Blessed Ignatius Delgado, Blessed Dominic Henares, O.P. & Companions

Continuing the saga of the martyrs of Tonkin, nearly a hundred years after the death of Blessed Peter Martyrs Sanz and companions, two more Dominicans bishops died for the faith . They were Bishop Ignatius Delgado and Bishop Dominic Henares. With them a tertiary catechist died, Francis Chien, and the group (beautified in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII) also includes a Spanish priest, Joseph Fernandez, Father Augustine Schoeffler of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, who was a Dominican Tertiary, and twenty-one native confraternity members.

Of the early years of these martyrs we know little. Both were born in Spain, Bishop Delgado in 1762 and Bishop Henares three years later. From the sentence of condemnation itself we learn that Bishop Delgado had labored for nearly fifty years in Tonkin, which argues that he must have been a resourceful man as well as a zealous one. In 1838 the two bishops and the catechist were captured, in a persecution recently stirred up by the mandarin. The prelates and a young priest had been hidden in the village of Kien-lao, and were accidentally betrayed by a little child who was cleverly questioned by a pagan teacher searching for the foreigners. Alarmed at the sudden activities, the captors of Bishop Delgado put him into a small cage which was locked around him, and then put into jail with criminals.

Communism had made us familiar with the type of questioning that Bishop Delgado had to face. A copy of his trial, which still existed a few years ago, showed that he answered truthfully and fearlessly where he himself was concerned, but that no amount of questioning or torture could make him reveal the whereabouts of his companions. A young priest in another place had taken to his heels when the alarm of the bishop’s arrest was heard, and was still at large. There was no proof that Bishop Henares had been caught, nor the catechists who worked with him. So Bishop Delgado, an old man of seventy six, endured the tortures rather than give any clue as to where they might be found.

The death sentence was passed on Bishop Delgado, and he was left in the open cage under the summer sun, to exist in misery until it should please the mandarin to kill him. Pagans jeered at him and threw waste in his face, and he was deprived of even the simplest necessities. Worn out by suffering but still silent as to his companions’ whereabouts, he died of dysentery before the mandarin was ready to behead him. The enraged solders cut off his head when they found that he had died, and threw the remains into a swift river. Fisherman promptly set about the dangerous business of rescuing the relics.

Bishop Henares was captured with a companion at the same time as Bishop Delgado. He had hidden himself in a boat, and the nervousness of the boatmen gave him away. Five hundred soldiers were detached to bring in the two “dangerous” criminals, the bishop and his catechist, Francis Chien. They too were questioned endlessly, and kept apart from Bishop Delgado. Two weeks after the death of the first bishop, the second was led out and beheaded in company with this catechist.

The relics of all three martyrs were recovered in part, and were honorably buried by the next Dominicans to come on the scene- Bishop Hermosilla and his companions, who would, as they knew, also be the next to die.

We have no information of the twenty-one members of the Confraternity of the Rosary who was honored with the three martyrs of 1838, nor about the Spanish Father Fernandez. Father Augustine Schoeffler of the Paris Foreign Mission Society should likewise hold a place of honor among Dominicans, as he was a Tertiary. Many of the records of these brave men were lost or deliberately destroyed, and many of them- we hope- may still be found in various neglected spots which war and trouble have caused to be overlooked.

Born: Spain: Bishop Ignatius Delgado (November 23, 1761 at Villafeliche, Spain), Dominic Henares (December 19, 1765 at Baena, Spain)

Died:July 12, 1838 of hunger and exposure in Vietnam (Ignatius Delgado), beheaded on June 25, 1838 in Vietnam (Dominic Henares, Francis Chien), Companions- various dates and unknown causes

Beatified: May 27, 1900 by Pope Leo XIII

St. Benedict of Nursia

St Benedict was born around the year  480. He was the son of a Roman noble of Nursia and the twin brother of St. Scholastica. St. Benedict spent his childhood mainly living in Rome with his parents where he attended school until he reached his higher studies. He gave up life with his parents and their wealth, giving his books away and leaving Rome to seek a place where he might manage to attain the Holy purpose he had in mind of only serving God. It is supposed he left his childhood home in about A.D 500 aged about 19-20 years old.  Benedict took with him his nurse as a servant and set off to leave the city. Benedict and his nurse settled in Enfide, close to a church which was dedicated to St. Peter, and in some way was associated with a company of  virtuous men who shared the same sympathies, feelings, and views of life.

Enfide is in the Simbrucini mountains, about forty miles from Rome and two miles from Subiaco. It was there at Enfide where Benedict worked his first miracle by restoring to perfect condition an earthenware wheat-sifter  which his old servant had accidentally broken. This miracle brought Benedict notoriety and this, in turn, drove Benedict to further withdraw from social life.  He fled secretly from his old nurse and sought the more retired district of Subiaco.

Now Benedict chose to live the poor life and for the sake of God decided to take up a life of hardship, weariness and labour.On his way from Enfide, Benedict met a monk, Romanus, whose monastery was on the mountain above the cliff overhanging a cave. Here Benedict and Romanus discussed Benedict’s purpose for coming to Subiaco, and it was there that he received the monk’s habit. For a period of three years on the advice of Romanus, Benedict lived the life of a hermit and unknown to men in a cave above a lake.  Romanus continued to serve Benedict in any way which he was able and visited the monk regularly.  On set days would bring him food.

During these three years of solitude Benedict matured both in mind and in body. He gained much knowledge both of himself and also of his fellow men, and over time became known to and respected by those who knew him., to the extent that when an abbot of a monastery in the neighbourhood died, the community begged Benedict to become the new Abbot of the monastery. Benedict knowing the ways of the monastery life and its discipline, knew that it would be difficult to get all to live in harmony.  He  eventually Benedict consented, and after a period of time of managed things with their entreaty.  Sadly the experiment failed  after certain of the monks tried to poison, because they found his rule to be too strict.

He returned to living in his cave. From this time forward the miracles of Benedict seemed to happen frequently and many people, attracted by his sanctity and character, came to Subiaco to be under his guidance. For these Benedict built twelve monasteries in the valley and allocated to each one a superior and twelve monks. Benedict then built a thirteenth monastery in which he lived with a few chosen whom Benedict believed would profit and be better instructed by his presence. Although living in the thirteenth monastery, Benedict remained the Father and Abbot of all the monasteries  and with the establishment of these monasteries began schools for children; amongst the first to be brought were Maurus and Placid.

The Reminder of Benedict’s life was spent realizing the ideal of monasticism and this is what became known as  the Rule of St. Benedict, which is still followed in many monastery orders even today.

St, Benedict died of a fever on 21 March 543 or 547 in  Monte Cassino, not long after the death of his sister St. Scholastica.  He died on the day on which God had told him he was going to die, and Benedict was buried with his sister.

Benedict was named in 1964 by Pope Paul VI as the patron protector of Europe, and then in 1980 Benedict was declared co-patron of Europe by Pope John Paul II.

Saint John of Cologne & Companions

The Reformation gained its foothold in the Netherlands in opposition to the Catholicism of the Spanish princes of the country–not primarily for religious, but rather for political reasons. Anti-Spanish and Calvinist soldiers banded together into lawless armies of pirates, and, unpaid and disillusioned, foraged for themselves in the seaports, looking for plunder.

Reproached by the clergy, they turned on the Church and one band of pirates led by the Gueux laid siege to the city of Gorkum, capturing it in June 26, 1572 after a struggle. For reprisal– because of the city’s determined defense–they gathered all members of the clergy in Gorkum into one miserable prison and set about taking revenge on the priests for their own grievances against the Spanish crown.

The priests were tortured, subjected to all kinds of indignities, and offered their freedom if they would abjure Catholic teaching on the Eucharist and the primacy of the pope. Angered by the endurance of the priests, the Calvinist increased their abuses. Some of the religious were very old and infirm, but one and all, even to an aged Augustinian who was so weak he could barely stand, they bore their martyrdom with patience and sweetness for ten terrible days.

They were repeatedly asked to deny the Real Presence, and just as repeatedly refused, which brought on more and more dreadful tortures. When they continued to refuse, despite a letter from Prince William of Orange ordering their release and protests from the magistrates of Gorkum, they were thrown half-naked into the hold of a ship on July 6, and taken to another city to be killed in the presence of a Protestant nobleman, Admiral Luney, a man noted for his hatred of Catholicism.

After being exhibited to the curious townspeople (who paid to see the spectacle) and subjected to every type of torture, the 19 priests and religious were hanged in an old barn at deserted Ruggen Monastery on the outskirts of Briel. Stripped of their habits and made, like their Master, “the reproach of men and the outcast of the people,” they benefited by their Christ-like sufferings and deaths. Their bodies, mutilated before or after death, were callously thrown into a ditch. The 19 martyrs included eleven Franciscans (called Recollects), two Premonstratensians, one Dominican, one canon regular of Saint Augustine, and four secular priests.

Two of those who died had led less than holy lives, but by their heroic constancy in the hour of trial blotted out the stains that might otherwise have kept them out of heaven. Sadly, there should have been 20 martyrs of Gorkum. One, who weakened and was released after he had denied the Real Presence, lived but 24 hours to enjoy his wretched freedom.

The other 19 gloriously went to heaven. The scene of the martyrdom soon became a place of pilgrimage, where all the Christian world reverenced the men who were so courageously obedient until death. Accounts of several miracles, performed by their intercession and relics, were used for their beatification and published by the Bollandists. Most of their relics are kept in the Franciscan church at Brussels to which they were secretly conveyed from Briel in 1616.

St. John’s companions were:

* Adrian Beanus, O. Praem.

* Adrian van Hilvarenbeek

* Fr. Andrew Wouters, OFM, was a priest at Heinot near Dortrecht. He led a scandalous life, but when the Calvinists tried to compel him to renounce the Catholic faith, he expiated his past by a brave confession, was imprisoned at Briel with the others and hanged.

* Fr. Antony van Hoornaer, OFM

* Fr. Antony van Weert, OFM

* Fr. Antony van Willehad, OFM, from Denmark

* Cornelius van Wyk (near Utrecht), OFM, was born at Dorestat near Utrecht. He took the Franciscan habit at Gorkum as a lay brother.

* Fr. Godefried of Mervel, OFM, was a painter and the custos of the Franciscan house at Gorkum.

* Fr. Godrey van Duynsen, native of Gorkum, was captured with Leonard Vechel and Nicholas Jannsen in Gorkum and sent to Briel, the Netherlands, where they were hanged. Previously, he had been the rector of a school in Paris.

James Lacops, O. Praem., was a native of Oudenarden, Flanders. He was a Norbertine at Middelburg and in 1566 apostatized, wrote, and preached against the Church. Then he repented, returned to his abbey, and was martyred by the Calvinists.

* Fr. Jerome Weerden, OFM, was born in Werden, the Netherlands, in 1522. He spent several years in Palestine as a Franciscan missionary. Jerome was a powerful preacher against Calvinism and at the time of his capture was the vicar of the friary of Gorkum under Saint Nicholas of Pieck.

* Fr. John van Hoornaer, OFM

* John van Oosterwyk, OSA, was a native of the Netherlands who joined the Augustinians at Briel. He was the director and confessor of a community of Augustinian nuns at Gorkum when the town was taken by the Calvinists.

* John of Cologne, OP, was a Dominican religious of his convent in Cologne, Germany who performed the duties of a parish priest in Horner, the Netherlands. When he heard of the plight of the poor priests captured in Gorkum, he left the relative safety of his parish and entered Gorkum in disguise to render whatever assistance he could. Several times he entered the city to dispense the sacraments, and to bring consolation to the priests who were being cruelly tortured. Eventually, he also was taken prisoner and subjected to torture.

* Leonard Vechel (Veehel, Wegel, Wichel), the elder pastor at Gorkum, was born in Bois-le-Duc, Holland. He studied in Louvain, where he earned a great reputation in his theological studies under the celebrated Ruard Tapper, was ordained, and became a parish priest at Gorkum known for his uncommon zeal, piety, eloquence, and learning. He had a remarkable ability to solve difficult problems. He tenderly cared for the poor, especially those that were sick, giving of himself as well as of his substance. He reproved vice without respect of persons, but his meekness and patience disarmed many who had been long deaf to remonstrations. He was in active opposition to Calvinism. He and his assistant Nicholas Jannsen Poppel of Welde, Belgium, were among those seized by a Calvinist mob at Gorkum.

* Fr. Nicholas Janssen Poppel (van Heeze), OFM, a native of Heeze, Brabant, from which he derived the name Nicasius van Heeze, was an associate pastor to Vechel. He was captured with his pastor, Leonard Vechel, and Godrey van Duynsen.

* Fr. Nicholas Pieck–Nicholas was the guardian of the Observant Franciscan house at Gorkum. This eminent, 38-year-old preacher was a native of the Netherlands who studied at Louvain and made missionary activities among the Calvinists his life’s work. He had an intense zeal for holy poverty and mortification, yet his constant cheerfulness rendered piety and penance itself amiable. He is known for repeating, “We must always serve God with cheerfulness.” Fr. Pieck had often expressed an earnest desire for martyrdom, but considered himself unworthy for that honor. He and four other priests were among the first seized when Calvinist forces opposed to the Spanish rule seized the town in June.

* Peter of Assche, OFM, from near Brussels, Belgium, was a Franciscan lay brother at Gorkum.

* Fr. Theodore van der Eem, OFM, from Amersfoort.

Born: Born in Germany in the 16th century

Died: burned, beaten, hanged and mutilated in 1572 at Gorkum, Holland

Canonized: Pope Pius IX canonized them in 1867.

Representation: elevating the Eucharist as he wears a rope around his neck

Blessed Pope Benedict XI, P.C.O.P.

Nicholas Boccasini was born into a poor family of which we know little else, though there are several different traditions concerning it. One claims that his father was a poor shepherd. Another that he was an impoverished nobleman. Whichever he was, he died when Nicholas was very small, and the little boy was put in the care of an uncle, a priest at Treviso.

The child proved to be very intelligent, so his uncle had him trained in Latin and other clerical subjects. When Nicholas was ten, his uncle got him a position as tutor to some noble children. He followed this vocation until he was old enough to enter the Dominican community at Venice in 1254. Here, and in various parts of Italy, Nicholas spent the next 14 years, completing his education. It is quite probable that he had Saint Thomas Aquinas for one of his teachers.

Nicholas was pre-eminently a teacher at Venice and Bologna. He did his work well according to several sources, including a testimonial from Saint Antoninus, who said that he had “a vast store of knowledge, a prodigious memory, a penetrating genius, and (that) everything about him endeared him to all.” In 1295, he received the degree of master of theology.

The administrative career of Nicholas Boccasini began with his election as prior general of Lombardy and then as the ninth master general of the Order of Preachers in 1296. His work in this office came to the notice of the pope, who, after Nicholas had completed a delicate piece of diplomacy in Flanders, appointed him cardinal in 1298.

The Dominicans hurried to Rome to protest that he should not be given the dignity of a cardinal, only to receive from the pope the mystifying prophecy that God had reserved an even heavier burden for Nicholas. As papal legate Nicholas traveled to Hungary to try to settle a civil war there.

Boniface VIII did not always agree with the man he had appointed cardinal-bishop of Ostia and dean of the sacred college. But they respected one another, and in the tragic affair that was shaping up with Philip the Fair of France, Cardinal Boccasini was to be one of only two cardinals who defended the Holy Father, even to the point of offering his life.

Philip the Fair, like several other monarchs, discovered that his interests clashed with those of the papacy. His action was particularly odious in an age when the papal power had not yet been separated completely from temporal concerns.

The French monarch, who bitterly hated Boniface, besieged the pope in the Castle of Anagni, where he had taken refuge, and demanded that he resign the papacy. His soldiers even broke into the house and were met by the pope, dressed in full pontifical vestments and attended by two cardinals, one of whom was Cardinal Boccasini. For a short time it looked as though the soldiers, led by Philip’s councilor William Nogaret, might kill all three of them, but they refrained from such a terrible crime and finally withdrew after Nicholas rallied the papal forces and rescued Boniface from Anagni.

Cardinal Boccasini set about the difficult task of swinging public opinion to the favor of the pope. Successful at this, he stood sorrowfully by when the pontiff died, broken-hearted by his treatment at the hands of the French soldiers. On October 22, 1303, at the conclave following the death of Boniface, the prophesied burden fell upon the shoulders of the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, who took the name Benedict XI.

The reign of Benedict XI was too short to give him time to work out any of his excellent plans for settling the troubles of the Church. Most of his reign was taken up with undoing the damage done by Philip the Fair. He lifted the interdict on the French people that had been laid down by his predecessor and made an uneasy peace with Philip. He worked to reconcile warring parties in Europe and the Church and to increase spirituality. His reign, short though it was, was noted for its leniency and kindness.

There are few personal anecdotes regarding Benedict, but at least one worth telling. Once, during his pontificate, his mother came to the papal court to see him. The court attendants decided that she was too poorly dressed to appear in the presence of the Holy Father, so they dressed her up in unaccustomed finery before allowing her to see her son. Benedict, sensing what had happened, told them he did not recognize this wealthy woman, and he asked them where was the little widow, pious and poorly dressed, whom he loved so dearly.

Benedict XI died suddenly in 1304. He had continued to the end with his religious observances and penances. Some people believed that he had been poisoned, but there has never been any evidence that this was the case. Many miracles were performed at his tomb, and there were several cures even before his burial.

Born: Born in Treviso, Italy, 1240

Papal Ascension: 1303

Died: died in Perugia, Italy, April 25, 1304

Beatified: beatified by Pope Clement XII in 1736

Representation: In art, Pope Benedict wears a Dominican habit and papal tiara, while holding the keys. He is venerated in Perugia.

We Have a Job to Do. Git ‘er Done!!!!!!!!!

In the readings appointed for today, we find, from Psalm 48:  12 Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers, 13 consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.

And then from Ezekiel:  2:3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day.
2:4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD.”
2:5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

And finally, from the Gospel according to Mark:  6:7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.   6:8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 6:9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.  6:10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.  6:11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”  6:12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.

It would seem that we have a  job to do.   The constant theme throughout today’s readings is simple:  Go and tell.  Go and witness.  Go and preach.  Some of you may say, “Well this is fine, well, and good for those who are ministers, preachers, and priests.  I am not called to preach, though.   What am I supposed to do????”  We will think about that in a few seconds.

Preaching is the very purpose of the Dominican Order, to which I belong.  Our Order is even known as “The Order of Preachers.”   And true, that in English, preaching means pulpit oratory, but St. Dominic did not name his Order in English, but in Latin – Ordo Praedicatores – meaning those who are engaged in “praedicatio.” If you look in a Latin dictionary you will find that “praedicatio” means “making known” or “proclamation.” This has a much broader, much wider meaning than mere pulpit oratory.  ALL of us are called to preach, to proclaim.  The very second that you accepted Christ into your heart, you were charged with the mission to become a preacher, a proclaimer, of the Gospel.   Simply living your life as Christ has called you do live it is proclaiming the Gospel.  We are not to be selfish, but to use what we are given to help each other, and to spread to the world the message of Christ’s redeeming love. This, as St. Dominic said, was essential for us if we were to give a good example to others.  Nothing will win others more than our living our Christian lives, no matter how difficult it may be at times.

 

Another way of preaching that you can do, is the sharing of your faith with others. You are going to run into people, as I am sure you do all the time, who have a false and twisted idea of what true Christians believe.  These people will challenge you.  In these circumstances we should always follow St. Peter’s advice: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence. (I Peter 3: 16b-17a) But to do this effectively you really have to know your religion thoroughly. There are so many false ideas out there about the true meaning of being a Christian, and about what Christ taught, about the Scriptures and about morals.  When they present all kinds of false ideas about the Bible, how are you going to answer them? There are answers and it is incumbent on you, as a Christian, to know them.

Admittedly, none of these are spectacular or glamorous ways of preaching, but they are most effective ways. You may not feel that you  have been effective and you may think you have failed to make any impression at all and, of course, you may not have. But you never know how God is going to use what you say and how you say it. We must keep in mind that rarely is one person responsible for the conversion of another. The process of conversion is something like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. People along the way slip in a piece or two until finally the puzzle is complete,  but the picture is not finished until every single piece is in place. God may be asking you to put in only a few pieces but they are necessary pieces. You will not know, however, until the Last Judgment when you will see the whole picture, completed and perfect, just what great influence you have had. That is, perhaps, the only way that any of us are going to be able to see the results of our preaching.  Let each one of us take seriously the charge of St. Paul: Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship, perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. (II Timothy 3: 2-5)  If we do this, then we can say with him: I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. (II Timothy 3: 7 & 8)

 

 

GUEST POST: What Makes Our Country Special? The Rt. Rev. James St. George

As we approach the 4th of July, I wonder if we can all stop and remember what make this country so special. I didn’t say the best in all the world, as all countries have their frailties and flaws. For me, personally, yes, this is the greatest country., but I also recognize that for others they have their own opinion – I respect them for that. So, maybe we can all use social media for what it does best – bring us closer together no matter the miles between us; reunite long lost friendships and family; use it for good, rather than divisive rhetoric, at least for one day?

Instead of posting hate speech or rude comments, let us recognize that this country was built on honoring each other and our differences; why not just say, “I disagree with you, but I respect your opinion” and move on?

Instead of making fun of and promoting hatred of immigrants and aliens, look at our family tree and give thanks that no one stopped our great grandfather when he fled here and could only speak Italian, etc.

Instead of posting photos that make fun of others, or promote sexism, misogyny, homophobia, racism, or inequality, even with humor, let us post only those things that build up and show respect for all others. There are well over 7 billion people in this world…each has inherent rights.

Instead of posting words or images that make fun of the poor, or the mentally ill, or any in need, recognize they exist and stop stepping over them, or worse, on them, with your insensitivity.

Instead of posting rude images that banter another’s political party or ideation, why not acknowledge that our government was built on an adversarial system where each party is called to fight for their unique position, but then, equally, they are called to come together. Let us support them in their opinions, but pray for them in their coming together for the good of the whole?

Instead of calling the President a liar, or a cheat, etc., let us respect him for the position and that he chose to serve this nation. Note that he won by votes, no matter what you think of the process, and let us recognize that none of knows what it is like to deal with hard decisions the person who sits in this office are called on to make everyday. If I were called to serve again and even die for my country, I would tell The President, ‘Yes, sir/madam, I will go.” would you do anything less no matter who is in that office or what party they hail from? Then stop being mean.

Instead of being vehement in our opinions, why not honor the fact that we do not always have all the facts, or history, or wounds, and that others’ may just have more facts than us? Then, ask them ‘why’ they believe what they do for we may just learn from one another, rather than promote hatred and division.

Instead of seeing the world through ‘your lens’, why not recognize that your truth may not be my truth, or others’ truths. Love them (and me) where we are.

Finally, on this 4th of July, why not simply give thanks for all you do have instead of what you want and do not need. Why not make an effort to go to church this Sunday, and not just to a picnic? Why not say a prayer of thanksgiving for this country and her people, who stand side by side you, even in your brokenness. Stop and give thanks to those who serve in uniform and who died defending your right to be less than noble in your words, spoken and even posted here, then turn a page and look for ways of making this nation even greater by showing your love.

I wish you all a blessed holiday.

No Explanation Necessary~ by Fr. Bryan Wolf

“Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’  A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them, and said ‘Peace be with you.’  Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put you finger there. See my hands. Reach out and put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’  Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God.’  Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believe.'”  ( John 20:24-29 )

We have all heard the phrase, “a Doubting Thomas.” Rooted in the scripture above, it tends to come from the scientific and critical aspect of our culture. We have science to prove or disprove claims. We require evidence to make things a certainty. After all it is said, “seeing is believing.” ut in this day and age, can a faith in Jesus Christ and his deeds from oh so long ago- be rational? We have our holy scriptures and our teachings, but is this something we can hold up to the ‘litmus test’ of debate against a skeptic? A cynic? Someone who; by disaster, tragedy or death of a loved one, demands further proof from us of a loving and compassionate God?  We must admit, there are days when even we ourselves, can become a “Doubting Thomas”.

First, it is important to remember Christianity is built upon faith. “For faith is confidence in what we hope for and an assurance about what we do not see.” ( Hebrews 11:1 )  The First Chapter of the Book of Hebrews goes on to serve up as evidence, all those who have lived by faith… Moses, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah… the list goes on and on. For if we are Christians, we truly do, “…walk by faith, not by sight.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:7 )  Life is full of uncertainty. The key is, to surrender ourselves to our faith.

“For to have faith, we must also have doubt. We must become like Thomas…” – Thomas Merton.  Merton (b.1915-d1968) was a mystic and social activist, as well as a Cistercian Trappist monk.  He wrote more than seventy books on spirituality, including his autobiography – The Seven Story Mountain, a New York Times best seller. From it, he writes, “Faith means having doubt, not the suppression of doubt. The only way to fully overcome you doubt is to live through it. Someone who says they have no doubt, cannot be a person of faith.”  Merton agreed with Saint Paul, “To have faith, is a gift from God.” ( ref. Ephesians 28 ) And even centuries earlier, Saint Augustine agreed, “Doubt is but an element of faith.”

In his book, Threshold of Hope, Saint John Paul II wrote; “We must be allowed to have doubt. To search for God and truth on our own terms. To do this is nothing but a manifestation of the grace of the Holy Spirit at work. Questioning God, reveals your faith in him.”

It seems paradoxical; for clerics, religious, or even firm Christians to admit they have doubt. To question  faith, even to dare and question God, seems like an insurmountable offense. It can be frightening. Perhaps a sign of weakness or sinful spirit; vulnerable to temptation and even rebellion. But people, good people of faith,  facing critical circumstances, terminal illness or unexpected loss, wrestle with these emotions and ‘doubts’ all the time. And they need not be life-altering; even slight bump in the road can cause many of us to question.  Just like Thomas.  Mother Teresa often wrote of “dark periods of spiritual desolation; questioning whether God cared, loved or even existed at all.”

So when all is said and done, when all is really questioned and considered, we do end up sometimes being Thomas. It is then however, that we must surrender ourselves to our faith. For it is our faith upon which we build everything else. It is on our faith that we fix upon our most trusted and inspired promise given to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ:  life everlasting.

Ahhh, I can sense the skeptics circling. Prove to me, there is a life everlasting. No need. Christ tells me so. I have faith enough to believe. In this, I can answer just like a most famous Dominican and yet another Thomas, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Considered one of the great teachers and early doctors of the Church, Saint Thomas said: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one who has no faith, no explanation is possible.”

Passing the Test~The Very Rev. Lady Sherwood

Genesis 22:1-14

22:1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 22:2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.  22:4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away.22:5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”  22:6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.  22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  22:8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.  22:9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.  22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  22:12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”  22:13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.  22:14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

When we have times in our lives of severe hardship or difficulties, Illness, bereavement, debts, homelessness,or employment issues ,it can be all too easy for us  to either blame God or to think God has abandoned us. But this is far from the truth. As true Christians and children of God we should know that our Father in heaven loves us far too much to abandon us. Just as in the scripture above when the Lord tested Abraham’s trust and faith when he asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac, we also must from time to time have our faith and trust tested. This is because it is far too easy for us to say we love and follow the Lord when we are in the good times and all is going well. It is in the difficult and trying times when we prove to our heavenly Father that we are indeed sincere in our relationship with him and as such, at times we need to be tested. Abraham shows us by his actions just how strong his love and faith in God truly was and we should strive to be likewise.Even the hard times that may not in themselves be a test of faith may indeed be true blessings in disguise which the Lord will show us if we love and have true faith in him as our heavenly father and saviour. An example of this from my own life is that I was brought up in an extremely abusive family, where I was put in care and forgotten as I was not loved and wanted. I was placed in horrid places with locked doors at aged 10 because they mistook my young age temper tantrums as bad instead of realising I was hurting inside. Everyone always treated me as a nuisance to the world. However my love and faith even at that young age was strong and I knew in my heart that the Father loved me and had plans for my life.Yes, I went through years of illness and trauma, but no matter what, my faith remained, and in fact heightened. The Lord showed me the hate and dischord that was in the world, and I knew more and more as I grew older that I was being called to show the Father’s light of love to those we as human’s have placed in darkness by hardening our hearts. I remained strong in my faith and the Lord brought me to a place where now I can do that which the Lord has called and prepared me to do for his people. Although not the same test as was given Abraham, it still has shown my sincere love, trust and faith in God. There has been, and no doubt there will be further, tests, but my heart will remain strong and faithful to God as did Abraham’s. The Lord will always be there eternally for each of us, we only need to trust and have faith in him and he will never fail us. So we should accept troubles and tests with joy in our hearts. My trust and faith in our God is strong, How about yours?

Corpus Christi: One Bread, One Body, Warts and All

One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.
Gentile or Jew, woman or man, no more.   Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all.
Grain for the fields, scattered and grown, gathered to one, for all.

One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless.  And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.

Today is a great Feast Day in the life of the liturgical church throughout Christendom:  The Solemnity of Corpus Christi.  This day is celebrated in recognition of the Eucharist, and everything the Eucharist is and means.  Today we celebrate, literally, the Body of Christ.  We all know that the Eucharist was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper.  We all know that we, as Catholics, believe that the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Our Lord.  We all know that our Protestant brothers and sisters believe that the bread and the wine are symbolic of the body and blood of our Lord.  We all know that wars have been fought over these two basic, yet entirely different beliefs.  We also know that from many, if not most, of the liturgical pulpits in the world, the Word will be proclaimed concerning the Eucharist.  Today, however, I would like to put a different spin on Corpus Christi.  I would like for us to leave the upper room of Christ and the disciples, and jump ahead a few years to Corinth, and to listen to what the Apostle Paul has to say about “the body of Christ.”

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into[c] one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.  15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole bodywere an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?  20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.  27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best[d] gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-31 NKJV)

We, the Church, we, the people of God, we, puny imperfect people that we are, WE are the body of Christ.  Some of us dress funny.  Some of us talk funny.  Some of us have emotional issues.  Some of us just have issues.  But we, ALL of us, together, make up the body of Christ.  Warts and all.  Some of us are wildly and multiply talented.  Some of us are incredibly intelligent.  Some of us have been blessed with physical beauty.  Some of us have been blessed with spiritual beauty.  Be we, ALL of us together, make up the body of Christ.

Because we are all of us different, it can be said that we make up different parts of the body of Christ.  We each of us have different gifts.  Some make up the head, some the heart.  Others are the feet and the hands of the body of Christ.  Granted there are parts of the body of Christ that we would rather keep hidden, under wraps.  But are these parts any less important?  Do these parts not serve a major and important function in the working of the body?  I believe that they do.

Several months ago, we were struggling with the problem of readmitting someone to the Order of Preachers Old Catholic.  This person and come and gone more than once, and had tried our patience severely.  As is my custom  when in need of guidance, I went to our dear Archbishop and asked his advice.  Do I give her one more chance, or not?  He and I talked about it, mulled it over, prayed about it, and decided to wait on a definite answer from God to see what it was, exactly, we were to do.  That night, he had a dream.  In his dream, Jesus appeared to the Archbishop, held out His nail-scarred  hands and said, “I did this for her, too.  Can you do any less?”  Needless to say, the person in question was readmitted to the Order…as a part of the Body of Christ.

Last Sunday, I was privileged to be at the inaugural Mass at one of our new parishes.  After Mass, there was a pot luck meal.  The dishes were plentiful and varied.  There was something there for everyone.  Not everyone liked or ate the exact same thing, (and a few of us ate way too much of just about everything,) and no one went away hungry.

My point, here, folks, if I haven’t made it already is simply this:  WE, all of us, make up the body of Christ.  What one person brings to the table may not be of particular interest or value to another person, but there is someone at that table who needs just that.  Perhaps we feel that this person or that person isn’t quite what we would like to see in our church, or in our family, or in our lives, but to someone, somewhere, that person is exactly who is needed.  The very person whom we consider to be “less than worthy” to represent Christ and His church may just be the exact one who is needed in certain situations.

As we go along in our daily lives, let us remember the lessons of today, this Feast of Corpus Christi, that we all of us make up the One Bread, the One Body, the One Cup, that is the Body of Christ.  Amen.

Blessed Innocent V

Peter of Tarentaise was barely 10 years old when he was admitted to the Dominican Order by Blessed Jordan of Saxony as a boy-novice and sent to Paris to study. Like Saint Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Ambrose of Siena, and other luminaries of the 13th century, he fell under the masterly tutelage of Saint Albert the Great.

He received his master’s degree in theology in 1259, then he taught for some years in Paris, where he contributed a great deal to the order’s reputation for learning. He wrote a number of commentaries on Scripture and the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, but he devoted most of his time to the classroom. He soon became famous as a preacher and theologian, and in 1259, with a committee including his friend Thomas Aquinas, composed a plan of study that is still the basis of Dominican teaching.

At age 37, Peter began the long years of responsibility in the various offices he was to hold in his lifetime as prior provincial of France. He visited on foot all Dominican houses under his care, and was then sent to Paris to replace Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris. Twice provincial, he was chosen archbishop of Lyons in 1272 and administered the affairs of the diocese for some time, though he was never actually consecrated for that see.

The next year Peter was appointed cardinal-archbishop of Ostia, Italy, while still administering the see of Lyons. With the great Franciscan, Saint Bonaventure, assumed much of the labor of the Council of Lyons to which Saint Thomas was hastening at the time of his death. To the problems of clerical reform and the healing of the Greek schism the two gifted friars devoted their finest talents. Before the council was over, Bonaventure died, and Peter of Tarentaise preached the funeral panegyric.

In January 1276, Peter was with Blessed Pope Gregory X when the latter died at Arezzo. The conclave was held in the following month. On January 21, 1276, Peter of Tarentaise received every vote except his own. With a sad heart, he left the seclusion of his religious home to ascend the Fisherman’s Throne as Pope Innocent V.

The reign of the new pope, which promised so much to a harassed people, was to be very brief. But, imbued with the spirit of the early apostles, he crowded a lifetime into the short space given him.

He instigated a new crusade against the Saracens and began reforms in the matter of regular observance. He actually succeeded in solving many of the questions of the Greek schism and in establishing a short-lived truce. He struggled to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibellines, restored peace between Pisa and Lucca, and acted as mediator between Rudolph of Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou. He restored the custom of personally assisting at choral functions with the canons of the Lateran, and he inspired all with the love that animated his heart.

Had the measures begun by Innocent V had time to be fully realized, he might have accomplished great good for the Church; he did at least open the way for those who were to follow him. Death stopped the hand of the zealous pope when he had reigned only five months. Like his friends Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure, he was untouched by the honors and dignity with which he had been favored, and death found him exactly what he had been for more than 40 years–a simple, humble friar.

Born: 1245 at Tarentaise, Burgundy, France as Petrus a Tarentasia

Papal Ascension: 1276

Died: 1277 at Rome of natural causes

Beatified: cult was confirmed by Leo XIII in 1898