THE PRIEST'S DAILY MASS

                                                The Priest’s Daily Mass

Canon 904 of the New Code of Canon Law (1983) states, “Remembering always that in the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice the work of redemption is continually being carried out, priests are to celebrate frequently. Indeed, daily celebration is earnestly recommended, because, even if it should not be possible to have the faithful present, it is an action of Christ and of the Church in the carrying out of which priests fulfil their principle role.” Thus the urging of daily celebration is clearly stated as against the provision of the old Canon Law (Canon 805) of 1917. According to this, a priest was obliged to say Mass only “several times a year”, although Bishops were to see to it that their priests celebrated every Sunday and holyday of obligation.

The present canon does not lay down a minimum; it champions a daily celebration, thereby making the action as universally pastoral as the action of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. According to Vatican II, the priest, by celebrating Mass, fulfils his principal priestly rationale. “In the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, in which priests fulfil their principal function, the work of our redemption is continually carried out. For this reason, the daily celebration of it is earnestly recommended. This celebration is an act of Christ and the Church, even if it is impossible for the faithful to be present” (Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests, art. 13). This recommendation is continuous with the inspiration of that great and pastoral pope, St. Paul VI, who stated in his encyclical, “Mysterium Fidei”, 3 September 1965, “The Mass, even though it is celebrated privately is still not private, but is the act of Christ and the Church. For every Mass that is celebrated is offered not merely for the salvation of some souls but for that of the whole world. Therefore, we recommend with paternal insistence to priests, who are our special joy and our crown in the Lord, that they celebrate Mass worthily and devoutly every day.”

Indeed, so weighty is this recommendation of the late Pope Saint Paul VI and of the present Canon Law, that, in order to follow it, a priest is allowed to override the rule of Canon 906 that requires the participation of at least one of the faithful at Mass. No priest who appreciates the tremendous value of the Mass as the Christ action of restoring the whole of material and rational creation to the Father will hesitate to offer the daily Eucharist or feel alone in doing so, the more so that he believes he does not belong to himself but to Christ, the Church, and humanity; he in fact acts “in persona Christi.”

In his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 29, the late Pope Saint John Paul II reminds the priest that “in persona” does not mean “in the name of” or “in the place of” Christ, but means a specific sacramental identification with the Eternal High Priest who is the author and principal subject of his one and eternal self-offering. This is more than a perception of the liturgy, which is deep enough, but is a profound truth of the very assumption of the priest in his existent self to the very personal and eternal action of the Son of God turned towards the Father.  And even though the far-from-impeccable priest is conscious of his moral and spiritual frailty, he is swept up into this Son’s powerful movement as a representative of the Christian community and of humanity, indeed, of the whole of creation in their adoration and praise of the Eternal Father. He, therefore, need not deny himself this privilege beyond all telling but ride on it daily for the good of his people and his own.

WE WILL BE CHANGED

WE WILL BE CHANGED

1 Corinthians 15:50-54

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' (NIVUK)

Despite our habit of trying to present ourselves in the best light, that will never be good enough for God. Our sin-stained bodies, the evidence of our rebellious nature, cannot enter God's presence. In the same way that we must be born again to be welcomed into God's kingdom, everything that reeks of sin must be replaced before we are welcomed into Christ's physical presence. We will be changed! Note, Paul does not say we will improve ourselves, but the change will be applied to us. God will give us a resurrection body and an uncontaminated heart. Paul revealed a mystery. When the Lord Jesus comes again, a radical irreversible change will come upon born-again believers (both those who are alive at that time, and those whose bodies have long since disintegrated). That transformation will be instantaneous for all believers. The command of God will achieve it when the angelic trumpet call announces the final victory. Until that day, death will remain the ultimate physical conqueror, naturally swallowing the best as well as the worst. But when Jesus returns, death itself will die, and will never be resuscitated. Isaiah puts it like this, "On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death for ever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 25:7-8). As the shroud of death disappears, tears of sorrow and shame will also be gone for ever (Revelation 21:3-4). Why does Paul tell us? It supplies essential hope to keep us trusting, obeying and waiting. Firstly, as believers who despair of our ability to improve ourselves, we need His promise that He will change us. Secondly, we need to understand that death does not have the last word, God does. Thirdly, as some wait in unbelievably difficult circumstances, we need to know that the anguish of this sinful world will not last for ever: eternity will contain no tears. Fourthly, as we all wrestle with bodies which refuse to obey us or God, we need to understand that death is not our release from sin and suffering: resurrection is (Philippians 3:12)! That is part of the gospel; and well worth proclaiming.

Father God. Thank You that I can look forward to the return of Jesus Christ, who will finally and irreversibly change me to be like Himself. Forgive me for forgetting this teaching and instead, packing my life with ways to be better, feel better and look better. Please help me to have a realistic view of the corrupt world of which I am a part, but also a confidence in the hope to which You have called me. Please give me fresh assurance that You will finally and fully equip me for eternity, with a new resurrection body and a heart like that of Jesus. In His Name. Amen.

JACINTA MARTO

  

A relic of St. Jacinta Marto is seen in Rome. The young saint died a century ago. (2016 photo, AM113/Shutterstock.com)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Fatima seer St. Jacinta Marto. The 9-year-old died on Feb. 20, 1920, weeks short of her 10th birthday, which would have been on March 11.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of her beatification and third anniversary of her being canonized, together with her brother Francisco, as the youngest non-martyr saints to be canonized.

What characterized the holiness of this young girl?

After she died, scores of mourners testified that her cheeks exhibited “live pinkness,” and a “beautiful aroma of flowers” came from her — Jacinta died in the saintly odour of sanctity. In 1935 her body was exhumed for reburial and found to be incorrupt.

‘Truly a Mystic’

What stands out in the message of Fatima about Jacinta was that she was truly a mystic,” John Preiss, president of Fatima Family Apostolate International, told the Register. “She would receive visions” beyond those apparitions of our Blessed Mother at the Cova da Iria that the Fatima seers received. Preiss pointed out the time Jacinta saw a pope in a big house, burying his head in his hands while a mob was about to storm the house.

Jacinta’s cousin, now Servant of God Lucia dos Santos, revealed, “For the rest of her life she would suffer after seeing what the Holy Father was enduring and urge prayers for him.”

Another time, as the three seers prayed, Jacinta asked, “Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father is in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?” (Jacinta’s quotes from Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 129, Archive.org).

Jacinta also became distressed by visions of a terrible war to come — obviously World War II — if people did not heed what Our Lady said, resulting in “all the people who are going to die and go to hell! How dreadful! If they would only stop offending God, then there wouldn’t be any war, and they wouldn’t go to hell!”

And her insights reflect proper Christian living.

In The True Story of Fatima, Father John de Marchi listed several mystical insights Jacinta received, among them: “The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh. Fashions will much offend Our Lord; people who serve God should not follow the fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same. Many marriages are not of God and do not please Our Lord. Penance is necessary; if people amend their lives, Our Lord will even yet save the world, but if not, punishment will come. Fly from riches and luxury. Do not speak evil of people, and fly from evil speakers. Confession is a sacrament of mercy, and we must confess with joy and trust. There can be no salvation without confession.”

Sacrificing for Souls

For someone so young, Jacinta focused on the salvation of souls. David Carollo, executive director of World Apostolate of Fatima/Blue Army, said Jacinta, upon thinking of that horrible vision of hell, couldn’t imagine “how anyone would want to go there. That’s profound for a little girl. She acknowledged it was a choice and prayed for them.”

Carollo noted the time Jacinta was ill and Our Lady asked her if she wanted to convert more sinners. Jacinta said that she did. Her cousin Lucia wrote what Jacinta revealed: “She told me I would be going to a hospital where I would suffer a great deal and that I am to suffer for the conversion of sinners, in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for love of Jesus.” She did so willingly and fervently (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 60, Archive.org).

Jacinta would say, “O my Jesus! I love you, and I want to suffer very much for love of you.” While she was suffering, she would pray, “O Jesus! Now you can convert many sinners because this is really a big sacrifice!” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 62, Archive.org).

Carollo emphasized, “She was so focused on saving souls; she did everything with that in mind.”

Preiss concurred that the young saint exhibited a profound “understanding of suffering and offering up everything she encountered.”

St. John Paul II also highlighted this quality while beatifying Jacinta in 2000.  In his homily he said, “Little Jacinta felt and personally experienced Our Lady’s anguish, offering herself heroically as a victim for sinners.” He recalled when she told her brother Francisco, who was dying after contracting influenza, to give her “greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners.”

The Holy Father explained that Jacinta “had been so deeply moved by the vision of hell” during Fatima’s July apparition “that no mortification or penance seemed too great to save sinners. … She could well exclaim with St. Paul: ‘I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church’ (Colossians 1:24).”

Some were healed through her prayers, and Jacinta also became a fearless evangelist, unafraid to admonish sinners, telling them, “Don’t do that, for you are offending the Lord our God, and he is already so much offended.”

When Jacinta was ill, she refused the milk her mother wanted her to drink because she strongly disliked the dairy beverage. Lucia, who was visiting, asked her why she would not offer up drinking milk as a sacrifice to the Lord.

Immediately, Jacinta expressed sorrow, cried, called her mother and asked for forgiveness, and said she would drink the disliked beverage. Lucia witnessed how her cousin “drank it down without the slightest sign of repugnance” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 59, Archive.org).

Jacinta practiced what she preached to a heroic degree and prompted Francisco and Lucia to pray for sinners with her: “We must pray very much, to save souls from hell!” she would repeat. “So many go there!” She would tell Lucia, “I want to suffer for love of Our Lord and for sinners” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 59, Archive.org).

Carollo reflected upon Jacinta’s simplicity and her humility and what she accomplished through those virtues. “How many souls she helped save because of the adherence to the request of Our Lady — and to offer her life in reparation for the conversion of sinners. That’s the essence of her life. How profound for a girl not even 10 years old. She was a window to Our Lady.”

Above all, Jacinta learned, lived and gave to everyone the heart of the Fatima message. As she said, “God wishes to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. … Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at his side” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 132, Archive.org). “Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God has entrusted it to her. If I could only put into the hearts of all the fire that is burning within my own heart and that makes me love the Hearts of Jesus and Mary so very much!”

A relic of St. Jacinta Marto is seen in Rome. The young saint died a century ago. (2016 photo, AM113/Shutterstock.com)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Fatima seer St. Jacinta Marto. The 9-year-old died on Feb. 20, 1920, weeks short of her 10th birthday, which would have been on March 11.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of her beatification and third anniversary of her being canonized, together with her brother Francisco, as the youngest non-martyr saints to be canonized.

What characterized the holiness of this young girl?

After she died, scores of mourners testified that her cheeks exhibited “live pinkness,” and a “beautiful aroma of flowers” came from her — Jacinta died in the saintly odour of sanctity. In 1935 her body was exhumed for reburial and found to be incorrupt.

‘Truly a Mystic’

What stands out in the message of Fatima about Jacinta was that she was truly a mystic,” John Preiss, president of Fatima Family Apostolate International, told the Register. “She would receive visions” beyond those apparitions of our Blessed Mother at the Cova da Iria that the Fatima seers received. Preiss pointed out the time Jacinta saw a pope in a big house, burying his head in his hands while a mob was about to storm the house.

Jacinta’s cousin, now Servant of God Lucia dos Santos, revealed, “For the rest of her life she would suffer after seeing what the Holy Father was enduring and urge prayers for him.”

Another time, as the three seers prayed, Jacinta asked, “Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father is in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?” (Jacinta’s quotes from Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 129, Archive.org).

Jacinta also became distressed by visions of a terrible war to come — obviously World War II — if people did not heed what Our Lady said, resulting in “all the people who are going to die and go to hell! How dreadful! If they would only stop offending God, then there wouldn’t be any war, and they wouldn’t go to hell!”

And her insights reflect proper Christian living.

In The True Story of Fatima, Father John de Marchi listed several mystical insights Jacinta received, among them: “The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh. Fashions will much offend Our Lord; people who serve God should not follow the fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same. Many marriages are not of God and do not please Our Lord. Penance is necessary; if people amend their lives, Our Lord will even yet save the world, but if not, punishment will come. Fly from riches and luxury. Do not speak evil of people, and fly from evil speakers. Confession is a sacrament of mercy, and we must confess with joy and trust. There can be no salvation without confession.”

Sacrificing for Souls

For someone so young, Jacinta focused on the salvation of souls. David Carollo, executive director of World Apostolate of Fatima/Blue Army, said Jacinta, upon thinking of that horrible vision of hell, couldn’t imagine “how anyone would want to go there. That’s profound for a little girl. She acknowledged it was a choice and prayed for them.”

Carollo noted the time Jacinta was ill and Our Lady asked her if she wanted to convert more sinners. Jacinta said that she did. Her cousin Lucia wrote what Jacinta revealed: “She told me I would be going to a hospital where I would suffer a great deal and that I am to suffer for the conversion of sinners, in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for love of Jesus.” She did so willingly and fervently (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 60, Archive.org).

Jacinta would say, “O my Jesus! I love you, and I want to suffer very much for love of you.” While she was suffering, she would pray, “O Jesus! Now you can convert many sinners because this is really a big sacrifice!” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 62, Archive.org).

Carollo emphasized, “She was so focused on saving souls; she did everything with that in mind.”

Preiss concurred that the young saint exhibited a profound “understanding of suffering and offering up everything she encountered.”

St. John Paul II also highlighted this quality while beatifying Jacinta in 2000.  In his homily he said, “Little Jacinta felt and personally experienced Our Lady’s anguish, offering herself heroically as a victim for sinners.” He recalled when she told her brother Francisco, who was dying after contracting influenza, to give her “greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners.”

The Holy Father explained that Jacinta “had been so deeply moved by the vision of hell” during Fatima’s July apparition “that no mortification or penance seemed too great to save sinners. … She could well exclaim with St. Paul: ‘I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church’ (Colossians 1:24).”

Some were healed through her prayers, and Jacinta also became a fearless evangelist, unafraid to admonish sinners, telling them, “Don’t do that, for you are offending the Lord our God, and he is already so much offended.”

When Jacinta was ill, she refused the milk her mother wanted her to drink because she strongly disliked the dairy beverage. Lucia, who was visiting, asked her why she would not offer up drinking milk as a sacrifice to the Lord.

Immediately, Jacinta expressed sorrow, cried, called her mother and asked for forgiveness, and said she would drink the disliked beverage. Lucia witnessed how her cousin “drank it down without the slightest sign of repugnance” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 59, Archive.org).

Jacinta practiced what she preached to a heroic degree and prompted Francisco and Lucia to pray for sinners with her: “We must pray very much, to save souls from hell!” she would repeat. “So many go there!” She would tell Lucia, “I want to suffer for love of Our Lord and for sinners” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 59, Archive.org).

Carollo reflected upon Jacinta’s simplicity and her humility and what she accomplished through those virtues. “How many souls she helped save because of the adherence to the request of Our Lady — and to offer her life in reparation for the conversion of sinners. That’s the essence of her life. How profound for a girl not even 10 years old. She was a window to Our Lady.”

Above all, Jacinta learned, lived and gave to everyone the heart of the Fatima message. As she said, “God wishes to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. … Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at his side” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, p. 132, Archive.org). “Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God has entrusted it to her. If I could only put into the hearts of all the fire that is burning within my own heart and that makes me love the Hearts of Jesus and Mary so very much!”

BEST IS YET TO COME

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

So it is written: 'The first man Adam became a living being'; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”

Naturally we get used to life as it is. Without clear teaching and Holy Spirit inspired faith, we assume that there will be no change, except further spoiling or decay. It is Satan's lie. The glorious truth is that the first man (Adam) and the second Man (Christ) are radically different.

Adam, who was a part of God's creation, sinned; and death entered the world. But Christ took responsibility for the sin of every human being and died to pay its punishment. Adam was created from dust, but Christ came down from heaven - in order to lift repentant sinners into the presence of God.

All those who reject Christ remain shackled to the earth, like prisoners on a sinking ship. They share the future of the corrupt world and cannot see above its horizon. But those who welcome Christ and receive His new life are like Him in seeing the world with all its weariness as temporary; they look forward to heaven and receiving a resurrection body which can never change or decay.

The best is yet to come! That is why believers have hope and joy; that is why our temporary difficulties are far outweighed by the prospect of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). And our hope is not just a dream or fantasy. We know it is true because Jesus has risen from the dead and has promised that we shall share in His glory (John 17:22). So when we are burdened by the weariness which belongs to the 'earthly man', remember that we now belong to the 'heavenly Man'. One day the best will be revealed … and for that we wait with joy.

Heavenly Father. Thank You that Jesus Christ came from heaven to bring all those who trust Him back home to His heaven, in glory. Forgive me when I have allowed the shackles of earth to hold me too closely to this world with its sin and pain. Please help me to be confident in the 'heavenly Man' and keep looking to Him, expecting His presence, His guidance and His strength now, and His glory when He returns. In His Name. Amen.

DIVINE LOVE QUALITIES

The Qualities of Divine Love

Our love for God has three basic qualities. They are sovereign, interior and effective.

A love that is sovereign esteems God above all persons and things. Only a supreme love is worthy of God since God is supremely love worthy. It need not be characterised by emotional warmth and tenderness (“affective summus” as the Latin expression has it); rather, it is “appreciative summus”, which means it is a love that appreciates God above all other goods. Thus, it is a matter of the mind and will, not of the feeling.

The interior quality of this love prevents it from being superficial, but rather imbues it with the inner spirit of genuineness, a love “in deed and in truth.” Here is the true virtue of charity, operating even to the giving up of one’s life for one’s neighbour as Christ did, proving itself by obedience to the commandments (cfr. 1 John 3, 22ff.) and guaranteeing life and union with God through the Holy Spirit. Since the Spirit’s presence is most interior and intimate, charity is interior, whereby it does not necessarily include the emotions.

Supernatural charity, finally, should be effective, i.e. it should lead to the efficacious striving for the realisation of God’s love. Love is a vital process, not something established once for all, even for one who is “established in grace.” In consists in avoidance of sin, observance of the commandments, concern for God’s glory in the smallest duties we perform, and considerateness towards the neighbour. There should be no false opposition between professional and social activities, on the one hand, and spiritual life, on the other (cfr. LG 42 & GS 43).

I am told that Jesus said to a holy person, “If you only knew how much I love you, you would die this very instant.” To me the logic is that it is better to die first and then know the love of Christ, which is to say, I cannot know the love of Christ unless I die. But do I have to wait till the end of my life to understand God’s love? No, certainly not. All I need is to die small deaths daily in order that I perceive the love of God. Sometimes the deaths can be big ones. But the more I die the more I perceive his love. The highest value is God’s love, and access to it is death. Let me not fear the small deaths or the big one that will happen at the end. Now I see: love and death; love as strong as death.

Do I want a loveless death or a deathless love?

What Loving God means

Since defining love by love is redundant, we should try to describe what love of God really means in practice. Evidently, our love is the love of benevolence by which we mean well and desire the good of the beloved. But what good can we wish for God since he is absolute goodness? We can at least do the following:

a)     we can approve of and esteem the good that he possesses or, in fact, is.

b)    as we cannot protect and promote God’s welfare, we can surely delight in God and contemplate his infinite goodness, and be happy about his blessedness.

c)     even if we cannot add to the intrinsic glory and perfection of God, we can show our love by adding to his extrinsic glory and praise by working for the establishment of his reign, and praying for it, too: “…hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”

d)    as love of friendship and devotion, our love of God tends towards communion and total abandonment to him

In fine, love is the joyous approval of God’s infinite goodness and the desire to further the external glory of God and to be united with him permanently. It is the joyful, dedicated approval of everything that God is and wills. The love of God is further manifested in dedication to truth, justice, art, science, country and family.

St John Mary Vianney’s Prayer of Love in itself:

          I love you, O my God. My only desire is to love you, until the last breath of my life. I love you, O infinitely lovable God, and I prefer to die loving you rather than to live for an instant without you. I love you, O my God, and I desire only to go to heaven to have the happiness of loving you perfectly. I love you, O my God, and my only fear is to go to hell because one will not have the sweet solace of loving you there. O my God, if my tongue cannot say it at all times that I love you, at least I want my heart to repeat it to you as I breathe…I beg you that as I come closer to my final end, you will increase and perfect my love for you. Amen

Fr. Karl Rahner’s Prayer of Love in mission:

          Lord, teach me to pray, teach me to love you. Then I shall forget my own wretchedness, because then I will be able to do what wretchedness makes me forget to do: to bring the poverty of my sisters and brothers into your richness. In you, God of my sisters and brothers, I will be able really to be a brother to others, one who can help them in the one thing necessary: finding you.