Our church recognizes the Rosary as an excellent prayer to Mary, the Mother of God. The Rosary is a contemplative prayer whose peaceful rhythm allows our minds to linger over the mysteries of the Lord’s life, death and resurrection. October is the month to recall this beautiful prayer.

“Hail Mary, full of grace.”  Mary, full of grace, knew Jesus intimately through all his human life and after he rose from the dead. She’s with us as we pray. She guides us into the deepest mysteries of God. The Rosary is her “school”. 

Tradition suggests certain mysteries to meditate on while praying the Rosary: the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and the recently added Luminous mysteries. 

Tradition suggests certain days of the week to pray these mysteries. Remember, however, the Rosary is a flexible prayer that can be adapted to different times and circumstances. It’s not a rigid prayer. We can pray the Rosary in different ways.

One suggestion for praying the Rosary, besides the schedule of Joyful, Sorrowful and Luminous mysteries, is to follow the church calendar as the mysteries of Jesus Christ unfold in the year. In the Advent season, for example, we may wish to meditate on the waiting world that Mary knew so well, described in the scriptures read on the Sundays and weekdays of that season.

The Christmas season recalls the birth of Jesus in detail, the flight into Egypt, the slaughter of the Innocents, the return to Nazareth and the hidden years. “The Word was made flesh,” St. John writes. What God reveals in his mysterious plan for his only Son can help us see and understand God’s plan for us and our times as well.

The seasons of Lent and Easter offer further revelations of God in Jesus Christ. Mary was among the women who went up with Jesus and his other disciples from Galilee to Jerusalem. She was there when he was taken to be crucified; she stood beneath his Cross. Then, she witnessed his resurrection and the beginnings of his church. She can open up the scriptures that speak of him. 

The Rosary is a beautiful prayer. Originating in the scriptures it leads us into the mysteries and promises contained in them. It also guides us into the unfolding joys and sorrows, the contradictions and questions of our own lives.  “Hail Mary, full of grace.” Mary quietly, gracefully, as a mother and wise friend brings us into the presence of God. 

Saturdays of the year are days associated with her, because she kept vigil that day after the death of her Son.   Every month of the year a feast of Mary occurs on our calendar, reminding us of her continual presence in the unfolding plan of God.  

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

OCTOBER 16 Mon Weekday [St Hedwig; St Margaret Mary] Rom 1:1-7/Lk 11:29-32 

17 Tue St Ignatius of Antioch, Rom 1:16-25/Lk 11:37-41

18 Wed St Luke,  2 Tm 4:10-17b/Lk 10:1-9 

19 Thu Sts John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Rom 3:21-30/Lk 11:47-54 

20 Fri St Paul of the Cross Rom 4:1-8/Lk 12:1-7 

21 Sat Weekday Rom 4:13, 16-18/Lk 12:8-12 

22 29th SUNDAY Is 45:1, 4-6/1 Thes 1:1-5b/Mt 22:15-21

We’re reading St.Paul’s important letter to the Romans for the next three weeks. “Of all the letters of Paul, that to the Christians at Rome has long held pride of place. It is the longest and most systematic unfolding of the apostle’s thought, expounding the gospel of God’s righteousness that saves all who believe (Rom 1:16–17); it reflects a universal outlook, with special implications for Israel’s relation to the church (Rom 9–11).” (Introduction, New American Bible)

Most of us look at the gospel and stop there. Fr. Frank Matera is his book “Preaching Romans” points out the benefit of taking a look at the letter, not in a classroom setting, analyzed exegetically, but in a worship setting that offers other readings, sacraments and saints that may throw light on its meaning. 

The semi-continuous reading of Romans is interrupted this week by important saints, like St. Paul of the Cross, this week. Still, it retains its own importance.

We can’t give attention to every reading and every saint. The liturgy is a feast and we have to choose our meal for the day, as it were. But the lectionary is also a school; it’s good to broaden the courses it offer. Also, like a school, it’s open tomorrow, next week, next year. 

In the United States the feast of St. Paul of the Cross was transferred to October 20th. The North American Jesuit martyrs keep the October 19th date.   

Every Sunday we have three readings at Mass. The first is often from the Old Testament, the second often from the epistles of Paul and the third from one of the gospels.

Usually we look at the gospel, but today let’s look at the short second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which begins “I know how to live in humble circumstances.” We all have to live at times in humble circumstances, so what can we learn from St. Paul?

The church in Philippi to whom Paul writes his letter was a Roman town in northeastern Greece that Paul visited on his second missionary journey. There’s a wonderful account of Paul’s visit to Philippi in the 16th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. ( Acts 16: 12-40) 

When he came to a new town, Paul usually went to a Jewish synagogue to preach the gospel, but he doesn’t do that in Philippi. Evidently there are hardly any Jews there, so Paul went down to the river where there was a place of prayer, and among the women praying there he meets a woman named Lydia, a wealthy business woman who receives God’s word.  She and her household were baptized, and afterwards she persuades Paul and those with him to stay at her house. 

At this place of prayer Paul also meet another woman, a slave and a fortune-teller. He frees her from an evil spirit, which so enraged the men who owned her that they had Paul arrested, beaten and thrown into jail as a Jewish trouble-maker. 

In the jail in Philippi Paul converts the jail keeper and his family during an earthquake. Eventually he gets freed and goes to another town.

The letter to the Philippians is a letter Paul writes to Lydia and the Christians in her house and to the jailor and the Christians in his house. He’s telling them he’s in jail again – Paul was in jail a good number of times.  Probably the jail is in Rome, where Paul was under house arrest, shortly before he was put to death.

Overall, Paul in his letter indicates that he’s doing all right.  That’s what the short section of the letter read today says:

Brothers and sisters:

I know how to live in humble circumstances;

I know also how to live with abundance.

In every circumstance/ and in all things

I have learned the secret of being well fed 

and of going hungry,

of living in abundance/ and of being in need. 

I can do all things in him who strengthens me. 

Paul’s “in humble circumstances”, he writes to the Philippians, but he’s doing OK. 

We are living in very difficult days, for sure,  our world is not a peaceful world at all. So we should ask what was Paul’s secret – how do you live in humble circumstances? How do you live in a world that seems to be falling apart? How do you live in a world of one war after another? How do you live in a world where even the natural world seems unstable, with its storms, its floods, its climate swings?

First of all, as we see from his letter, Paul feels God is with him, strengthening him. His Letter to the Philippians has that beautiful hymn which says that Jesus did not hold on to the form of God but took on the form of a slave. He humbled himself, he lived in humble circumstances, even dying on a Cross. He entered into the darkest places of human life. 

Paul must have felt Jesus was with him in the dark places he found himself. God was with him. Even in his need, in humble circumstances, he wasn’t alone. Jesus was with him sustaining him and promising resurrection, raising him up.

Another thing we might learn from Paul’s letter. He keeps thanking people for supporting him. He knew the value of friends and human support. That’s something we should know too, how to reach out to others to support them and to find our support in them. We need to stick together. Other people keep us going. 

Faith keeps us going. Paul at the end of his letter speaks of the “supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” He depends on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and sharing of his sufferings

During these difficult days, we need be believe in God who made our world, who guides our world, who saves our world.  We shouldn’t forget God is with us. We need to keep it in mind. 

If we do those things, we’ll also experience Paul’s secret: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.”  

In the gospels Jesus usually bases his teaching on the Old Testament. Even a prayer that seems uniquely his, like the Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s gospel today, is inspired by Jewish prayers, like the psalms.

New Testament writers also use Old Testament stories freely for their own purpose. The 4th century sarcophagus illustrates the practice. Luke’s use of Jonah, in the 11th chapter of his gospel read next Monday, is also an example. Jesus says to those demanding a sign “ no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation… At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here. (Luke 11:29-32)

All nations– even the Ninevites who enslaved the Jews– are offered divine mercy in Jesus Christ.

We look to the scriptures to discover ourselves, but we also discover in them the church and the world we live in. The Old Testament readings from Jonah,  Malachi and Joel, read this week,  were written in  post exilic times, commentators say, when Jews returning from exile were set on creating a safe, exclusive religion in their homeland. 

Jonah and the post-exilic prophets remind them God’s plans are greater than theirs. God wants to save Nineveh. Luke sees in his gospel the same plan of God. All nations are called.

A reminder for our church and our world today as well?

Luke’s Gospel, read this week, counts the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem not in miles, but in people. The earnest scribe on Monday, Martha and Mary on Tuesday, Mary his mother on Saturday. 

On Friday Jesus faces the charge of blasphemy on his journey to Jerusalem. The mystery of his Passion also takes place on the journey to Jerusalem.

Prayer is necessary on the journey to Jerusalem. Jesus teaches the Our Father and patient prayer on Wednesday and Thursday.

Three readings from Jonah, the reluctant prophet, this week

For this week’s homily, please watch the video below.

Today,  October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, 8 years after his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis released his exhortation “Laudato Deum” on the climate crisis. 

In our first reading tomorrow the priest Ezra assembled the people to renew their loyalty to God’s covenant and learn the law of God. (Nehemiah 8:1-12) He called all the people to the critical task of rebuilding God’s Temple. 

It isn’t just about climate change Pope Francis speaks; it’s climate crisis. “The world in which we live is collapsing and may be near the breaking point.” You can’t miss the urgency for action in his letter. “No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.”

Some ridicule the claims of danger; Francis takes them seriously and lays out the facts the scientific world provides. He also points out the responsibility of the richer countries for this situation and deals with the arguments for inaction that are raised, even by members of the Church.

“ I feel obliged to make these clarifications, which may appear obvious, because of certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church. Yet we can no longer doubt that the reason for the unusual rapidity of these dangerous changes is a fact that cannot be concealed: the enormous novelties that have to do with unchecked human intervention on nature in the past two centuries.”

There’s a growing belief, the pope says, that thinks “as if reality, goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power as such”. [14] As a logical consequence, it then becomes easy to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology”.

Pope Francis outlines the efforts the nations of the world have made so far to deal with the crisis and finds them lacking. He calls for a new level of power to arise, from the grassroots, to energize the situation of political inertia. At the same time, he calls for the nations of the world to fulfill their responsibilities at the upcoming meeting on the climate,  COP28 in Dubai.

Finally, like Ezra, Francis speaks to people of faith to embark on “ a pilgrim of reconciliation with the world that is our home,”  to build it to be a beautiful home.

One interesting point for us in the United States. The pope begins his exhortation quoting from the US Bishops: “This is a global social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life. The Bishops of the United States have expressed very well this social meaning of our concern about climate change, which goes beyond a merely ecological approach, because ‘our care for one another and our care for the earth are intimately bound together. Climate change is one of the principal challenges facing society and the global community. The effects of climate change are borne by the most vulnerable people, whether at home or around the world’”.

He ends his exhortation with this observation: “If we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, [44] we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.”

The Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality opens tomorrow, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s purpose is to bring about a church that is more “synodal.” What does that mean?

The prophets Zechariah, Nehemiah and Baruch, our readings this week, may help understand its meaning. They wrote during the Restoration Period, when some Jews returned to Jerusalem from exile about 540 BC hoping to restore the Temple. Some Jews who remained in the city did not think it was time to rebuild at all. Others wanted it rebuilt as a temple for Jews alone. 

Zechariah, like other prophets then, saw a temple that was home for all nations. “In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ (Zech 8:23)

I believe this synod has been called by Pope Francis to make the Catholic Church a home for all nations. For that reason, those gathered for the synod are bishops, as well as men and women, from all nations.

Some are worried the synod is going to change basic church beliefs and practices. Five cardinals recently expressed doubts, which Pope Francis answered publicly yesterday on the Vatican website. (https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html) Their doubts were about changing church doctrines, marriage, women’s ordination, church structure and forgiveness. 

The media seems mainly interested in the issues of same sex marriage and the ordination of women. Here’s Pope Francis’ answer to their question about marriage. The cardinal’s wanted a “yes or no” answer, but the pope presented a more nuanced response. 

I ended my homily today at the 11 AM Mass with a question. “What kind of church will your kids like to belong to?” I think Pope Francis is pointing it out.

The Church has a very clear understanding of marriage: an exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to procreation. Only this union can be called “marriage.” Other forms of union realize it only in “a partial and analogous way” (Amoris Laetitia 292), so they cannot be strictly called “marriage.”

b) It is not just a matter of names, but the reality we call marriage has a unique essential constitution that requires an exclusive name, not applicable to other realities. It is undoubtedly much more than a mere “ideal.”

c) For this reason, the Church avoids any type of rite or sacramental that might contradict this conviction and suggest that something that is not marriage is recognized as marriage.

d) However, in our relationships with people, we must not lose the pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes. The defence of objective truth is not the only expression of this charity; it also includes kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, and encouragement. Therefore, we cannot be judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.

e) Therefore, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons, that do not convey a mistaken concept of marriage. For when a blessing is requested, it is expressing a plea to God for help, a supplication to live better, a trust in a Father who can help us live better.

f) On the other hand, although there are situations that are not morally acceptable from an objective point of view, the same pastoral charity requires us not to simply treat as “sinners” other people whose guilt or responsibility may be mitigated by various factors affecting subjective accountability (Cf. St. John Paul II, Reconciliatio et paenitentia, 17).

g) Decisions that may be part of pastoral prudence in certain circumstances should not necessarily become a norm. That is, it is not appropriate for a Diocese, a Bishops’ Conference, or any other ecclesial structure to constantly and officially enable procedures or rituals for all kinds of matters, because not everything that “is part of a practical discernment in particular circumstances can be elevated to the level of a rule” as this “would lead to an intolerable casuistry” (Amoris laetitia, 304). Canon law should not and cannot cover everything, nor should Episcopal Conferences with their varied documents and protocols claim to do so, as the life of the Church flows through many channels other than normative ones.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

We hear this week from Zechariah, like Haggai, a prophetic voice in the Restoration Period. He (scholars say there are two writing under the name)  urges the temple be rebuilt and promises if it’s rebuilt Jerusalem will regain its place among the nations. In fact all nations will come to make it a greater kingdom,  but it will not be soon. Joining Zechariah are Nehemiah and Baruch, prophets who spoke also during the Restoration Period.

They tell us we’re called today to rebuild the church and the world.

We begin this week reading the long portion of Luke’s gospel describing Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem–chapters 9,51-18,14. The journey ends in his Resurrection. One sentence dominates these chapters: “Follow me.” Another teaching we hear repeatedly: “Don’t look back.”

Some saints we honor this week are honored by the whole church: St. Jerome, St. Therese and St. Francis of Assisi. We’re reminded too of a world beyond ours where angels dwell. Some of them look after us. We even have Guardian Angels.