Perseverance and Humility: Lessons from Saints and the Sacred Heart
Announcements and Upcoming Events
Today is the 19th Sunday after Pentecost and there are several announcements. Being the third Sunday of the month, as usual, the second collection will be for the Priory in Sanford. So that helps contribute to the many expenses of the Priory and of the priests. So please, your help is much appreciated. Also after the Mass, again as is normal with the Third Order, we have the blessing of religious articles after each Mass. So if you have something you'd like to have blessed, please make sure you put it on the table in the back hallway. I'll probably start blessing between 5 and 10 minutes after Mass finishes. Also we will have our usual question and answer session after the 11 a.m. Mass. So you're more than welcome to stay around. If you have any questions for an open forum, you're more than welcome to bring them. And actually encouraged to, please do so.
November: A Month for the Poor Souls
A couple of Sundays we are beginning November. A couple of weeks we're beginning November. And of course that's the month that's dedicated to the poor souls of Purgatory. So we have the usual envelopes in the vestibule where you can write down your intentions. Okay. And you can hand them in to the priest, put them in the collection basket, whatever else. Those are the intentions of the poor souls or those who are deceased, family, friends, etc. Whoever you may want to pray for because during the month of November every Mass we say on the main altar in Sanford will be for that intention of those souls. So please make sure you bring them in a timely fashion.
Feast of Christ the King and Other Celebrations
Next Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Spirit. Feast of Christ the King. A very important, very beautiful feast day. Traditionally the last Sunday of October. So after the 11 o'clock Mass next Sunday we will have the customary and traditional procession of the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharistic procession. Weather permitting we'll have a second altar set up. We'll be able to do our, do a benediction out there as well as in here. So everyone's encouraged to, even if you attend a different Mass, to come back at least for the Eucharistic celebration. To, to proclaim Christ as our King and to bring him out into a world that desperately needs him. Also after that we will have a potluck. We're trying something a little new. So people who want to participate in the potluck are more than welcome to bring food that's traditional or customary from your cultures. So any Irish out there you don't have to worry about it. But everybody else is more than welcome to. So please. That way we can also show Christ. Christ is King of all cultures. Christ is King of all societies. And it's just a little thing that we can do.
Children's Events and Catechism
Also we have a, the children's All Saints pageant. So those who, those who want to have their children to dress up as saints, make sure they come prepared knowing who their saint is and what, and details about their saints so we can quiz them a little bit. So that's always a fun, a fun event. That'll be next Sunday, the 11 o'clock Mass. Okay. Thank you. Children's Catechism begins on November the 2nd. So that's in two weeks from today. So if you haven't yet, make sure you sign your children up on the, in the Catechism sign-up sheet in the vestibule.
Confirmations and Chapel Arrangements
Also, we are going to have confirmations on January the 18th this year. So we finally have a date locked in where Bishop Fillet will be coming to do confirmations for us. So if you have not been confirmed. If you have children. who are of the age of confirmation, please make sure you sign up on the sheet that's in the vestibule for confirmations. We need to have a solid number because we're going to start catechism for confirmations as well. And just a reminder that if you have doubts about the validity of your confirmation in the past, before you sign up, please come and talk to me so that we can go over your case just to make sure of its validity.
We also have the... Just a clarification. It's partly for our attendance at Mass, partly for security, partly for just the work of the ushers and a few other things. As everybody, I'm sure, is painfully aware, we have three different areas where people attend Mass in this chapel. We have the chapel proper, which is where we're at right now, but then we also have... We also have the side area, which is the first overflow area. But since we have too many even for that, we also have a second overflow area in the parish hall where we put on a projector. And it's not normal. That's not how it's supposed to be. We're all supposed to be in the chapel. We're all supposed to be able to sit to attend Mass in person and not hidden behind this area and not watching it on a screen. But unfortunately, that is what we have available, but we are going to try to encourage a stronger devotion to the Mass by making this the first place of, shall we say, depositing souls. So as people attend, please make sure that this is the first place that gets filled up before moving on to the second place. And that gets filled up before moving on to the third place. And also the parish hall doubles doubles. As a cry room, okay? Not a babysitting room. It's something a little different. We are, if you have a fractious child, it happens. No, we're not going to be casting aspersions about that, but you can take them out to the parish hall to get them back into a more contemplative mood and then you bring them back into the church. It's not to sit out there and to babysit them, okay?
Rezoning and Future Plans
Lastly, yes, last announcement, finally. I forgot to announce this at the last Mass, but please make sure that everybody knows our meeting with the city went very well. The town council has approved everything. We have one final meeting for the rezoning approval, but I was told in confidence by one of the council members that it's just a foregone conclusion. We're all golden to go ahead and start the process of getting contracts signed for our land swap. So, that next appointment is on November the 5th, but please keep going with your prayers. They're obviously doing some good and the bureaucracy has backed way off on us and so we appreciate your patience more than anything else, but your support, your prayers, your generosity and making sure that this project keeps moving forward. There's so much good to be done and let's keep everything moving in a forward direction so we can hopefully build a new church very soon. Amen. Amen.
Reflections on Recent Feasts
This last week we had occasion to celebrate several beautiful feasts. And I just would like to focus on one particular aspect of three of those saints. On Monday we celebrated the feast of St. Edward the Confessor. So, not well known. But he was the last great Saxon king before England was England, as it were. Before the Norman conquest. He was the one who actually surrendered to William the Conqueror. It's interesting that he's a saint and William certainly was not. Then also we had on the 15th, on Wednesday, we had the feast of St. Teresa of Avila. Now of course we know her as the great reformer of the Carmelite order. And she's the one who renewed the Carmelite order into its former glory. With the establishment of the Discalced Carmelites. Ones who live in complete cloister. Cloistered away from the rest of the world. And live in such a beautiful and silent harmony. But then also we have on Friday the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. So, there's one element of all three of them. And that is that they were failures. To one degree or another, each and every one of them was a failure.
The Theme of Failure and Redemption
St. Edward the Confessor, obviously he was a king who was conquered. Who had to surrender his people to the dominion of the Normans. So, just in case anybody had any doubts, the Normans weren't always nice people. They were French, so it happens. But then they conquered England. And they subjugated the Saxons. The Saxons were considered second tier citizens. And that is what Edward the Confessor had to surrender to. So, quite humiliating. Quite humiliating for a king to have to do that. And yet he's a saint because he did what was the right thing to protect his people. And he did the right thing to establish more harmony and peace within his realm. It was a very difficult thing, but it was the right thing.
St. Teresa wasn't always the success. The success story that we tend to see her as. For the first 20 years of her life as a religious, she was so sick, she couldn't get up from her bed. For many years, she was just sent from doctor to doctor. From region to region. Sent to stay with her family. She was never really allowed to be a formal member of the Carmelite order. Not entirely, and not living at the convent because she was always so sick. She was bed bound. And as a result... Actually, at one point she medically died. And came back. And that's when she started to finally heal. Also, even when she finally started on the great work of, with St. John of the Cross, reforming the Carmelite order. With the blessing of the Carmelite superiors. She failed many times. To the point that even her sisters even physically would throw her out of convents. Because she was trying to reform them. And change them. When she decided to start forming the Discalced Carmelite convents. Which were much smaller. She couldn't find the backers and support she needed to be able to start. Even the smallest ones. Any property she got was ramshackled and falling apart. And she had to put everything back together from scratch. She failed time after time. Everything she tried would fall apart. Before she would accomplish her great success.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque also. When she started reporting her application. She was treated as a lunatic. She was treated as a vain glorious little nun. Who was just trying to gain attention from everybody else. She was humiliated and scoffed at and ridiculed for most of her time. She was even shunned by most of her sisters in the convent as well.
The Sacred Heart: Embracing Failure
So the common thread between these three that I'm making. Is that all of them in the eyes of the world were failures. All of them were losers. And the aspect of what they had for their goals. What they were supposed to accomplish. They failed at. Time and time and time again. In some cases. But the apparition of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Was nothing less than the sacred heart of Jesus. The greatest failure of them all. Our Lord Jesus Christ. God himself let himself fail in the eyes of the world. Be executed in the most humiliating way by the Romans. Allowing himself to be a victim. To be rejected and repudiated by the people who were supposed to receive him and accept him. Not putting up any sort of a fight. And even forbidding his followers from putting up any sort of a fight on his behalf. Accepting defeat. But by doing so he conquered.
Lessons in Perseverance and Obedience
And that is the moral of the story for all three of these saints as well. Because for them it was never about what the world perceives. Or what the world thinks of them. Or what the world's opinion was. Or even what their own opinion of themselves was. St. Teresa notably actually received a vision showing her the place prepared for her in hell. She actually was able to visit it and suffer the torments of hell for that brief instant. Where she saw where her place would be. And what her sufferings would be when she died and went to hell. And that's when she famously said. If I could be happy. If I could love God in hell. I would still be happy. Even there. Because that's what she said. That is the essence of what the spiritual life is. We must love God above all things. Especially above what the world says about us. Especially above what our own so called self esteem tells us. Especially above anything that stands in the way of our acknowledging God as Christ the King and nothing else. No one else. Nobody else's opinion should matter. Nobody else's.
Conclusion: Choosing God Above All
No matter what is going on in the world. Like with Edward the Confessor. That shouldn't stand in our way. Where he'd have to humble himself to the point of accepting complete defeat. If that's what it takes. That is what we must do. Even Saint Teresa having to suffer the horrors of what she had to see and witness and try to correct in the Carmelite order. If that is what she had to go through to be able to serve God. That is what she did. Saint Margaret Mary having to teach the words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And to have them rejected and thrown back at her. As sheer lunacy or vanity. If that is what it requires. That is what must be given. Each and every one of us. We must serve God. Regardless of how the world perceives us. Yes, we're the lunatic fringe. We're those crazy people who like mass and Latin. We're those people who are supposedly white supremacists. But obviously never been here. Those kinds of comments and questions. It has no bearing on what our lives must be. We must live in absolute fidelity. To the calling of Christ. He is our king. Which means we are faithful to him. And to him alone. Not to the world. Not to the good opinion of everyone else around us. Not to our own self-image. Not to our own self-esteem. Not to our vanity. Not to what we want other people to see about us. Nothing. It is only him. That is the only thing. And we must refine ourselves. Over and over. And over and over again. Each and every day. For the purpose of purifying our intentions. No matter what. And that may mean severe humiliation. That may mean terrible crosses and infirmities. That may mean being rejected by friends and family alike. That might mean persecution and death. It doesn't matter. Whatever it is we must do to serve God. That is the only thing that matters. Because that is the lesson of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the sacred heart. He shows us his wounds. So that we can appreciate how much he suffered for us. And how much the cost of sin is. But also to get a sense of what fidelity and obedience looks like. Because Christ was made obedient unto death. Unto the death of the cross. As St. Paul points out. And that is our goal too. We must be made obedient unto death. True obedience. Elevated obedience. Obedience to God. To God himself. Obedience. Which is submission. Which is the hardest virtue to practice. According to St. Thomas. Why is that? Because we have a perverse will. We want what we should not want. We have a will that is weakened by original sin. And we have a will that is perverted by our own personal sins. And so we desire that which we should not desire. We go after that which we should not. And we cannot continue to do so. We must reform our lives. Which means we must purify our intention. And choose God above all things. Again, it's uncomfortable for us. It's not easy for us. And because our will is the most clear representation of who we are. Or who we wish to be. To renounce that and to subjugate it to God. Is an act of violence against ourselves. One of the reasons why this world is so much more powerful. And why the world is so venal now. Is precisely because everybody is so concerned about image. As I was reading recently. That the number one vocation that high school students are pursuing in our country now. Is that of influencer. That's an absurdity. Why is that though? It is because. It is simply because everybody is concerned about image. The image that they project to the world. And for the world to show support and encouragement of that image. But none of it is real. It's all phony. It's all fake. Because it is more concerned about what we give to the rest of the world. And not what about what we give to God. Which is one of the reasons it's so crucial for us. To focus on just simply one thing. The purification of intention. To choose God regardless of everything else. To accept the fact that we have to obey God. Even if it means suffering, humiliation and death. Even if it means rejection. Even if it means losing so much in this world. Because we'll gain it all back. And then a hundred fold, a thousand fold. Infinitely in heaven. It's crucial that we remind ourselves of this. The reason that we cannot be subject to the things of this world. Is because this world is not our home. We do not belong here. We are supposed to be in transit to heaven. That is why we live here. And the decisions we make here. The choices we make here. Are supposed to be the ones that help us to heaven. And so everything. Family, friends, influence, image. Everything is supposed to be subject to God and virtue. And that is that. That is the essence of the sacred heart. If we want to learn this lesson. We always go to him. Because there is another aspect to this. All of these saints were failures. And sometimes failure is exhausting. When we fail again and again. We go back to confession with the exact same sins. Again and again. It's easy for us to become discouraged. We're never going to be saints. We're never going to be better. We're never going to fix ourselves. But that's why one of the most essential virtues. Actually one of the most essential elements of every virtue. Is perseverance. Regardless of everything else. Regardless of how many times we fail. We must continue to do. To get up and to repeat. To try it again. To over and over again. Actually conquer ourselves. Or try at least. God can work with us. So long as we are making that effort. So long as we are not. He can't do anything with us. Because he will leave us free. But so long as we make that effort. And continue to try. Every failure we have. Can be the opportunity. Of a victory. But so long as we stop trying. As long as we let discouragement. Get the better of us. The easier it will be. For us to simply give up. And once that happens. There's nothing. God can do for us. So perseverance is necessary. Each of these saints persevered. Even though they had to be humiliated. And beaten down. Each martyr persevered. Despite the fact that they had to sacrifice their lives. And each of us must persevere. Regardless of what God has done. And what God asks of us. Let's not kid ourselves. We're not. As Saint Thomas More pointed out. This is not the matter. Of which martyrs are made. We are not exactly the best and brightest. The church has always had to offer. But that's not important. We are who we are. And God calls us to be. Who he wants us to be. And whatever that is. We must be willing to give it. As powerful and as difficult as that may be. The sacred heart is there to refresh us. Come to me who are labor and burdened. But he's also there as a guide and instruction. Learn from me. For I am meek and humble of heart. Meek and humble are two things that are very hard to learn. But that's why we go to the master. The sacred heart will always instruct us. And always guide us. It is necessary that we have a strong devotion to our guardian angel. Because he is the one who will reveal the sacred heart more profoundly to us. This is the month of the angels. And they will. And they will instruct us how to follow in the footsteps of Christ. How to learn from his sacred heart. So that no matter how many defeats we may suffer. No matter what humiliations we may have to put up with. No matter what the conditions that we have to save our souls in. We will be able to do so if we simply persevere in the grace of God. And be able to serve him as our king in this life. So that we may be eternally in his palace in heaven. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen.