The Devil Is Real

Introduction

My dear brothers and sisters, ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, as today's First Reading shows us, Satan had been the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31). The law of sin, injustice, and selfishness had governed human affairs, even though the presence and promise of God kept hope and love alive. But with the arrival of Christ, we are faced with someone who repeatedly outmatches Satan. He casts out demons effortlessly, 

These deeds Christ performed in the open air, for all to see. And they were so extraordinary, that the leaders in Jerusalem sent some representatives (the "scribes" mentioned in today's Gospel) to investigate. And when they discovered the Lord's amazing works, they had to offer some kind of explanation.

They could not, however, explain Jesus' special powers as coming from God, since that would require them to accept his teaching as well.But his teaching contradicted much of their own, and so to accept it would be to relinquish their status and influence.So, they attributed his works to a pact made with the devil – one of whose names was "Beelzebub."

Jesus calmly but clearly points out the absurdity of their claim. His consistent reversal of the devil's conquests shows that he is not only at odds with the ancient enemy, but also more powerful than him.

This is why, ultimately, we don't have to be afraid of the devil. With Christ on our side, the devil can't really harm us. But he still tries to – he tries to separate us from God and the protection of Christ, so that he can then lead us back into the slavery of his lies and deceptions. This is what St. Peter meant when he wrote in his First Letter to all Christians: "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is real – a fallen angel, with an army of other fallen angels. This is clear from the Bible…… And also from the Catechism.

Catechism no. 391. Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil". The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."

And it will make all of us a little bit wiser if we understand the five different ways that the devil tries to upset the work of God in our souls and in the world.

Part I: Possession

The rarest and most dramatic way that the devil tries to disturb our relationship with God is through demonic possession. Most of us have seen Hollywood depictions of people who are possessed. The Hollywood version usually emphasizes the strange and frightening effects of possession, and sometimes exaggerates them. But they don't really explain what possession is.

Possession is when a devil concentrates its activity within a person's body. When this happens, a person undergoes periods of "crisis" occasionally, when the devil temporarily takes control of the person's body. The devil can never take over a person's soul or make a person sin – God protects our freedom from that kind of attack.

But sometimes God does permit a demon to exercise control from within, over a person's body – that's possession. This is why, during times of crisis, a possessed person can show extraordinary physical strength, or speak and understand languages that the person never learned or exhibit other strange phenomena.

Almost always, cases of possession originate when a person gets involved with the occult, spiritism, or witchcraft. When someone does that, they open the door to the influence of evil spirits – fallen angels that are in rebellion against Jesus Christ, but who at first make themselves seem friendly to gain influence.

The Church has a special ritual that is used to free someone from possession - it is called exorcism. Exorcism consists of a series of prayers and sacramentals, performed by a priest officially designated by the bishop. This ritual makes the demon suffer so much that, eventually, if the person is cooperative, the demon will just give up and leave.

Part II: Obsession, Oppression, and Infestation

There are also some other extra-ordinary ways that the devil tries to interfere with our lives. Sometimes, God permits the devil and his fallen angels to cause frightening physical disturbances in certain places, or even to our own bodies. These can take the forms of loud or strange noises, slamming doors or windows, or even more alarming effects.

St. John Vianney, a holy parish priest who lived in 19th-century France, for example, was dragged around his room by the devil. One time the devil even set his bed on fire. Luckily, the saintly priest was hearing confessions at the time. Later, when he was told what happened, his only response was to say that since the devil couldn't catch the bird, he set the cage on fire!

When these physical disturbances are concentrated in certain places, they are called infestations. When they directly affect someone's body (not from within, as in possession, but from the outside) they are called demonic oppression.

When they bother someone's mind, they are called demonic obsession - this happens even to saints. Many saints, towards the end of their lives, were assailed by blasphemous thoughts, for example. These thoughts appeared suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere. But they battered the saints' minds intensely and repeatedly. That's what happens in demonic obsession. Blessings, holy water, and other prayers and sacramentals are sturdy defences against this kind of devilish attack.

Part III: Temptation

These extra-ordinary kinds of devilish activity are dramatic and frightening. But they are much, much less frequent, and much, much less dangerous than the devil's favourite tactic for disturbing us: simple, ordinary, regular temptation. Possession, infestation, oppression, and obsession can frighten us, but they usually lead us to exercise our faith to get rid of them. Temptation, on the other hand, tries to lead us into sin - and only sin can really damage our souls and interfere with our friendship with God.

How does temptation work? We all have a fallen nature, and we live in a fallen world. As a result of this, we have ingrained tendencies towards selfishness, greed, lust, depression, anger... (the theological word for these tendencies is "concupiscence"). These tendencies, when they are not curbed and formed by virtue, can get us into trouble. They can blind us to God's will, to what is right. Or they can overpower our desire to do what is right, to live as Christ teaches us to live.

Temptation is an invitation to do just that - to choose our own, fallen, natural, self-centred preferences over what God wants for us, over God's wise and loving will. But since, objectively speaking, God's will is always the best thing for us, temptations always involve some kind of lie, some kind of deception.

Look at what happened in the Garden of Eden, just before the passage we heard in today's First Reading. The devil tempted Adam and Eve by lying to them. He told them that God's warning about the forbidden fruit - that they would die if they ate it - was false.He told them that if they ate the fruit they would become like God - that too was false.

But how did he convince them? He turned their attention to the luscious appearance of the fruit, so that they would forget that God himself was the one who made the fruit, and made them, and gave them all the good things that they were enjoying!

He made them doubt the goodness of God, and this opened them to accept his other deceptions. This is still the devil's favourite tactic: make us doubt God's wisdom, goodness, or mercy, so that we disobey God's plan for our happiness and choose our will instead of his will. He wants us to say, "My will be done" instead of "Thy will be done."

Conclusion: Defending Ourselves against the Devil's Attacks

How can we defend ourselves in the face of these temptations? That's the most important question - much more important than worrying excessively about demonic possession and oppression. First, we need to use all the normal and most basic means to build up our friendship with Christ that the Church is constantly reminding us of daily, heartfelt prayer, the sacraments, especially Communion and Confession, and a daily effort to follow Christ's teaching and example in our words, actions, and relationships. But there's one other thing that is truly essential, and that we too often overlook. Temptation always begins in our minds, with a thought, an invitation to choose our will over God's will. And so, we need to form the habit of reflection, of interior silence, of discerning the origin of our different thoughts.

Any time we have a thought that disturbs our interior peace, we must pause and ask ourselves: Where did that thought come from? Simply taking the time to reflect and to ask that question is often enough to unmask the devil's lies and return to the light of Christ. Thoughts that make us discouraged and depressed, or anxious and revengeful, or self-centred and rebellious, can never come from the Holy Spirit. And if they don't come from the Holy Spirit, they either come from our fallen nature or from the evil spirit. Thoughts that come from the Holy Spirit always move us towards what is noble, good, true, and lovely, and they bring peace to the depths of our souls.

But we can't tell the difference unless we learn to reflect, quietly and honestly, on what occurs in our minds and hearts. We should create time and space for quiet reflection in our daily lives. And when, despite our reflection and discernment, we still feel a strong pull to do what is wrong, we can think of the crucifix, which reminds us that God is completely trustworthy, that there is no limit to his goodness, love or mercy, since he gave his life for us while we were still sinners.

When we remind ourselves of that, it will be much easier to do what Jesus so passionately wants us to do, as he showed us in today's Gospel: to embrace and obey God's wise and loving will.

The scribes in the Gospel this Sunday could not bring themselves to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Despite all the signs Jesus showed them, they still reject him, and even plan for his death. This is known as the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit. The Apostle St. John explains it: "Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist" (2Jn 1:7). They accused Jesus of having the power to perform miracles that came from Beelzebul. If this accusation had spread among the people, that would surely lead to his loss of credibility. Luckily, Jesus always has his way of defending himself and cleverly avoids their evil plans.

The idea of rejecting Jesus and the will of God is such a frightening thought. For we are now living in a world that has developed a culture that rejects God. We can become victims of this kind of culture. St. Timothy warns all Christ's followers on this: "A time will come when people will not listen to accurate teachings. Instead, they will follow their own desires and surround themselves with teachers who tell them what they want to hear. People will refuse to listen to the truth and turn to myths" (2Tim 4:3-4).

Against this frightening situation, we need to have a defense to keep our souls safe and strong. Our only best defense is Jesus himself. Hence, remaining close to him at all times is important. But being close to someone is not only a matter of being related by blood. Family and blood relation is quite vital in the life of every human being. But Jesus said that it is not an absolute priority. In fact, the best way to be close to Jesus is not by blood relation, but by obeying and doing the will of God. Obedience to God is the perfect way to be truly close to Him. Jesus said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. [For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

This statement directly points to Mary as the perfect model of obedience and holiness. She is surely the Mother of Jesus, not only on account of her physical motherhood, but more so because of her complete and unconditional obedience to God. Her obedience is steadfast and unceasing throughout her life, and it has never been withdrawn even in those most difficult moments, particularly at the foot of the cross. This is what makes Mary truly the mother of Jesus. St. Maximilian Kolbe explains the reason for her intimate relationship with Jesus: "Mary's will does not differ from the will of God. Calling upon her without reserve, you manifest a love for the will of God, for her will is so perfect that in nothing does it differ from His. Thus you give glory to God that He created such a perfect creature and took her for His Mother." St. Augustine puts it this way, "Mary, full of grace, first conceived Jesus in her heart before she conceived Him in her womb."

St. Thomas Aquinas has this to say: "Obedience unites us so closely to God that in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His. If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God." When we obey God, we fuse our will to His will, and we practically and intimately become one with Him. Such is the example shown to us by the Blessed Mother. Her absolute 'fiat' to God's will all throughout her life effectively united her with God, thus transforming her from being a simple maiden of Nazareth into the 'Woman Clothed with the Sun."

Obedience is never attractive to people especially in these modern times. It is not easy, and definitely not a good idea to surrender or subordinate one's will to another. This explains the rejection of many towards obedience to God's will. Immersed in the spirit of pride and self-sufficiency, modern man would always choose to follow his own plan and impose his will, even against the will of God.

The attitude and behavior bring in more self-inflicted misery and disaster upon humanity. The rejection of God and His laws results in untold suffering and pain for the whole world. The only way for the world to survive is for people to return to God and once more obey His will and His laws. 

A Covenant Sealed in Precious Blood

Today we celebrate not only the gift of the Eucharist, the Body, and Blood of Our Lord, but the covenant sealed through Our Lord's Precious Blood.

In today's First Reading the old covenant that the Lord established with the people of Israel is sealed with the blood of a sacrifice. The old covenant involved the shedding and sprinkling of blood. The altar represented God, and by sprinkling the blood on it and the people a communion of life was established that would be maintained for as long as they followed the precepts stipulated.

The Lord didn't need to do it, but, after the sins of humanity, the people of Israel did. That covenant was repeatedly renewed in Jewish worship through the sacrifice of animals and the shedding of their blood, with the hope of atoning for having transgressed the covenant. This covenant and the sacrificed blood that sealed were just a foreshadowing of the covenant to come.

When God became man, he chose to become that sacrifice, to shed his blood to establish a new and everlasting covenant. If the blood of animals produced a spiritual benefit for those who were offering it, today's Second Reading reminds us how much more spiritual benefit comes from the blood of Christ, who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world.

Moses in the First Reading ratified the covenant with the blood of bulls; the Second Reading reminds us that Jesus has ratified the new covenant with his blood. It's one thing to sacrifice something of value and make amends; it's a whole other level to sacrifice your very self, body, and blood. In ancient religions sacrifices were made and then partaken of, eating the food or animal sacrificed, to express communion with the deity to which the sacrifice was being made. 

Lesson: The Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity

My dear brothers and sisters, we always start our prayers by making the Sign of the Cross to remind us of the greatest mystery of our faith: the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. It's not a mystery as seen on TV where CSI checks a crime scene, fingerprints and DNA evidence, witnesses: it's something so big that it doesn't fit into our head. We couldn't have ever figured out on our own that God was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God revealed himself to us as the Most Holy Trinity. Jesus came and said he was God's Son, and that meant God was his Father. And Jesus promised to send his Spirit after he ascended into Heaven, so the Holy Spirit was God as well. This is something so mysterious that we believe it because Our Lord taught it to us and we believe in him.

Moses in the book of Deuteronomy reminds the Israelites, as he reminds us, that this great mystery of faith is God's initiative. God chose to reveal himself to us as he is: the one true God. At the time of the Israelites, every nation had its god, and they all believed along with the big wars of nations there were always big wars between the gods as well, big gods and little gods: a whole pantheon of gods.

God revealed himself to the Israelites as the one and only God, and he showed it by going into Egypt, which had, according to the Egyptians, the most powerful gods, and he took Israel out of Egypt showing his power and made them into a nation with him as their God. The nation of Israel showed the world that not only was their God the most powerful God; he was the One and Only God.

That revelation was a preparation so that one day God would send his Son and reveal to us that not only was there One God alone, which was what the Israelites believed, but that God is the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's the greatest mystery of our faith.

St. Paul at his letter to the Romans describes what happens to us at Baptism. On the day you were baptized, a minister poured water on your head (or immersed you in the water) three times, and each time he poured it he said: "I baptize you in the name of the Father ... and of the Son ... and of the Holy Spirit."

At that moment you received the Holy Spirit, who made you into an adopted son of God. God became your Father. Jesus became more than your best friends: he became your big brother. The Holy Spirit was poured into your heart so you'd call God Abba "Daddy!" Whenever we start our prayers, we remember this day of our baptism by making the Sign of the Cross and remembering the Holy Trinity and how God came into our hearts through our baptism.

Near the end of today's Gospel Our Lord tells the disciples to go out and baptize everyone in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but it also says the disciples "doubted." "Doubted" is translated from a Greek word used only one other time in the Bible: when Our Lord pulls Peter out of the water into which he was sinking: "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31). Peter stepped out onto the water with the faith he could muster but was overwhelmed.

The Eleven in this moment of "doubt" are about to witness the Risen Lord's Ascension; they don't know what's going to happen next. In other accounts of the Ascension from their questions, they think what we call today the Second Coming was going to happen then and there. The mystery of God is what we believe, and it is what we, as believers, share. We may not completely understand the Most Holy Trinity, but we believe.

Everything we do as believers we do in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Lord reminded the Eleven, and he reminds us, that it is in the power of the Most Holy Trinity and counting on his presence that we spread the Gospel and baptize. There's no reason to doubt.

To understand this lesson, here I gave two story as illustration. Sirst is story of St. Augustine who walk at the seashore and the second illustration is about the inside of the trinity.

Saint Augustine on the Beach

Every time we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we always remember the story of St. Augustine. Here is the story.St. Augustine was a great thinker and theologian, and one day he was walking on the beach, trying to understand the Holy Trinity. He saw a boy on the beach who was taking water from the sea in a little shell and pouring it into a hole dug in the sand.

He asked the boy, "What are you doing?" The boy answered, "I'm moving the ocean into this hole." St. Augustine replied, "That's impossible." The boy looked at him and said, "That's easier than trying to understand the Holy Trinity."

God had sent that boy to show St. Augustine that the Trinity was too big to understand completely or on our own. Pope Benedict XVI has a seashell on his Papal coat of arms in part because of this story of St. Augustine.

The Trinity Inside

From ancient times the way a Christian professed his faith and received Baptism was to learn and recite the Creed. The Creed, even today, is built on an affirmation of faith in the Most Holy Trinity. It begins with One God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. It continues with Jesus Christ, his Only Son, Our Lord. It doesn't leave out the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life. Faith in the Trinity is the bedrock of our Christian identity.

Thank Each Person of the Most Holy Trinity

• Thank God the Father for creating us and revealing himself to Israel as the One True God.
• Thank God the Son for obeying his Father in Heaven and coming down and becoming man to show us that God was Our Father and enabling us to become his adopted children.
• Thank the Holy Spirit for transforming us into God's adopted children and for bringing the Holy Trinity into our hearts and helping us to understand and live this great mystery of our faith.

This Week and Try Spot the Most Holy Trinity

Throughout Church History, many artists have depicted the Most Holy Trinity in icons and symbols. Why not contemplate a work of art this week that depicts the Trinity? Many works of Christian art show the Trinity, even if God is not the central focus of the work.

One icon worth contemplating is the Trinity by Andrei Rublev, which depicts the Trinity inspired by the three strangers who visited Abraham. ChurchPop.Com has a list of sixteen depictions. You can see all here: https://www.churchpop.com/16-beautiful-artistic-depictions-of-the-blessed-trinity/

Don't just give that image a quick look; contemplate it. Read up on it. Try to penetrate the symbolism. If you have children, have them draw how they imagine the Holy Trinity to be. 

Human life is a journey. All human beings without exception are walking towards eternity, namely Heaven, the eternal Jerusalem. The Church describes the human journey with a spiritual practice called pilgrimage. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that pilgrimage, in addition to reminding us of our pilgrimage to Heaven, is also important and appropriate for the renewal of prayer, seeking living sources to animate the forms of Christian prayer as the Church.

Pilgrimage is a description of a journey undertaken for a specific purpose, and here it is a spiritual purpose or intent, getting closer to God and being more able to pray. The basic intention is spiritual. It is not surprising that in the Church tradition, there is the term homo viator, we are pilgrims, on a journey. The Church encourages her people to go on pilgrimage.

In the Old Testament tradition, Jerusalem was first and foremost a place of pilgrimage. It was where the ark of the covenant was placed, hence the purpose of the pilgrimage. Jesus also made a pilgrimage there (cf. Luke 2:41-42; John 11:55-56), as if Jerusalem was the destination of his mystical journey (cf. Luke 9:51).

In the life of the Church, this tradition of pilgrimage continues. Not only Jerusalem but also places where there were important events in the life of Jesus became places of pilgrimage. Here the holy land has a special place because of its proximity to the Jesus event, and its close connection to God's saving event through and in Jesus Christ. Later the places of saints and martyrs as well as Marian apparitions and important churches became places of pilgrimage. In making pilgrimages, people live the eschatological dimension, the image of a pilgrimage to Heaven, the dimension of conversion and worship, as well as the apostolic dimension and communion as the Church.

On 15 May 2024, Saint Anna's parish organized a pilgrimage to the churches in Macau. There were 9 churches visited namely Our Lady of Penha's Chapel (Trappistine Sisters' Chapel), St. Lawrence's Church, St. Joseph's Seminary Chapel, St. Augustine's Church, St. Dominic's Church, Cathedral Church: Nativity of Our Lady's Church, St. Lazarus' Church, St. Michael's Chapel, St. Anthony's Church, and Ruin of St. Paul. These churches have a historic value in the diocese of Macau. Some of the churches were founded in the 16th century by the Portuguese. It was the Portuguese who brought Christianity to Macau.

That morning around 8 o'clock we met at Hong Kong Port. 20 people participated in this pilgrimage to Macau. After we gathered, we immediately left by bus to Macau. Around 9 o'clock we arrived at Macau port but because of the long queue at the immigration, we left the port at 10 o'clock. We took a public bus to "Centro". From 'Centro" we went to Penha Church, the first Church we visited. This Church was built on the top of the hill. From this church, we could see the city of Macau.

In Penha, our pilgrimage opened with a holy mass. After mass, we continued with the rosary in the chapel. After that, we went to the grotto of Mary of Lourdes to sing Ave Maria. Before leaving the Penha's Church we did not forget to take a group photo.

We then continued our journey to Saint Lawrence's Church. On the way, I reminded all of us to keep silent and keep praying the rosary along the way. The journey downhill from the top of the hill to Saint Lawrence's Church.

Once at St. Lawrence's Church, we took a group photo in front of the church and then entered the church to pray privately. After we finished praying, we continued our journey to St. Joseph's Seminary Church.

Upon arrival at St. Joseph's Seminary Church, we took a group photo and then entered the Church to pray privately. After praying privately, we visited the seminary museum. Inside the museum, we could see a historical movie of the seminary and ancient liturgical items such as mass kits, liturgical books, liturgical clothes, and statues.

We were still going down the hill. We walked to St. Augustine's Church. This Church is next to the convent of the Society of Jesus. As usual, we took a group photo first and then entered the church to pray privately. After praying we went to the restaurant because we were hungry.

Full and well-rested, we continued our journey to St. Dominic's Church in "Centro". This Church was very crowded as it is in the tourist center. The church was built in 1587. After a group photo, we went in to pray. The atmosphere in this church was uncomfortable because there were so many tourists and we were not allowed to sit to pray.

We left Saint Dominic's Church and walked towards the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Cathedral Church of the Macau Diocese. This Church was built in 1622. This church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. We can see this above the entrance which says "SS.M.V. Marie Nascenti".

After visiting the Macau cathedral, we continued our journey to Saint Lazarus Church. But unfortunately, the Saint Lazarus Church is closed. We just prayed outside the church and didn't forget to take a photo together. This is the seventh church we have visited.

Now we will visit the Chapel of Saint Michael. This small chapel is in the middle of the cemetery. This chapel is dedicated to Saint Michael, the Archangel. Why is it dedicated to Saint Michael? In Church Tradition, 3 figures are the protectors of souls in the throes of death, namely Saint Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint Michael. This chapel is very striking because it is painted in bright green.

We continued our journey towards St Anthony's Church. This year, the diocese of Macau, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Saint Magdalene of Canossa, designated the Church of Saint Anthony to be one of the churches where pilgrimages are made to obtain indulgences.

We continued our journey towards St Anthony's Church. This year, the diocese of Macau, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Saint Magdalene of Canossa, designated the Church of Saint Anthony to be one of the churches where pilgrimages are made to obtain indulgences. This is the last church we visited. To close our pilgrimage in Macau we visited the icon of the city of Macau, namely the ruins of St Paul's Church. After we were satisfied with taking photos in front of the ruins of St. Paul's Church, we went down to the bus stop to Macau Port to return to Hong Kong. 

Sharing from one of the pilgrimage participants to Macau:

One day Pilgrimage to Macau churches was a deeply enriching journey. Each church had its unique character and contributed to the spiritual fabric of Macau. The architectural beauty, religious significance, and the opportunity for personal reflection made it a memorable journey that deepened my understanding of Macau's rich spiritual heritage.

Throughout the pilgrimage, you can find moments for quiet reflections, embrace the spiritual significance, and offer prayers at each church. At the same time enjoy the breathtaking panoramic views of Macau, including its skyline, harbor, and the surrounding natural beauty.

Visiting the churches in Macau is worth a visit. It allows you to disconnect from the fast-paced world and find solace in the quiet, sacred spaces. It's a chance to nourish your soul, seek spiritual inspiration, and immerse oneself in the rich spiritual, cultural, and historical tapestry of the city.

I offer my gratitude to Fr. David and the two Brothers for the opportunity to embark on this pilgrimage and experience so much peace, renewed faith, and a deeper connection with God. (Yvette Fernandes) 

The Holy Spirit gives us New Life

My dear brothers and sisters, imagine if our lives were somehow different. Imagine if we had a new life, if we didn't have to always rely on ourselves. Imagine if we had an alternative power source that we could tap into, a power source that slowly transforms us into the person we truly want to be.

Today we celebrate the Pentecost Sunday, through the readings we are reminded that to be a baptized Christian living in friendship with God means that we do have this power source. His name is the Holy Spirit, and he is the third person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the bond of love between God the Father and God the Son.

In the first Pentecost we heard about how the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages of the mighty acts of God. Then the psalm asked God: "Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth." We can add to that, "Lord, send out your spirit, and renew my life, and the lives of those I love." 

True Love Is Self-Giving, not Self-Getting

My dear brothers and sisters, following Christ is not complicated. In fact, today Jesus reduces the essence of what it means to be his follower into one sentence. This sentence is his New Commandment, a commandment that summarizes everything he has taught: "Love one another as I have loved you." If we do that, we are on Christ's path, and we will experience the joy and meaning that only God can give.

And to make it even simpler (because he knows that we tend to complicate things unnecessarily), Jesus explains exactly what he means by the word "love," a word the Devil is always trying to distort: "A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends."

In other words, love is self-giving, and so, the greater the self-giving, the greater the love. When we put our lives at the service of others, when we live in order to give and not to take, when we are willing to suffer so that someone else can rejoice, then we may call ourselves his disciples. But Jesus went even further in order to make sure we would understand. He didn't explain the meaning of true love just with words; he also explained it with his deeds, with his own suffering and death.

He accepted mockery, humiliation, torture, rejection, injustice, misunderstanding, betrayal, and finally death, not because he was too weak to resist, but to show us what love really is: self-giving, self-forgetful generosity.

Jesus Christ hanging on the cross; bearing the weight of our sins; thinking not of himself but of the men and women he came to save, even pleading for their forgiveness up until the very end; giving without counting the cost, even without asking for something in return - this is God's idea of love. It is ours?

Aragorn and Arwen

My dear brothers and sisters, if you are fans of Peter Jackson's 2001 movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, you will get a glimpse of an unusual love story. For you who never know that movie, let I breakdown little bit.

Aragorn, the heir to the throne of the great Kingdom of Gondor, is anxious and fearful about his responsibility to defend Middle Earth against the evil menace of Sauron. In the midst of his melancholy and doubt, Arwen, the beautiful Elf-Princess, finds him and comforts him.

They have known each other for a long time, and it is clear that they are in love. But Arwen is an Elf, and elves are immortal. So, if she were to marry Aragorn, a mere human, she would have to give up her immortality.

That has made them hesitate to pledge themselves to each other, even though their love is deep. As she tries to encourage Aragorn, Arwen realizes that only the power of true love can give him the strength he needs to fulfill his mission.

She reaffirms her love for him, but she sees that it is not enough just to tell him that she loves him. She has to show it. In that moment, she overcomes all of their previous hesitations and decides that she will give herself completely to him, sacrificing her immortality out of love, and she says in a passionate whisper: "I choose a mortal life."

In the movies, we always recognize that true love is costly - it's about giving oneself more than indulging oneself. Somehow, that's what makes it beautiful. This is what Jesus meant when he told his parable about the grain of wheat.

If it falls into the ground, gets buried, and dies, it ends up becoming a new plant and producing hundreds of new grains of wheat. But if it refuses to die, to sacrifice, to give of itself, it remains just a single grain of wheat.

Reversing the Angle on Our Relationships

Reversing the angle on our relationships is an idea of true love. This is not pie-in-the-sky; it's practical. For example, it gives us a way to see our relationships from God's perspective. From a merely human perspective, we tend to look at our relationships in terms of what we get out of them.

This person is enjoyable to be around; this person rubs me the wrong way; this person is always asking favours. But when we understand that the path to true wisdom and lasting joy is Christ-like love, self-forgetful, self-giving love, those considerations begin to take a back seat.

When we are self-centred, we tend to be passive and reactive. But when we are Christ-centred, we tend to be proactive. We see relationships in terms of what we can give to them, and that's much more dynamic and energizing. Imagine starting the week by making a list of things you want to do for people.

It would change the whole tone of our week; we would be lighting lights instead of dodging shadows. This week: think of one small thing you can do to ease the burdens of your spouse; think of one small thing you can do to make your boss's or coworker's job just a little bit easier; think of one small thing you can do to bring some encouragement and joy into your parents' lives; think of a friend or relative who is suffering, and think of one small thing you can do to help support them. Is it really so simple? Yes.

This is what self-giving looks like in real life. It is within all of our reach, if we are willing to step out of our comfort zones. Jesus did it for us on the wood of the cross, today, this week, let's promise to do it for him on the pavement of our daily lives.

Month of Mary

In Catholic tradition, the month of May is dedicated to Mary. Mary is chosen by God above all other women. Mary's faith and obedience paved the way for the Incarnation. Her example teaches us faith, obedience, humility, and most of all, how to love. According to St. Thomas of Villanova, "If in this world any creature ever loved God with whole heart, with whole soul, and with whole mind, she was the creature."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Mary's unique role as being honored above all other saints, including the Apostles. At the foot of the cross, her heart broke for Jesus, yet she accepted God's will not only for her Son but for herself in her new role as mother to us all. (John 19:25-27) So, not only is she the mother of Jesus, and thus, the Mother of God, but she is also the Mother of the Church.

The pious practice of honoring Mary during May has been especially promoted by the Popes. Pius XII made frequent reference to it in his great Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy Mediator Dei. He characterized it as one of "other exercises of piety which although not strictly belonging to the Sacred Liturgy, are nevertheless of special import and dignity, and may be considered in a certain way to be an addition to the liturgical cult: they have been approved and praised over and over again by the Apostolic See and by the Bishops"

In his 1965 encyclical, Pope Paul VI delighted in honoring Mary in May because of the "rich benefits to the Christian people." Why? Because "the person who encounters Mary cannot help but encounter Christ likewise. For what other reason do we continually turn to Mary except to seek Christ in her arms, to seek our Savior in her, through her, and with her?"

"In the end, we should realize the great gift we have as Catholics. Honoring Mary seems natural to us. We honor our mother in heaven as easily as we honor our mothers on earth," Bishop Pohlmeier said. "From all mothers, we learn a great deal. From Mary, we learn the greatest thing, how to love God himself." As we honor our earthly mothers in May, let's honor our heavenly mother as well. "During May we pray with our mother that we may love Jesus as she does."

The ways Mary is honored in May are as varied as the people who honor her. It's common for parishes to have a daily recitation of the Rosary during May, and many erect a special May altar with a statue or picture of Mary as a reminder of Mary's month. Additionally, it's a long-standing tradition to crown the statue of Mary in May. Often, the crown is made of beautiful blossoms representing Mary's beauty and virtue. It's also a reminder to the faithful to strive to imitate our Blessed Mother's virtue in our own lives.

We can and should be doing the same in our homes. When we echo the customs and traditions of the Church in our homes – our domestic churches – we participate more fully in the life of the Church.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to erect a prayer corner in your home. No matter how fancy or simple it is. The main point is that it's a place designated for God, and more specifically, for spending time with him. Just as you need a proper atmosphere to sleep, you also need a proper atmosphere to pray.

For May, give Mary a special spot in your prayer corner. It can be a statue or picture, but place there some representation of our Blessed Mother. Make it appealing and a real tribute to her beauty and virtue.

Honor Mary because she is our Mother - your mother, my mother, everyone's mother - and because she cares for all of us day in and day out, interceding for us in even the smallest things. For that, she deserves a whole month in her honor. 

Jesus Transforms Us from the Inside Out

My dear brothers and sisters, history's greatest leaders influence people from the outside in. With their speech, their ideas, their example, and even their presence they move and motivate those around them, drawing others and stirring them to action.

Jesus Christ, however, goes much deeper, influencing us also from the inside out. He not only calls us from the outside, through the voice of the Church, the actions of Providence, and the example of his faithful disciples.

But he also unites himself to us so intimately that his very life flows through our veins. "I am the vine, you are the branches," he explains in today's Gospel. Where does a vine stop, and its branches begin? Their union is too complete to tell.

The same sap gives life to the vine and to its branches. Just so, grace is God's own divine life flowing through Christ and into us. In this way, as in so many other ways, Jesus Christ stands alone among great historical figures. Not only does he excel all others in their own game, but he plays in an entirely different league; he is a leader, but he is also the Lord.

How grateful we should be that he has seen fit to make us branches of his vine! And yet, as human beings we are a unique kind of branch. We are responsible for keeping ourselves united to the vine. And if we don't, Jesus makes it perfectly clear that we will not bear fruit; we will wither, die, and be burned.

So, the question arises, how do we stay united to the vine, so that we can bear fruit and share in eternal life? In this passage, Jesus points out four ways to do just that.

Growing in Prayer (with quotation from Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

Staying united to the vine means constantly growing in our life of prayer. Prayer is how we expose our souls to the divine sunlight. Just as plants need exposure to sunlight for energy, so we need to expose ourselves to God's truth and love through reading and reflecting on the sacred scriptures, and through conversing with him in the quiet of our hearts. And so, if our prayer life is the same when we are fifty as it was when we were fifteen, it could be a sign that we are stunting our spiritual growth.

For Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, listening to God in prayer was the very first link in the sacred chain of interior peace. Here's how she put it: The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.

Utilizing the Sacraments (with quotation from St Gaudentius of Brescia)

"Remaining in Christ" means making good use of the sacraments, most especially the sacraments of the Eucharist and confession. If a branch gets damaged in a windstorm, the gardener knows how to tie it up properly so that it will once again attach itself firmly to the trunk.

He binds it or grafts it back on to the vine. That's what happens with confession: Jesus renews the connection with him that our sin has damaged or broken. All the saints and popes recommend that we use this great gift regularly and frequently.

And in the Eucharist, our union with Christ is strengthened more powerfully than at any other time - we receive an influx of grace like no other, because he is truly present there under the appearances of bread and wine. If prayer is sunlight, the Eucharist is a rain shower, refreshing and renewing our souls. Every Holy Communion is like a spiritual springtime in which a new outpouring of divine life surges into our hearts and minds.

St Gaudentius of Brescia put it very clearly when he wrote: "This is the food which sustains and nourishes us on our journey through life, until we depart from this world and are united with Christ."

Loving Obedience to God's Will (with quotation from St Vincent de Paul)

Staying united to the vine requires loving obedience to God's will. This is what St John refers to in today's Second Reading, when he writes: "Children, let us not love one another in word or in speech, but in deeds and truth." It's easy to say pretty words, to talk the talk of being a good Catholic.

But that talk has to translate into actions and the strength of virtues, into honesty, purity, faithfulness, courage, self-sacrifice, and obedience to Church teaching. Otherwise, we are no better than actors on a stage, making a show out of looking like Christ's followers, but not really following Christ.

This loving obedience to God our wise and all-powerful Father, in big things and little things, is the surest sign of humility, and humility the shortcut to holiness, wisdom, and lasting happiness. As St Vincent de Paul put it: "The most powerful weapon to conquer the Devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it."

Letting God Prune Us (with quotation from St Ignatius of Loyola)

Staying united to the vine means allowing God to prune us. Jesus says that each healthy branch of the vine must be pruned "so that it bears more fruit."

This pruning takes the form of suffering. It may be painful, physical sufferings, like sickness, disease, financial insecurity, or old-age. It may be hidden, interior sufferings, like losing a loved one or watching a dear relative abandon their Catholic faith.

Whenever God permits these kinds of sufferings - the ones that we don't seem to have any control over - we have to let our faith remind us that they are under his control. He is the vine-dresser. He knows how much pruning we can handle (and the amount is different for each branch). And he knows how to use that suffering to unite us more deeply with Christ, who suffered on the cross to redeem the world.

In times of pain and hardship, God is begging us to trust in him more and more, to pray in the depths of our hearts that beautiful prayer that he himself taught us through his revelations to St Faustina of the Divine Mercy: "Jesus, I trust in you." Accepting the Cross, not rebelling when God tries to prune us, is the secret of all the saints.

As St Ignatius of Loyola put it: "If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that he has great designs for you, and that he certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat him to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the Cross, which Christ used for his own sacrifice of boundless charity."

God Wants Us to Bear Fruit

Prayer, the sacraments, loving obedience, and suffering in union with Christ are what keep the Christian sap flowing in our lives. They yield the fruit we yearn for most:

• a life that resounds with meaning and energy,
• a life that positively impacts others and exudes joy and enthusiasm,
• a life that changes this world for the better in as profound a way as Christ's own life did,
• and a life whose meaning and impact overflow into eternity.

This is what God wants for us; this is why Jesus came to earth: "By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." Bearing such fruit makes life worth living; without it we are dry, dead branches good for nothing except the fire.

As we continue with this Mass, let's thank God from the depths of our hearts for uniting us to the vine of Christ. And when we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, let's promise him that this week we will make a decent effort to do our part to protect and strengthen that union. 

The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer.The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer.At times the dialogue is between the Church or individual soul and God; at times it is a dialogue among the members of the Church; and at times it is even between the Church and the world.The Divine Office "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father." (SC 84)The dialogue is always held, however, in the presence of God and using the words and wisdom of God.Each of the five canonical Hours includes selections from the Psalms that culminate in a scriptural proclamation.The two most important or hinge Hours are Morning and Evening Prayer. These each include a Gospel canticle:the Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 for Morning Prayer (known as the Benedictus), and the Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55 for Evening Prayer (known as the Magnificat). The Gospel canticle acts as a kind of meditative extension of the scriptural proclamation in light of the Christ event.Morning and Evening Prayer also include intercessions that flow from the scriptural proclamation just as the Psalms prepare for it.

"The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time of day, the liturgical season, or the feast being celebrated. Moreover, the reading from the Word of God at each Hour (with the subsequent responses or troparia) and readings from the Fathers and spiritual masters at certain Hours, reveal more deeply the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, assist in understanding the psalms, and prepare for silent prayer." (CCC 1177)

The five Hours of the Divine Office are:

Office of Readings

"The office of readings seeks to provide God's people, and in particular those consecrated to God in a special way, with a wider selection of passages from sacred Scripture for meditation, together with the finest excerpts from spiritual writers. Even though the cycle of scriptural readings at daily Mass is now richer, the treasures of revelation and tradition to be found in the office of readings will also contribute greatly to the spiritual life" (General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours [GILH], no. 55).

Morning Prayer

"As is clear from many of the elements that make it up, morning prayer is intended and arranged to sanctify the morning. St. Basil the Great gives an excellent description of this character in these words: "It is said in the morning in order that the first stirrings of our mind and will may be consecrated to God and that we may take nothing in hand until we have been gladdened by the thought of God, as it is written: 'I was mindful of God and was glad' (Ps 77:4 [Jerome's translation from Hebrew]), or set our bodies to any task before we do what has been said: 'I will pray to you, Lord, you will hear my voice in the morning; I will stand before you in the morning and gaze on you' (Ps 5:4-5)."

"Celebrated as it is as the light of a new day is dawning, this hour also recalls the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the true light enlightening all people (see Jn 1:9) and "the sun of justice" (Mal 4:2), "rising from on high" (Lk 1:78). Hence, we can well understand the advice of St. Cyprian: "There should be prayer in the morning so that the resurrection of the Lord may thus be celebrated" (GILH, no. 38).

Daytime Prayer (can be prayed at Midmorning, Midday, or Midafternoon)

"Following a very ancient tradition Christians have made a practice of praying out of private devotion at various times of the day, even in the course of their work, in imitation of the Church in apostolic times. In different ways with the passage of time this tradition has taken the form of a liturgical celebration.

"Liturgical custom in both East and West has retained midmorning, midday, and midafternoon prayer, mainly because these hours were linked to a commemoration of the events of the Lord's passion and of the first preaching of the Gospel" (GILH, no. 74-75).

Evening Prayer

"When evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that 'we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.' We also recall the redemption through the prayer we send up 'like incense in the Lord's sight,' and in which 'the raising up of our hands' becomes 'an evening sacrifice' (see Ps 141:2). This sacrifice 'may also be interpreted more spiritually as the true evening sacrifice that our Savior the Lord entrusted to the apostles at supper on the evening when he instituted the sacred mysteries of the Church or of the evening sacrifice of the next day, the sacrifice, that is, which, raising his hands, he offered to the Father at the end of the ages for the salvation of the whole world.' Again, in order to fix our hope on the light that knows no setting, 'we pray and make petition for the light to come down on us anew; we implore the coming of Christ who will bring the grace of eternal light.' Finally, at this hour we join with the Churches of the East in calling upon the 'joy-giving light of that holy glory, born of the immortal, heavenly Father, the holy and blessed Jesus Christ; now that we have come to the setting of the sun and have seen the evening star, we sing in praise of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…'" (GILH, no. 39).

https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgy-of-the-hours

Jesus Is Our Model for Living Life to the Full

My dear brothers and sister, today we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Easter called a Good Sheperd Sunday. Because in the Gospel Jesus called himself as a Good Sheperd. Jesus is the good shepherd for two reasons.

First, because he laid down his life in order to save us, his sheep, from the devil. After original sin, the human race was under a curse. As the Catechism (#407) puts it, "By our first parents' sin, the devil has acquired certain domination over man, even though man remains free.

Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education, politics, social action, and morals."

Jesus came to break that domination, to reclaim us for himself, and through his grace, to lead us gradually out of our inherited, sinful self-centeredness to the everlasting happiness of self-forgetful love. He didn't have to do this; he chose to, because he cares - he is the good shepherd.

Second, Jesus is the good shepherd because he is faithful to the mission he received from the Father. This mission of carrying out the Father's plan, of obeying the Father's will, consumes Jesus and constitutes in his mind the entire meaning of his life: "This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again... This command I have received from my Father."

Jesus Christ was perfect man; he lived his human life perfectly, and that perfection consisted in focusing wholly on the Father's will, in being passionately faithful to his sonship. To discover and fulfill our own identity as children of God, and so experience life as he created us to live it, both now and in eternity, Jesus invites us to imitate him: "The sheep follow, because they know his voice" (John 10:4).

The voice of Christ, our good shepherd, is his example of fulfilling his life-mission, no matter the cost. We follow him by doing the same.

Christ's Two Advantages

What is our life-mission? For Jesus, it was clear: save the world by fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies and obeying his Father's will up to death on a cross. But Jesus, because he was true God and true man, had two advantages that we don't have.

First, in every situation, he knew with perfect clarity what the Father wanted him to do. He never really had to ask, as we often do, "What is God's will for me right now?" Second, he had more strength than we do to fulfill that will. Because of original sin, we have leaks in our spiritual batteries.

We are attracted by evil, selfishness, laziness, lust, greed, self-indulgence. Our fallen nature has a strong tendency to disobey what God wants us to do, or to rebel against what God sends our way. But Jesus had no leaks in his spiritual batteries.

He did not have a spiritual default setting on self-centeredness, as we do. This doesn't mean that it was always easy for Jesus to do his Father's will - his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane was proof enough of that. But it does mean that his human nature was in better shape than ours. Spiritually speaking, he was like an Olympic athlete, and we are like couch potatoes.

So, Jesus had some advantages over us in the fulfillment of his life mission of saving the world, which makes perfect sense, considering that his mission was much bigger than ours. But because he is our good shepherd, he has given us two supernatural resources to help us overcome our disadvantages.

To the extent that we make good use of these resources, we will be able to experience the meaning and fulfillment that comes from living our life-mission to the full. To the extent that we don't, we won't.

The First Supernatural Resource

The first supernatural resource our good shepherd gives us is the teaching authority of his Church, the Catholic Church. This authority is a light showing the Father's will for our lives, making up for the ignorance we inherited from original sin.

Jesus made a solemn promise that "when the Spirit of truth [i.e., the Holy Spirit] comes he will lead you to the complete truth." He also commanded his Apostles, and in them the Church of all ages, to teach all nations.

This teaching authority is often called the "magisterium," coming from the Latin word for teacher: "magister". It belongs to the pope and the bishops who are in communion with him. And it is the reason why Catholics today believe the same doctrines that Catholics believed five hundred years and a thousand years ago.

Our faith has not been corrupted or lost, even though the Church and the world have suffered so much turmoil through the ups and downs of history. Of course, we need to remember that this teaching authority doesn't apply to everything.

The teaching authority of the Church is guaranteed to be trustworthy only when dealing with the doctrines of our faith: the truths we profess in the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and implications these have for our lives in today's world.

Being Good Sheep

Our good shepherd wants us to experience the meaning and joy that comes from discovering and striving to fulfill our life-mission. That's why he came to earth!

He leads us to the cool waters of Church teaching, a clear, refreshing stream that never stops flowing and is never polluted. He leads us to the rich, grassy meadows of the sacraments, where we can feed on his grace for free, without ever having to worry about famines or droughts.

He truly is our good shepherd. But are we good sheep? Most of us want to be; that's why we are here today. But even if we already are good sheep, without a doubt we can become better sheep, if we make a more responsible and active use of these two supernatural resources that Christ came all the way down from heaven to give us.

Today, as he renews his commitment to us, let's renew our commitment to him, and promise him that this week, we will be better sheep than ever. 

Dear brothers and sisters!

Each year, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations invites us to reflect on the precious gift of the Lord's call to each of us, as members of his faithful pilgrim people, to participate in his loving plan and to embody the beauty of the Gospel in different states of life. Hearing that divine call, which is far from being an imposed duty – even in the name of a religious ideal – is the surest way for us to fulfil our deepest desire for happiness. Our life finds fulfilment when we discover who we are, what our gifts are, where we can make them bear fruit, and what path we can follow in order to become signs and instruments of love, generous acceptance, beauty and peace, wherever we find ourselves.

This Day, then, is always a good occasion to recall with gratitude to the Lord the faithful, persevering and frequently hidden efforts of all those who have responded to a call that embraces their entire existence. I think of mothers and fathers who do not think first of themselves or follow fleeting fads of the moment, but shape their lives through relationships marked by love and graciousness, openness to the gift of life and commitment to their children and their growth in maturity. I think of all those who carry out their work in a spirit of cooperation with others, and those who strive in various ways to build a more just world, a more solidary economy, a more equitable social policy and a more humane society. In a word, of all those men and women of good will who devote their lives to working for the common good. I think too of all those consecrated men and women who offer their lives to the Lord in the silence of prayer and in apostolic activity, sometimes on the fringes of society, tirelessly and creatively exercising their charism by serving those around them. And I think of all those who have accepted God's call to the ordained priesthood, devoting themselves to the preaching of the Gospel, breaking open their own lives, together with the bread of the Eucharist, for their brothers and sisters, sowing seeds of hope and revealing to all the beauty of God's kingdom.

To young people, and especially those who feel distant or uncertain about the Church, I want to say this: Let Jesus draw you to himself; bring him your important questions by reading the Gospels; let him challenge you by his presence, which always provokes in us a healthy crisis. More than anyone else, Jesus respects our freedom. He does not impose, but proposes. Make room for him and you will find the way to happiness by following him. And, should he ask it of you, by giving yourself completely to him.

A people on the move

The polyphony of diverse charisms and vocations that the Christian community recognizes and accompanies helps us to appreciate more fully what it means to be Christians. As God's people in this world, guided by his Holy Spirit, and as living stones in the Body of Christ, we come to realize that we are members of a great family, children of the Father and brothers and sisters of one another. We are not self-enclosed islands but parts of a greater whole. In this sense, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations has a synodal character: amid the variety of our charisms, we are called to listen to one another and to journey together in order to acknowledge them and to discern where the Spirit is leading us for the benefit of all.

At this point in time, then, our common journey is bringing us to the Jubilee Year of 2025. Let us travel as pilgrims of hope towards the Holy Year, for by discovering our own vocation and its place amid the different gifts bestowed by the Spirit, we can become for our world messengers and witnesses of Jesus' dream of a single human family, united in God's love and in the bond of charity, cooperation and fraternity.

This Day is dedicated in a particular way to imploring from the Father the gift of holy vocations for the building up of his Kingdom: "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest" (Lk 10:2). Prayer – as we all know – is more about listening to God than about talking to him. The Lord speaks to our heart, and he wants to find it open, sincere and generous. His Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, who reveals to us the entire will of the Father. In this present year, devoted to prayer and preparation for the Jubilee, all of us are called to rediscover the inestimable blessing of our ability to enter into heartfelt dialogue with the Lord and thus become pilgrims of hope. For "prayer is the first strength of hope. You pray and hope grows, it moves forward. I would say that prayer opens the door to hope. Hope is there, but by my prayer I open the door" (Catechesis, 20 May 2020).

Pilgrims of hope and builders of peace

Yet what does it mean to be pilgrims? Those who go on pilgrimage seek above all to keep their eyes fixed on the goal, to keep it always in their mind and heart. To achieve that goal, however, they need to concentrate on every step, which means travelling light, getting rid of what weighs them down, carrying only the essentials and striving daily to set aside all weariness, fear, uncertainty and hesitation. Being a pilgrim means setting out each day, beginning ever anew, rediscovering the enthusiasm and strength needed to pursue the various stages of a journey that, however tiring and difficult, always opens before our eyes new horizons and previously unknown vistas.

This is the ultimate meaning of our Christian pilgrimage: we set out on a journey to discover the love of God and at the same time to discover ourselves, thanks to an interior journey nourished by our relationships with others. We are pilgrims because we have been called: called to love God and to love one another. Our pilgrimage on this earth is far from a pointless journey or aimless wandering; on the contrary, each day, by responding to God's call, we try to take every step needed to advance towards a new world where people can live in peace, justice and love. We are pilgrims of hope because we are pressing forward towards a better future, committed at every step to bringing it about.

This is, in the end, the goal of every vocation: to become men and women of hope. As individuals and as communities, amid the variety of charisms and ministries, all of us are called to embody and communicate the Gospel message of hope in a world marked by epochal challenges. These include the baneful spectre of a third world war fought piecemeal; the flood of migrants fleeing their homelands in search of a better future; the burgeoning numbers of the poor; the threat of irreversibly compromising the health of our planet. To say nothing of all the difficulties we encounter each day, which at times risk plunging us into resignation or defeatism.

In our day, then, it is decisive that we Christians cultivate a gaze full of hope and work fruitfully in response to the vocation we have received, in service to God's kingdom of love, justice and peace. This hope – Saint Paul tells us – "does not disappoint" (Rom 5:5), since it is born of the Lord's promise that he will remain always with us and include us in the work of redemption that he wants to accomplish in the heart of each individual and in the "heart" of all creation. This hope finds its propulsive force in Christ's resurrection, which "contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us, we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit" (Evangelii Gaudium, 276). Again, the Apostle Paul tells us that, "in hope we were saved" (Rom 8:24). The redemption accomplished in the paschal mystery is a source of hope, a sure and trustworthy hope, thanks to which we can face the challenges of the present.

To be pilgrims of hope and builders of peace, then, means to base our lives on the rock of Christ's resurrection, knowing that every effort made in the vocation that we have embraced and seek to live out, will never be in vain. Failures and obstacles may arise along the way, but the seeds of goodness we sow are quietly growing and nothing can separate us from the final goal: our encounter with Christ and the joy of living for eternity in fraternal love. This ultimate calling is one that we must anticipate daily: even now our loving relationship with God and our brothers and sisters is beginning to bring about God's dream of unity, peace and fraternity. May no one feel excluded from this calling! Each of us in our own small way, in our particular state of life, can, with the help of the Spirit, be a sower of seeds of hope and peace.

The courage to commit

In this light, I would say once more, as I did at World Youth Day in Lisbon: "Rise up!" Let us awaken from sleep, let us leave indifference behind, let us open the doors of the prison in which we so often enclose ourselves, so that each of us can discover his or her proper vocation in the Church and in the world, and become a pilgrim of hope and a builder of peace! Let us be passionate about life, and commit ourselves to caring lovingly for those around us, in every place where we live. Let me say it again: "Have the courage to commit!" Father Oreste Benzi, a tireless apostle of charity, ever on the side of the poor and the defenseless, used to say that no one is so poor as to have nothing to give, and no one is so rich as not to need something to receive.

Let us rise up, then, and set out as pilgrims of hope, so that, as Mary was for Elizabeth, we too can be messengers of joy, sources of new life and artisans of fraternity and peace.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 21 April 2024, Fourth Sunday of Easter.

 We Need Jesus to Be Our Advocate

My dear brothers and sisters, the lesson of the third Sunday of Easter I took from the second reading of today reading. St John said: "My children I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one." Before I explain why we need an advocate, I will talk first about St. John who wrote this letter.

When St John wrote his First Letter, he was an old man. Of the twelve Apostles, he had been the youngest. Most biblical scholars estimate that he was about 16 years old when he met Jesus. And he didn't die until he was over 100 years old, after the year 100 AD.

At the end of the Creed of the Apostles the Church proclaims 'I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.' This formula contains in brief the fundamental elements of the Church's hope about the last things.

The Church has frequently proclaimed her faith in the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. It forms, as it were, the "continuation" of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the firstborn of many brethren (Rom 8:29), extended to all men and women, living and dead, just and sinners, that will take place when He comes at the end of time. At death the soul is separated from the body; with the resurrection, body and soul are reunited again for ever (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 997). The dogma of the resurrection of the dead refers to the fullness of immortality to which mankind is destined, but at the same time it is a vivid reminder of our dignity, and in particular of the dignity of the body. It speaks to us of the goodness of the world, of the body, of the value of a life lived out day by day, of the eternal vocation of matter. That is why in the second century when writing against the Gnostics, the phrase resurrection "of the flesh" was used—that is to say, human life in its most material aspect, temporal, changeable, apparently fleeting.

St Thomas Aquinas considered the doctrine of the resurrection to be natural in respect to its final cause (because the soul is made to be united to the body and vice versa), but supernatural in respect to its efficient cause (that is, God). [1]

The risen body will be real and material, but not earthly or mortal. St Paul rejected the idea of resurrection as a transformation happening within human history, and spoke of the resurrected body as "glorious" (cf. Phil 3:21) and "spiritual" (cf. Col 15:44). The resurrection of every man and woman, as happened with Christ, will take place after death.

The Church in the name of Christian faith does not promise us a successful life on this earth. She does not talk of a "utopia," since our earthly life will always be marked by the Cross. However, through the reception of Baptism and the Eucharist, the process of resurrection has is some way already begun (cf. CCC, 1000). According to St Thomas, at the resurrection the soul will inform the body so deeply that it will reflect the soul's moral and spiritual qualities. [2] Thus the final resurrection, which will take place when Christ comes in glory, will make possible the definitive judgement of the living and the dead.

With respect to the doctrine of the resurrection three points can be made:

—the veneration of relics of the saints is a clear manifestation of the Church's faith in the resurrection of the body;

—although cremation of the human body is not illicit, unless it has been chosen for reasons that go against faith (cf. CCC, 1176), the Church strongly advises maintaining the pious custom of burying the dead. "The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in the faith and hope of the resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy: it honours the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit." (CCC, 2300);

— the resurrection of the dead accords with what Holy Scripture calls the coming of "the new heavens and the new earth" (cf. CCC, 1042; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1) Not only will mankind attain glory, but the entire cosmos in which we live and move will be transformed. "The Church to which all have been called in Christ Jesus and in which, by the grace of God, we achieve sanctity," we read in Lumen Gentium (no. 48), "will not achieve its full perfection until 'the time comes for the restoration of all things' (Acts 3:21), and when along with human kind the whole universe, so intimately united with man and through him achieving its end, will be perfectly renewed." There will certainly be continuity between this world and the new world, but also an important discontinuity. The hope of the definitive installation of Christ's kingdom shouldn't weaken but rather strengthen, with the theological virtue of hope, our effort to achieve progress on earth (CCC 1049).

Footnotes:

[1] Cf. St Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles , IV,81

[2] Cf. St Thomas, Summa Theologiae , III. Suppl., qq 78-86

https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-16-i-believe-in-the-resurrection-of-the-body-and-life-everlasting/

The world is not just something "out there"; a spirit of worldliness often tests us. As much as the world tries to claim otherwise, the teachings of Our Lord bring peace to a troubled world and troubled consciences.

This process is not easy. Saint John insists that Our Lord did not just have to pass through water, but blood as well. He was baptized, but he also had to take up his cross and struggle all the way to Calvary. So do we. Saint John also reminds us that the Holy Spirit helps us identify and check the worldliness that always tries to afflict us.

The Risen Lord shows his wounds today in the Gospels to the disciples and says, "Peace be with you." They'd all abandoned him when he needed them. Showing those wounds could have been to shame them, but Jesus wanted to communicate a message of mercy, not condemnation.

Sometimes we forget that we've been forgiven. Jesus in showing his wounds today says, in a sense, "what happened, happened, but be at peace; I forgive you." Every sin we commit wounds Our Lord, and if we don't realize that, obviously we're not going to be asking mercy from anyone, and not showing much mercy when others hurt us.

Conversion means realizing we've gone off-track and hurt people along the way, including the people we love. Our Lord is always waiting for us to turn back to him and accept his peace to get back on track. In every sacrament of Confession, we acknowledge that we've hurt Christ and hurt others: we recognize the wounds we've inflicted and Christ tells us to be at peace because all is forgiven.

Our Lord gives the Apostles a special gift of the Holy Spirit today to become his ministers of peace, reconciliation, and communion. It's the Risen Lord who makes this possible. If Our Lord were merely dead and gone or ascended straight away without appearing to his disciples, we'd never truly know if he'd have forgiven us. He returned, Risen, and his first words were words of peace and a desire to share that peace with others. He sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins, forgiveness that brings peace. 

The Divine Mercy Devotion

Devotion to the Divine Mercy involves a total commitment to God as Mercy. It is a decision to trust completely in him, to accept his mercy with thanksgiving, and to be merciful as he is merciful. The devotional practices proposed in the diary of Saint Faustina and set forth in here are completely in accordance with the teachings of the Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Saviour. Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ.

The Divine Mercy Message:

The message of mercy is that God loves us "all of us" no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognise that his mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon him with trust, receive his mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share his joy. It is a message we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC.

A. Ask for his Mercy. God wants us to approach him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking him to pour his mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

B. Be merciful. God wants us to receive his mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as he does to us.

C. Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know the graces of his mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.