Clothed in Virtue

 05-30-21 Trinity Sunday Luca Rossetti da Orta, 1738-1739 Trinity Sunday is the great feast of God Himself. One of the most important prayers of the Church, and one of the most neglected and forgotten, is the Sign of the Cross. It begins and ends every prayer, but unfortunately we often make it without even thinking we go through the motions without really thinking about it.  Sometimes we're even embarrassed to do it in public. Often times we slur the words quickly when in fact the words are very important. The prayer is essential because it expresses the most important truths of the faith.  Before a convert can be baptized, they have to study and know the faith.  They will be taught the faith for perhaps 6 months.  Yet those who convert on their deathbed do not have time for such study.  They can still be baptized and know certain truths of the faith.  Which truths are the most important?  St. Thomas Aquinas says there are 4 truths everyone needs...

 02-28-2021 Second Sunday of Lent The Transfiguration by Lodovico Carracci, 1594 "This is the will of God: your sanctification." St. Paul's words today are good and applicable.  As we saw a few weeks ago, St. Paul reminded us that life is a race toward heaven and every day gets us further to that goal.  The following Sunday, he reminded us to be careful for the trap of pride, don't be prideful about your penance and sacrifices.  The next Sunday, we were told that the key to our lent (and life) is charity: love of God in all actions.  The next Sunday, we were told not to waste this opportunity.  It only comes once a year.  This Lent will not come again and God gives us this opportunity to grow in holiness, and we won't get that chance back.  Now this week, St. Paul is reminding us of our goal: this is the will of God, your sanctification.  God wants you to become a saint.  That is why He created you. In today's Gospel, we catch a glimpse ...

 02-21-21 First Sunday of Lent Philip Augustin Immelraet, “The Temptation of Christ,” 1663 During the season of Lent, God and the Church ask that we take on more penance than we normally do throughout the year.  Austerity of the season makes it harder for us, and yet the Church has this letter from St. Paul that says these are the days of grace, the acceptable time; time for us to make reparations for our sins and call down the mercy of God, to free us from the chains that our sins have forged for us.  We need strength in our souls to firmly resist temptation in the future, but also be better able to fight the devil. Our Lord deals with the famous 3 temptations of the devil meant to divert Him from His father's mission.  These temptations follow his 40 days of fasting in the desert.  It is through that effort of being in the desert that he prepares to deal with the devil. Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.  It was throug...

 02-14-2021 Quinquesgesma Sunday Quinquagesima means "fiftieth" in Latin.  This is 50 days before Easter; the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.  This holy day was traditionally part of a pre-Lenten countdown to help the faithful prepare for Lent.  The revisions of the liturgical calendar after Vatican II eliminated this pre-Lenten season. St. Paul the Apostle by Claude Vignon "If I have not charity, I am nothing." The church is truly a mother when she prepares us for Lent.  Lent is one of the most important times of the year because Easter is the most important feast.  It is so important that we have these three Sundays leading up to Lent.  These three Sundays help us prepare to have a good Lent, and how we use them will determine if we have a good Lent or not. First Sunday we hear: Training is difficult and it takes work.  It's hard work to earn the crown.  The crown that we will win is an eternal crown: Heaven. Second Sunday we hear: a warning. ...

 January 31st, 2021 Septuagesima Sunday The Extraordinary Form follows the 1962 calendar which includes a Pre-Lent season called Septuagesima. The word Septuagesima is Latin for “seventieth.” It is both the name of the liturgical season and the name of the Sunday. Septuagesima Sunday marks the beginning of the shortest liturgical season. This season is seventeen days long, and includes the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday.  The Septuagesima season was to help the faithful prepare for Lent. Saint Catherine of Siena Choosing a Crown of Thorns over a Crown of Gold by Alessandro Franchi "So run that you may obtain." Today we have St. Paul reminding us that life is like a race, a race whose goal is heaven.  And as any other racer would do, we have to prepare to attain the goal.  We can't attain it by doing whatever we want.  A runner trains so that they can win the prize. St. Paul reminds us that these people who are trying to win an earthly crown do more...

December 25th, 2020 "The Widow's Mite" by João Zeferino da Costa, 1876 Spiritual Poverty is not something that follows the world's view of poverty.  The spirit of poverty means a detachment from created things of the world, and an attachment to the things of God.  Spiritual poverty isn't only that we don't make creatures our end, but that we are willing to set aside created things if it is what God wants us to do. It is that we can give up natural, good things, if it is God's will for us to give them up. The widow's mite: She has given more than the others because she is giving something that she needs to support herself.  She gives it to God. Jesus was born into this world with nothing in order to give us everything. Advent penance is meant to help us detach from our own will so that we can do God's will. Keep the virtues you gained through penance during Advent. What gift can we give Christ? He wants our heart and our soul; our whole being. Hold ...

 September 27th, 2020 "One Lord, one Faith, one baptism." The world is seeking peace.  It started with Adam and Eve, right after the Fall they were looking for peace, for a certain unity of their goal and end.  The world's means of achieving peace comes by arguments and wars with the goal of forcing everyone to agree and have the same opinion.  The problem is that it's not possible on a natural level.  Without God, you cannot have peace.  Peace can only come from the supernatural.  Peace is right order.   You have to have the right order before you can have peace, and you have to have unity before you can have order. Peace by equality? That's not possible because not everyone can be equal. Unity comes from oneness in mind and heart: when we all have the same goal, the same end. If we don't have this oneness of mind, there will be no order and no peace.  We cannot have peace and order without unity, and we cannot have unity without virtue....