for creation.
We celebrate one of our greatest popes, Gregory the Great, September 3rd.
For this week’s homily please watch the video below.
AUGUST 23 Mon Weekday [Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin] 1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10/Mt 23:13-22
24 Tue Saint Bartholomew, Apostle Feast Rv 21:9b-14/Jn 1:45-51
25 Wed Weekday [Saint Louis; Saint Joseph Calasanz, Priest] 1 Thes 2:9-13/Mt 23:27-32
26 Thu Weekday Blessed Dominic Barberi, Passionist 1 Thes 3:7-13/Mt 24:42-51
27 Fri Saint Monica Memorial 1 Thes 4:1-8/Mt 25:1-13
28 Sat Saint Augustine, Bishop Memorial 1 Thes 4:9-11/Mt 25:14-30
29 SUN TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Dt 4:1-2, 6-8/Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27/Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
St. Bartholomew (August 24) is the apostle we remember this month. Faith comes to us from the apostles, so each month we remember an apostle.
The Passionists celebrate the feast of Blessed Dominic Barberi August 26. He received St. John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church.
St, Augustine and St. Monica, his mother, are remembered August 27-28 . Notice they’re both celebrated equally as memorials. Monica comes first. God answered her prayers for her wayward son, Augustine said.
We’re reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians this week. An Introduction to the letter here. www.usccb.org (Bible)
For further commentary on the readings and feasts of the week, www.vhoagland.com
Morning and Evening Prayers Week 1 www.praydaybyday.org
At a time we’re preoccupied with the Afghan War how appropriate to hear today in our first reading at Mass from the great Jewish general, Joshua. Ending his career, Joshua gathers the tribes of Israel, not to reminisce about past victories or to plan future battles, but to proclaim for himself and his household, “we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24, 1-2,24-27)
Joshua’s days and the days of the Judges that follow were days of war. The Jews had become “a rough people, barbarized by war.” The general now seeks to know God’s will. Good advice to us? What’s God’s will for war today?
Today at the US Maritime Academy at Kings Point I offered to the young men and women at Mass what our Catechism of the Catholic Faith tells us about war:
Avoid it:
“The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war. 2307
All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed. 2308
The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, the New York Post, all the media are busy with the politics of it all. Might be better to ask what’s God’s will.
That’s a question we’re all asking these days. It’s all so uncertain. So let’s listen to what faith says. Here’s what the church said at the Second Vatican Council.
“We do not know the time when earth and humanity will reach their completion, nor do we know the way in which the universe will be transformed. The world as we see it, disfigured by sin, is passing away. But we are sure that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth. In this new earth righteousness is to make its home, and happiness will satisfy, and more than satisfy, all the yearnings for peace that arise in human hearts.
On that day, when death is conquered, the sons of God will be raised up in Christ; what was sown as something weak and perishable will be clothed in incorruption. Love and the fruits of love will remain, and the whole of creation, made by God for man, will be set free from the frustration that enslaves it.
We are warned indeed that we gain nothing if we win the whole world at the cost of ourselves. Yet our hope in a new earth should not weaken, but rather stimulate our concern for developing this earth, for on it there is growing up the body of a new human family, a body even now able to provide some foreshadowing of the new age. Hence, though earthly progress is to be carefully distinguished from the growth of Christ’s kingdom, yet in so far as it can help towards the better ordering of human society it is of great importance to the kingdom of God.
The blessings of human dignity, communion and freedom – all the good fruits on earth of our co-operation with nature in the Spirit of the Lord and according to his command – will be found again in the world to come, but purified of all stain, resplendent and transfigured, when Christ hands over to the Father an eternal and everlasting kingdom: “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” On this earth the kingdom is already present in sign; when the Lord comes it will reach its completion.” (Pastoral Constitution on. the Church in the Modern World)
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AUGUST 16 Mon Weekday [Saint Stephen of Hungary) Jgs 2:11-19/Mt 19:16-22
17 Tue Weekday Jgs 6:11-24a/Mt 19:23-30
18 Wed Weekday Jgs 9:6-15/Mt 20:1-16
19 Thu Weekday [Saint John Eudes, Priest] Jgs 11:29-39a/Mt 22:1-14
20 Fri Saint Bernard,Doctor of the Church Memorial Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22/Mt 22:34-40
21 Sat Saint Pius X, Pope Memorial Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17/Mt 23:1-12
22 SUN TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b/Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32/Jn 6:60-69
Don’t miss the readings from the Book of Judges this week. They’re describing one of Israel’s worst times. I especially like the angel’s words to Gideon: “Go with the strength you have.” Words for us.
Interesting mix of saints this week. King Stephen of Hungary, John Eudes, Bernard and Piux X.
Kings, popes, presidents –our political leaders are important figures in society. We may forget they’re called to be saints as well as world figures. Always a danger we look on them as just political figures.
Bernard and John Eudes have left their gifts to us. See later this week.
For Morning and Evening Prayers, see here.
AUGUST 9 Mon Weekday [Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr]
Dt 10:12-22/Mt 17:22-27
10 Tue Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr Feast
2 Cor 9:6-10/Jn 12:24-26
11 Wed Saint Clare, Virgin Memorial Dt 34:1-12/Mt 18:15-20
12 Thu Weekday [Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious]
Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17/Mt 18:21—19:1
13 Fri Weekday [Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs]
Jos 24:1-13/Mt 19:3-12
14 Sat Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr Memorial
Jos 24:14-29/Mt 19:13-15
15 SUN THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Solemnity
Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/1 Cor 15:20-27/Lk 1:39-56
Our liturgical calendar this week takes us to distant times and places and a variety of saints.
On Monday to a German concentration camp to remember the heroic death of Edith Stein, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. On Tuesday we’re in 3rd century Rome for the martyrdom of Lawrence the Deacon; Wednesday in 13th century Assisi with St. Clare; Thursday in 17th century France remembering St. Jane Francis de Chantal, Friday to Rome for Pontian and Hippolytus, 3rd century martyrs, Saturday to a German concentration camp again, remember Maximilian Kolbe. Sunday we’re in 1st century Jerusalem celebrating the assumption of Mary into heaven.
A wide variety. They’re a school for learning how many ways God can be served.
The liturgy itself is a school, open day by day.
The Victor's Place 