PathToHoliness

Happy feast of the Visitation! This account of the Blessed Virgin visiting her cousin Elizabeth is is one of my favorites in scripture. I love it because the life of the unborn child is so clearly and beautifully illustrated.

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
~Lk. 1:39-55

Monday’s holiday inevitably got me thinking about our men and women in the military today, especially those on active duty in areas like Afghanistan and Iraq. I have a special place in my heart for our combat veterans and try to do what I can to help give them strength and support. Yesterday afternoon I sent in another application to adopt a soldier as a pen-pal. This will be my third time adopting a soldier and I really enjoy it. For anyone interested in doing more to support our troops I highly recommend this option. Anyone who has ever gone away to school knows how exciting it is to receive letters and packages in the mail. Now imagine you are a U.S. soldier stationed thousands of miles away from friends and family in what can only be described has a hostile war zone. That’s why I decided to get involved this way. There are many soldiers who wait for mail every day and never receive anything, even on the holidays. Not only do these men and women endure the extreme condition of living in a kill or be killed situation, but many of them do it with us in mind. The first soldier I adopted (and I have heard other stories like this) signed up for the army right after September 11 because, living near New York City, he heard many personal stories of people who lost loved ones and wanted to do something to help defend our country from another attack. We all have different opinions about the war, our reasons for going and its overall effectiveness but that doesn’t change the fact that we are in a war and there are men and women risking their lives in it – many scared and lonely, needing nothing more than a friendly note from home saying “I remember you, I am thinking about you” and, more importantly “I am praying for you.”
There are many different ways to send love to our troops. One of the other things I like to do is to send rosaries and prayer books to army chaplains stationed overseas. Aquinas and More’s online Catholic store has a gift registry for Catholics serving in the military. There are various care packages. Some can be found at www.mililtarycarepackages.net, and Treats for Troops or you can make your own. I prefer to do the pen-pal adoption, which involves a weekly card and monthly package, because it is a little more personal and is more than just a one time gift, but it’s not for everyone. The organization I use is Adopt a Platoon, founded and operated by the mothers of men and women who are or have been serving overseas. They are very dedicated and offer a wide variety of ways to contribute, including specifically themed campaigns. There is also support for wounded soldiers. For those who cannot spend a lot of time and money sending letters and packages overseas spiritual support is also greatly needed.

That is the message of today’s Gospel reading (Mk 10:32-45). James and John asked Jesus: “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” And Jesus replied: “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

No servant is greater than his master (Jn 15:20), and our Master suffered a most agonizing trial before his death and resurrection – a ‘cup’ (Lk 22:42) to be consumed before the work of salvation could be ‘finished’ (Jn 19:30). The road to heaven is paved in suffering. Can you drink the chalice of Our Lord?

They said to him, ‘We can.” Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.

Sanctity consists in suffering.
~St. Therese of Lisuix

Today we remember those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom, the protection of their country and their fellow man.

This is a wonderful video with footage from WWII and testimony from the WWII veterans of Easy Company (my favorite part of Band of Brothers):

For all those who have lost loved ones in battle I pray, in the words of Abraham Lincoln:

that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

For our fallen soldiers:

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.

Amen.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn. 15:13)

Today, the Solemnity of Pentecost, marks the birth of the Catholic Church. Today we reflect on the mystery of the Body of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of the Church. Saturday’s office of readings had a wonderful sermon from a sixth century African priest’s sermon on how the Church in its unity speaks in the language of every nation. An excerpt:

The disciples spoke in the language of every nation. At Pentecost God chose this means to indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit: whoever had received the Spirit spoke in every kind fo tongue. We must realize, dear brothers, that this is the same Holy Spirit by whom love is poured out in our hearts. It was love that was to bring the Church of God together all over the world. And as individual men who received the Holy Spirit in those days could speak in all kinds of tongues, so today the Church, united by the Holy Spirit, speaks in the language of every people,

Therefore if somebody should say to one of us, “You have received the Holy Spirit, why do you not speak in tongues?” his reply should be, “I do indeed speak in the tongues of all men, because I belong to the body of Christ, that is the Church, and she speaks all languages. What else did the presence of the Holy Spirit indicate at Pentecost, except that God’s Church was to speak in the language of every people?”

Come, O Creator Spirit blest! And in our souls take up Thy rest; Come with Thy grace and heavenly aid, To fill the hearts which Thou hast made. Great Paraclete! To Thee we cry, O highest gift of God most high! O font of life! O fire of love! And sweet anointing from above.
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts art known, The finger of God’s hand we own; The promise of the Father, Thou! Who dost the tongue with power endow.
Kindle our senses from above, And make our hearts overflow with love; With patience firm and virtue high The weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread, And grant us Thy true peace instead; So shall we not, with Thee for guide, Turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow The Father and the Son to know, And Thee, through endless times confessed, Of both, the eternal Spirit blest.
All glory while the ages run Be to the Father and the Son Who rose from death; the same to Thee, O Holy Ghost, eternally. Amen.

Read the Pope’s message for Pentecost Sunday.

What is ‘new media’ you ask? You’re lookin at it! Blogging, podcasting…the world of communication is quickly evolving and Catholics are taking notice. From the National Catholic Register:

First came the online network informally known as St. Blog’s. Then came the invasion of the Catholic podcasters.

Now it’s “vodcasts.”

The latest innovation on the Internet is the rise of Catholic video podcasts, otherwise known as vodcasts. Through YouTube and other media, Catholics have been able to spread the faith, provide historical footage and draw attention to liturgical abuses…

Such resources are utilizing both audio and video to show the richness of the Catholic community, says blogger Rocco Palmo. He has been impressed with how some dioceses are using online video. The Diocese of Salt Lake City, for example, makes liturgies at the cathedral available online.

Even the clergy is getting in on the action:

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Cardinal Justin Rigali became the first Church leader to make regular use of YouTube. Every week of Lent, Cardinal Rigali presented a weekly two- to four-minute video reflection on the Gospels called “Living Lent.”…

To date, Cardinal Rigali has recorded a dozen videos.

“It’s an effort to communicate with the people on some important evangelical points,” Cardinal Rigali said. “We hope to keep it going as long as we can.”

Getting into this medium is particularly important for Catholics because some are using it to bring people (especially the young) away from the Church. Not that long ago an atheist group called on our youth to openly deny the Holy Spirit in its Blasphemy Challenge. Upon hearing this one transitional deacon, Christopher Decker, responded with a video of himself reciting the Apostle’s Creed and inviting others to follow.

Defend the truth with charity and firmness when the things of God are at stake…God wants us, now and always, to spread his seed, a divine sowing in all surroundings (St. Josemaria)

Some of the places mentioned in the article: God Tube and EJVideo (Christian video sites), Word on Fire by Fr. Robert Barron and The Recovering Dissident Catholic, a woman who was influenced by Catholics online and returned to the fullness of the Catholic faith. Other Catholic blogs can be found at St. Blog’s Parish Directory.

I wonder if JPII foresaw this when he called for a new evangelization.

Hello there, Chelsea here! I found another great example of an extraordinary act of holiness. Such stories are hard to come by in our day so it is important to highlight them when they do occur.

Reflection: How many of us women, pregnant and faced with a life threatening illness, would give up our own lives in order to become a mother to our son, if only for a couple of months.

One mother from Scotland has done just that. Anna Radosz has passed away six months after giving birth to her son, Oscar. While she was pregnant, Anna learned that the malignant melanoma that she fought the year before returned and her best chance for survival would be to abort her unborn child in order to undergo the proper treatments. To Oscar’s benefit his mother refused to end his life, even if it meant saving her own. To a local newspaper she said:

I’ll move heaven and earth to get more time with my precious baby. I could have a year, maybe six months or even less, but I’ll do anything to live to be a mother to my baby

It’s a tragic end, to be sure, but it is a great example for all pregnant women in difficult situations. No matter how bad the situation is, it is never a good idea to cooperate with evil even to bring about something good. Children, though they may come from tragic circumstances, are great gifts from God and should be nurtured and treasured as such. Sometimes that means putting our own needs aside in order to preserve the life of someone more vulnerable. It’s hard to do, but if we entrust ourselves to the will of the Heavenly Father, He will give us the strength that we need.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn. 15:13)