Sts. Perpetua and Felicity - c. 203

Before her death, St. Perpetua wrote an account of her sufferings, which we still have today. Obviously, someone else stepped up and finished the story after her death, but nevertheless, her autobiographical description is one of the first documents we have written by a woman--making St. Perpetua one of the first female writers! Her story was so popular, in fact, that St. Augustine had to warn his parishioners against giving it the weight of Scripture!

St. Perpetua was born around AD 181, in Carthage, a city of North Africa. She was the daughter of a wealthy Roman nobleman, and was married to a soldier. At that time in the Roman Empire, slavery was still a common and acceptable practice, and being a rich noblewoman, Perpetua had slaves. One of them was Felicity. But because they were of similar ages, and had both recently been married, and since Perpetua had just given birth, and Felicity was pregnant, the similar events in their lives led them to develop a friendship that went beyond slave-master.

At this time, in the Roman Empire, the Emperor, Caesar Septimus Severus had proclaimed that Christianity was illegal, and that it was therefore illegal to convert to Christianity, or to proclaim and teach the Christian faith to non-Christians. Those who were already Christians, or born into Christian families, were excluded from the government's censure, unless they tried to convert others--but for those who converted, the penalty was often death. Despite this, the Christians continued to spread the Gospel, convinced of its truth and importance. That was how St. Felicity's husband came to hear about Jesus, and he began learning about the Christian faith from a priest, Father Saturus. Felicity's husband, Revocatus, convinced Felicity to come and learn as well, and she in turn persuaded Perpetua.

These three, with two others (Saturninus and Secundulus), attended catechism in secret from Father Saturus. However, before they could complete their instruction, and be baptised the following Easter, the Roman government found out about their religious instruction, and had the five catechumens, as well as their priest, arrested. The date for their trial would not come right away, though, and they languished in their dungeon for months--awaiting a suitable occasion: the birthday of the Emperor!

During their time in prison, Fr. Saturus would continue to teach them the Christian faith, and, when they were catechised enough, he took some of their drinking water, and baptised each of them, since it would be impossible for them to wait for the following Easter. During this time, Perpetua's father, who was a nobleman and thus had influence, was permitted to visit Perpetua. But far from bringing joy and relief to her, she writes that his visits only served to vex her further, since he, as a Pagan Roman, continually tried to convince Perpetua to abandon the Christian faith to save her life. He appealed to her reason, to her honour and to her family's honour--to not die so shameful a death. But most of all, he appealed to her mother's heart, for who would take care of her newborn baby? Perpetua knew that her son would be starving without her to feed him, since he hadn't been weaned yet. But on one of her father's visits, he brought her mother and also her brothers, one of whom himself was also secretly learning the Christian faith (though, obviously, he hadn't been caught yet), and he went to the Deacons of the Church in Carthage, who bribed the guards to let Perpetua's baby be brought to her. And so she was able to feed her son until her trial.

Furthermore, Perpetua's brother also asked her to pray to God, that maybe she'd be granted a vision that would indicate whether her current sufferings and imprisonment would lead to martyrdom. She agreed, and in fact did receive a vision. Here's her account:

I beheld a ladder of bronze, marvelously great, reaching up to heaven; and it was narrow, so that not more than one might go up at one time. And in the sides of the ladder were planted all manner of things of iron. There were swords there, spears, hooks, and knives; so that if any that went up took not good heed or looked not upward, he would be torn and his flesh cling to the iron. And there was right at the ladder's foot a serpent lying, marvelously great, which lay in wait for those that would go up, and frightened them that they might not go up. Now Saturus went up first (who afterwards had of his own free will given up himself for our -sakes, because it was he who had edified us; and when we were taken he had not been there). And he came to the ladder's head; and he turned and said: Perpetua, I await you; but see that serpent bite you not. And I said: it shall not hurt me, in the name of Jesus Christ. And from beneath the ladder, as though it feared me, it softly put forth its head; and as though I trod on the first step I trod on its head. And I went up, and I saw a very great space of garden, and in the midst a man sitting, white-headed, in shepherd's clothing, tall milking his sheep; and standing around in white were many thousands. And he raised his head and beheld me and said to me: Welcome, child. And he cried to me, and from the curd he had from the milk he gave me as it were a morsel; and I took it with joined hands and ate it up; and all that stood around said, Amen. And at the sound of that word I awoke, yet eating I know not what of sweet.

And at once I told my brother, and we knew it should be a passion; and we began to have no hope any longer in this world.

(Meaning, of course, that they placed all their hope in Heaven, not that they gave in to despair.)

The six Christians continued to pray with each other and encourage each other as the day approached, but St. Felicity grew more and more worried. You see, she was still pregnant, and was not due to give birth until after the date slated for execution. According to Roman law, a pregnant woman could not be tortured or executed until after she had given birth. St. Felicity was worried not so much about being tortured or executed for Christ's sake, but that she would not be able to be martyred along with her friends. It's often hard to do the right thing. That's especially the case when it comes to giving your life. But it's even harder when you have to do it alone. Felicity was worried that when her time came, without her friends' encouragement she would not find the strength within her to confess Christ.

The six prayed together about this, and although Felicity was only about eight months pregnant, a week before their trial, she gave birth to a healthy baby, who was arranged to be adopted by a Christian family. In this, God showed that He was still with them, and cared for them, even in that dark prison. His asking of them to lay down their lives was not a sign that God had abandoned these six brave Christians, but rather, that He had singled them out for greater honour!

The day before their martyrdom, the six were allowed to have whatever they desired as a "last meal". Unanimously, they chose to have bread and wine, which Fr. Saturus blessed, and so they celebrated the Mass together. When the day finally came for these six great saints to be martyred, they were led to the arena in Carthage, to be tried by the magistrate. Each in their turn were asked whether they would renounce Christ and sacrifice a goat to Caesar and worship him, and each in their turn refused, claimed to be Christian, and were sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts.

When it came time for Perpetua to be tried, however, not only the magistrate, but also her own father, attempted to convince her to abandon the Church. Her father came forward, carrying her baby in his arms, and appealed again to Perpetua to recant and live, so that her baby wouldn't die of starvation, for lack of milk. But again, through God's grace, He made it so that the baby was already weaned before his time, and no longer needed his mother to live. Thus, Perpetua, with her friends, professed herself a Christian, and was sentenced to death.

While the men were sentenced to face off against leopards and bears, out of spite and mockery for their femininity, the court sentenced Perpetua and Felicity to be attacked by a cow (a symbol of motherhood, and a mockery of these two mothers). When the two courageous women were thrown into the arena, Perpetua's robe tore, and she took the time to tie it so that she would appear modest and decent, taking more care for her modesty than for her own wounds. She even tied back her hair, since messy, unkempt hair was a sign of mourning in her culture, and she didn't want anyone to think that she was sad at her fate, but courageous and confident in God. She turned to help up Felicity, and immediately was led off to the side of the arena to rejoin the men who had survived the beasts. When there, she asked them, "When are we going to face the cow?" Amazed, her friends said to her, "You already have! It's hurt you! Look at yourself!" Perpetua and Felicity had been blessed by God to have had an ecstatic encounter with him, so that they were spared the pain of the cow's attack. In fact, Perpetua had to be shown her own wounds before she would believe her friends!

Afterward, all of them were led out again, and sentenced to be killed by the sword. The courage of these martyrs, particularly of the women, touched the audience so much, that many of them became Christians, including the jailer of the martyrs. It was one of these converts who finished the account of Perpetua's and Felicity's martyrdom, so that others in future generations would hear about and be inspired by their courage and sacrifice. In the author's own words:

O most valiant and blessed martyrs! O truly called and elected unto the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Which glory he that magnifies, honors and adores, ought to read these witnesses likewise, as being no less than the old, unto the Church's edification; that these new wonders also may testify that one and the same Holy Spirit works ever until now, and with Him God the Father Almighty, and His Son Jesus Christ Our Lord, to Whom is glory and power unending for ever and ever. Amen.

God bless.

St. Maximilian Kolbe - 1941

Since Remembrance Day is coming up, I figured it would be good to relate the story of a Saint who played a large role in World War II.

Raymond Kolbe was born in 1894, in Zdunska Wola, Poland. Throughout his childhood, Raymond was quite a troublemaker. Very mischevious, he was always trying to get away with something, and his parents often considered him to be quite a trial. However, in 1906, around the time of his First Communion, things changed for Raymond. One night, he had a vision, and in that vision, he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he asked her what was to become of his life. In response, she held out two crowns: one white, and the other red. The white one, she said, represented a life of purity, and the red one, a death of martyrdom. She told him he could choose a crown. Raymond decided to choose both.

Raymond chose to enter the priesthood with the Fransiscans, and took the name Maximilian. While in seminary, he and some friends started a club known as The Crusaders of Mary Immaculate, who were dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus, the conversion of sinners, devotion to Mary, and to the Miraculous Medal.

After his ordination, St. Maximilian founded a Fransiscan monastery in Warsaw, Poland, in order to further spread faith in Christ and devotion to the Miraculous Medal, known as "The City of the Immaculate". After a while, though, he became restless, and felt God wanted him to travel as a missionary. So in 1930, Maximilian Kolbe went to Nagasaki, Japan, and there founded another monastery. After that, he continued on to India, doing the same thing, but illness caused him to have to return to Poland in 1936.

(Incidentally, Nagasaki was one of the two cities, with Hiroshima, that the USA dropped nuclear bombs on at the end of World War II, in retaliation for the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbour. The atomic bombs decimated nearly everything in those two cities--but, miraculously, St. Maximilian's monastery, and all those within, survived the bombing. Just one of the miracles attributed to devotion to the Miraculous Medal.)

Back in Poland, Maximilian continued his priestly duties, and overseeing the monastery there. On top of this, he began to publish and write for a newsletter called "The Knight". In it, he would teach about the love of Christ, and also address issues of justice and right living. When Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany in 1939, and began his Holocaust of the Jews and others who weren't of the Aryan race, many refugees began to flee from Germany to escape the oppression and persecution. Many of these refugees came to Poland, and Maximilian was able to put his teachings on love and justice into action, by hiding refugees in his monastery, and caring for them there. At one point, he had about 3000 refugees hidden in the monastery, and at least two-thirds of them were Jewish, because he knew that God loves all people, not just those of a certain ethnicity or religion.

For this act of hiding refugees, and for continuing publication of The Knight, which the Nazi Party considered to be Anti-Nazi, when Germany invaded Poland at the beginning of the War, Maximilian Kolbe was arrested and put into the Polish prison of Pawiak, on February 17, 1941. On May 28th, he was transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp, in Germany, and even then was put in the worst sector--with particularly cruel guards--because he was a priest. There he was often beaten and deprived of food. Through it all, though, he continued to tell others about Christ, and to hear Confessions. He even, when he could get his hands on some smuggled in bread and wine, would say Mass and give other inmates the Eucharist!

After about a month and a half, there was an escape from Auschwitz. Protocol dictated that for every escaped prisoner, ten others were to be executed in his place. So the Nazis rounded up several people. One of them was a Jewish man named Franciszek Gajowniczek. He cried out, "Please! I have a wife and four children! Please don't kill me!" The guards were pitiless to his cries, but St. Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and said, "This man has a wife and family. I am a priest. I have no wife, no children. Kill me instead and let this man go free."

In making this sacrifice, Maximilian lived out the two crowns that Our Lady had offered him: the purity of the priesthood, and the martyrdom of charity. He died on August 14th, 1941. Franciszek Gajowniczek did survive Auschwitz, and because of Maximilian's sacrifice, he and his family converted to Catholicism!

No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?

Saint Maximilian Kolbe in the last issue of The Knight

St. Maria Goretti - 1902

St. Maria Goretti is unique among the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church, as the youngest saint ever to be canonised! At the time of her martyrdom, she was only eleven and a half years old.

Maria Goretti was born on October 16, 1890, to a very large, but poor, Italian family. Her family was so poor, in fact, that in order to make ends meet, her father, Luigi Goretti, had to make arrangements with another family, the Serenellis, to come and live on their farm, and do the farmwork with them, in order to make ends meet--to have enough food and a place to live!

As Maria grew up, she made a decision to live as God would want her to--to be good, and humble, and modest. She would take care of her younger siblings, and do thankless chores around the farm, even when no one asked. Around town, she was well-known for her good behaviour and her modesty. When, two years after they'd moved to the Serenelli farm, her father died of Malaria, St. Maria Goretti had to mature even more, and continued to serve her family and take care of her brothers and sisters.

When she was growing up, Catholic children received the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion in a different order than we do today. Maria would have been Confirmed around the age of six or seven, and would not receive the Eucharist until she was eleven. As her opportunity for First Communion approached, Maria took extra care to prepare herself to receive such an awesome gift: Jesus Christ, fully present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharistic bread and wine! She spent much time in prayer and spiritual reading, in order to make sure she was worthy of receiving such a precious gift! When the day came, her family said that it was the greatest moment, and highlight of her life!

But if St. Maria Goretti could be considered a model of saintly virtue, of love, compassion, and modesty, then another person on that farm was the exact opposite. The Serenelli family had a son, Alessandro. And Alessandro was not a good kid. In his teens, he got into the wrong crowd, and going with them to parties and other things, he lived a very wayward life. Alessandro was often violent, and got in trouble with the law on more than one occasion. On top of all this, he would occupy his free time reading and looking at very impure things, like pornography. All of these choices that Alessandro made, caused him to have a very skewed and troubled, and selfish, outlook on life. And when he looked at Maria as she grew up, he felt lust in his heart.

Alessandro would many times try to come on to Maria, trying to seduce her; but Maria, very conscious of God's instructions on the topic of sex, and very protective of her modesty and purity, would tell Alessandro, No, and remind him that God did not permit that kind of behaviour. But Alessandro wasn't interested in what God wanted, but only what he wanted. Over and over, he would try to tempt Maria, and over and over she would turn him down, reminding him of God's Laws. Finally, Alessandro wasn't going to take no for an answer any more, and on July 5th, 1902, he tried to force himself on Maria, in order to rape her. When she again struggled to resist him, telling him again that "This is a sin! God doesn't want this! You can go to hell for this, Alessandro!" he took a knife, and stabbed Maria with it fourteen times. Maria was quickly taken to the hospital, and Alessandro was taken to prison.

As Maria lay in the hospital overnight from July 5th to 6th, 1902, she held a medal of Our Lady, and a Crucifix. Over and over, she prayed for Alessandro, that God would have mercy on him! She kept praying for Alessandro's forgiveness until she died, and, truly, even afterward in Heaven.

Meanwhile, Alessandro, who was a minor when he committed his attack, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. While there, nothing changed, and he continued to be a selfish, violent prisoner. Often he would attack the guards, as well as other inmates. He would even attack the faithful priest who would come to visit him, in order to encourage him to repent and turn to God. This behaviour continued for thirteen years.

But one night, Alessandro had a vision. In that vision, he saw Maria Goretti in a field full of lilies--a flower that has traditionally symbolised purity. Maria was gathering up the lilies into a bouquet, and then walked up to Alessandro. She told him to take the lilies, and when he did, he said they turned into a still white flame that went into his heart. Alessandro awoke from that vision as a changed person.

The next day, when the priest came to see him--probably expecting to be beaten up--he found a calm and quiet Alessandro Serenelli. That day, Alessandro made a good Confession, and turned his life over to Jesus Christ. After he served out the rest of his sentence, Alessandro went to Maria's mother, and asked her forgiveness for his crime. Mrs. Goretti forgave Alessandro, and that year they attended Christmas Eve mass together. Alessandro afterwards became a Capuchin monk, and lived a life of purity, helping others to turn from their sinful lifestyles.

When the cause of Maria's beatification came up, Alessandro Serenelli testified to her life and purity, and told of his crimes against her. When in 1952, Pope Pius XII canonised her as a saint, her mother was there to witness it! On that occasion, the Pope said these words:

With splendid courage she surrendered herself to God and his grace and so gave her life to protect her virginity.

The life of a simple girl - I shall concern myself only with highlights - we can see as worthy of heaven. Even today people can look upon it with admiration and respect. Parents can learn from her story how to raise their God-given children in virtue, courage, and holiness; they can learn to train them in the Catholic faith so that, when put to the test, God's grace will support them and they will come through undefeated, unscathed, and untarnished.

From Maria's story carefree children and young people with their zest for life can learn not to be led astray by attractive pleasures which are not only ephemeral and empty but also sinful. Instead they can fix their sights on achieving Christian moral perfection, however difficult that course may prove. With determination and God's help all of us can attain that goal by persistent effort and prayer.

Not all of us are expected to die a martyr's death, but we are all called to the pursuit of Christian virtue.

So let us all, with God's grace, strive to reach the goal that the example of the virgin martyr, Saint Maria Goretti, sets before us. Through her prayers to the Redeemer may all of us, each in his own way, joyfully try to follow the inspiring example of Maria Goretti who now enjoys eternal happiness in heaven.

St. Maria Goretti again reminds us that the story of a martyr goes beyond their tragic death--but always impacts the lives around them, even their killers, as we see from the radical change Maria's example of purity, her willingness to die, and her prayers from heaven had on Alessandro Serenelli.

God bless.

Sr. Leonella - 2006 (Sept. 17)

In the last post, I wrote about St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. This post, we'll be skipping forward to very nearly the latest Christian martyr! She's not on my Get Holy or Die Tryin' t-shirt. She was still alive when it was made! In fact, Sr. Leonella only joined the ranks of martyrs a short three weeks ago, though she seemed to expect it for many years.

Thirty-eight years ago, Sister Leonella decided to consecrate her life to God, and become a nun. She made her perpetual vows and joined the Order of the Sisters of Consolation, and went to Kenya to work in a hospital among the poor and suffering just outside of Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Her infectious enthusiasm and love for her patients and all she met earned her great love and respect in her community. After working there for many years, her fellow sisters even elected her to Regional Superior at the hospital, which she did for 6 years! While she was in that position, she trained new sisters for the work of loving and caring for the poor, and trained them to be nurses in the hospital. During this time, she was able to get the World Heath Organisation to recognise the sisters in her order as validly certified nurses!

After 6 years, in 2001 she took a sabbatical, and travelled to Mogadishu, Somalia, to investigate starting a hospital there through the SOS Village organisation. Her vision became a reality the next year, and she was also in charge of the nursing school there.

In going to Somalia, ravaged by civil war for over 15 years, and still now in a state of uneasy peace and civil unrest, with an Al-Qaida cell vying for political power, Sr. Leonella knew the risks she faced as a Catholic nun. She would often joke, even back in Kenya, that one day there would be a bullet with her name on it. But the risk didn't deter her. Neither did her often poor health or the struggles with governments and bureaucracies. Through it all, she continued to work for and to love the people of Africa. But she wasn't naively unaware of the risks, either. One of her sisters had been kidnapped in the previous year. She was found and her kidnapper sentenced to one year, but this and other attacks and threats to their lives prompted Sr. Leonella to hire a bodyguard to protect her.

On September 17th, 2006, after making the rounds of the hospital she helped begin in Mogadishu, she and her bodyguard were crossing the street 30 feet to her home, where five of her sisters were waiting to have lunch. As she and her bodyguard crossed the street, three gunmen, lying in wait, shot her, killing her and her bodyguard execution-style. When her sisters heard the shots, they ran out of the home to see what was going on. As the gunmen fled, the sisters carried Sr. Leonella and her bodyguard back into the hospital, but it was too late. As Sr. Leonella lay dying, she kept repeating "Pardono, pardono, pardono..." which is Italian for "Forgive, forgive, forgive..." Just like St. Stephen, Sr. Leonella prayed to forgive her enemies, and, at the same time, instructed her fellow sisters, and everyone else around, that they must forgive her killers, too, and not become bitter and hateful.

At her funeral, the Bishop remarked on her life and on her love. He also remarked on the circumstances of her death, and her dying with her bodyguard. He said that if a man and a woman could die together; a black man and a white woman; a Muslim man and a Catholic nun, could die together, then it was a sign of hope that we could live together, in peace.

That's the vision that Sr. Leonella had for Somalia. And through her love, she lived out that vision daily. Pope Benedict XVI echoed Tertullian, when he expressed his prayer that "the blood shed by so faithful a disciple of the Gospel may become a seed of hope to construct authentic brotherhood among peoples."

Many in the news speculated that Sr. Leonella was murdered as a reaction to the Pope's remarks made in a lecture last month about how violence is incompatible with the nature of God, and cited Islam as an example of spreading the faith by the sword. It prompted many protests from Muslims throughout the world, but in Sr. Leonella's case, let's remember again, that she'd already been threatened, and a fellow sister had even been kidnapped, before the Pope had ever made his speech. She didn't have a bodyguard for nothing!

Let us remember Sr. Leonella's legacy of love and forgiveness, and her inspiring courage in the face of many tremendous obstacles! Let us be full of courage in our own lives, as we reach out to help others with the love of God.

Amen.

The Message of the Cross

Yesterday was my second anniversary as a Catholic! This is what it's all about!

Holy Week began on Sunday with Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, and the reading of the narrative of Christ's Passion (from Mark's Gospel). And so we enter the greatest week of the year, culminating in the greatest Feast of the Year!

This is what our faith is built around: The Cross of Christ. His death for us shows us His great love for us as it redeems us from our sins and forgives us! Through that wonderful Cross, we have been made sons and daughters of God! The Cross is the source of joy!

Let that sink in. Jesus' suffering and death saves us from our sin. So often, I think, we treat Good Friday as a terrible day as we hasten on to the "happy ending" of Easter Sunday. I was reminded of this fact last Sunday when a small boy asked Fr. Watters, "Why do we call Good Friday 'good' if that's when Jesus died?" Fr. Watters wisely responded, "Because it's the best day of the year!"

Truly, it is! If there were no Good Friday, there could be no Easter Sunday. If there were no Good Friday, we all would still be dead in our sins. If there were no Good Friday, we would not know of God's incredible love for us! And yet, Good Friday honours and remembers the most painful, tragic event that has ever occured--and we indeed call it "Good."

That is why St. Paul wrote, "The message of the cross is folly to those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). A few verses later, he says, "I was resolved that the only knowledge I would have while I was with you was knowledge of Jesus, and of Him as the crucified Christ." Jesus Himself told us that His glory was in the Cross! In fact, it was the Cross that would draw all people to Him. In John's Gospel, Jesus says, "'Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to Myself'" (12:31-32). John comments on this saying, "By these words He indicated the kind of death He would die" (v. 33).

For Jesus, the Cross was His Glory, His Power. When St. John had his vision, in Revelation, he sees Jesus as "a Lamb standing that seemed to have been sacrificed" (Rev. 5:6), and to this Lamb, all the choirs of Heaven bow down and sing

You are worthy...
because You were sacrificed, and with Your blood
You bought people for God
of every race, language, people and nation
and made them a line of kings and priests for God,
to rule the world (Rev. 6:9,10).

In the Crucifixion is joy; in the Crucifixion is victory; in the Crucifixion is redemption. This is why, in every Church, there is a Crucifix--to remind us of the Love and of the Victory in the Cross. "...You have had a clear picture of Jesus Christ crucified, right in front of your eyes..." (Galatians 3:1).

Many years ago in New York, a Gang was passing by St. Patrick's Cathedral. The gang members each dared each other to mock religion and the Church by going into the Cathedral and making a mock confession. One of the guys took the dare, and entered the church. He went into the confessional and began listing off to the priest all the most horrible and shocking sins that he could think of, hoping to embarrass the priest. But behind the screen sat a wise old Cardinal, who prayed to Jesus for wisdom.

When the gang member finished, the Cardinal said to him, "For a confession to be complete and valid, you must do a penance. Here is the penance I am giving you. Over at the back of the Church there is a small chapel, with a life-sized Crucifix inside. I want you to kneel before that Crucifix, look into the face of Jesus, and say to Him ten times, 'Jesus, You died for me, and I don't care.'"

The youth, figuring he'd already gone this far, and might as well go all the way, entered the chapel, knelt before the Crucifix, and began his penance:

"Jesus, You died for me, and I don't care.
Jesus, You died for me, and I don't care.
Jesus, You died for me..."

There, before the Crucifix, as the gang member stared into the face of the One who loved him so much that He suffered and died for him, he could not finish his penance. The grace of Christ came into his life and he had a conversion experience. He got up, went back to the confessional, and made a good confession. Years later, that same man became a priest.

That is the power of the Cross: freedom, peace, and joy. No matter where you've been or what you've done, Christ's hands are stretched out in love for you.

God bless.

What Are You Looking At?

Matthew 6:22-34

'The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkened, what darkness that will be!
'No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.
'That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will He not much more look after you, you who have so little faith? So do not worry; do not say, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?" It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on His kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'

After Jesus finishes discussing the three major "do's" of the Catholic Faith: Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting, and teaching that it's not just enough to do them, but we must do them with the right motives--out of sincerity, rather than showing off--Jesus continues to discuss the motives of the heart very directly in this text.

He starts off with a proverb about being able to see, that at first glance, sandwiched as it is in Matthew between a discussion about true treasures and serving either God or money, seems completely random. If this section is about wealth vs. God, then why is Jesus talking about our eyes? In fact, this parable is the key to really understanding what it is that Jesus is getting at when He talks about finances. And, not surprisingly, it's the very same point that He's been making all along. Just as our eyes allow us to see, and if we can't see, everything is in darkness, spiritually, we need to have our heart focused on the things of God. If we allow distractions to take our eyes off of Him, then our hearts will grow spiritually dark.

Jesus then turns His attention to an issue that was as distracting for people as they tried to serve God in His day as it is now. In fact, it's such a huge issue that Jesus isn't content to refer to it as a "distraction." He's pretty graphic as He calls people "slaves" to it. And He's right. We cannot be a slave both to God and to Money.

Here in North America, especially, it seems to me, in our town of Oakville, the distraction, enticement, and downright slavery of money is very prevalent. People work long hours in order to provide the best sort of life for their family: the biggest house, right down on the Lake, the nicest cars, biggest television, etc. They think that if they make enough money, and get enough stuff, it will fulfil them, and they will be happy. The problem is, though, there is always something more to get, something more to "fill" that void in our hearts, and we never do get to the point where "enough is enough."

Now please hear what I am saying: money in and of itself is not a bad thing. As St. Paul said, "'The love of money is the root of all evils' and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds" (1 Timothy 6:10, emphasis mine). Money, when it serves our needs, is a good thing. But there can easily come a point when money becomes not the servant, but the master, and we must be on guard against that!

As Jesus said, it's about what we are focussed on, and He continues to talk about where our focus should be. When Money is our master, our focus is on ourselves and all the things that we need. We begin to stress and worry over food and clothing and everything else, because "What if we don't have enough?" Rather, Jesus tells us not to worry about any of that, because God knows our needs and promises to take care of us! If He can take care of birds and flowers, giving them all that they need, then how much more is He aware of and willing to meet our needs, who are created in His Image, and are infinitely more valuable than flowers and birds! So He asks us to trust in Him and work with Him, instead of trusting in money and working for money.

This is not an easy thing. I get that. As a youth minister, my salary is far from lucrative! My wife is a supply teacher, trying to get a full-time job. In the meantime, she doesn't know if, when, or where she'll be working next! It's very difficult to trust that Jesus will supply our every need. It's very tempting to worry and get stressed out. It's very tempting to look into a better-paying job so that we can be secure enough to start a family, have a house, and all the other things that we think would make us happy. But we have faith in God, knowing that He's taking care of us, and has called us to the place where we are. As long as we cooperate with Him, He will not only meet our material needs, but our spiritual needs as well. As hard as things may get, He will fulfil that void in our hearts.

So don't worry about all these things. Seek God's Kingdom, and His saving justice! He'll take care of the rest. That's the beauty of having God as Our Father!

God bless!

Prayer

Woohoo! 60th post! Here we come to the beginning of Lent, and the end ouf our Trilogy of topics from Matthew 6. Stay tuned for the heart-stopping, action packed conclusion! ...Or something like that ;)

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. It was due to be finished last Thursday afternoon, but work stuff sidetracked me, and I haven't seen a computer until today! So, without any further ado...

Matthew 6:5-15

'And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
'In your prayers, do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. So you should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
may Your name be held holy,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the Evil One.

'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.

In the first two verses, Jesus makes exactly the same point about prayer as He does about almsgiving and fasting, namely that we need to do it out of sincere motives and a desire to serve God, not out of a desire to appear spiritual before men. Jesus again says that those who pray, just as those who give alms and fast, out of hypocritical and pretentious motives, receive their reward. What does He mean? That those who give and fast and pray in order to get praise from others will only ever get praise from others as a reward for their religiosity. But as we have seen with the previous posts, and now here, God will reward those who serve Him for His sake, sincerely. How? As I mentioned in almsgiving, the Bible talks about the reward being the removal of the penalty of sin. With fasting, the reward is a greater knowledge and intimacy with God. As we'll see in a minute, the divine reward for prayer is a bit of both.

Jesus spends a little bit more time on prayer than on almsgiving and fasting (which is why I saved it until last). After warning about doing it for false motives, Jesus then warns us against doing it with false methods. And instead of comparing the true way with that of the hypocrites, He contrasts true prayer with that of the gentiles--namely, the pagan peoples who worshipped false gods and relied on magic incantations and long, babbling prayers to appeal to those false gods. It's important to understand that distinction, because so many people misinterpret this passage. Many, many people (mainly Protestants) think that Jesus is condemning the repetition of written or memorised prayers, as in the Catholic Rosary, for example. In fact, many translations of the Bible use the phrase "vain repitition" where the New Jerusalem Bible quoted above says "babbling."

But there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Number 1, not all repitition is "vain" or worthless. Jesus is not condemning the repitition of phrases or recited prayers. He is condemning, again, the motive or belief behind the repitition--namely, the notion that if we say a prayer enough times, or say precisely the right words, then God will do something, or reply, or grant our request. This is not prayer, this is magic, and that's why Jesus condemns it--that kind of repitition makes God out to be something we can control or manipulate--and that, as we'll see in a minute, is a sinful attitude!

Second, repitition becomes bad when it is no longer sincere, but simply rattling off words. This can happen very easily when we commit prayers to memory. If we are not careful, that memorised prayer can become meaningless when we fail to engage our minds in the recitation. The Church has given us a wonderful gift in its collections of prayers from various saints throughout the ages, don't get me wrong! They are so useful in expressing thoughts and desires that we ourselve can't always find the words for. But when we read or recite such prayers, we must always mean them, and speak them with sincerity.

For any Protestant (or Catholic) readers who practice a more spontaneous form of prayer, and are thinking "I don't have to worry about that!" consider your own prayers. Take note, in a single prayer, how many times you repeat certain clichéed phrases. Growing up, I noticed that many people replaced the word "um" in their prayers, with "Lord." If that's not "vain repitition" then what is? And that's not to mention a worship service where the songs might be sung over and over. Now, I'm not attacking other traditions here, but I want to point out just what it is that Jesus is and is not referring to, and that is this: Prayer must never be reduced to a magic formula.

To counter this, Jesus gives us the Our Father as an antidote. This simple, direct prayer is packed with meaning, and must be prayed with an understanding of that meaning. More, the meaning of the Our Father must inform all of our other prayers. So let's break it down:

Our Father in heaven
These words are perhaps the most important part of this prayer--maybe even all of Scripture! God, the All-Powerful Creator of the Universe, is our Father?! If we really ponder the idea, it is ludicrous! How can we dare to approach God, as if He were our Daddy? There is absolutely no way that we could, on our own. But that's just it: we aren't on our own! Through Jesus' Death and Resurrection, He makes us able to become the sons and daughters of God!

St. John writes in his first epistle, "You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children--which is what we are!" (1 John 3:1.) That word, "lavished", describes it beautifully. Think of it like painting: you can put just a little bit of paint on the brush, and gently apply it to the canvass, or you can dip a big brush into the bucket and just slather that canvass! That's the idea behind "lavish". God is just heaping His love on us, saying, "Here! Have some more! And more! And more!" That's what it means to be His Children! That's what it means when we pray, "Our Father"!

May Your name be held holy
But in case we start taking the Father for granted, and approaching Him like we would our fathers, "Hey Dad, can I have 5 bucks?" the next line returns us to the right perspecitve. Yes, God is our Father, and He lavishes His love on us, but He is still holy, and deserves our awe, respect, and worship! On the one hand, we can curl up in His lap and call Him "Daddy", and on the other, we revere and adore Him as the All-Holy King of the Universe! There is and must be a balance between these perspectives, for they are both equally true.

Your kingdom come / Your will be done / on earth as in heaven
Since God is King, He obviously has a Kingdom, and that Heavenly Kingdom needs to be realised here on earth, so we pray that He would be present here with us, working out His Will on earth. So what's His Kingdom? St. Paul describes it as "the saving justice, the peace, and the joy brought by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). This is what we pray for--and the awesome thing is that when we pray for it, God chooses then to include us in the realising of it! He expects us to work to bring saving justice, peace, and joy to the world through the Holy Spirit working within us!

Give us today our daily bread
If God expects so much from us, then we can be assured that He will make it possible. This line in the prayer has a two-fold meaning. In the first place, we see that Jesus urges us to pray that God will meet our every need. But more, there is a reason that we pray the Our Father right before we receive the Eucharist at Mass: Since the earliest times, the Church has seen this line fulfilled in the Real Presence of Christ, who Himself is the Bread of Heaven, which is daily available in the Catholic Church! Through the Grace given by His presence, we truly can accomplish living a life that brings about His Kingdom!

And forgive us our debts, / as we forgive those who are in debt to us
Not only does Jesus meet our every need, and empower us by His Flesh and Blood, but He forgives our sins, as well! God desires to again, lavish grace and mercy upon us, but He again makes it conditional: we must also be willing to forgive. Just as Jesus said in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall have mercy shown them," He reiterates here when He says, "'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either'" (Matthew 6:14-15). If God gives us so great a grace through such a high cost (Jesus' suffering and death), then we are expected to bestow that same grace upon everyone who has harmed us!

And do not put us to the test, / but save us from the Evil One
Finally, we learn that we can not only be forgiven of our failings, but that we can even be preserved from temptations! Staying close to God is staying far from Sin. Through Jesus, we are given the grace to flee temptation and resist the Devil (cf. James 4:7). St. Paul reassures us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that "none of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it"!

Praise God that He is so loving to us, that He meets all our needs and forgives our sins! That is what it means to have God as our Father! So let us draw close to Him in prayer in this season of Lent and all throughout our lives!

Let us Pray!

Fasting

Last post I mentioned that we'd be jumping around a little. This post I'm skipping Jesus' discussion on Prayer in Matthew 6, and going for His blurb on Fasting. Next post, I'll jump back to prayer.

Matthew 6:16-18

'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.'

Jesus here is saying the same thing about fasting as He does about almsgiving: namely, don't show off about it. Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline, but if we are doing it for the wrong reasons, the numerous benefits that we would otherwise achieve are nullified, and all that will come from it is that people will think you're super-spiritual (that is, if they don't see right through the act and think you're just a dork).

Fasting is an act of repentance--of making a sacrifice in order to draw closer to God. Now, for it to be a real sacrifice, you have to give up something good, something that is on the one hand, not wrong (you can't "fast" from sin--you should be giving that up, anyway!), and on the other hand, it has to be something that you like (fasting from Pepsi, for me, definitely wouldn't count. Neither would turnips, squash, or brussel sprouts! For you all, I'll say it here, definitively: Giving up homework does not count!). When we give something good up, we are recognising that as good as something is, there is something infinitely better--and we seek that good, Who is God. For example, the traditional fast is from food, and when we give up a meal, or several meals, we are saying that as good and as necessary as food is to our lives, God is infinitely better, and more necessary.

But giving something up (be it food, or television, or videogames) isn't the end of the story. When we give something up, we have to replace it with something. If we're giving up a good thing in order to gain a better One, then we actually have to be seeking that better One in our fast! When we feel the cravings for what we have given up, it is a reminder to seek out Jesus in prayer. When we are tempted to selfishly quit early, it is a reminder to selflessly help meet the needs of others. We have to actively seek God in our fast, otherwise there is no point. If our fast does not change our hearts to desire more of God, then honestly, we've just wasted our time.

Centuries before Christ, the prophet Isaiah made the same point, in the 58th passage of his book. When the Israelite people fasted without actually trying to love God or help others, they whined in frustration, "'Why have we fasted, if You do not see, why mortify ourselves if You never notice?'" (v. 3a). In reply, God, speaking through His prophet, says this:

Look, you seek your own pleasure on your fastdays
And you exploit all your workmen;
Look, the only purpose of your fasting is to quarrel and squabble
And strike viciously with your fist.
Fasting like yours today
Will never make your voice heard on high.
Is that the sort of fast that pleases Me,
A day when a person inflicts pain on himself?
Hanging your head like a reed,
Spreading out sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call fasting,
A day acceptable to Yahweh?
Is not this the sort of fast that pleases Me:
To break unjust fetters,
To undo the thongs of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to break all yokes?
Is it not sharing your food with the hungry,
And sheltering the homeless poor;
If you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him,
And not to turn away from your own kin?
Then your light will blaze out like the dawn
And your wound be quickly healed over.
Saving justice will go ahead of you
And Yahweh's glory come behind you. (Is. 58:3b-8)

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is the Church's primary season of penitence as we prepare to celebrate the Passion and Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord! Let us make this season a true fast, keeping in mind the Lord's words from Isaiah, and let us seek Him with all of our hearts.

Our Youth Ministry has been invited to participate in a wonderful outreach, in order to practice almsgiving on a dynamically large scale, by participating in the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's program, "ThinkFast." The Chaplain at St. Ignatius of Loyola has invited us to join them as they do it from 3 pm March 3 to 3 pm March 4. If you don't know what ThinkFast is, it's raising money for D&P, so that they can send it to help countries that are afflicted with starvation, lack of clean water, or other injustices, so that permanent social change can be implemented. At the same time, we'll be fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with those who are starving for much, much longer periods. More, ThinkFast involves fun, learning, and worship throughout the night, and will end with a multicultural potluck on Saturday, which will last until 4. If you want to participate, please let me know! You'll need to raise at least $40.

That same Saturday, we'll be watching The Passion of the Christ here at the Church. Each Friday night of Lent, at 7, we'll be discussing it, as well as praying the Stations of the Cross. Feel free to join us!

God bless
Gregory

Almsgiving

For the beginning of chapter 6, I thought I'd jump around a bit. The beginning of Matthew 6 is the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading, so it's fitting that we approach the three topics of chapter 6: Almsgiving, Fasting, and Prayer, as we prepare to celebrate the season of Lent, in which the Church stresses greater spiritual devotion and good works, a time of getting right with God. Hopefully, then, really understanding these topics will help Lent to have a more dynamic impact on us. This post we'll talk about Almsgiving. We'll skip over to Fasting in the next one, and conclude with Prayer just as Lent begins.

Matthew 6:1-4, 19-20

'Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be in secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you...

'Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be too.'

When Jesus taught us about being Salt and Light, He was telling us to boldly live out our faith and be an example to the world. Now, however, He seems to be reversing that idea, and telling us to do our good works in secret. It seems somewhat contradictory, so what is Jesus really saying?

Jesus is not contradicting Himself, and He does want us to be obvious in our faith-life. But here, Jesus is not talking about that. Rather, He is talking about hypocricy. Like His discussion of the Deeper Law at the end of Chapter 5, Jesus is teaching us about our motives. In fact, the beginning of Chapter 6 is really the continuation to the discussion of chapter 5. When Jesus began talking about living out the Law, His examples were all of a negative variety: Don't murder; Don't commit adultery, etc. However, in chapter 6, Jesus now turns His attention to the positive requirements of the Law, or the Do's. But His point remains the same. The religious people of His time all knew the importance of giving alms, fasting, and prayer. It was so important, in fact, that the "really religious" would actually show off their good works, in order that people would laud them and they'd come off looking pretty darn terrific. Condemning this activity, Jesus claims that human acclamation is all the reward that these people will ever get for their "good works," and that all the spiritual benefit that should come from giving to the poor is nullified.

When Jesus tells us that we should give to the poor "in secret", He is not suggesting that we go out in the dead of night, cloak-and-dagger, in order to give. Rather, He is saying to us that when we give, when we meet the needs of others, we should just do it because they need help, we can help, and God wants us to help. That's all there is to it. It's not about who sees or who doesn't see. It's about how much or how little we care that people see. It's about being obvious, not pretentious. And He promises that God will reward those who honour Him this way. How? Verses 19-21 have the key. It is in almsgiving that we understand that our treasure is not here, but we lay up treasure in Heaven. Jesus here is alluding to Tobit 4:4-11:

'My child, be faithful to the Lord all your days. Never entertain the will to sin or to transgress His laws. Do good works all the days of your life, never follow ways that are not upright; for if you act in truthfulness, you will be successful in all your actions, as everyone is who practises what is upright.
'Set aside part of your goods for almsgiving. Never turn your face from the poor and God will never turn His from you. Measure your alms by what you have; if you have much, give more; if you have little, do not be afraid to give less in alms. So doing, you will lay up for yourself a great treasure for the day of necessity. For almsgiving delivers from death and saves people from passing down to darkness. Almsgiving is a most effective offering for all those who do it in the presence of the Most High.'

A great example of one who lived out the unity of being obvious and humble about her faith is Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta--a woman who gave up everything in order to minister to those most in need in India. Someone who gives up everything like that is bound to attract attention, and she did. But she didn't seek it. In fact, more often than not, she avoided it. She didn't serve the poor in order to win the Nobel Peace Prize (though they gave it to her), but because these people needed someone to love them--and in their faces, she saw the Face of Christ. When people tried to give glory to her, she deflected it to Jesus Christ.

That's precisely what Jesus is talking about in Matthew chapter 6.

Our Youth Ministry has been invited to participate in a wonderful outreach, in order to practice almsgiving on a dynamically large scale, by participating in the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's program, "ThinkFast." The Chaplain at St. Ignatius of Loyola has invited us to join them as they do it from 3 pm March 3 to 3 pm March 4. If you don't know what ThinkFast is, it's raising money for D&P, so that they can send it to help countries that are afflicted with starvation, lack of clean water, or other injustices, so that permanent social change can be implemented. At the same time, we'll be fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with those who are starving for much, much longer periods. More, ThinkFast involves fun, learning, and worship throughout the night, and will end with a multicultural potluck on Saturday.

If you want to participate, please let me know!

God bless!

The Greatest of Them...

Up until now, I've been quoting Scripture from the Revised Standard Version, by copy-pasting from http://www.blueletterbible.org/. But at the last Bible Study meeting (on hiatus for the summer), the people who came went in together to buy me a beautiful new New Jerusalem Bible. I've begun reading it, and I love the translation. So I'm going to cite it here from now on!

Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to put Him to the test, one of them put a further question, "Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?" Jesus said to him, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the prophets too."

Love is considered to be the greatest thing in this life, by people in our culture. And they're right. The problem is, no one seems to really know what exactly love is. When you read books or watch tv or listen to pop music, you get the impression that everyone is searching for this thing called "love", and for those who claim to have found it, it seems like some warm, fuzzy feelings that are only temporary, and when they're gone, they leave the lover feeling even more lost and confused about this great mysterious thing that he or she is looking for! How can the maxim, "Love conquers all," be true when our experience of love amounts to a temporary happy feeling?

This concept of love, as a mere feeling devoid of any sense of discipline, work, or commitment, is the main factor behind high divorce rates, low self-esteem, and a host of other societal ills. Love indeed conquers all, and without it...without True Love, we have a world of hatred, violence, selfishness, and despair. So what, then, is this fabled true love that heroines have longed for and heroes have searched for in bygone stories?

St. Paul gives us the answer in the most famous passage about love, without which no discussion on love would be complete, 1 Corinthians 13 (verses 1-8a,13):

Though I command languages both human and angelic--if I speak without love, I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. And though I have the power of prophecy, to penetrate all mysteries and knowledge, and though I have all the faith necessary to move mountains--if I am without love, I am nothing. Though I should give away to the poor all that I possess, and even give up my body to be burned--if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love never comes to an end...
As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest o them is love.

St. Paul tells us that, contrary to the world's assumptions, Love is not just a feeling. On the contrary, it must be something incredibly more! To live the ideal presented in this passage is something that goes beyond warm fuzzies! It takes a determined act of the will--a commitment to seek the good of another above your own! This love is the love that will conquer all. This is the love tha will fulfil. This is the Unconditional agapé love that Jesus demands of us--a love that He Himself has for us!

Above, I quoted the passage where Jesus tells us that the greatest law in the Old Testament was to love God with everything that we are, and to love each other as we love ourselves. But Jesus came to bring a New Covenant, a New Testament--and the Greatest Law in the New Covenant is this: "I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you" (John 13:34).

How does Jesus love us? In St. John's first letter, he tells us: "Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent His Son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another" (1 John 4:10-11). In his Gospel, St. John quotes Jesus as saying that no person can possibly have any greater love than that--to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). And yet, we see that God Himself has a greater love--an impossible Love!

So it is proof of God's own love for us, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. How much more can we we be sure, therefore, that, now that we have been justified by His death, we shall be saved through Him from the retribution of God. For if, while we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, how much more can we be sure that, being now reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Did you catch that? Chrsit died for us while we were His enemies! That's the love of Christ, and let me tell you, that love was not based on pure emotional fuzzy feelings! This was raw, passionate commitment to you and to me! That's the love of God for us! And that's the kind of love that He expects from us, for Him, for each other, and for the world!

When you enter into relationships and dating, and, down the line, think about marrying someone, you need to start with this kind of love from the outset--otherwise you're just wasting your time and theirs, and the only result is heartache!

When you seek to help others who are less fortunate, to care for those in need, or to make a difference in this world, that's the kind of love you need, or you will quit when it gets too hard, or they reject your helping hand, or when you realise that helping people and making a difference takes *gasp!* work!

Only this kind of love will shake the world.

Only this kind of love can truly conquer all!