Divine Mercy and Advent

In a catechetical class about the long Old Testament preparation for the coming of the Messiah, a student once asked me: Why did it take God so long in sending His Son? We ask ourselves: Why the delay in the Lord’s return? St. Peter, in the 2^nd reading, reminds us that what seems a “delay” to us isn’t really so for the Lord because “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.” The length of time did not really matter to the Lord to whom past, present, and future is all the same. God dwells in the eternal present. Time does not matter to Him who is beyond time.

The seeming delay of that dreadful day of judgment, when everything shall be dissolved by fire, is actually an expression of the patience of the Divine Mercy: the Lord is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. It is not that the Lord is slow in coming. Rather we are slow to repent. It takes us so much time to realize our faults. It even takes longer for us to come to repent over what we have done. All we have to do is to look at the way we deal with our favorite sins. It takes long for us to admit our guilt. It takes so long for us to overcome it. We confess our favorite sins again and again because we keep on doing it. That is why it is called “favorite sin.”

Thus, the Lord delays in bringing us to justice. He gives us time to repent. Patiently, he awaits for our return to him because he does not want the sinner to die. Rather, he wants the sinner to repent and live. Thus, he gives us many opportunities to avail of his mercy. Look at the Gospel. Before sending His Son, he sends first John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord. Contrary to our stereotyping of John the Baptist as a fire and brimstone prophet, the man is actually a proclaimer of the Divine Mercy: John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. His mandate is one of tender compassion: Comfort, give comfort to my people…Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated. Attracted by the message of mercy that the Baptist brings, people were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. Indeed, that dreadful day of judgment will come with the suddenness of a thief’s coming. But before that day, the Lord extends the limits of his mercy. He makes his mercy accessible to all.

Thus, we should take advantage of this time of reprieve. We should not hesitate to go to confession which is the tribunal of the Divine Mercy. Let us repent while we still can. Let us go to the priest and to him acknowlege our sins. Let us do this while the Lord allows his patience to delay his judgment. “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” To St. Faustina, the Lord said: “Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy.” (Diary, 83.)

On the Sense of Urgency in our Advent Prayer

The Carpenters have a beautiful song which was recently used as title for a movie: “I wont last a day without you.” The refrain goes: When there’s no getting over that rainbow; when my smallest of dreams wont come true, I can take all the madness the world has to give, but I wont last a day without you.” Romantic as it seems but the song reflects the sentiments of the Prophet Isaiah which sets the mood of the Advent Season we begin today. The prophet laments: Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? He laments that God has hidden his face and that he has every right to do so for “you are angry and we are sinful, all of us have become like unclean people, all our deeds are like polluted rags, we have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.” And because God has hidden his face, no one calls upon his name and none clings to him. Because of this, we have become even poorer, because we do not know what we are missing: You Lord are our father, our redeemer you are named forever. “No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him.”

Advent is once again upon us and unfortunately, it does not seems to have much impact upon our lives. Well, of course, there is that anticipation for the coming holidays with much gift, food, and merrimaking to expect. But the idea of waiting for the Lord’s return, which is the real spirit of Advent, seems lost to us. No longer to we see ourselves in the shoes of the gatekeeper whose task is to be on the watrch for the coming of the lord of the house. Nostalgic Christimas songs like Pasko na Sinta ko speak of a longing for a loved one who might be anyone, a spouse, a girl friend, anyone but the Lord. The holidays become very sentimental on account of the absence of people we love, but seldom on account of the absence of God. The Lord is definitely not sorely missed.

He is not sorely missed because we think that we can live without him. We presume that we can last a day without him. But that is not true for the Prophet Isaiah says: O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands. Even if you look through the paradigm of master and servant, as shown in the gospel, we still cannot miss the relationship of absolute dependence which we have with the Lord. The servant is dependent on his master for his livelihood. The clay is dependent on his potter for his existence. The child is dependent on his father for everything. In other words, “I wont last a day without you” is first and foremost true between the Lord and our selves.

And that is why we wait for his return. We watch for his coming. Although he is long delayed in coming, we still light our lamps and watch for his return. We patiently do so because the Lord Jesus has promised to return. And we hold on to his promise because “God is faithful.” And we are sure of his fidelity. But can we be sure of ours? We know how fragile our fidelity is. We know how easily we are swayed to mediocrity and compromises. It is on account of our awareness of our inclination to infidelity that we pray to the Lord with a certain sense of urgency: Return for the sake of your servants…Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down! Please Lord, return while we are still faithful. Return while we are still awake lest we drowse into sleep and be caught unprepared when you come.

St. Faustina wrote in her diary: “I am reliving these moments with Our Lady. With great longing, I am waiting for the Lord’s coming. Great are my desires. I desire that all humankind come to know the Lord. I would like to prepare all nations for the coming of the Word Incarnate. O Jesus, make the fount of your mercy gush forth more abundantly, for mankind is seriously ill and thus has more need than ever of your compassion. You are a bottomless sea of mercy for us sinners; and the greater the misery, the more right we have to your mercy. You are a fount that makes all creatures happy by your infinite mercy. (Diary, 793.)

Establishment of Liturgical Art and Sacred Music Commission as part of CDW?

Over at New Liturgical Movement is an article about the possibility of the establishment of the Liturgical Art and Sacred Music as part of the CDW. If this pushes through, this would be a welcome move of the Holy See. The regulation of both Sacred Art and Music is long overdue. If we want an authentic liturgical reform, we must never neglect the role of art and music in the liturgy.

Establishment of Liturgical Art and Sacred Music Commission as part of CDW?

Simon Vouet: St. Cecilia (c. 1626)

Simon Vouet: St. Cecilia (c. 1626), a photo by euthman on Flickr.

St. Cecilia, Patroness of musicians, pray for us.

Christ the King and the Works of Mercy

St. Faustina recorded this incident in her diary: “Jesus came to the main entrance today, under the guise of a poor young man. This young man, emaciated, barefoot, and bareheaded, and with his clothes in tatters, was frozen because the day was cold and rainy. He asked for something hot to eat. So I went to the kitchen but found nothing there for the poor. But, after searching around for some time, I succeeded in finding some soup, which I reheated and into which I crumbled some bread, and I gave it to the poor young man, who ate it. As I was taking the bowl from him, he gave me to know that He was the Lord of heaven and earth. When I saw Him as He was, He vanished from my sight. When I went back in, and reflected on what happened at the gate, I heard these words in my soul: My daughter, the blessing of the poor who bless me as they leave this gate have reached my ears. And your compassion, within the bounds of obedience, has pleased Me, and this is why I came down from My throne – to taste the fruits of your mercy.” (Diary, 1312)

St. Faustina responded to that voice: “O my Jesus, now everything is clear to me, and I understand all that has just happened. I somehow felt and asked myself what sort of a poor man is this that radiates such modesty. From that moment on, there was stirred up in my heart an even purer love toward the poor and the needy. Oh, how happy I am that the superiors have given me such a task! I understand that mercy is manifold: one can do good always and everywhere and at all times. An ardent love of God sees all around itself constant opportunities to share itself through deeds, word and prayer. Now I understand the words which You spoke to me, O Lord, some time ago”. (Diary 1313)

The Lord Jesus answered St. Faustina: “I know, My daughter, that you understand it and that you do everything in your power. But write this for the many souls who are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet, spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of each soul. If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of ju dgement. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasures for themselves, they would not be judged for they would forestall My judgement with their mercy.” (Diary, 1317)

The Son of Man will come seated on His throne and escorted with His angels. He will come to judge all the nations who will be assembled before Him. And He will judge each of us according to our works of mercy. There will be no exemption because “one can do good always and everywhere and at all times.” If we cannot afford to do temporal works of mercy, there are always the spiritual works of mercy that are within the reach of every soul. The temporal works of mercy are: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; To clothe the naked; To harbour the harbourless; To visit the sick; To ransom the captive; To bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are: To instruct the ignorant; To counsel the doubtful; To admonish sinners; To bear wrongs patiently; To forgive offences willingly; To comfort the afflicted; To pray for the living and the dead.

Knowing that our time is running out and that we are really approaching the day of judgement, let us waste no time. Let us take hold of every opportunity to gather eternal treasure for ourselves. Remember: If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Blessed are the merciful, they shall obtain mercy.

John Paul II, the Saints, and Holiness

We have the strange understanding of saints as people who are totally remote from our own experiences: medieval, other worldly, strange – almost fairy tale like. To many, saints are those whose feet are up there in the clouds, residing in their own ivory towers, so far from our daily experiences – they must be people who belonged to some other time, definitely not ours.

That is why at the end of the Great Jubilee 2000, when John Paul II wrote that “all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness” ( John Paul II, Novo Millenio Ineunte, 30.), some people thought that it was simply impractical to still speak of holiness in pastoral plans. It simply did not seem consistent with the language of the times. Can holiness be the foundation of pastoral planning? Shouldn’t we speak in more practical terms?

John Paul II taught that holiness is very much the language of the 2^nd Vatican Council: “It is necessary therefore to rediscover the full practical significance of Chapter 5 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, dedicated to the "universal call to holiness". The Council Fathers laid such stress on this point, not just to embellish ecclesiology with a kind of spiritual veneer, but to make the call to holiness an intrinsic and essential aspect of their teaching on the Church. The rediscovery of the Church as "mystery", or as a people "gathered together by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit",¹⁵ was bound to bring with it a rediscovery of the Church's "holiness", understood in the basic sense of belonging to him who is in essence the Holy One, the "thrice Holy" (cf. Is 6:3). To profess the Church as holy means to point to her as the Bride of Christ, for whom he gave himself precisely in order to make her holy (cf. Eph 5:25-26). This as it were objective gift of holiness is offered to all the baptized.” (Ibid.)

John Paul made it so simple. To him, Holiness is simply “belonging to Him who is…the Holy One.” It means incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. It means abiding in Christ as He abides in us because He is the Vine and we are the branches…we belong to Him. Thus, at baptism, the question asked of the catechumen: “Do you want to be baptized?” actually means “Do you want to be holy?” It is because baptism incorporates us into Christ, makes us belong to Christ. Belonging to Christ is the very essence of holiness. Christian life as a vocation to holiness expresses the radicality of the words of Jesus: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48.)

John Paul canonized and beatified many saints, “among them many lay people who attained holiness in the most ordinary circumstances of life.” (NMI, 31.) He did so in order to teach that the “ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few ‘uncommon heroes’ of holiness. The ways of holiness are many, according to the vocation of each individual.” (Ibid.) “The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living.” (Ibid.) Yes, the standards of ordinary Christin living are high. Therefore, “it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity.” (Ibid.) John Paul has always been critical of mediocity. He always reminded us to “cast into the deep.” (Duc in altum.) We should not be satisfied with a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity.

John Paul, who canonized and beatified many saints is himself now a “Beato.” He himself understood that if all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness, the pastor himself must lead by example of holiness. And holy indeed was John Paul – intense in his prayer, exemplar in his ministry, heroic in his suffering. His holiness was rooted in his communion with the Lord and His Blessed Mother. Totus Tuus – his famous motto, expressed his unconditional surrender and consecration to the Blessed Virgin. It was his constant fiat, closely in imitation of the Fiat of Mary that accounted for a truly fruitful ministry. And the fruits are undeniable: the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the death of Communism, the struggle against Moral relativism, the defense of all human life, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, the publication of the new liturgical books, the World Youth Days, and the World Meetings of Families. Truly, when one abides in Christ the Vine and Christ abides in him, he bears fruits, fruits that endure.

Blessed John Paul brings the world of saints so close to us. His sanctity isn’t just a story we read in the Roman Martyriology but one which we saw with our own eyes. Our eyes have seen him emerge from the balcony of St. Peter’s at his election to the papacy. Our eyes have seen him traverse the world to preach the Gospel. Our eyes have seen him here, at this very place, when he met with businessmen. Our eyes have seen him meet our clergy, our consecrated persons, our catechists, our youth, and our families. We saw him advance in age, suffer in illness, and die in peace. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of his saintly predecessor: “No pope has left us such a quantity of texts as he had bequeathed to us; no previous pope was able to visit the whole world like him and speak directly to people from all continents. In the end, however, his lot was a journey of suffering and silence…He has left us an interpretation of suffering that is not a theological or philosophical theory but a fruit that matured on his personal path of suffering which he walked, sustained by faith in the Crucified Lord.” (Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2005.)

I am so confident that from heaven, Blessed John Paul looks upon us at this moment. From heaven he continues to challenge us: “Do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows "what is in man". He alone knows it.” (John Paul II, Homily at the Inauguration of his Pontificate, October 22, 1978.) Let us not be afraid to belong to Christ. Let us not hesitate to surrender all to Him. Let us abandon ourselves totally to His Blessed Mother. His formula for sanctity are two simple words: Totus Tuus. I am all yours, completely yours!

The Means to Renew the Face of the Earth

The Lord said, I have come to light a fire on the earth and how I wish it were blazing. How can priests light the world with the fire of the Holy Spirit and so be instruments in renewing the face of the earth? St. Anthony Claret has this to say:

"The prophet asked the Lord: Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur, et renovabis faciem terrae. Lord, send your spirit upon your priests, and they, filled with this Holy Spirit, will hasten everywhere, like the apostles, and the face of the earth will be changed completely. For the moral earth does the same thing that the physical earth does: if it is well cultivated it yields abundant fruits, but if it is not cultivated it yield nothing but weeds and thorns. Thus people, if they are well cultivated, produce choice fruits of virtue, but if they are abandoned to themselves, they produce nothing but errors and vices. Hence we must work to form good clergy, who are the laborers in the Lord's fields, and we must ask the good Lord of the harvest to send good laborers to his inheritance.

The means assigned to change the face of the earth promptly and easily are the following:

The 1st means is to form good, virtuous, and well-educated priests, and we have no doubt that this will be achieved if we put into practice the means indicated in the present little work.

The 2nd means are missions, which should be repeated every three years in parishes great and small, lasting for a varying number of days, according to the needs of the people.

The 3rd means is that on all Sundays and Feast days of the year, the pastors should preach or read some talk, and teach Christian doctrine and the way to make mental and vocal prayer.

The 4th means is instructing girls and boys in catechism, morals, and religion. Radical reform must begin with the children.

The 5th means is not to allow boys and girls to receive the Eucharist without making a First Communion, preceded by a preparatory retreat, and followed by enrollment in a confraternity, so that they may continue receiving the sacraments monthly or every 2 or 3 months.

The 6th means is to revive those confraternities that are already established in parishes but have fallen off, and have them fulfill their statutes exactly, beginning with a few good and more fervent souls.

The 7th means is to keep Sundays and Feast days holy, not only because God commands it, but also that they may be devoted to spiritual gatherings, frequenting the sacraments and pious reading, so that everyone may keep God's law and pray.

The 8th means is to strive to spread good books.

The 9th means is to practice the 14 works of charity or mercy.

The 10th means is to exhort those who can do so to attend Mass daily, to say a 3rd part of the Rosary, to direct all they do to the greater glory of God, to suffer all afflictions with patience, to walk always in the presence of God, and to receive the holy Sacraments frequently.

St. Anthony Claret, The Well-Instructed Seminarian, Vol 11, Chap. III, 5.