Clothed in Virtue

Ezekiel 18:20-28 The soul that sinneth, the same shall die ...  But if the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die.  I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done: in his justice which he hath wrought, he shall live. Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?  ... And when the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness, which he hath wrought, and doeth judgment, and justice: he shall save his soul alive.  Because he considereth and turneth away himself from all his iniquities which he hath wrought, he shall surely live, and not die. God desires not the death of the sinner, but that he convert and live.  

Matthew 15:21-28      At that time Jesus went from thence, and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grievously troubled by the devil. Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us: And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. But she came and adored him, saying: Lord, help me. Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs. But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour. Today, on the Thursday after the First Sunday of Lent, we have another Gospel emphasizing ho...

Painting: The Healing of the Blind of Jericho by Nicolas Poussin, 1650 . Gospel Reading: Luke 18:31-43 It is not by chance that in today's Gospel, immediately after the prediction of the Passion, we find the healing of the blind man of Jericho. Today's Gospel sets before us two sorts of blindness: one of the bodily eyes, the other of the mind. The human eye has not sufficient light to comprehend the value of the Cross; we are always somewhat blind when faced with the mystery of suffering. We need a new light, the light of the Holy Spirit -- it was not until after the descent of the Holy Spirit that the Apostles fully understood the meaning of the Passion. Then, instead of being scandalized, they considered it the greatest honor to follow and to preach Christ Crucified. The apostles could not understand because they were blinded by the delusions of their nation. How many are similarly blinded now by their delusions, vain fancies, superficial philosophies, and false prophets of o...

  St. Paul, the First Hermit "The Father of the Eremitical Life"      St. Paul the Hermit was born c. 227 AD in Egypt.  While he was still a young man, he retired to a desert cave during a persecution.  Palm trees provided him with both food and clothing.  He lived a life of great holiness until the age of 113.      St. Jerome composed a biography of St. Paul titled, "The Life of Saint Paul the First Hermit."  According to St. Jerome, Paul fled to the Theban desert as a young man during a persecution, around AD 250.  He lived in the mountains of this desert in a cave near a spring and a palm tree, the leaves of which provided him with clothing and the fruit of which provided him with his only source of food until he was 43 years old, when a raven started bringing him half a loaf of bread daily.  He would remain in that cave for the rest of his life, almost a hundred more years.     In 342, Anthony the Great was t...

Saint Hilary, in Latin Sancta Hilarius.   His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful.  His nickname is Malleus Arianorum,  which means Hammer of the Arians. St. Hilary was born in Poitiers of Aquitaine of a noble family.  He was celebrated for his learning and eloquence.  In 353, he was chosen as Bishop of his native town, Poitiers. St. Hilary was a staunch defender of the Catholic faith against Arianism, for which he was exiled to Phyrgia for four years.  He wrote twelve books on the Trinity and won back the whole of Gaul from the Arian heresy.  St. Jerome testified to the perfect orthodoxy of all of Hilary's scholarly works. Hilary spent many years as a missionary.  Wherever he went, he was discomfiting to heretics and procuring the triumph of orthodoxy.  Hilary returned to Poitiers, where died peacefully in 369. St. Hilary was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX.

St Edmund Campion SJ Jesuit Priest and Martyr, 1540 - 1581 This is the earliest known portrait of Campion. " we should live soberly and justly and godly in this world" - Titus 2      Too many people live in a lukewarm spirit.  Maybe you don't commit mortal sins, but still willfully commit venial sins.  Many live indifferent to God, praying half-heartedly and without conviction.  You obey church laws and go through the motions to check off the boxes: Mass. Communion, confession.  It becomes routine without any real devotion in it.  Some never  really put the advice from confession into practice.  Some never really listen to the message of the sermon.  Day to day, month to month, and year to year, they are not really undergoing any kind of real change.  Things stay the same.      Yet, at the same time, they give their time and attention to worldly things. They try to live a comfortable live, without ...