Vol 8 Issue 18  ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
May 2, 2015 ~ St Athanasius, opn!

1. Fourth Sunday after Easter
2. Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross
3. Marriage and Parenthood (18)
4. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor

Fourth Week after Easter
Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
He will convince the world of justice

1. “And when he [the Holy Ghost] is come, He will convince the world. . . . of justice, because I go to the Father” (Gospel). This is the second part of the mission of the Holy Ghost to the world.
2. Men of the world judged Christ as an unholy and unjust man, and crucified Him on the cross between two thieves. They cast Him aside and placed him on a plane with a criminal, Barabbas; indeed, they preferred Barabbas to him, as though Christ were the greater evildoer. They brand Him even today, no less than they did during His lifetime, as a liar and a tremendous impostor. They reject and condemn his doctrine even as they rejected and condemned his person. He still commands us to serve and love God, and our neighbor as ourself; the world preaches self-love and practices it even to the exclusion of God, and it ridicules all those who seek to serve and love God. Christ preaches submission to the will of God; the world urges independence and self-sufficiency apart from God. Jesus preaches humility; but the world teaches man to assert himself and recognize no power but his own will and no law but the fulfillment of his own desires. Jesus preaches poverty of spirit, meekness, and separation from all that is worldly and passing, and he demands the rejection of all the vanities and idle things of the world; he has pronounced those “blessed” who are pure of heart, who suffer persecution for his name. The world ridicules such principles and such ideals, and sets up her maxims in opposition to the doctrines of Christ; she takes the same attitude toward those things established by Christ: His church, His priesthood, His moral code, the liturgical worship and the authority of His Church. What is the long line of heresies and schisms but a denial of the Church of Christ? Are they not degenerate deceivers who seek not the will of Christ and the things of God, but are accompanied by a mad thirst for power and honor, and an uncontrollable greed?

 

“He will convince the world. . . . of justice, because I go to the Father.” How could Christ go to the Father and be accepted into the presence of God if He were the wicked, unjust and sinful man the Pharisees of ancient times and the modern world would make Him out to be? “I go to the Father”; but when the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, is come, he will testify that Christ, who was crucified by the father, elevated and crowned with glory; God has placed his seal of approval on Christ’s holiness, on his justice, on his teaching, and on his life. Christ is acknowledged by god as his son, as the way, the truth, and the life.

God will also fulfill the promises made by Christ. “Everyone therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 24:35). Divinely approved, too, is Christ’s teaching of voluntary poverty, humility, and self-denial, Christ’s love for God and for souls, and finally, His complete self-effacement on the cross. It follows, then, that God must approve the Church which Christ founded, that He endorse the dogmas it teaches and the moral standards it maintains; He must approve of its spirit, the saints it produces, and the interior and exterior life that it leads.

3. “He will convince the world. . . of justice.” This justice is embodied in Christ, who “alone art holy.”

“Sing a new canticle to the Lord, alleluia. He hath revealed [by sending the Holy Ghost] His justice in the sight of the Gentiles, alleluia, alleluia” (Introit). The justice which the Holy Ghost brings is not the justice of the world. Christ has been acknowledged by god to be the only truly just one. In Christ alone can true virtue and true holiness be found; that is true holiness is found only in Christ and in those who live in union with him, who live and grow by virtue of that union. True Christian virtue is found only in the church which is filled with the spirit of Christ. Now we understand the liturgy when it sings the Communion chant; “When the Paraclete, the spirit of the truth is of judgement, alleluia, alleluia.” With each worthy reception of Holy Communion, Christ implants his spirit deeper in our souls. We leave the Communion table and return to our work, to our family, to our customary occupations, convinced of the heinousness of sin, and we hate it and condemn it. We are “convinced of justice,” and we reason and conduct ourselves according to its dictates. We live according to the spirit which Christ has given us.

Prayer

May the Holy Ghost penetrate our hearts, O Lord, and cleanse them. May he penetrate them to their depths with his dew and make them fruitful. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

He will convince the world of judgement

1. “When He [the Holy Ghost] is come, He will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgement, because the prince of this world is already judged” (Gospel). The third part of the Holy Ghost’s mission is to convince the world that the prince of this world, Satan, and with him his domain, the entire world, has been judged. The world is unjust; in Christ alone is there justice and truth.
2. Jesus has passed sentence on the prince of this world. This first sentence was given by Christ on the cross. “Now is the judgement of the world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself” (John 12:31 .f). Christ allowed Himself to be unjustly sentenced and put to death by the world. Thus, fixed to the cross, He is a living judgement written in the blood which poured forth from his wounds.

The blood of this innocent victim stands as a contradiction to the judgement which Satan, the prince of this world, and his servants, Pilate and the Jews, passed upon the innocent, unspotted Son of God. Christ has passed judgement on the prince of this world a second time by His resurrection from the dead, through which He has proved the falsity of the charges made against Him by the Jews. He was accused of being a blasphemer, of working His miracles and wonders with the help and by the power of the devil. These infernal lies are now unmasked. God himself has proved through the resurrection that Christ was the Son of God. “That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, . . . and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10 f.). Thus sentence has been passed on Satan and upon the whole world. The judgement of the world concerning Christ, the gospel, the Church, the Christian faith, Christian morals, the meaning of life, the value of material things, is thus proved to be false. “Now is the judgement of the world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31), that is, through the resurrection of Christ. Satan is dethroned. Justice is on the side of the Lord. The world is filled with lies, treachery, and falsehood. Grant me the light, O Lord to recognize the world for what it is and to avoid it and all abominations. The Holy Ghost, too passes judgement on the prince of this world. After Christ ascended to His father, the Holy Ghost came to confirm the judgement through the many centuries of the Church’s history. The world mistakenly thought that with His burial, Christ’s doctrines and teachings had been buried with him. But the Holy Ghost came to supply for the crucified Christ. The gospel of Christ spread with incredible speed through the cities and towns of the empire, and captured the hearts and minds of the people. Although the Jews rejected the gospel, it was accepted by the Gentiles, who believed and were admitted to baptism. They rallied to the standard of Christ and made their abjuration of Satan. They renounced Satan and the world with all its vanities, its specious maxims its deceptive power. The Holy Ghost is to construct a new world founded on Christ. All who believe are to live in the greatest harmony. Men no longer consider their possessions their own; all is held in common. No longer are there any needy ones among them; all dwell together in peace. “And all they that believed were together, and had all things common. Their possessions and goods they sold, and divided them to all according as everyone had need” (Acts 2:44f.). The disciples of Christ were not troubled by covetousness, envy and discord; harmony, charity, joy, and devotion to God reign in their midst. They were not proud or egotistical, but they submitted in all humility to the guidance of the apostles and of the church. “The prince of this world is already judged.” He has been judged and sentenced. Judgement had been passed upon his maxims, his spirit, his way of life, not only in the ancient church, but in the church of all times. This judgement has been accepted by millions of faithful Christians in the east and in the west, in the past and in the present. Moreover the church of Christ is never without its saints. Thus again the Holy Ghost passes judgement on Satan and the world, for we will have no part in them.

3. “The prince of this world is already judged.” This is the song of the Church and of the Christian soul at Easter time. Satan has been overpowered and dethroned. But nevertheless the Lord has given him and hour of grace for our own good. He still wanders about in the world, using the hours given him by God with the greatest zeal, to deceive and mislead the world. He propagates his lies, which the world mistakes for pronouncements of the truth. The hearts of many men, which should be raised to heaven, Satan manages to turn again to the earth.

Many Christians, having been deceived by him, turn to material and transitory things.

“The prince of this world is already judged.” He is judged, not only by the risen Christ Himself, but also by His members who are risen with Him. The condemnation of the prince of this world must be verified in us also, just as it is in Christ. We must condemn him with our thoughts, our words, and our speech. Each of our actions must pass judgement on Satan. We pass judgement on him through our faith in Christ, by our faithfulness to the vows we made at the time of our baptism, by the nobility of our ideals, by our opposition to evil, its influence, and its illusions.

“The prince of this world is already judged.” The fruitfulness of the work of the Holy Ghost in the Church, in the baptized, is also evidence of the judgement passed on Satan and the world. The Holy Ghost continually justifies, confirms, and glorifies Jesus in His members. He offers proof that Christ is the Son of God, that His words are true, that His virtue was genuine. His promises are not false but true. Through the power of Holy Communion, He will be glorified in me. He will form me and reshape me into a spiritual man, so that in my daily life I, too, may stand as a judgement against the world and Satan (Communion)

Prayer

O Lord, who by the sacred communion of this sacrifice hast made us partakers of the one supreme divine nature, grant, we beseech three, that as we know Thy truth, so we may follow it by a worthy life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Secreta.)

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MAY 3

Finding of the Holy Cross

1. In the year 313 Emperor Constantine defeated the rival Emperor Maxentius by the power of the Cross of Christ miraculously exhibited in the heavens. “In this sign thou wilt conquer” was the inscription he read. Then Constantine’s mother, Helena, journeyed to Jerusalem in the hope of finding the true Cross of Christ in its material form. Deep in the earth three crosses were found. To determine which was the one on which the Redeemer died, all three were brought into contact with a sick woman. The third cross cured her instantly and was therefore understood to be the true Cross. Helena caused a basilica to be built over the spot where the crosses were found. She carried a part of the true Cross to the Emperor, and it is still venerated in the church of the “Holy Cross of Jerusalem,” which he had built in Rome. Today’s feast commemorates the finding of the Cross on which Christ died for our salvation.
2. “Ours to make our boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Introit). This is a challenge; but how few Christians there are who glory in the Cross and who consider it a distinction and an honor to carry the cross of suffering. The Cross of Christ separates men into two classes: those who look upon the doctrine of a crucified Savior as foolishness, and those who see, beneath the repulsive appearance, the saving power of the Redeemer’s death. St. Paul says: “What we preach is Christ Crucified; to the Jews, a discouragement, to the Gentiles, mere folly; but to us who have been called, Jew and Gentile alike, Christ the power of God, Christ the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1:23).

The mystery of the Cross is revealed only to faith; an earthy, natural way of thinking cannot fathom it. The more firmly we believe; the more we see things as God sees them, and judge them by God’s standards, the better we shall understand the Cross and learn to “make our boast” in it; the better we shall realize that our redemption was accomplished on the Cross and that all salvation, all life, all grace, come from the Cross alone. St. Paul assures us that our Lord Himself was exalted precisely because “He lowered his own dignity, accepted an obedience which brought him to death, death on a cross. That is why God has raised him to such height, given him that name which is greater than any other name; so that everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth must bend the knee” (Epistle). Only to the extent that we become crucified with Christ and allow ourselves to be crucified, shall we be partakers of His Glory (cf. Rom. 8:15 H,). Thus, it was God’s plan that the salvation of mankind should be accomplished on the wood of the Cross (Preface). Hence, to us who believe, a cross is not a misfortune—something to flee from; rather, “ours to make our boast in the cross”; it is for us the way to salvation, to life, to resurrection; it is the “tree of life.”

“And this Son of man must be lifted up, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness; so that those who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life” (Gospel). When the Israelites were being led through the desert they murmured against God and against Moses: “We have neither bread nor water here; we are sick. . . of the unsatisfactory food thou givest us. Upon this, the Lord sent serpents among them, with fire in their fangs, that struck at many and killed many of them.” Then God commanded Moses to “fashion a serpent of bronze, and set it upon a staff, bringing life to all who should look toward it as they lay wounded. And so it proved; when Moses had made a brazen serpent and set it up on a staff, the wounded men had but to look towards it, and they were healed” (cf. Num. 21:5 ff.). The brazen serpent is a figure of the Crucified. Whoever looks up—with faith—to the Crucified Savior will be saved. There is no other way to salvation. No other power—not talent, not knowledge, not ability—can bring man true happiness, except the Cross of Christ. It was only by way of the Cross that the Redeemer came to his glorious Resurrection. We must follow His example if we desire resurrection and life. Looking up to the image of the Crucified we sing at the Offertory: “The power of the Lord has triumphed: I am reprieved from death to live on and proclaim what the Lord has done for me” (Ps. 117: 16-17). “Yes, if only I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all men to myself” (John 12:32). We believe; we are confident that Christ saves by means of His Cross.

3. In the Offertory of the Mass we have a living re-enactment of the sacrifice on the Cross: the same gift being offered; the same Priest, that is, Christ, who offers the Sacrifice together with the participating congregation and with the identical intention that He had on the Cross. We enter into His intention and permit ourselves to be drawn aloft by Him to His Cross. The more we offer ourselves in union with Jesus on the Cross and allow ourselves to be identified with Him, the more fully shall we experience the fruit of the Cross, which is life and salvation. “I am reprieved from death, to live on and proclaim what the Lord has done for me” (Offertory).

St. Paul of the Cross says: “What a great honor God bestows on us by allowing us to walk the same road that He prepared for His Son. If the cross becomes heavy and life seems to be plotting against us, then we have come into closer union with God.”

With grateful hearts we kneel before the crucifix and pray with the Church: “We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.” And we ponder the words of the Imitation of Christ: “In the cross is salvation; in the cross is life; in the cross is protection from enemies. In the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the cross is strength of mind; in the cross is joy of spirit. In the cross is height of virtue; in the cross is perfection of sanctity. There is no health of soul, nor hope of eternal life, but in the cross” (Bk. II, chap. 12). Therefore, “Ours to make our boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in whom is our salvation, our life, our resurrection: by whom we are saved and set free” (Introit).

Collect: O God, who in the marvelous finding of the Cross of salvation didst renew the wonders of Thy Passion, grant that through the ransom paid on that Life-giving wood we may gain election to eternal life. Amen.

MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD

The Catholic Ideal

By the Rev. Thomas J. Gerrard

(1911)

CHAPTER IX

THE BLESSINGS OF MANY CHILDREN

When man and woman were first joined together in holy matrimony, a divine command was given unto them to increase and multiply and to replenish the earth. Adam alone was lonely, and lonely in more senses than one. Eve was given him to be his companion, not merely, however, for the sake of companionship, but also for the benefit of the race of which he was to be the father. She was to be the co-principle with him for the procreation of the great human family. She was to be his help in domestic life and also his help in the life of the race. The whole earth was to be replenished by their offspring.

This was one of the first and most peremptory laws of nature. And being such a fundamental law it has persevered until now, and must persevere until this world is exhausted, until there is no more use for the law, until we are safe in heaven, where we shall be as the angels, neither giving nor taking in marriage. /107/

This natural law, moreover, has in the meantime been fortified by additional sanctions. The natural law is a reflection of the divine Mind. The new sanctions, therefore, do not alter, but emphasize the original law. Throughout the Jewish dispensation, therefore, we find that fruitfulness in child-bearing was ever regarded as a sign of divine predilection, as a fulfilment of God’s promises of prosperity. And as fruitfulness was looked upon as a special sign of God’s favor, so was barrenness looked upon as a sign of God’s displeasure or forgetfulness.

Further, when the contract of marriage was raised by Christ to the dignity of a Sacrament, this same end of marriage remained as the chief, the procreation of children; but at the same time it was raised to a higher plane, the procreation of children both for this world and for the next. The mother who had done her duty in this matter had fulfilled her highest destiny. By bringing many children into the world, by bringing them into the Church through Baptism, by bringing them to their final salvation through her good example and zeal for Christian education, she had saved her own soul. “She shall be saved, however, through child-bearing, if she shall persevere in faith and love and holiness and sobriety.” /108/

Seeing then that this fruitfulness is according to God’s will, it must be rewarded with God’s blessing. And, indeed, it is first a blessing to the family, secondly a blessing to the State, and eventually a blessing to heaven itself.

Many children are a blessing to the family. First, they provide the opportunity for the exercise of one of the strongest instincts of nature, family affection, the love of parents toward children, of children toward parents, of children toward each other. No matter how many children a mother may have, her love for anyone of them is not thereby diminished, but rather increased. If she had to part with anyone of them, she could not make the choice. They are each dear to her, because they are her own, because they are the children of her husband, and because they are brothers and sisters to each other. The family love is so woven and interwoven, that, the greater the number of the threads, the more difficult it is to distinguish anyone of them. This may be the result of merely natural affection.

When, however, the family love is intertwined with supernatural faith, supernatural hope, and supernatural love, then is the family bond made indefinitely stronger, and the family love more keen and more satisfying. The mother of the Macha- /109/ bees did not love her children less, but indescribably more, when she had to lead them to be sacrificed for the sake of God’s cause. And although her natural sorrow must have been one of the most poignant ever suffered by mother on account of children, yet her supernatural joy must have surpassed it in intensity and have produced in her maternal heart a satisfaction far exceeding the natural void caused by her bereavement.

Secondly, a large family is a means of developing character, both in the parents and in the children. In the case of the father, it is a question as to whether he will face the task of working and saving for the means of bringing up a large family. He certainly needs courage. He certainly needs self-denial and self-restraint. He certainly needs the help of Sacraments and other religious ordinances. But these are the very warp and woof of manly character. He is only a weakling, therefore, wanting in manhood and wanting in the stamina of a Christian, who shirks the duties of fatherhood merely because they involve a heavier burden.

In the case of the mother, it is a question as to whether she will face the illness and the anxieties incident to a large family of children, and possibly, which is the greatest trial of all, displeasure

/110/ and neglect on the part of her husband. The burden of motherhood then acts against flimsy attractions of the world of pleasure. It concentrates her attention on the family. It gives her an interest than which nothing is more absorbing and satisfying outside heaven. In a word, it develops her womanhood. And, since she is of the gentler, as contrasted to the sterner, sex, her numerous anxieties will develop in her the quality of gentleness.

Further, if she is so unfortunate as to have a husband who is unkind or neglectful or difficult, then it will bring out her characteristic of tact. There are few husbands who do not need some “managing.” And it is the glory of some wives that they know how to “manage” their husbands; how to get what they want without crying or quarreling for it. Surely, therefore, it must be an accomplishment worth cultivating, to be able to rule by tact and by persuasion, rather than by force or harshness.

Now a large family implies many relations to be adjusted, many misunderstandings to be smoothed over, many arrangements for the mutual welfare of all. It is the mother of the family who has to do all this. It is by her instinctive tact and enduring patience that the family is held together. The /111/more accomplished she is in this office, the brighter does she shine as an example of motherhood. And the greater will be her accomplishment in proportion as she has the greater number of children to care for.

In the case of the children it is a question of generosity or selfishness. Who has not looked with dismay on the spoilt child, the only one of the family? Who has not observed the ugly self consciousness, pride, and vanity of two children, the miserable two who have had no other companions but each other during the years when the foundation of their character was laid? And who has not seen the beautiful unselfishness and generosity of the children of a family of seven, or, better still, of a family of fourteen? Why, even their faults and their sins are due to excess of generosity, rather than to defect in it. The principle of give and take has been so often demanded of them and so often exercised, that it must have grown into a fixed habit by the time they come to separate and go their way in life apart. The boys have had their boyishness toned down by the gentle influence of the girls, while the girls have had their girlishness toned up by the strong influence of the boys.

(To be continued) 

The Church must not be afraid to fight even for its presence, which the civil authorities are only too willing to remove.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/downtown-vegas-church-wins-parking-skirmish-city

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Father Courtney Edward will be in Los Angeles May 5 and in San Diego May 6. He will be in Eureka, Nevada, on May 19. He will be in the Czech Republic (Touzim) from May 28-June 8.

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