Clothed in Virtue

September 26th, 2021 *FL      In this Gospel, we witness Our Lord being approached by a few men, one of whom is sick with paralysis. Our Lord, seeing their faith, contents Himself to say that this man’s sins are forgiven.      What is notably absent is that he does not immediately heal this man of his physical problem. It appears that the only reason He healed him physically was because of the scribes accusing him in their thoughts of blaspheming. It is notable that the man was not disappointed by not being physically healed. Was he complaining? No, he seems content to hear that his sins are forgive. This indicates that this is what he wanted, to be made right with God through Jesus, more than he wanted to be able to walk.       The lesson for us is that if we are right with God, in the state of grace, then we truly have all that our heart can desire. It is nothing more than to be a friend of Almighty God, to be a companion with Our Lord...

"Restore all things in Christ."        Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Pius X, our patron.       It is good to look back and see the first of St. Pius' encyclicals. This encyclical letter which began his pontificate gave the bishops his mission and goal which can be summed up in this short sentence: to restore all things in Christ.      It’s an interesting letter that we can profit from. At the beginning, he expresses his doubts — he says he sees the pontificate as a difficult burden that he can’t bear alone. He then says but I have accepted because I know it is from God, and God will help me to bear this burden and get through this difficulty. He didn’t jump into the pontificate thinking it would be a breeze but that it would be very difficult. We are often faced with difficult tasks — what is our response? Do we ask for divine help or do we just give up?      Why did he choose the name Pius? — he says “as I ...