The Consecrated Person: A Bridge

The Holy Father's homily for Vespers on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is, as are all his homilies, a model of liturgical preaching. Below is shared a small excerpt of the Holy Father's message. Consecrated men and women, be they hidden in the cloister, or engaged in the Church's mission to the world, are associated to the Lord Jesus and called, at every moment, to remain close to Him, at "the throne of grace."

If Christ was not truly God, and was not, at the same time, fully man, the foundation of Christian life as such would come to naught, and in an altogether particular way, the foundation of every Christian consecration of man and woman would come to naught. Consecrated life, in fact, witnesses and expresses in a "powerful" way the reciprocal seeking of God and man, the love that attracts them to one another. The consecrated person, by the very fact of his or her being, represents something like a "bridge" to God for all those he or she meets -- a call, a return. And all this by virtue of the mediation of Jesus Christ, the Father's Consecrated One. He is the foundation! He who shared our frailty so that we could participate in his divine nature.

Our text insists on more than on faith, but rather on "trust" with which we can approach the "throne of grace," from the moment that our high priest was himself "put to the test in everything like us." We can approach to "receive mercy," "find grace," and "to be helped in the opportune moment." It seems to me that these words contain a great truth and also a great comfort for us who have received the gift and commitment of a special consecration in the Church.

Who do people say I am?

Here is a little piece from a doctoral student at Syracuse University. Hope you enjoy it!

I suspect we all want to maintain a certain psychic integrity, to think well of ourselves and to present an image to other people that we want them to think about us. It’s easy enough to pooh-pooh the obviously superficial stuff as a way of cobbling together an identity – how expensive your clothes are, how perfect your body is, so on. Jesus goes further, though, to root out any places where our egos try to hide: even ostensibly good stuff like getting an education, being religious, can be one more way of convincing ourselves that we have got it together. In fact, it’s insidious, because although I believe religion can be the best thing in the world, it can also be the worst thing when it gives divine legitimacy to inflating our egos.
Everything you need is already here – it’s just hard to live out of that because it doesn’t feel like much, because our egos can’t hang onto anything for themselves.Who you truly are is who you are in God, and nothing more. That sounds hokey, but at least in my own neurotic self, I constantly feel like I have to prove something, earn something, accomplish something, so I can think well of myself, so others will think well of me, so God will think well of me. That’s hard at a place like this and at the age most of you are, because there are so many talented people that it’s easy to covet all the talents and successes you see in other people. But no matter how many books I read, how many degrees I earn, how many good deeds I do or churchy things I attend, none of that can create an identity for me. That’s the bad news: I can’t cobble together an identity like that. The good news is, I don’t have to.Who I am is who I am in God, and nothing more – there is nothing to prove, no need to deny what a mess I am, no good self-image to project for other people, no need to make it look like I’ve got it all together so that God will love me or so that I can love myself...

"Who you truly are is who you are in God and nothing more..."

Put out into the deep

Today's Gospel reading is amazing!
There was a time when crowds of people would gather around the Lord to hear Him speak the very words of God. Jesus is being crowded out. Closer and closer to the water’s edge He is pushed, so He gets in the boat to teach the people. He needs His space! Eager listeners were so hungry for the words Jesus spoke, they couldn’t get close enough to Him! We’ve lost that passion for the words of God.

Jesus says “Put out a bit deeper, Peter, and start fishing!”
Peter retorts with a: been there, done that.
“We’ve already tried that, Jesus!” and says, “But because you say so, I’ll do it!”

What “But Lord’s” are you speaking today?
“But Lord, I’ve already tried!”
“But Lord, I can’t say that!”
“But Lord, not today!”
“But Lord, I’m too busy!”
We’ve all spoken our own “But Lord…”
So today, let’s try what Peter said, “But because You say so, I’ll obey!”

Here’s what one commentator said: “The Lord did not say how deep [to take the boat]. The depth of the water into which we sail depends upon how completely we have cut our ties to shore, the greatness of our need, and our anxieties about the future. Yet the fish [the rewards] were to be found in the deep, not the shallow water.”

Tired and weary Peter, already up all night long from working and fishing, yet catching nothing, had put his nets away. Jesus says, ‘Go out deeper, and let your nets down again’.
What is your answer? Have you been up all night? Are you tired and weary? Have you already tried it once and reaped nothing? Jesus says, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Let’s listen to God’s Word and then do as Peter did: “But because you say so…I’ll obey.” Move out to the deep waters in faith, gather his rewards, share it with friends, then fall at the Lord’s feet at the love He has for us and the care He has for our daily tasks.

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

If you have not heard, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor MI will be featured on the mega-popular Oprah Winfrey show on February 9th – the 13th anniversary of this new Dominican community of religious sisters.

The Sisters have visited our schools and will visit again this year. They will host a women's retreat in late February.

Tebow Super Bowl Ad Controversy

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an attempt by feminist lawyer Gloria Allred to get CBS to drop the pro-life Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mother:

Gloria Allred is no stranger to the subject of abortion, so it is not surprising that she wants to kill this pro-life ad. Her letter to Les Moonves of CBS, available at RadarOnline.com, wants the ad pulled because it is allegedly guilty of “misleading advertising.”

Allred, who has not seen the ad, charges that when Tebow’s mother was being advised by doctors in the Philippines to consider an abortion (she was on antibiotics for a pregnancy illness), it was illegal there to have one. In a monumental stretch, Allred reasons that the ad should disclose this information, otherwise it is “misleading.”

What is really misleading is Allred’s duplicity. Several years ago, she represented Amber Frey in a case related to the death of Laci Peterson; Peterson’s husband, Scott, was convicted of murdering both her and the baby she was carrying, a boy they named Connor. In an interview she gave to Hannity and Colmes on the Fox News Channel on June 5, 2003, Allred found it useful to her case to emphasize the humanness of Peterson’s baby: “And the fact that there are two individuals who are dead there, Laci and Connor, that has to be the most important consideration of everything.” For once, she was right.

Allred’s confession in 2003 undercuts her credibility—to say nothing of her ethical standing—to make the case against this Super Bowl ad. She knows that Tim Tebow is alive today because his mother did not abort him. To top it off, she can’t even deal respectfully with this issue. Her snide remark, which is in the letter to Moonves, is classic. “As the story is reported,” she says, “Tim’s mother decides to take her pregnancy to term anyway and give birth to Tim. Apparently they have lived happily ever after since that time.” And apparently, this woman has no shame

God is great...all the time!

God is good...all the time!
All the time...God is good!

We are tiny and God is great, all powerful, all sovereign and all good.

"the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2)

St. Blaise pray for us

SAINT BLAISE - Bishop and Martyr(†316)

Saint Blaise devoted the earlier years of his life to the study of philosophy, and later became a physician. In the practice of his profession he saw so much of the miseries of life and the shallowness of worldly pleasures, that he resolved to spend the rest of his days in the service of God. From being a healer of bodily ailments he became a physician of souls.

When appointed bishop, Saint Blaise, began to instruct his people by example. From all parts, the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills.

When the governor began a persecution by order of the Emperor, Saint Blaise was seized. After interrogation and a severe scourging, he was hurried off to prison. While he was under custody, a distraught mother, whose only child was dying of a throat disease, threw herself at his feet and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, he offered up his prayers, and the child was cured.

Prayer to Saint Blaise
Dear bishop and lover of souls,

you willingly bore heavy crosses in faithful imitation of Jesus.

Similarly, with Christlike compassion you cured many sufferers.

Than after undergoing horrible torture,

you died as a martyr for Christ. Obtain a cure for these ills if this is agreeable to God. Amen.

Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them.