Viator

On the Teaching of the Saints 12: Joy

Among the world's stereotypical views of Christianity is that its members are sad and gloomy. A popular song from about twenty years ago declared that it is better to laugh with the sinners than to cry with the saints. Nothing could be more wrong! St. Francis de Sales teaches:

"The Holy Spirit, speaking by all the saints, and our blessed Lord Himself, assures us that a devout life is a lovely, a pleasant, and a happy life."

(Esper, Saintly Solutions, 145)

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us!

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On the Teaching of the Saints 11: The Immaculate Conception

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Consider the praise offered to the Mother of God from Saint Maximilian Kolbe.

"The Immaculate One appears in this world without the least stain of sin, the masterpiece of God's hands, full of grace.  God, the Most Holy Trinity, beholds the lowliness (that is, the humility, the root of all her other virtues) of His Handmaid, and does great things for her, He the Almighty.  God the Father gives her His own Son to be her Son; God the Son descends into her womb; and God the Holy Spirit forms the body of Christ in the womb of this pure virgin.  And the Word was made flesh.  The immaculate One becomes the Mother of God.  The fruit of the love of God in his Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculate One is Christ the God-Man."

Mary, Theotokos, pray for us!

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On the Teaching of the Saints 10: St. John of the Cross

High on the list of difficult things to understand is how suffering and God's will work together for our good.  It is really a matter of faith.  Somehow, the saints, who suffer much, see it.  We know that our end is eternal happiness; we hang on to that hope!  St. John of the Cross offers this advise:

"See that you are not suddenly saddened by the adversities of this world, for you do not know the good they bring, being ordained in the judgments of God for the everlasting joy of the elect."

(Esper, Saintly Solutions, 109)

St. John of the Cross, pray for us!

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On the Teaching of the Saints 9: St. Alphonsus Liguori

Distractions during prayer are very common.  Nonetheless, we struggle to overcome them and to truly address our words to Our Lord with sincerity and focus.  St. Alphonsus Liguori explains the problem.  One solution is to simply let the distractions float by our minds and gently let them go away.  Sometimes, we need to simply offer the distraction as a moment of suffering to Our Lord and leave it to Him!  In this way, we turn the enemy's attack to God's glory!

"The devil is never busier trying to distract us than when he sees us praying and asking God for grace.  And why?  Because the enemy sees that at no other time do we gain so many treasures of heavenly goods as when we pray."

(Esper, Saintly Solutions, 76)

St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us!

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On the Teaching of the Saints 8: St. Robert Bellarmine

The Christian perspective on business is very balanced.  Reasonable people understand that there must be provision for our physical needs.  A certain amount of joy in the good things in life is completely consistent with a Catholic world view.  The economy in our country is difficult today.  Many are suffering.  St. Robert Bellarmine teaches us how to think if these things in view of our ultimate goal: sanctifiation and eternal life.

"May you consider truly good whatever leads to your goal and truly evil whatever makes you fall away from it.  Propserity and adversity, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, honors and humiliations, life and death, in the mind of the wise man, are not to be sought for their own sake, nor avoided for their own sake.  But if they contribute to the glory of God and your eternal happiness, they are good and should be sought.  If they detract from this, they are evil and must be avoided."

(Esper, Saintly Solutions, 34)

St. Robert Bellarmine, pray for us!

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On the Teaching of the Saints 7: St. John Chrysostom

On Fridays the Church requires her sons and daughters to think of their sinfulness and do some act of penance.  We also focus on Our Lord's suffering and death on the Cross.  Penance is an idea that the world no longer comprehends.  While no work on our part can ever compensate God for our unrighteousness, the saints can offer the merits of Christ along with their penances.  The merciful Father receives the tiny actions of His children and is pleased by them.  However, God forces no one to enter into his household.  St. John Chrysostom explains why some do not receive salvation.

"And if by grace, it will be said, how came we all not to be saved?  Because you would not.  For grace, though it be grace, saves the willing, not those who will not have it, and turn away from it, who persist in fighting against it, and opposing themselves to it."

(Homilies on St. John, 8:1)

St. John Chrysostom, pray for us!

 

On the Teaching of the Saints 6: St. Ignatius of Antioch

St. Ignatius was a first century Bishop who suffered martyrdom because he refused to renounce his Christian faith to the Roman authorities. He was the second bishop of Antioch having been consecrated Bishop by his predecessor at Antioch, St. Peter, prior to St. Peter's journey to Rome. In addition to knowing St. Peter personally, Ignatius was a disciple of St. John the Apostle. St. Ignatius always defended "orthodoxy" – which is right teaching and "orthopraxy" – which is right practice. Having learned the holy Faith from St. Peter the first Pope and St. John the Beloved Apostle and writer of the Gospel and Revelation, St. Ignatius is a teacher worthy of our attention. Having no fear of death and fully confident in life everlasting, he died a martyrs death in Rome being devoured by two lions.

"In the same way all should respect the deacons as they would Jesus Christ, just as they respect the bishop as representing the Father and the priests as the council of God and the college of the Apostles. Apart from these there is nothing that can be called a Church."

(Letter to the Trallians, Chapt. 2, TCF, 53)

St. Ignatius, pray for us!

On the Teaching of the Saints 5: St. Augustine

It is worth remembering the purpose of religion. A survey of people who call themselves "religious" will reveal many motives. Some like the associations they build, some like the values they hear and hope for a good society, some focus on relief for pain. In the end, whatever the motive, happiness is the goal. St. Augustine, in his great work The City of God, clarifies what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

"[God] is the source of our happiness and the very end of all our aspirations. We elect Him, whom, by neglect, we lost. We offer Him our allegiance – for 'allegiance' and 'religion' are, at root, the same. We pursue Him with our love so that when we reach Him we may rest in perfect happiness in Him who is our goal.

(The City of God, Bk. 10, Chapt. 3)

St. Augustine, pray for us!

On the Teaching of the Saints 4: Pope St. Leo the Great

Today is the feast day of Pope St. Leo the Great. Catholics in the Latin Rite remember this most notable of saints and recall the life of our own great and saintly pope! Many have called Pope John Paul II, "John Paul the Great." Pope St. Leo the Great defended the constant teaching of the Church received from the Apostles. Here, he defends the Christian teaching on the Eucharist.

"For when the Lord says, 'unless you have eaten the flesh of the Son of Man, and drunk His blood, you will not have life in you' (Jn. 6:54), you ought so to be partakers at the Holy Table, as to have no doubt whatever concerning the reality of Christ's Body and Blood. For what is taken in the mouth which is believed in Faith, and it is vain for them to respond Amen who dispute that which is taken."

(TCF, 876, Sermons, No. 91:3)

St. Leo, pray for us!

On the Teaching of the Saints 3: St. Augustine

There is something about the Holy Faith that is puzzling. It seems that those who attack it do not really grasp it. One of the definitions of "theology" is: faith seeking understanding. There it is; faith precedes understanding. St. Augustine (354 – 430) understood the ordering of faith to understanding.

"Unless you believe, you will not understand."

(De Libero Arbitrio)

St. Augustine, pray for us.

On the Teaching of the Saints 2: St. Francis De Sales

One of the greatest spiritual classics is Introduction to the Devout Life. A devout life is simply a life of active devotion to Our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Francis was a bishop, a great teacher, and a wonderful friend. The greatest gift of friendship is to help one another along the pilgrimage to Heaven. St. Francis taught and encouraged devotion as fundamental to our happiness. Perhaps a greater devotion in these times will help.

"It is in this manner, my dear Philothea, that the world vilifies holy devotion as much as it can. It pictures devout persons as having discontented, gloomy, sullen faces and claims that devotion brings on depression and unbearable moods. But just as Joshua and Caleb held both that the Promised Land was good and beautiful and that its possession would be sweet and agreeable so too the Holy Spirit by the mouths of all the saints and our Lord by his own mouth assure us that a devout life is a life that is sweet, happy, and loveable." (IDL, 41)

St. Francis, pray for us.

On the Teaching of the Saints 1: St. Therese

A beautiful woman sent me a saying from St. Therese of Lisieux. I think it is profoundly true. When I read it I felt a need of repentance and surprise at the simplicity of truth. We know what is true when we hear it.

"Perfect love means putting up with other people's shortcomings, feeling no surprise at their weakness, finding encouragement even in the slightest evidence of good qualities in them."