FEAST OF ST. JOHN OF CAPISTRANO
The
world is mourning Babylon’s fall in these verses. After watching this year’s
MTV awards show I am convinced that we morally are much closer to a Babylonian
culture than we are to the original vision of the founders of this great nation
of “A city on the hill” and a shining light to the world. Is America the new
Babylon or that shining city on the hill? Yet for those who are united in
Christ there is hope. Don’t worry the victory is for those who are in the risen
one.
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he
brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope. (Matthew
12:18-21)
You cannot receive if you do not ask. Let us ask for God’s mercy and count on it, to deliver our soul from death and keep us alive through this earthly famine for ourselves and others. In fact, one pious work we could do this week is a Novena to the Divine Mercy. In the novena Christ asks us to pray each day for a certain group of people.
1. All Sinners
2. Priests and Religious
3. Devout Souls
4. Unbelievers
5. Departed brethren
6. Children
7. Saints
8. Those in purgatory
9. And the Lukewarm
A good time to pray the
novena is the hour of Christ’s death. “At three o’clock, implore My mercy,
especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My
Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour
of great mercy…”
I
Thirst[1]
In the convent of
Vercelli, where Blessed Emilia, a Dominican Religious, was Prioress, it was a
point of the Rule never to drink between meals, unless with express permission
of the Superior. This permission the Blessed Prioress was not accustomed to
accord; she advised her sisters to make that little sacrifice cheerfully, in
memory of the burning thirst which our Savior had endured for our salvation
upon the Cross; and to encourage them to do this, she suggested to them to
confide those few drops of water to their guardian angels, that he might
preserve them until the other life, to temper the heat of Purgatory. The
following incident shows how agreeable this pious practice was to God. A sister
named Cecilia Avogadra came one day to ask permission to refresh herself with a
little water, for she was parched with thirst. “My daughter,” said the
Prioress, “make this little sacrifice for the love of God and in consideration
of Purgatory.” “Mother, this sacrifice is not little; I am dying with thirst,”
replied the good sister; nevertheless, although somewhat grieved, she obeyed
the advice of her Superior. This double act of obedience and mortification was
precious in the sight of God, and Sister Cecilia soon received its reward. A
few weeks later she died, and after three days she appeared, resplendent in
glory, to Mother Emilia. “O Mother!” she said, “how grateful I am to you! I was
condemned to a long Purgatory for having had too great affection for my family,
and behold, after two days, I saw my angel guardian enter my prison, holding in
his hand the glass of water which you caused me to offer as a sacrifice to my
Divine Spouse; he poured that water upon the flames which devoured me, they
were extinguished immediately, and I am delivered. I take my flight to Heaven,
where my gratitude will never forget you.”
·
Perhaps
a pious devotion for Fridays in honor of our Lords thirst could be to go to
morning confession and mass followed by a 9 am to 3 pm fast of food and water.
Then do an act of charity for someone-maybe a good idea would be to buy a bottle of water for the poor.
St. John of Capistrano[2]
St. John was born in 1386
at Capistrano in the Italian Province of the Abruzzi. His father was a German
knight and died when he was still young. When war broke out between Perugia and
Malatesta in 1416, St. John tried to broker a peace. Unfortunately, his
opponents ignored the truce and St. John became a prisoner of war. On the death
of his wife he entered the order of Friars Minor, was ordained and began to
lead a very penitential life. John became a disciple of Saint Bernadine of
Siena and a noted preacher.
·
The
world at the time was in need of strong men to work for salvation of souls.
·
Thirty
percent of the population was killed by the Black Plague, the Church was split
in schism and there were several men claiming to be pope.
·
As
an Itinerant priest throughout Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary,
Poland, and Russia, St. John preached to tens of thousands and established
communities of Franciscan renewal.
·
He
reportedly healed the sick by making the Sign of the Cross over them. He also
wrote extensively, mainly against the heresies of the day.
·
He
was successful in reconciling heretics.
After the fall of
Constantinople, he preached a crusade against the Muslim Turks. At age 70 he
was commissioned by Pope Callistus II to lead it and marched off at the head of
70,000 Christian soldiers. He won the great battle of Belgrade in the summer of
1456. He died in the field a few months later, but his army delivered Europe
from the Moslems.
Things to
Do
·
St.
John struggled with finding his vocation. Younger people can pray to St. John
for help in discerning God's will for their lives.
·
Learn
more about the times that St. John Capistrano lived, such as the Crusades, the
Black Plague, anti-popes.
·
St.
John is the patron of jurists. We can turn to him to help discern major
decisions. We can also follow his example of strict self-discipline in order to
think more clearly.
·
In
1776 in Southern California, Father Junipera Serra founded the Mission of San Juan Capistrano,
named for St. John, for mission work to the Indians. The mission is a
historical site and has both a Catholic Basilica and the original smaller
chapel that are still used for Catholic liturgy. See the Wikipedia page. There is also a tradition of the swallows returning
to San Juan every March 19. Find out more about this annual event.
Amoris Lætitia[3]
Passionate love, marriage and virginity (158-162)
Many people who are unmarried are not only devoted to their own family but often render great service in their group of friends, in the Church community and in their professional lives. Sometimes their presence and contributions are overlooked, causing in them a sense of isolation. Many put their talents at the service of the Christian community through charity and volunteer work.
Others remain unmarried because they consecrate their lives to the love of Christ and neighbor. Their dedication greatly enriches the family, the Church and society.” Virginity is a form of love. As a sign, it speaks to us of the coming of the Kingdom and the need for complete devotion to the cause of the Gospel. It is also a reflection of the fullness of heaven, where “they neither marry not are given in marriage.” Saint Paul recommended virginity because he expected Jesus’ imminent return and he wanted everyone to concentrate only on spreading the Gospel: “the appointed time has grown very short.” Nonetheless, he made it clear that this was his personal opinion and preference, not something demanded by Christ: “I have no command in the Lord.” All the same, he recognized the value of the different callings: “Each has his or her own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.” Reflecting on this, Saint John Paul II noted that the biblical texts “give no reason to assert the ‘inferiority’ of marriage, nor the ‘superiority’ of virginity or celibacy” based on sexual abstinence. Rather than speak absolutely of the superiority of virginity, it should be enough to point out that the different states of life complement one another, and consequently that some can be more perfect in one way and others in another. Alexander of Hales, for example, stated that in one sense marriage may be considered superior to the other sacraments, inasmuch as it symbolizes the great reality of “Christ’s union with the Church, or the union of his divine and human natures”.
Consequently,
“it is not a matter of diminishing the value of matrimony in favor of
continence.” “There is no basis for playing one off against the other… If,
following a certain theological tradition, one speaks of a ‘state of
perfection’; this has to do not with continence in itself, but with the
entirety of a life based on the evangelical counsels.” A married person can
experience the highest degree of charity and thus “reach the perfection which
flows from charity, through fidelity to the spirit of those counsels. Such
perfection is possible and accessible to every man and woman.”
The value of virginity lies in its symbolizing a love that has no need to possess the other; in this way it reflects the freedom of the Kingdom of Heaven. Virginity encourages married couples to live their own conjugal love against the backdrop of Christ’s definitive love, journeying together towards the fullness of the Kingdom. For its part, conjugal love symbolizes other values.
On the one hand, it is a particular reflection of that full unity in distinction found in the Trinity. The family is also a sign of Christ. It manifests the closeness of God who is a part of every human life, since he became one with us through his incarnation, death and resurrection. Each spouse becomes “one flesh” with the other as a sign of willingness to share everything with him or her until death. Whereas virginity is an “eschatological” sign of the risen Christ, marriage is a “historical” sign for us living in this world, a sign of the earthly Christ who chose to become one with us and gave himself up for us even to shedding his blood.
Virginity and marriage are, and must be, different ways of loving. For “Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him.” Celibacy can risk becoming a comfortable single life that provides the freedom to be independent, to move from one residence, work or option to another, to spend money as one sees fit and to spend time with others as one wants. In such cases, the witness of married people becomes especially eloquent. Those called to virginity can encounter in some marriages a clear sign of God’s generous and steadfast fidelity to his covenant, and this can move them to a more concrete and generous availability to others.
Many married couples remain faithful when
one of them has become physically unattractive, or fails to satisfy the other’s
needs, despite the voices in our society that might encourage them to be
unfaithful or to leave the other. A wife can care for her sick husband and
thus, in drawing near to the Cross, renew her commitment to love unto death. In
such love, the dignity of the true lover shines forth, inasmuch as it is more
proper to charity to love than to be loved. We could also point to the presence
in many families of a capacity for selfless and loving service when children
prove troublesome and even ungrateful. This makes those parents a sign of
the free and selfless love of Jesus. Cases like these encourage celibate
persons to live their commitment to the Kingdom with greater generosity and
openness. Today, secularization has obscured the value of a life-long union and
the beauty of the vocation to marriage. For this reason, it is “necessary to
deepen an understanding of the positive aspects of conjugal love.”
Daily Devotions
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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