Archive for October, 2013
Celebrating the True Meaning of All Hallow’s
October 31, 2013John Paul II & 153 Fish
October 22, 2013After the Great Robot Wars, I imagine pretty much everything we know about John Paul the Great will be dismissed as pious legend.
Blessed Pope John Paul the Great Quotes
October 21, 2013“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
“A person’s rightful due is to be treated as an object of love, not as an object for use.”
“War is a defeat for humanity.”
“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.”
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and ‘hallelujah’ [“Praise the Lord”] is our song.”
“Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.”
“Faith and Reason are like two wings of the human spirit by which is soars to the truth.”
“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” “
The future starts today, not tomorrow.”
How Christianity Would Be Deprived Without St. Luke
October 18, 2013- No Gospel of Luke or Acts of the Apostles.
- No stories about the Annunciation, Visitation, Presentation, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, the Ascension, or Pentecost.
- No parables about the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Rich Man & Lazarus, and others.
- Mary, the mother of Jesus, would go unquoted in the Bible (apart from the Wedding Feast of Cana.)
- We wouldn’t know where John the Baptist came from, his parents’ names, or that he was related to Jesus.
- We wouldn’t know about the Good Thief’s conversion.
- We wouldn’t know of Jesus’ appearance on the Road to Emmaus.
- We would have no unified Bible narrative about the emergence and spread of the Early Church.
However, thanks to St. Luke, we are blessed with all of these things today.
Light Shines Through Them
October 10, 2013St. Wenceslaus of Bohemia & St. Louis of France
Two of Our Stained Glass Saints
We recently celebrated the feast day of St. Wenceslaus, our parish patron. In addition to our statue of him in the back of church, we can see the good king depicted in one of our beautiful stained glass windows. He holds a banner and a shield with his red eagle heraldry for he remains a spiritual leader and defender of his people. Do you know which other luminous saints are featured in our stained glass windows?
Next to St. Wenceslaus’ window stands another holy European monarch, St. Louis IX, the 13th century king of France. (This is the Louis that Missouri’s largest city is named after.) St. Louis was regarded as the first among equals by the kings and rulers of Europe, not only because he commanded the largest army and ruled the wealthiest kingdom, but also because of his admirable character.
Each day, Louis welcomed 13 guests from among the poor to dine with him, and a large number of poor were fed near his palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were provided a meal, with Louis himself often serving them. Throughout his kingdom, Louis founded hospitals, visited the sick, and kept lists of the needy, whom he assisted regularly. He chose St. Francis as his patron and imitated him in caring for lepers.
When his kingdom came into possession of the believed Crown of Thorns, Louis carried the holy relic in procession barefooted. (This event is depicted in our window.) To house this and other relics connected to Christ’s Passion, Louis had the Gothic Sainte Chapelle built in Paris. It remains one of the most beautiful churches in the world.
Louis’ domestic reforms promoted justice. Before his reign, disputing parties could opt for a “trial by battle,” basically a court sanctioned and regulated duel. St. Louis replaced this with a form of examination of witnesses and encouraged the use of written records in court. His personal reputation for fairness caused the rulers of Europe to choose him to arbitrate the quarrels between them.
Abroad, Louis led two unsuccessful crusades to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. In these campaigns more died from disease than battles, including Louis himself, at age 44. St. Louis was canonized 27 years later, making him France’s only canonized king. His feast day is August 25th.
Good King St. Louis, pray for us!
How Tall Was Jesus?
October 9, 2013Based upon the Shroud of Turin, Jesus grew to an adult height of between 5’8″ to 6’1″. (It’s actually a much trickier problem than just measuring the shroud image from head to toe.) On the other hand, in a resurrected body, I suspect someone can be whatever height he or she would like.
The Parable of the Princess’ Guardian
October 2, 2013Once upon a time, a king had a daughter. Though she was a princess, she was young and immature and needed to grow in many ways. So the king appointed one of his oldest friends to be her guardian, teacher, and guide. The guardian was never far from her, but the princess never felt unfree. The guardian was a great and subtle teacher, often imparting important lessons to her without the princess even noticing. When the princess’ false friends would suggest bad paths her guardian would provide better counsel. Some of these false friends envied the princess and did not want to see her reign–they would attack her in every conceivable way, but her guardian would come to her defense. Out of love for the king and his princess, the guardian’s greatest hope was to raise her up so that he could someday bow down to her as a queen.
The king in this parable is God, the princess (or prince) is you, and the guardian appointed to guard, teach, and guide you is your guardian angel.
What We’re Missing When We Leave Mass Early
October 2, 2013If we leave right after Communion
we miss the moment to pray, “Thank you.”
If we leave before the final blessing
we miss out on the gift of God’s favor.
If we leave before the final song
we miss the chance to sing to our Beloved.
If we leave before everyone else
we miss the opportunity to meet them.
If we’re leaving before the Mass is over
we’re missing out on what the Mass is all about.
Parishable Items 