Clothed in Virtue

  07-04-21 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost “You, too, must think of yourselves as dead to sin and alive unto God...” Today Saint Paul tells us about the most fundamental and first sacrament: Baptism.  In order to receive any other sacrament, we have to receive baptism first. Baptism is not the most important, the Eucharist is the most important, and yet baptism is the most necessary. One cannot go to heaven without baptism, or at least the desire of it. It’s important for us to remember what we received in our baptism and what God does for us even now, and especially what Paul talks about in his epistle today. In Paul’s epistles he’s writing to us, he writes for us. Baptism removes original sin and gives grace to our soul.  Why? How? By burying us to sin. We are no longer guilty of sin because of Christ, because of the life given to us in our souls. Christ’s death is applied to us through our baptism: it as though we died with him on the cross and rose to a new life of resur...

  06-27-21 5th Sunday After Pentecost The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican At a very young age the first thing we learn from the catechism, the first two questions are: Who made you? God made me. Why did God make you? To know him, to love him, and to serve him in this life, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. This is the most basic of all knowledge. We are made for God. We were made to return to God. All men belong to God; all men are for God. Therefore, all men must be religious.  No matter how much the world drifts away from God, they cannot deny the basic truth that we were all made by and made for God. All men are religious. How do we practice our religion? There is a true religious spirit and a false religious spirit. False religion is hypocrisy, where religion is on our lips but not in our hearts. True religion, in contrast, is based on charity. In the Gospel, Our Lord makes a contrast between the false religious spirit and the true religious spirit of ...

 June 20th, 2021 4th Sunday After Pentecost The Miraculous Draught of Fishes by Raphael The victory will come to those who have a great faith. Examples of this great faith: 1. Peter. There is an example of his faith during the event in today's Gospel.  He caught no fish all night long, now it's morning and not the best time to go fishing, not a time that you would expect to get many fish.  The Lord told them to put down their nets.  They got a great catch, more than expected.  There is a great reward for his faith.  We need to have that same confidence and trust in God in times of adversity, rather than trusting on our own strength and ability. 2. Peter's mission as an apostle.  It was not by Peter's own strength that the faith would have a great victory. It was Peter's belief and faith that gave him the strength to lead the Church.  Peter knew his own weakness.  He was a humble fisherman and was chosen to be the head of the whole Church....

06-13-21 St. Peter Penitent by Guido Reni "There shall be joy in heaven over one sinner who does penance." Our Lord says there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who does penance than over 99 who do not need penance.  How is it more pleasing to see a sinner do penance than to see 99 who don't sin?  You can't understand this passage without understanding penance. What is penance?  Penance is sacrifice.  A sacrifice is usually a victim offered to God, offered by a representative of the people, and the victim has to be destroyed.  It shows God's supreme dominion over us.  The animal being sacrificed is meant to represent themselves, as though they were offering themselves to God. The sacrifice of the New Law is the sacrifice of Jesus: he is both the priest offering himself, and the victim. When we say we did a sacrifice or penance, we are talking about offering up our actions.  We usually refer to actions that are difficult to perform.  We ca...

 06-06-21 Second week after Pentecost The Invitation to the Banquet "A certain man made a supper and invited many..." The Feast of Corpus Christi is a very important feast because the Eucharist is the most important gift God has given us.  It is the most important sacrament because it is God giving Himself to us; it is the closest union we can achieve with God on earth. You probably didn't quite understand what you were doing when you received your first communion because you were too young to fully appreciate it.  How much have you grown and changed in your appreciation since then?  Do you have a better disposition now; is it the same, or worse?  Many receive the Eucharist out of routine, failing to understand the great gift that it is. It is worth fighting for.  You should fight your whole life to receive communion.  Great saints prepared every single day to receive the Eucharist and gave thanks afterward.  Then they prepared to receive again. T...

 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 ...