Need for Holiness in the Priesthood

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of the Clergy. This feast gives us the occasion to speak about the relationship between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the holiness that is demanded of the clergy and of the entire People of God as well.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart allows us to look into the interior life of Christ. The image of the Sacred Heart shows us an exposed human heart – something which seems strange as all of us know that the heart is an internal organ. The iconography of the Sacred Heart thus teaches us that Jesus is the Master, the Teacher of the Interior life. As priests and religious, it is only right that we should concern ourselves with the interior life. It is our task to imitate the beloved apostle who leaned towards the breast of the Lord to learn the secrets of his Heart. It is also our task to testify, like the same beloved apostle, to the gushing forth of blood and water from the opened Heart of the Redeemer. These images of the beloved disciple and the Lord are truly intimate images expressive of the intimate friendship which we priests should enjoy with the Lord. To me, the priest is first and foremost a friend of the Lord. Before all our pastoral duties, we ourselves must first “draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation,” “be strengthened through his Spirit in the inner self,”   and “comprehend…what is the breadth which surpasses knowledge.” In other words, we who share in the priesthood of Christ must lead lives of profound interiority. We must be men who constantly go to our inner rooms to pray to our Father in secret. The Holy Father has time and again reminded us of the necessity of retreating from activity in order to sit at the feet of our Lord and be truly his disciples.

The letter coming from the Congregation of the Clergy reminds us of this: “The expression found in Scripture ‘This is the will of God: your holiness!’ (1 Thess 4:3), though addressed to all Christians, refers to us priests in particular, for we have accepted the invitation to ‘sanctify ourselves’ and to become ‘ministers of sanctification’ for our brothers. In our case, this ‘will of God’ is, so to speak, doubled and multiplied to infinity, and we must obey it in everything we do. This is our wonderful destiny: we cannot be sanctified without working on the holiness of our brothers, and we cannot work on the holiness of our brothers unless we have first worked on and continue to work on our own holiness.” The Sacrament of Holy Orders configures us to Christ. We must acquire not only the mind of Christ, but his Heart as well. If St. Augustine calls the priesthood as amoris officium (Sacramentum Caritatis, 23.), then it is very clear that we must acquire the Heart of Christ. The flock of Christ deserves to be loved by nothing less than the love of the Lord. Thus, the responsory of the Litany of the Sacred Heart should truly be a priest’s prayer: “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine!” This conversion of our hearts into the Heart of Christ cannot be made possible drawing close to his opened Heart to learn its inscrutable riches. It cannot be made possible without looking upon him whom we have pierced.

St. Claude de la Columbiere, SJ, the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary, lived in the friendship of Christ’s Sacred Heart. It would be good to end our meditation with his prayer: “My Jesus, You are my true Friend. My only Friend. You take part in all my misfortunes. You know how to turn them into blessings. You listen to me with great kindness when I tell you all my troubles, and You always have something with which to heal my wounds. I find You at any time of the day or night, for I find You wherever I happen to be.  You never leave me. If I change my dwelling place, I find You wherever I go. You never weary of listening to me. I am certain of being loved by You, if I but love You. My worldly goods are of no value to you, but by bestowing Yours on me You never grow the poorer. However miserable I may be, no one more noble, more clever, or even more holy, can come between You and me and deprive me of Your friendship. And death, which tears us away from all other friends will unite me forever to You. All the humiliations attached to old age or the loss of honor will never separate You from me; On the contrary, I shall never enjoy You more fully and You will never be closer to me than when everything seems to conspire against me and cast me down. You bear with all my faults with extreme patience. Even my lack of fidelity and my ingratitude do not wound You to such a degree as to make You unwilling to receive me back when I return to You. O Jesus, grant that I may die loving You and that I may die for love of You.   Amen.”

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine!

Corpus Christi in Holy Family Parish

Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was celebrated at the Holy Family Parish on the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 10, 2012. It was followed by a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. Thanks to Dennis Maturan for the pictures.

Corpus Christi in De La Salle, Manila

As part of the closing activities for the centenary of De La Salle University in Manila, a Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was offered at the historic Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the University on the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 10, 2012. The Mass was said at the request of the Alumni of the University. Thanks to Dinky Nievera for the pictures. 

Eucharistic Adoration

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The Feast of Corpus Christi gives us the occasion to express our faith in the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament through Eucharistic Adoration. Unfortunately, in the liturgical reform following the 2^nd Vatican Council, there has been a perceived waning of Eucharistic Adoration because of the over emphasis on the celebration aspect of the Eucharist. In his Corpus Christi homily for this year, the Holy Father acknowledged and expressed his sadness over this imbalance: “concentrating the whole relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus only at the moment of Holy Mass risks removing his presence from the rest of time and the existential space. And thus, perceived less is the sense of the constant presence of Jesus in our midst and with us, a concrete, close presence among our homes, as ‘beating Heart’ of the city, of the country, of the territory with its various expressions and activities.” 

There should be no conflict between Communion and Contemplation: “In reality, it is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition with one another. It is precisely the contrary: the worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament is as the spiritual ‘environment’ in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this interior attitude of faith and adoration, can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in the Holy Mass is truly and fully acted when the community is able to recognize that, in the Sacrament, He dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offering them to the Father."

“To really communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to hear him and to look at him with love. True love and true friendship always live of the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter is lived profoundly, in a personal not a superficial way. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, even sacramental communion itself can become, on our part, a superficial gesture.” 

We have to adore what we receive in Holy Communion: “As Saint Augustine put it: ‘nemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit; peccemus non adorando – no one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it.’ In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; Eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, "only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another." (Sacramentum Caritatis, 66.)

The Eucharist is not simply a matter of food and drink which we share in fellowship. We cannot and should not deny that what we eat and drink is Christ the Lord himself, the Holy One who offers himself to his Father to obtain our eternal redemption. “In this Sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood (which)…cannot be apprehended by the senses but only by faith which relies on divine authority.” (CCC, 1381.) Therefore, let us adore Christ in the Holy Eucharist. “Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go and meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.” (CCC, 1380)

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

ZENIT - Pope's Corpus Christi Homily

In his Corpus Christi homily for 2012, the Holy Father made reference to the imbalances that occurred in the liturgical reform after Vatican II:

"...a reflection on the value of Eucharistic worship, in particular adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the experience that we will also live after the Mass, before the procession, during its development and at its end. A unilateral interpretation of Vatican Council II has penalized this dimension, restricting the Eucharist in practice to the celebratory moment. In fact, it was very important to recognize the centrality of the celebration, in which the Lord convokes his people, gathers them around the twofold table of the Word and the Bread of life, nourishes them and unites them to Himself in the offering of the Sacrifice. This assessment of the liturgical assembly, in which the Lord works and realizes his mystery of communion, remains of course valid, but it must be placed in the right balance. In fact – as often happens – the stressing of one aspect ends up by sacrificing another. In this case, the accentuation placed on the celebration of the Eucharist has been to the detriment of adoration, as act of faith and prayer addressed to the Lord Jesus, really present in the Sacrament of the altar. This imbalance has also had repercussions on the spiritual life of the faithful. In fact, concentrating the whole relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus only at the moment of Holy Mass risks removing his presence from the rest of time and the existential space. And thus, perceived less is the sense of the constant presence of Jesus in our midst and with us, a concrete, close presence among our homes, as “beating Heart” of the city, of the country, of the territory with its various expressions and activities. The Sacrament of the Charity of Christ must permeate the whole of daily life.

In reality, it is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition with one another. It is precisely the contrary: the worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament is as the spiritual “environment” in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this interior attitude of faith and adoration, can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in the Holy Mass is truly and fully acted when the community is able to recognize that, in the Sacrament, He dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offering them to the Father."

The Holy Father spoke of the relationship between Communion and Contemplation:

"... Communion and contemplation cannot be separated, they go together. To really communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to hear him and to look at him with love. True love and true friendship always live of the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter is lived profoundly, in a personal not a superficial way. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, even sacramental communion itself can become, on our part, a superficial gesture. Instead, in true communion, prepared by the colloquy of prayer and of life, we can say to the Lord words of confidence as those that resounded a short while ago in the Responsorial Psalm: “O Lord, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. / Thou hast loosed my bonds./ I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving /and call on the name of the Lord” (Psalm 115:16-17)."

The Holy Father spoke on the Sacredness of the Eucharist:

"... the sacredness of the Eucharist. Also here we heard in the recent past of a certain misunderstanding of the authentic message of Sacred Scripture. The Christian novelty in regard to worship was influenced by a certain secularist mentality of the 60s and 70s of the past century. It is true, and it remains always valid, that the center of worship is now no longer in the rites and ancient sacrifices, but in Christ himself, in his person, in his life, in his paschal mystery. And yet, from this fundamental novelty it must not be concluded that the sacred no longer exists, but that it has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, incarnate divine Love. The Letter to the Hebrews, which we heard this evening in the Second Reading, speaks to us precisely of the novelty of the priesthood of Christ, “high priest of the good things that have come” (Hebrews 9:11), but it does not say that the priesthood is finished. Christ “is the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15), established in his blood, which purifies our “conscience from dead works” (Hebrews 9:14). He did not abolish the sacred, but brought it to fulfillment, inaugurating a new worship, which is, yes, fully spiritual but which however, so long as we are journeying in time, makes use again of signs and rites, of which there will be no need only at the end, in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there will no longer be a temple (cf. Revelation 21:22). Thanks to Christ, the sacred is more true, more intense and, as happens with the Commandments, also more exacting! Ritual observance is not enough, but what is required is the purification of the heart and the involvement of life."

ZENIT - Pope's Corpus Christi Homily

Nothing Like This!

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Immediately after the celebration of the Easter mysteries, the words of Moses are addressed to us: “Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself…?” Moses was then speaking about the events of Passover which God did for the Israelites in Egypt. It was the most decisive intervention of God in Old Testament history. But if Moses was able to say this to the Israelites, the word of God more fittingly addresses these words to us. I say more fittingly because the Paschal Mystery of Jesus which unfolded before us during the days of Easter is even greater than the events of the Exodus. In the Israelite exodus, all that transpired was the liberation of an entire nation from centuries of Egyptian servitude. In the Christian exodus, however, Christ liberated us from slavery to the devil. In the Israelite exodus, God took a nation for himself from another nation. In his Paschal Mystery, Christ our Lord redeemed us from sin, from death, and from the Evil one.

The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost completed God’s revelation of himself to us. He did not reveal himself simply as the one God living and true. He allowed us to see his inner life. He revealed to us that he is a communion of 3 Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On the Mount of Olives, Jesus did not ascend into heaven without revealing this Divine mystery in the clearest terms: “…baptiz(ing) them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The Apostles received from Jesus a revelation greater than what Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai. “Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?” Nothing like this has ever been revealed to man. Jesus said, “No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Definitely, God the Son has not revealed this secret to anyone but to the Apostles and to us. “Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire and live?” Our answer is “Yes!” We heard the revelation of the Holy Spirit as he descended in the form of tongues of fire.

But it was more than just a revelation that we received. We were not simply given a peek into the inner life of the Trinity. Jesus gave us an access into this inner life of God. He allowed us to enter into the communion of the 3 Divine Persons. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we received the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” In Baptism, we became children of God – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We did not simply become a nation taken from the midst of another nation. We became God’s family, sharers in the sonship of Jesus. We became recipients of the Spirit of adoption. We worship the Father in Spirit and in truth – boldly we cry out to him: “Abba!” Indeed, God has not done this to any other nation!

Let us rejoice that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has invited us into his communion. Let us know and fix into our hearts that the Lord is God, and that there is no other. Let us keep his statutes and his commandments. Let us not hesitate to suffer with Jesus so that we may be glorified in him.  He is with us always until the end of the world. God has not done this to any other nation!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Truly Unconfused Worship

Taken at the Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Our Lady of Grace Shrine, Grace Park, Caloocan City. The Mass was offered on the 31st of May 2012, Thursday in the Octave of Pentecost. The Celebrant was Rev. Fr. Rodel Lopez, OMI, assisted by yours truly as deacon, and Mr. Dennis Maturan as straw sub deacon. Thanks to Mr. Maturan for the pictures.