St Martin de Porres, OP

Blessed Martin de Porres was born in the city of Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, on December 9, 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a black former slave. He grew up in poverty; when his mother could not support him and his sister, Martin was confided to a primary school for two years, and then placed with a barber/surgeon to learn the medical arts. This caused him great joy, though he was only ten years old, for he could exercise charity to his neighbor while earning his living. Already he was spending hours of the night in prayer, a practice that increased rather than diminished as he grew older. At the age of 15, he asked for admission to the Dominican Convent of the Rosary in Lima and was received first as a servant boy; as his duties grew, he was promoted to almoner. Eventually he felt the call to enter the Dominican Order, and was received as a tertiary. Years later, his piety
and miraculous cures led his superiors to drop the racial limits on admission to
the friars, and he was made a full Dominican. It is said that when his convent was
in debt, he implored them: “I am only a poor mulatto, sell me.” Martin was deeply
attached to the Blessed Sacrament, and he was praying in front of it one night
when the step of the altar he was kneeling on caught fire. Throughout all the
confusion and chaos that followed, he remained where he was, unaware of what
was happening around him.
When he was 34, after he had been given the habit of a Coadjutor Brother,
Martin was assigned to the infirmary, where he was placed in charge and would
remain in service until his death at the age of sixty. His superiors saw in him the
virtues necessary to exercise unfailing patience in this difficult role, and he never
disappointed them. It was not long before miracles were attributed to him. Saint
Martin also cared for the sick outside his convent, often bringing them healing
with only a simple glass of water. He begged for alms to procure necessities the
Convent could not provide, and Providence always supplied.
One day an aged beggar, covered with ulcers and almost naked, stretched out
his hand, and Saint Martin, seeing the Divine Mendicant in him, took him to his
own bed. One of his brethren reproved him. Saint Martin replied: “Compassion,
my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness.”
When an epidemic struck Lima, there were in this single Convent of the Rosary
sixty friars who were sick, many of them novices in a distant and locked section
of the convent, separated from the professed. Saint Martin is said to have passed
through the locked doors to care for them, a phenomenon which was reported in
the residence more than once. The professed, too, saw him suddenly beside
them without the doors having been opened. Martin continued to transport the
sick to the convent until the provincial superior, alarmed by the contagion
threatening the religious, forbade him to continue to do so. His sister, who lived in
the country, offered her house to lodge those whom the residence of the religious
could not hold. One day he found on the street a poor Indian, bleeding to death
from a dagger wound, and took him to his own room until he could transport him
to his sister’s hospice. The superior, when he heard of this, reprimanded his
subject for disobedience. He was extremely edified by his reply: “Forgive my
error, and please instruct me, for I did not know that the precept of obedience
took precedence over that of charity.” The superior gave him liberty thereafter to
follow his inspirations in the exercise of mercy.
Martin would not use any animal as food—he was a vegetarian.
In normal times, Saint Martin succeeded with his alms to feed 160 poor persons
every day, and distributed a remarkable sum of money every week to the
indigent. To Saint Martin the city of Lima owed a famous residence founded for
orphans and abandoned children, where they were formed in piety for a creative
Christian life. This lay brother had always wanted to be a missionary, but never
left his native city; yet even during his lifetime he was seen elsewhere, in regions
as far distant as Africa, China, Algeria and Japan. An African slave who had
been in irons said he had known Martin when he came to relieve and console
many like himself, telling them of heaven. When later the same slave saw him in
Peru, he was very happy to meet him again and asked him if he had had a good
voyage; only later did he learn that Saint Martin had never left Lima. A merchant
from Lima was in Mexico and fell ill; he said aloud: “Oh, Brother Martin, if only
you were here to care for me!” and immediately saw him enter his room. And
again, this man did not know until later that he had never been in Mexico.
Martin was a friend of both Saint John de Massias and Saint Rose of Lima. When
he died in Lima on November 3, 1639, Martin was known to the entire city. Word
of his miracles had made him known as a saint throughout the region. As his
body was displayed to allow the people of the city to pay their respects, each
person snipped a tiny piece of his habit to keep as a relic. It is said that three
habits were taken from the body. His body was then interred in the grounds of
the monastery.
Pope Gregory XVI beatified Martin de Porres in 1837. Nearly one hundred and
twenty-five years later, Blessed Martin was canonized in Rome by Pope John
XXIII on May 6, 1962. His feast day is November 3. He is the Patron Saint of
people of mixed race, innkeepers, barbers, public health and more besides.
In iconography, Martin de Porres is often depicted as a young friar of mixed heritage (he
was a Dominican brother, not a priest, as evidenced by the black scapular and
capuce he wears, while priests of the Dominican order wear all white) with a
broom, since he considered all work to be sacred no matter how menial. He is
sometimes shown with a dog, a cat and a mouse eating in peace from the same
dish.

The Day After Halloween~The Rt Rev Michael Beckett, OPI

Today is the day that drives elementary teachers nuts because most of the kids are on a sugar high.  Today is the day that Halloween stuff comes down….and in many instances, Christmas stuff goes up.

And today is a holiday!   The entire reason we had Halloween (All Hallows Eve) yesterday.  Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints (also called All Saints Day).

All Saints’ Day, All Hallows Day, or Hallowmas is solemnly celebrated on 1 November by many Western Liturgical Churches to honor, literally, all the saints, known and unknown; those individuals who have attained Heaven; all the holy men and women who have lived their lives for God and for his church, who now have attained Beatific vision and their reward of Heaven.

In early Christian history it was usual to solemnize the anniversary of a Martyr’s death for the Lord at the place of their martyrdom. Frequently there were multiple martyrs who would’ve suffered and died on the same day which led to multiple commemorations on the same day. Eventually, the numbers of martyrs became so great that it was impossible for a separate day to be assigned to each individually, but the church feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a feast day to commemorate them all on the same day.

The origin of the festival of All Saints celebrated in the West dates to the month of May in the year 609 or 610, when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs.  In the 730’s Pope Gregory III moved the Feast of All Saints to 1 November when he founded an oratory in St. Peter’s for the relics of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout the world.”

From our Readings today, we hear of the vision of St. John from the Book of Revelation:

After this, I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.  They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.  They cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”

All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.  They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed:

“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”

Who are these nameless saints?  Their anonymity teaches us that sainthood is not reached through great achievements or rare acts of bravery.  Sainthood comes from simply loving God and doing our best to live our lives in a way consistent with Jesus’ commandment.  I would dare say that none of the saints actually set out to be saints.  They simply loved God and lived their lives to follow Him.

Revelation goes on to remind us that giving our lives over to God will not protect us or insulate us from hardship.  Living in, for, with, and through God, however, will make sure that we can and will endure whatever “great distress” comes our way.  In this passage of Revelation, John is speaking specifically of those who have given their lives for their faith.  Christians throughout the Middle East are being martyred by forces opposed to Christianity, but in reality, it is very unlikely that any of us will be called upon to sacrifice our lives for our faith.

Our challenge, then, is to live for Christ, rather than to die for Christ.  Jesus does ask to lay down our lives for Him. Peter said to the Lord, “I will lay down my life for Your sake,” and he meant it (John 13:37). Has the Lord ever asked you, “Will you lay down your life for My sake?” (John 13:38). It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them in our everyday ways.  For thirty-three years Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

If we are true followers of Jesus, we must deliberately and carefully lay down our lives for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is, for great is our reward.  Salvation is easy for us, however, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in our lives is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, “Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful.” And Jesus says to us, “…I have called you friends….” Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.  We are called to remain faithful, despite the reasons the world gives us to not, despite the “great distresses” in our lives.

Who are these dressed in white robes?  It is my prayer to be counted among them.  What about you?

What About Love? The Rt Rev Michael Beckett, OPI

Close the border.  Build a wall.  Use razor wire.  Deport those foreigners as soon as possible. 

America is a Christian nation.  Our faith, the church, should guide our country, our schools.

End social security.  Stop ‘entitlement’ programs. 

 America is a Christian nation.  Our faith, the church, should guide our country, our schools.

Higher education loan forgiveness is wrong and not fair.  

America is a Christian nation.  Our faith, the church, should guide our country, our schools.

The Bible should be taught in schools.  Bring back Christian prayer in schools. 

Well…..OK. 

But……I have a teeny little problem with all of the above coz it kinda seems to me that every one of the above statements are diametrically opposed to each other.  Check this out.  The scriptures appointed for today include handy dandy little commandments like this:

Thus says the LORD:   “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.  You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.  If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.  My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;  then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.  “If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.  If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.”      Exodus 22

So there’s that.

And then, Jesus kinda compounds the whole issue when he says problematic things in situations like this:

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all our heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”   (Matthew 22)

Now, I certainly don’t claim to be an expert in much of anything, especially theology, politics and current affairs, and I’m certainly not one to take a lot of things in the Bible literally, but…..doesn’t Jesus make it pretty clear as to what he expects of us as Christians, and anyone who would dare to say:  “America is a Christian nation.  Our faith, the church, should guide our country, our schools.”

Some of the same folks who espouse the “America is a Christian nation” mantra are also all about having the Ten Commandments posted in schools and government buildings and courtrooms.  Except for violating the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, making it illegal, I don’t see the harm.  But being me, I gotta ask, if America is a Christian nation, wouldn’t it be more Christ-like to post something that Christ actually said, stressed, and preached about?  Like say, the Beatitudes?   Especially these:

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Y’all have heard me talk about the United States most definitely NOT being founded as a Christian nation, so I’m not gonna go there right now, but, it would seem to me that, if indeed that were the case, and we actually practiced what is preached when we claim that it is so, the country would be a much better place.  Don’tcha think?  As it stands now, it would seem that we, all of us, should remember, as Stephen Mattson has said, “Sometimes, being a good Christian meant being a bad Roman.  So before you accuse someone of being unpatriotic, ask yourself which empire they’re actually serving.” 

Russell Moore, former leader in the Southern Baptist Convention and now Editor of ‘Christianity Today’ told this story in an interview with NPR:

 Multiple pastors had told him they would quote the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the part that says to “turn the other cheek,” when preaching. Someone would come up after the service and ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?”

“What was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, ‘I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,’ the response would not be, ‘I apologize.’ The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak,’” Moore said. “When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.”

I love this country.  I do.  But Joshua said it best when he said, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’  Sometimes serving the Lord means making difficult choices.  Sometimes serving the Lord means changing our thinking.  Sometimes serving the Lord means facing hard truths about ourselves, our beliefs, and our supposed faith.  Isn’t it time we start asking ourselves those hard questions?  Isn’t it time we decide which empire we’re gonna serve?  Amen.

The Feast of Sts Simon and Jude~Br. Milan Komadina

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

I like this parable from Ephesians 2/19-22. It shows the importance of being a part of the church, a part of the living congregation. It is true that we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. But in order to grow we need to be a part of the church. Jesus does not need the church, but we are those who need it. We need the church in order to be stronger in our faith. If we imagine the church as a material building. In that building Jesus himself is the foundation. Then all the members of the church are like stones and all of us have our role to play. Some might be smaller stones, some might be bigger. Some might be ugly stones built somewhere in the middle away from the visible surface. Some stones might be on the front surface, visible, beautifully designed with decorations. What is important is emphasis that all stones matter. In Ephesians is also written that Jesus is a cornerstone. Builders of the house of God (the church) or believers must not throw away any of stones belonging to this temple. We may be wondering what it means. It means that the church might look like the real temple.

There are people who shine. They are front stones full of decoration. They are pious, they pray every day many times, they are considered to be the “best” Christians. There are stones – people who are barely visible. Inner stones. They come to the church once a month or occasionally. Sometimes more often, sometimes more rarely. There are people who are struggling with some temptation of various type. People who are not as shinny as those standing on the front wall. But what would happen with the church if the church lets only the most beautiful stones standing. If we start throwing away stone by stone for this reason and that reason. The entire building would be destroyed to dust. My message today, based on Ephesians chapter that we quote is love one another as a true family. Accept one another with all strength and weaknesses. Respect the differences between each other. And bear of mind that even though we are all different stones, we all have one foundation and that is Jesus. And we all build the perfect body of Christ.

The Great Commandment- Loving God and our Neighbour~The Very Rev Lady Sherwood, OPI

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Jews had been out to trap Jesus. First, the Pharisees and the Herodians had a go with a question whether taxes should be paid to the Emperor or not. A question to get Jesus to condemn himself with his own answer.

Then the Sadducees try out a tricky question on Jesus about a woman who marries seven times. Which husband will she have when the dead will be raised to life? Again a question to trick Jesus because the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection.

And now the Pharisees test Jesus again to try and find out where he stands in regard to the traditional faith, the faith of the fathers. And in his reply, we find that Jesus had a great respect for tradition. He goes to the very heart of the Jewish faith and quotes passages of the Old Testament. Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel we hear that Jesus hasn’t come to do away with Israel’s faith. We hear him say, “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.  For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18). Jesus has great respect for the traditional faith, but not necessarily the traditional interpretation of the Pharisees.

The Jewish idea of responsibility when it comes to who is to be loved goes like this. Everyone was to love God, that was compulsory. But everyone else was graded as to how much love they were to be given. There were those people to whom it was a responsibility to show love. Those on the outer circles of the community, like outcasts, sinners, tax collectors, Gentiles, Samaritans etc, some were to be loved less, or others were owed no love whatsoever. The Pharisees had established many laws to help people in their observance of this command. These laws told people whom they were to love, and whom they could ignore.

 By saying that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love your neighbour, this gives a new slant to the traditional interpretation. To love God that was clear enough but to also say to love one another in the same breath puts both of these commands on an equal footing. One is not more important than the other. To love God is to love my neighbour and to truly love my neighbour is to love God. In fact, we can’t make any sense out of Jesus’ radical command to love our enemies unless we first recognise the love that God has for us and loves us in such a radical way even though we are his enemies because of sin.

The love of God and the love of our neighbour are inseparable. You cannot claim to love God if you don’t love your neighbour. Essentially the entire law of God can be boiled down to two simple commandments: Love God with your whole being; and love whomever God puts next to you as you love yourself.

The late Henry Hamann said in his book on Matthew’s Gospel: “Jesus does not separate love for God from love for man, since the latter flows from the former, and since without the latter the former is impossible”.*

Before we go any further we need to understand what Jesus means here when he uses the word love. That little four letter word “love” is used in many contexts. We talk about loving our dog, loving strawberries and ice-cream, or loving a member of the opposite gender. When we use the word love like that we are expressing our affection and have warm feelings for whatever it is that we are loving. Because we associate the word “love” with affection it’s no wonder that we have difficulty loving those people who annoy us, those who have hurt us, and those who don’t deserve to be loved.

When the Bible talks about love it primarily means a love that keeps on loving, it means commitment. We may have warm feelings of gratitude to God when we consider all that he has done for us, but it is not warm feelings that Jesus is demanding of us. It is stubborn, unwavering commitment. It follows then that to love one another, including our enemies, doesn’t mean we must feel affection for them, rather it means a commitment on our part to take their needs seriously, just as God committed himself to taking our needs seriously by sending his Son into this world. You see this in marriages where because of the aging process one partner has become physically incapacitated, difficult to live with, very demanding, and yet the other partner keeps on caring and putting up with it all. That’s coming close to the biblical idea of love. It’s that commitment even though it isn’t deserved. It’s that stubborn, unwavering commitment to the other person’s needs often at a great sacrifice to him/herself. That’s where many marriages go wrong. The couple say they are in love – they have warm feelings for each but not the commitment. When the warm feelings fade so does their marriage.

This kind of love doesn’t come naturally. It is true that this kind of love comes from God, but putting it into practice is something we have to work on. Love – commitment – is a deliberate action of the will. To love means deliberately to turn toward another person and their needs, to give away something of ourselves to someone else without thinking of what we will get in return. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 15:25-37) we see an example of a man loving his enemy, committing his money, time and energy to seeing to the needs of the man lying in the gutter. He stopped to help and to hang with the consequences. All he could see was someone in need. This kind of love/commitment is self-sacrificing. It is putting the other person first, whether it is God or our neighbour.

In all honesty, it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that this kind of love has been in short supply in our lives. In fact, if we could love perfectly then there would be no more sin in our world. If we loved perfectly, if we were able to be truly committed to other people, then there would be no more violence, or war, what we say and do would only be gentle, kind and caring.

Because this is not the case Jesus came to pay for our lovelessness. He showed us what true love is. His love touched the dumb, the deaf, the diseased, the disabled. His love warned, wept and washed dirty feet. His love told of a shepherd searching for lost sheep, a Father rushing out to embrace and kiss his lost son as he welcomed him home. His love turned the other cheek, and willingly walked that extra mile. His love carried a cross — and died upon it! His love welcomed each of us into God’s family, forgiving our sin in the water of our Baptism. Because of Jesus you are perfect saints in the eyes of God. Eternal life is yours in Christ. Forgiveness of sins is yours. The perfect love of God is yours.

We no longer have to love; we get to love.

We don’t love in order to get to heaven; we love because heaven is already ours in Christ.

We don’t love in order to win God’s favour; we love because we already have God’s favour in Christ.

We don’t love so that God will love us; we love because God has loved us in Christ with the greatest love we will ever know, the crucified love of Jesus.

Jesus came to make us more loving. What form this loving takes is not important, but what is important is that it does take place. When you fail, remember Jesus loves you, and let his love shine through you into the lives of the people around you.

Let me finish with a poem written by Patterson-Mooney:

Loving God and Neighbour

Loving God above all else

with heart, soul and mind

places focus where it should be

for there are no other gods before Him.

He thought about us before time, as we

know it, began. Bowing in humble

submission, we embrace His commands.

Not counting the cost

unabashedly loving our neighbour

we imitate the great love of God

as He wants us to do if we believe

in Faith what has been handed down

through the ages by sages.

May we always throw ourselves

wholeheartedly into all that is

good, right and holy.

Guide me along the straight and narrow path.

Keep me strong and single minded.

Permit me to show You through me.

In humble submission,

I shall serve You, O Lord, my God.

The Feast of St Luke~The Very Rev. Lady Sherwood, OPI

Today we come together as the church to commemorate St. Luke the Evangelist. St Luke is the Patron saint of Physicians. Luke, from his perspective, records for us in his Gospel writings, the life of Jesus=from His birth at Bethlehem, all the wayvthrough His earthly ministry and His many miracles and healings. How Jesus heals the blind, the deaf, and the lame.

Luke tells us of the peace which Jesus speaks to all of us, because Jesus is indeed the saving peace and healing of God, at that time here on earth with us in human form. That is why in Luke 10, Jesus tells the 72, to say, “Peace be with this house”, as he sends them out as apostles of his peace.

Jesus gives us his spiritual healing and peace which forgives our sins, and which reconciles us with God, our Heavenly Father, by His death upon the cross for every single one of us.

Jesus is truly the physician of our Soul! He knows all too well, that we are sick with sin, but it deters him not. Each and every one of us, is precisely why He came to earth to be amongst us, the reason he lived with us upon the earth, and why he suffered, bled, was tortured, and died for all our sakes.

Jesus came down from Heaven to our world, to take from us our dark sickness of sin and of death, and to heal us, to bring us true life and eternal  salvation. He took all upon himself for us upon the cross, our sickness and death, died with the Lord, to all who truly believe, love and follow Him. We are forgiven, we are healed, we are saved, we are at peace.

If we truly examine our lives, we will see our constant need for healing of the sins of this world. As with the body, if we are sick, we see our dr for diagnosis and treatment, that’s why today, we give thanks to God for His servant, Luke, the Evangelist. It’s Luke’s role to bring Jesus, His healing and peace to each of us through the living and active word of God.

The word of God is the scalpel of Jesus our physician and saviour. With total precision, Jesus’ laws cuts us and ‘kills’ the sickness of the human condition, so that he can heal us, and give us true life.

Each of the commandments of Jesus is a precise incision of his law. We have failed to fear, love, and trust God above all else as we ought to do. We have failed to use God’s name as we should, and to call upon him as our Father, as his children when in every trouble or need, or to give him worthy thanks and praise. We have ignored God’s Holy word and preaching, we have not loved our neighbour, or helped to eased their needs. We have been bad stewards of earthly material things such as money, or possessions. We have failed in giving kindness and forgiveness to our brothers and sisters.

So indeed, our human sickness of sin is dire=without Jesus as our Lord, our Saviour, and physician, the diagnosis is terminal.

But Jesus is merciful, he does not delight in punishment. Jesus our physician of our soul, cuts with His law in order to heal us with His Gospel. The Lord heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds (PS 147:3). Jesus has kept on our behalf, all those commandments, which we have failed to truly follow.

If we want to call our doctor, we pick up the phone, and wait for an appointment to become available. But Jesus as our physician for our souls, is contactable 24 hrs per day, every single day with no exception. He is contactable easily anytime, day or night, by the important communication of prayer.

So let’s end today with the simplest but most important prayer of all, to our Saviour and physician of our soul:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,  have mercy on me, a sinner.

Amen.

Come to the Wedding! ~ The Rev. Frank Bellino, OPI

Today’s gospel passage seems straightforward enough to understand, if we compare the characters in the parable to key figures in the history of salvation.

We have the king and his son, who stand for God and Jesus. The wedding can be compared to God’s own invitation to us all to follow him and his way, entering into communion with him just as wedding guests participate in the festivities.

The messengers that were sent out to announce the wedding — they stand for the prophets. Similarly, to many of the prophets working for the Church, these messengers were also badly treated by the people to whom they were sent.

What of the people themselves, those who declined the wedding invitation? They stand for the people to whom the original invitation to follow God was given — and even more people in real life turned away from God for whatever reason so they did in the parable.

So, enter the other people, those who were found at the crossroads. Jesus is referring to any group of people who did not make up a polite society in those days, and letting his listeners know that the message of the Kingdom of God is now open to everyone. After all, we read that the servants went out to collect together ‘everyone they could find, bad and good alike’.

Although the ‘proper’ people had been invited at first, due to their refusal of sinners are now invited. This gives us hope — both for today, when we know ourselves to be at odds with the Gospel message (and therefore sinners) at times, and also in those times — for perhaps there were those hearing the invitation who took it to heart and acted appropriately.

Once we have accepted the call to follow God, we cannot stop there just resting on our laurels, saying, “I have been invited by God to the Kingdom of Heaven. And that’s it!” Once we are in a relationship with God, we are called to go deeper into a relationship with Him, and that implies that we do not and cannot sit still, doing nothing.

Is it fair enough — but what about the other part of the parable? If someone has been called and accepted by God, just as the guests eventually joined the wedding banquet and joined in all the feasting, wouldn’t that be the case? No, no, is the answer.

The key word here is “wedding-garment”. For in the days when this parable was first told, whatever state of life you found yourself to be in carried certain obligations – correct behavior or observance of wedding customs applying to all, no matter what.

This guest has no wedding attire. In other words, he is not bothering to do something fundamental to his state in life, not bothering to observe the customs he should, neither growing nor pursuing a closer relationship with God in his life.

So, it was with the king at the wedding feast. He had put himself out for the guests, but that meant that they should put themselves out for him. Not doing so, and not even addressing or apologizing shows a lack of concern or desire to follow what God has asked us to do.

Compare that with daily life, and you will see that God’s call is clear — it is not enough to be called and accept that call, but there is the obligation to follow it in whatever way we are called to do. We are recognizing what God has done for us, and we are doing whatever we are called to do in return.

In other words, not only have we been called, but also (as a result of our actions) we are being chosen by God to share in his eternal wedding feast in heaven.

Power! ~ The Rev. Frank Bellino, OPI

There is a story of two politicians engaged in conversation, and one asks the other, ‘But how do you know for sure you’ve got power, unless you abuse it?’ It is clear that this story is intended to illustrate a certain image of politicians.

However, it also mentions how we understand the power of God, an issue that is central to Christianity. For Christians to preach a strange Gospel about power: that the power of God was once the most visible in a naked man dying on a tree. If that is the case, then what Christians refer to as ‘power’ must be transformed in the light of this.

What we often understand by ‘power’ is more the misuse of power, using it in ways we should not. The Christian power is that capacity, that openness to love, depicted in the life of Christ, not something to be understood in terms of domination, manipulation, adulation or force. A sign of the depth of our Christianity is how that approach of looking at things has become part of our own lives and how we act.

To love freely and honestly is power because it takes a great deal of effort to not be swayed from loving by circumstances that come our way, or impulses within ourselves. It takes guts. It took immense courage to die on a cross out of love for us. That was powerful. It took immense courage for people throughout the centuries not to give in to inhuman forces.

The history of history is filled with such stories. Edith Stein, a Carmelite nun of Jewish origin, who, when summoned by the Nazis and greeted by the commandant with the words, “Heil Hitler!” replied, “Jesus Christ be praised!” That also was power. It may have caused her delivery to Auschwitz, perhaps the most notorious example we have of how badly we misunderstand what power is.

Today’s Gospel is about the power and the abuse of power. The vineyard is the House of Israel, the servants are the prophets who were sent to Israel; and the delivery of the landowner’s son, referring to the coming of Christ. The tenants are for those who mistreated them, Christ and the prophets, even to the extent of death.

However, the merest reflection should be sufficient to remind us that the themes of this story of violence and abuse of power remain very much part of our present day world. Part of this contemporary story is the power struggles that occur across the globe, as well as the violence we encounter in our neighborhoods and towns.

We must also examine our own attitudes towards the misuse of power. It is easy to shift the attention towards others, as though these issues are not part of our lives. They are. Our lives are filled with the consequences of this: broken and damaged relationships, a loss of ability to hear what others are saying to us, and a deafness to the voice of God in our daily lives.

This may sound sober, but it is actually a story of the greatest hope. It appears depressing when we forget what power really is. When we do this, we consider the tenants in today’s Gospel as powerful. In the light of the Christian faith’s understanding of power, what gives hope is that they are not really powerful, but they are severely weak. They practice the misuse of power, not its exercise. If the consequence of their actions is destruction, then the Christian must respond by proclaiming that the consequence of real power is a victory of the deepest level.

This is to reduce our expectations. However, Christianity does that. At its core, it is the story of a man who died that seemed to be a failure, yet who was vindicated by his Father raising him up. If that is true of Jesus Christ, “the first-born of many brothers and sisters,” then it is true for us also. We view the life of great people like Edith Stein as a triumph, not only because we admire her courage, but because we see in it a powerful overcoming of what is wrong with our world and with ourselves.

What makes this victory an ultimate one, an example of real power, is that we believe that this overcoming will be eternally a result of this victory.

That is our Christian hope, and just one example of how the world looks very different, and for the better, when seen in the light of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Fease of St. Francis~The Rt Rev Michael Beckett, OPI

Today is the Feast Day of our blessed father, St. Francis of Assisi.

“Francis is the easiest saint to understand and love, while Dominic is the most difficult,” thus saith Chesterton.

This is sadly true for many Catholics and non-Catholics alike. When we think of St. Francis of Assisi: a joyful ever-smiling beggar standing in a lush garden, surrounded by birds, rabbits, and a tame wolf. Everything about Francis has been positive: his preaching to the birds, Canticles of the Sun, and even the newfound love for Pope Francis has propagated this pleasant image of the humble saint.

But then, there is St. Dominic. Who is he? Many, many people have no idea. Isn’t he that stern-faced preacher wearing a regal black-and-white robe who always carries a book? Didn’t the start the Inquisition? He must have been a real piece of work. Maybe he was pretty smart and all, but he doesn’t sound like a real great guy. Was he?

Unknown to many, St. Francis and St. Dominic were, in reality, contemporaries and friends. Surprise!!!! We read the following story:

One summer night in 1215, during his stay in Rome, Francis had a vision: he saw Our Lord prepared to unleash the most terrible chastisements upon the world. His Most Holy Mother was making an effort to placate Him, asking His mercy and forgiveness. For this purpose, she presented two men who would labour for the conversion of the world and return a countless number of lost sheep to the fold. Francis recognised himself as one of these apostles. He did not recognise the other one, however.

The following day, he was in one of the churches of Rome when suddenly an unknown person came up to him, embraced him, and said: “You are my companion, we will work together, supporting one another toward the same end, and no one will prevail against us.” Francis recognised him as the other man in the vision. It was St. Dominic, who had also received a similar vision before the meeting. When he saw Francis in that church, he immediately went to greet him, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

While in reality Dominic loved peace and the poor as much as Francis did (Dominic sold his expensive and rare theology books to feed the victims of famine!), and both had a profound Marian devotion, Francis and Dominic were indeed two very different personalities, and consequently they infused these different characters into their respective orders. The Franciscan Order is known for their simplicity in approach to life and faith. The great conversions of the Franciscans came about through the consideration of the Wounds of Our Lord, His Passion, His poverty and spirit of sacrifice. They preach with zest directly from their fiery souls, for they aim to move the will through the heart.

Meanwhile, the Order of Preachers, the Dominican Order, is the “scholarly order”; to his friars Dominic always emphasised study, because he believed that solid evangelisation wouldn’t be possible if they hadn’t studied first. The Dominican mission is an intellectual work, that is, the study and teaching of philosophy, theology, and apologetics. St. Dominic was known to spend sleepless vigils poring over his books, and later in life these study sessions transformed into nights of thorough preaching and conversions. Indeed, the Dominicans move the will by appealing to the mind.

A great similarity leads to friendship, but so also does a great dissimilarity when it is not the dissimilarity of opposition, but rather one that is complementary. One had something that the other was lacking. Together they constituted a harmonic ensemble. For this reason, they admired one another. These two holy men embraced each other and were enthusiastic for each other’s mission, because although they had different approaches, their end was essentially the same: the conversion of souls and the building of the Kingdom.

To this day, the two orders enjoy a unique and special relationship. The Franciscans celebrate St. Dominic with a Feast, and likewise the Dominicans honour St. Francis of Assisi in their calendar of saints. A Dominican event can be led by a Franciscan friar, and likewise a Franciscan ceremony may be led by a Dominican. Even in the Litany of the Saints: the names of St. Francis and St. Dominic are mentioned together!

Today, we as a Dominican Order not only celebrate our father, St. Francis, we also celebrate our centuries old friendship with the Franciscan Order. We wish you all a very blessed Feast Day!

The Feast of the Guardian Angels~The Rt. Rev. Michael Beckett, OPI

We often think of guardian angels as a special angel only for children, but the truth is that we all have a guardian angel for our entire lives. Our angels are a gift from God. They watch over us, aid us in prayer, enlighten us, guide us and protect us. Angels are mentioned in both the Old and New Testament and many saints have had visions of their guardian angels. We can hope that our Guardian Angel will help us during our journey to eternal happiness in Heaven. The Feast of the Guardian Angels is celebrated on October 2nd. Although Guardian Angels have been venerated since the early days of the Church, it wasn’t until the 17th century that Pope Clement X extended the feast day to the universal Church. It comes just two days after the Feast of the Archangels Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael.

On this Feast of the Guardian Angels in 2011, Pope Benedict XVI said,

“Dear friends, the Lord is always near and active in human history, and follows us with the unique presence of His angels, that today the Church venerates as ‘Guardian,’ in other words those who minister God’s care for every man. From the beginning until death human life is surrounded by their constant protection.”

It is an established Catholic belief that each individual person has their own guardian angel assigned to watch over their soul. There are three important verses in the Catholic Bible from which this belief is drawn:

Psalm 90:11: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”

Matthew 18:10: “See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

Hebrews 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?”

These verses have led St. Jerome, one of our early Church Fathers, to conclude, “How great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it.” Many others wrote about our guardian angels, including St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil, and St. Thomas Aquinas. According to Aquinas, our guardian angels have a good influence over us, but they cannot control our free will. Guardian angels influence or guide us by acting upon our intellect through our senses and our imagination. When they do this, they are influencing our will to do good and avoid evil. So really, their job is to help you get to heaven. Thus guardian angels do not control us by any means, but they do greatly assist us in finding and doing God’s will. Our guardian angels are also able to protect us from danger as well as assist us in prayer and meditation on the divine things of God.

We don’t only have the Scriptures and the Early Fathers of the Church who tell us about our Guardian Angels. We also have the saints, some of which actually witnessed their guardian angel in action. In many cases their Guardian Angel was visible to them. These include St. Padre Pio, who could see his guardian angel, which would often send him on special missions; St. Faustina Kowalska, whose Guardian Angel accompanied her to observe the pains of the Holy Souls in Purgatory; and St. Gemma Galgani, to name a few. St. Gemma Galgani wrote much about her Guardian Angel in her autobiography, including this account:

“One evening, when I was suffering more than usual, I was complaining to Jesus and telling him that I would not have prayed so much if I had known that He was not going to cure me, and I asked Him why I had to be sick this way. My angel answered me as follows: ‘If Jesus afflicts you in your body, it is always to purify you in your soul. Be good.’”

Ask yourself this question today: How is my relationship with my guardian angel? Do I listen to him? Do I say good morning to him in the morning? Do I ask him: Watch over me when I sleep?’ Do I speak with him? Do I ask his advice? He is by my side. We can answer this question today, each of us: How is our relationship with this angel that the Lord has sent to watch over me and accompany me on my journey, and who always sees the face of the Father who is in heaven?” So, today is the day to tell your guardian angel “Thank You” for their daily guidance, and to show gratitude to God for assigning a powerful heavenly protector for your personal care. It is also a good time to make the resolution to pray to your Guardian Angel daily as our Holy Father admonishes us.

As St. Bernard of Clairvoux plainly states in his sermon:

“‘He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways’. These words should fill you with respect, inspire devotion and instill confidence; respect for the presence of angels, devotion because of their loving service, and confidence because of their protection. And so the angels are here; they are at your side, they are with you, present on your behalf. They are here to protect you and to serve you.

But even if it is God who has given them this charge, we must nonetheless be grateful to them for the great love with which they obey and come to help us in our great need. So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return their love and honor them as much as we can and should. Yet all our love and honor must go to Him, for it is from Him that they receive all that makes them worthy of our love and respect. Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are always loyal, prudent, and powerful.

Guardian Angel Novena:

Loving God, you are so good that you gave me a Guardian Angel to protect my body and my soul. Help me to know and follow my angel so that, with their guidance, I will be worthy of being in Heaven with You!

My sweet Guardian Angel, you are my defender every day of my life. Protect me from sin and bodily harm. Help me to learn to defend and protect myself so that I can be the person that God is calling me to be.

You are with me all the time so you already know these my intentions that I ask you to deliver to the Lord. (Mention your intentions here…)

My guardian angel, my defender, protect me!