May 22, 2022

Very few of us appreciate change in our lives be it thrust upon us by forces outside ourselves and beyond our control or the results ofour own sinful folly. Yet, we all know that change is a constant in our lives whether it erupts abruptly or slowly encases our being or environment. The time for my departure from Precious Blood Parish has come. When this assignment was given to me, I was told that itwould be temporary. I had indeed hoped that it could be different. Yet, I am grateful for the opportunity to have met each of you which would not have happened had I been sent elsewhere. Thank you forallowing me to serve you here and for sharing your faith with me. I thank Father Donahue for welcoming my ministry here and Father Lijo for his friendship. I also thank the Deacons and Staff for their support. My thoughts upon leaving Milford may be perhaps best be expressed by quoting a church leader of another time and place:

“What drew me closest to my brothers was the delight of chatting and laughing together; of showing our affection for one another by kindly services; of reading together from books that spoke of pleasant things; of joking together amicably; of disputing now and then but without resentment, as one is wont to do with himself; of awakening by rare contest the pleasure of being one in mind; of mutually instructing one another; of longing for the absent one and of tasting joy at his return. We loved each other with all our hearts, and these marks of our friendship that were shown in our faces, by our voices, in our eyes and a thousand other ways were among us like ardent flames that fused our souls together, and of many made but one.”
- ~Saint Augustine

Good bye Dear People of Precious Blood Parish. I shall remember you in my prayers and ask that you remember me in yours.

April 3, 2022

Lenten Practice Leads to Holy Life

While in the seminary I was introduced to a well-known radio program entitled “Prairie Home Companion.” The brand of humor on that program was enjoyable to many people because it was able to grasp the very essence of what it means to live in small-town America and present this in each characterization of life there so that the most common and the most familiar of people and day to day activities became significant and remarkably meaningful to the listening audience.

This ability to distinguish the merit, import and value of the ordinary, routine and unexalted is especially important to all those who would strive to live a good and holy life in this world. We might even look to the saints in heaven as a model for our lives. Many of them are not
officially recognized by the church but are known only by the Lord God. This one small fact may help us to better accept the life to which we
have been called and perhaps even help us to live our spiritual lives with greater vigor during this Lenten season.

Sometimes we imagine that there is no great virtue except in some extraordinary gift, talent or ability. Yet, when we look to the Saints, we find that many of them received no extraordinary favors and appeared to be much more ordinary people than we imagined them to be.

In the 19th century Cardinal Henry Edward Manning wrote in his book The Eternal Priesthood that holiness consists not in doing uncommon things, but in doing all common things with an uncommon fervor. Countless numbers saints performed nothing but the most common of actions while living faithful lives in the midst of the world.

Sometimes we become too concerned about what is done rather than how it is done. We might recall the thought of Thomas Aquinas expressed in his Summa that sanctity is that whereby a person’s mind and its acts are applied to God. This is the area in which the saints excelled. They were able to perform actions which to the world might seem insignificant and unimportant, with devotion to God. In this way their actions became grace filled and helped them to gain holiness and salvation.

This should help us to appreciate the fact that it is not impossible to become holy and that holiness may be found in all that we do with the help of God.

Our daily prayer during this Lenten season might include a petition that God grant us the spiritual strength we need to live our lives and perform every action with a thirst for sanctity so that we may live in a manner that promotes holiness within ourselves.

February 20, 2022

Dear Friends,

The past several years with covid have been a personal challenge for me and for many people in so many varied ways. Social discourse remains so disjointed that one might wonder how people might work together to meet the challenges of a universal pandemic. Universal discourse may be difficult in the environment of our current civil society, but there is universal applicability in the development of spirituality and the fostering of relationship with God which is indeed universal to all people no matter what social beliefs they may hold. I am thinking of the universal prayer attributed to Pope Clement XI as an example because it touches on the essential Christian values which help us to grow as members of the body of Christ.

Giovanni Albani was born in Italy in July 1649. He received an extraordinary education in theology and law, filled various important papal offices, and in November 1700 became Pope Clement XI. Clement was a polished writer, and a generous patron of the arts. His private life and his administration were blameless, but it was his misfortune to reign during a tempestuous period in the world. In the war of the Spanish Succession, he would willingly have remained neutral, but found himself being manipulated by the crowned heads of Europe. In the Peace of Utrecht his guidance was ignored. In a disagreement with the Duke of Savoy regarding policies of investiture in Sicily his instruction was treated with contempt. When a doctrinal controversy broke out which was supported by some bishops, division within the church was prolonged. The prestige of the papacy had reached a low point. Clement died in March 1721. In spite of the troubling times in which he lived, he was able to succeed on a personal level and as a leader due to his ongoing spirituality. No doubt his universal prayer offers insight into his spirituality and the source of his strength in times of public controversy and personal demands.

January 23, 2022

SAINT AGNES OF ROME

Saint Agnes is honored as a Virgin Martyr in the Church’s liturgical calendar each year with a Memorial on January 21st. Agnes was martyred in Rome in the last half of the Third Century for protecting her virginity and honoring her decision to give her life and exclusive love to the Lord Jesus in spite of many suitors who tried to make her change her mind with the offering of gifts and promises of wealth and comfort and a life of privilege. The amazing fact about Agnes is that according to Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose she was only twelve years old at the time of her martyrdom. An exceptional young girl who should inspire not only other girls to do the right thing according to the values of our holy faith but also all of us to be unafraid in manifesting a true example of Christian faith and example in our daily lives. According to tradition, Agnes was a beautiful girl, who refused marriage proposals from many suitors, stating that she would have no spouse but Jesus Christ. Angry at her rejections, one of her suitors revealed her faith. Christianity during that period was outlawed. She was arrested and in
punishment was confined in a brothel. Impressed by her purity and presence, all but one of the young men left her untouched; in his attempt to violate her, the sole attacker was struck blind, whereupon Agnes miraculously healed him with prayer. After refusing to renounce her faith, she was condemned to death and martyred during the persecution of the Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian and was buried beside the Via Nomentana where the daughter of Constantine built a basilica in her honor. The early Christian virgins held a deep respect for their physical bodies which expressed itself as an unshakable faith in Jesus Christ, which enabled them to even defy worldly authority.

The early Christian virgin viewed the integrity of her physical body as synonymous with the purity of her faith, her purpose, her self-determination, her honor, and indeed, her very self.

In Christian iconography Agnes is pictured with a palm branch representing her martyrdom and a lamb since her name is similar to the name for “lamb” in Latin; agnus. On the day of her memorial the Pope blesses two lambs whose wool is then used to weave the Pallia to be blessed on June 29 and sent to Archbishops throughout the world as a sign of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction and their unity with the Pope.

Agnes shows us that holiness does not depend on one’s age, experience, or human effort. Holiness is a gift which God offers to each of us. Most of us will not be required to suffer martyrdom for our holy faith. However, all of us who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior are expected to live our faith in an authentic and true manner so that its truth is evident to those around us who might then be awed with the power and grace it imparts to those who believe.