Priests as Spiritual Fathers

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 19 June 2010)

(Year for Priests June 2009 ~ June 2010)

This week, in our series of sharings in conjunction with the Year for Priests, and remembering Fathers’ Day, we will talk about priests as spiritual fathers.

I would like to share with you this beautiful article written by Thomas Connelly, a seminarian in Rome.

Father Mike, Father Jim, Father Mark... without much effort we can name a score of priests, but no matter what the name they all have something in common, the title “Father” always comes first. Why “Father” and not something like “Elder,” or just “Priest?” Does fatherhood have anything to do with priesthood?  Why do we call priests “Father?” The first reason is that they represent God the Father as his ministers, and the second is the spiritual fatherhood they assume in the care of the souls entrusted to them.

The parish priest is a spiritual father for his parishioners, since he guides and leads them on the path of spiritual growth. He cares about all of them just as a father cares for his children, though in the spiritual realm. The priest steps in at all the important moments of our lives with the sacraments. He is there at the beginning of our life in the Church when he baptizes; he is there to bless our marriages; he is there at life’s close to help us make the step from here to heaven. All throughout this time he is there to call God down from heaven and make him really present for us in the Eucharist, where Christ is our spiritual food, and strength for the journey.

St John Vianney, who the Pope has called us to recognize in a special way this year, was a father of souls. He was renowned for his curing of souls in confession. Hundreds of people would flock to the tiny village of Ars just to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. The devil hated him for all the conversions he was bringing about and tempted him strongly, many times not giving him a chance to sleep. The Curé of Ars never allowed himself to be disturbed by this, because he discovered that the more Satan bothered him at night the bigger the sinner who would come to him the next day for confession.

Another firm example of a father of souls was the Italian saint Don Bosco. He saw the many boys who lived on the streets who needed someone to guide them and watch over their spiritual growth. At least for starters they needed to know right from wrong. Perhaps he could have just preached fire and brimstone to them to try to put them in line, but none of us want to listen to someone who doesn’t care about us. So he went about it in a different way. He sought to be a spiritual father for them, not just teaching them how to obey the law, but also putting his entire person at their disposal. He put enormous trust in them and they responded with openness and loyalty. At a certain point he had the spiritual care of a group of boys who were in prison. The guards let them leave the prison for a day to go with Don Bosco. The condition was that if he didn’t bring them all back, he would be the one to go to prison. When it was time to return in the evening there were two missing from the line as they filed in. The guard gave Don Bosco a stern look but just before he could open his mouth the two came bolting around the corner and up to the prison door. They had been tempted to make a break for it, but their loyalty to their spiritual father was stronger than the urge to escape.

"Through his celibacy, the Priest becomes the ‘man for others’, in a different way from the man who, by marriage also becomes, as husband and father, a man ‘for others’ . . . The Priest, by renouncing this fatherhood proper to married men, seeks another fatherhood.  The pastoral vocation of priests is great . . . The heart of the priest, in order that it may be available for this service, must be free. Celibacy is a sign of a freedom that exists for the sake of service" (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Epistula ad universos Ecclesiae Sacerdotes, adveniente Feria V in Cena Domini, 8, die 8 apr. 1979: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, II (1979) 854 s.).

The spiritual fatherhood of the priest is born form his desire to bring all souls to heaven. He is the intermediary between God and man, a footbridge that allows us to cross the abyss that separates us from God. It isn’t through his own merit, but by the grace of God, who chooses his priests as instruments. God is the artist of the masterpiece of a soul’s holiness; he is the one who deserves all the credit. The priest, through his ministry, strives to transmit to us this love of a father, the love of God, Our Father.

Thomas Connelly, LC studies for the priesthood with the Legionaries of Christ in Rome.

Taken from www.catholic.net.

The Sacred Heart, the Eucharist and the Priesthood

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 5 June 2010)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

To Jesus through Mary. So it is that our devotion to Mary last month leads us to Jesus in the month of June, which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This year, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus falls on 11 June, which is next Friday. After Eastertide, as we move from the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ or Corpus Christi, and His Most Sacred Heart, our spirit is guided by God towards the centre of our faith, as highlighted by Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 1 June 2008).

Fr. Thomas Williams (ZENIT, 26 Apr 2010) said that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is “devotion to Jesus himself,…and, in a particular way, to the love of God in human form”. Pope JPII said that in the Sacred Heart of Jesus “beats God’s infinite love for everyone, for each one of us individually.” [cf. Neilson, 1988] It is a celebration of the love of Christ’s Sacred Heart, the love of God who sacrificed Himself for us. Thus, Pope Benedict XVI said, the devotion is absolutely important “for our faith and for our life in love”.

The Holy Father said that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus means:

“adoring that Heart which, after having loved us to the end, was pierced by a spear and from high on the Cross poured out blood and water, an inexhaustible source of new life”. (Angelus, 5 June 2005).

When we adore the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, we adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Fr. Richard Neilson wrote in his beautiful article The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist, that the Sacred Heart, the Holy Eucharist, and Love itself, are one and the same thing. I quote him further:

“…for in the Eucharist dwells Jesus, in Jesus His Heart, and in His Heart is infinite love. The Eucharist can be explained only by love; the love of Jesus is the love of His Heart, and so the Eucharist is explained only by the Sacred Heart.” (Neilson, June 1988)

Tomorrow’s Corpus Christi celebration is one of God’s giving of Himself in the Eucharist. So it is that when we visit the Blessed Sacrament, and gaze upon the One "whom they have pierced" (Jn 19: 37; cf. Zc 12: 10), we receive from Him “life and holiness”, “peace and reconciliation”, and all the graces of His Sacred Heart. Didn’t Jesus say in Mt. 11: 29, “Learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart”? Only then can we be transformed to live our lives for others and be God’s instruments. Pope Pius XII in his famous encyclical, Haurietis Aquas, declared that “devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the most effective school of the love of God…”

Jesus revealed to St. Margaret Mary, that in the Garden of Gethsemane, His great suffering was due to men’s ingratitude, especially towards the Blessed Sacrament. Do you know, brothers and sisters, our Lord thirsts to be loved in the Blessed Sacrament? When we pass Him by in the tabernacle without a thought of Him, receive Him unworthily in Holy Communion, or do not bother if we receive Holy Communion or not, we grieve our Saviour so. As reparation, Jesus asked for Communion every first Friday, as part of the devotion to His Sacred Heart.

This devotion also calls for consecration of ourselves to the Sacred Heart as an act of offering and binding ourselves to Jesus Christ. (Pope Leo XIII, Annum Sacrum, 1899)

By now, you must have known this quote of the Curé of Ars: "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” Out of His infinite love, Jesus instituted the priesthood, to remain with us in the Blessed Sacrament. Fr. Neilson wrote: “In His priests, Christ perpetuates Himself, living through them unceasingly His life of love for all mankind.” Therefore, “…It is especially to priests that the Sacred Heart wishes to show His love so that they can communicate it to the world.” It is in the Heart of Christ that priests can achieve the ideal holiness that they are especially called to. As Pope JPII once pointed out, it is no coincidence then, that the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests is also celebrated on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

As the special Year for Priests ends on the Solemnity next Friday, let us pray that priests and seminarians may spiritually “enter into the Heart of Jesus”. May they then become, as our present Holy Father said, “men of true love, mercy, humility and patience, renewed in holiness and pastoral zeal”.

Amen.

References:

Neilson, R. 1988. "The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist." in Lay Witness (June, 1988). Downloaded on 28 May 2010 from the Catholic Culture website: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8988

Mary’s Role as a Disciple

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 22 May 2010)

Every human being is God's creature, directly (soul) and indirectly (body) the fruit of God's love. This means that we all have -- ingrained in our spiritual genetic code -- a fundamental orientation towards God our maker and perfection. The notion of creator comprises the idea of father and master.

• As father, God is the giver, essentially pouring out His love for us to be and exist.

• As master, God shows us how to become sons and daughters of His.

Here lies the root of our vocation as disciples and the fundamental reason we call Mary: disciple. She is expressing this realisation, in fact the only real self-definition we have of Mary, by saying: I am the servant of the Lord. In this self-awareness Mary recognises her being a creature, meaning loved by God and called into His service. 

She reconfirms this through her yes at the moment of the Annunciation. Through this yes pronounced globally, anticipating the future of her role as Mother of God, she constituted herself as disciple, willingly and consciously.

Through her yes she says that she is willing to act according to God's will. God's will needs to be discerned as we know, and as we can see from Mary's own life. She ponders much and speaks little, meaning she wants to understand God's ways and designs.

Mary's vocation as mother-disciple evolves according to the following stages:

1) Discernment: At the Annunciation Mary listens to the angel, and compares his message to her own situation, debates whether to say yes, and ponders the pros and cons.

2) Commitment: Declaring her willingness to be mother of God she also declares herself to be willing to act as God's and the Spirit's disciple (I am the servant). She commits herself to a type of existence largely unknown, and she does it wholeheartedly.

3) Acceptance: Much of what we know about Mary's life could be qualified as adaptation to the unknown and unpleasant (circumstances of conception, birth, flight into Egypt). One of the learning abilities most appreciated in a disciple is his/her flexibility, sense of adaptation, acceptance of the unknown, and ability to deal with it. Mary is learning as the loving, faithful and trusting servant.

4) Pondering: Mary faces situations of utter incomprehensibility, personal doubt (not of her commitment but its practical expression). In all of these situations, she works towards a deeper understanding of things happening to her, puts them in perspective with her vocation as mother of Jesus Christ, allows for growth in patience and perseverance.

5) Participation: The true disciple engages in his master's projects and hopes. As disciple Mary associates her concerns -- and that of others -- with those of her Son. She shows initiative, courage, concern for others... and respect for Christ's own mission. The wedding of Cana is such an example of participation in her Son's mission. Again, this example shows that Mary attunes her desire to help to Christ's own mission. She learns to respect His "hour."

6) Transformation: Radical discipleship can lead to personal transformation. Such is the case for Mary as she stands at the foot of the cross. She suffers with her Son because she is unable to avert his passion and death. She understands that the “horror” (monstrosity) of his death cannot be changed if salvation is to become reality. But Mary's most important transformation occurs when Jesus asks her (John 19, 25-17) to take care of His brothers and sisters in the Spirit. At the foot of the cross she becomes our spiritual mother. She has to accept a new way of being mother. In losing her son, her call takes on a new significance and leads her into a radically new understanding of her role as Mother.

7) Communion: There is a social dimension to discipleship. Disciples of a same master learn from each other and develop existential bonds. Together with Christ's other disciples, she follows the inspiration of the Spirit sending them to the ends of the earth to disseminate Christ's message.

In summary, it clearly shows that Mary learns and adapts to being Christ's first and faithful disciple. Therefore, as God’s faithful children, let us also emulate Mary and be true disciples of God.

Editor’s note: This topic’s relevance to the Year for Priests is Mary’s discipleship as a model for priests.

Redemptorists’ Marian Spirituality

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 10 April 2010)

Good evening, my brothers & sisters in Christ. My name is Paul Kang and I am a parishioner of SFX.

I was a Redemptorist as a seminarian in Singapore from 1985 to 1988. I am here today to share a particular aspect of the Redemptorists; the Marian spirituality.

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer – Congregatio Sanctissmi Redemptoris – that’s why professed members of this religious order sign off with the initials CSsR – popularly known as the Redemptorists. The Redemptorists, founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri have the motto “With him is plentiful redemption”. They have a primary mission, to Preach the Good news to the Poor, which gave rise to the strong charism of preaching among the Reds. In 1866, Pope Pius IX asked the Reds to make Mary known; which started the additional devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help (OMPH). This supplementary mission has resulted in thousands of people being drawn to devotions to OMPH all over the world.


In Singapore, the Novena Church draws 14,000 people in total every Saturday to 10 sessions of the Novena. Every year, on the 1st Sunday of Sept, about 30,000 faithful come together to honour our Blessed Mother at the annual procession. For those of you who have not had the benefit of the novena experience, here are some pictures for your benefit. This was last year’s theme. The picture which is at the shrine of Our Lady in Novena Church is carried in procession. Notice the crowd and see if you capture the fervent prayer. Over 100,000 families in Singapore sign up to be consecrated to the intercessory care of our Blessed Mother. The statistics are awesome and it is no surprise that the novena is so well known in Singapore. It is a little known fact that 75 years ago, the Novena started in Singapore in 1 small parlour with less than 20 people (including the Redemptorists who were members of that community). How did it happen?

It was a conscious process of growing in faith; of deepening the relationship with our blessed mother; the Marian Spirituality. If we could sum up the process: Learn, Pray, Live & Novena Experience.

Learn – the Redemptorists develop their Marian spirituality by attending special Marian classes while in the seminary and reading books.

Pray – in daily prayer, the Divine Office, a special prayer to the Blessed Mother is included even though it is not part of the standard office prayer. Every Redemptorist is encouraged to make his own 15-decade rosary while in the novitiate. It is a labour of love but nevertheless painful process over 3 months during which time, the novice starts to appreciate our Blessed Mother and starts praying the Rosary.

Live – the Redemptorists live it by sharing with each other, their own experiences of grace through the intercession of our Blessed Mother right from the seminary. Mary has a very special place in the life of every Redemptorist community. As they progress in formation, final year seminarians onwards start preaching the novenas and giving special Marian retreats.

The 1st 3 arrows pertain to the way Redemptorists develop their Marian spirituality.

The last block, the Novena Experience is how the faithful developed their own Marian spirituality, together with the Redemptorists who serve their community. Faithfully, the community attended the novena to be nourished by the sermons of the Redemptorists. They were encouraged to write letters of petitions. As they experienced graces through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, they wrote letters of thanksgiving. In Singapore, Novena Church alone receives a few hundred letters weekly and in the week preceeding the annual procession, over 600 letters are received by Our Lady. The letters encourage everyone within the community.

When they prayed, they prayed with great fervour – for example, the 1st row of the faithful today kneels more than 10 feet away from the microphone used by the priest during the benediction. The volume of the prayers of the people in the 1st row is picked up by the microphone and reverberates throughout the speakers of the whole church, encouraging everyone to be even more fervent in prayer.

This same formula of growing the Marian spirituality has worked all over the world. How does it apply to us?

Learn – we can grow in our knowledge of our Blessed Mother by attending faith formation sessions, learning from the sharing during our own novena sessions and maybe even researching the internet for the right materials.

Pray – Let us be faithful to the Rosary and include a special Marian prayer when we pray as a family.

Live – while it may seem awkward, let us share with our own families, accounts of faith we hear at the novenas when we reach home or our own faith experiences. In our BECs, have the confidence to share with other members.

Through our own Novena Experience let us deepen our Marian spirituality:

Pay close attention to the sharing by members of our own Marian Devotion Group. It will also enrich your knowledge and deepen your faith.

We are all here for a reason. Many of us have special intentions – make a point to write letters of petitions to our Blessed Mother. When your prayers are answered, make a pledge to write letters of thanksgiving. This will greatly encourage our community.

Today, let us pray to our Blessed Mother with greater fervour. I invite each and every one to commit to pray for 1 extra person to come to this Novena. Let the Novena Experience of SFX draw people to Jesus through Mary - that by the time SFX celebrates its 50th anniversary, we will need to have 2 sessions of the Novena every Saturday with 1,000 people attending each session.

Let us now pray to this same mother who has helped grow the faith and fervour of the community in Novena Church in Singapore over the last 75 years and all over the world for the deepening of our own Marian spirituality.

Let us, as a community, pray in a loud voice and with great fervour, the powerful prayer of the Memorare…(the sharer continued with the presentation of the Novena…)

Priesthood and Sacrifice

(Homily at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 27 March 2010)

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

As we are in the Year For Priests, the sharing for today is entitled “Priesthood and Sacrifice”. Here, the word “sacrifice” would mean personal sacrifice or self-sacrifice which we do and offer up to God rather than Christ’s sacrifice through the ministerial priesthood.

The Liturgical colour in the season of Lent is purple; signifying a time of pain, suffering, sorrow, mourning and penitence. However last Thursday, the Liturgical colour was white; which is a symbol of joy, light, purity, and innocence. Every year on the 25th of March, we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation.

On the Annunciation when Mary said “yes” to God, it was a mark of joy because with that “yes”, the process of salvation for mankind began to unfold. Yet after this joy of saying “yes” to God comes also the prophecy to Mary that “a sword will pierce her own soul” as foretold by Simeon in the Temple. Imagine the joy of Mary embracing the new born baby – the Son of God – in her arms during Christmas and later in her life, bearing the pain of receiving the same body of Jesus but now cold and lifeless in her bosom on Good Friday. Mary bore these moments with great patience and fortitude in her heart.

When a priest says “yes” to God, he follows Mary’s footsteps to embrace Christ into himself. And in the Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest makes Christ present when he acts in persona Christi i.e. by taking “the place and person of Christ himself”. By saying yes to God, the priest embraces the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ and with it the joys, sufferings and sorrows of Christ.

I remember when I was living with the Jesuit communities in the mission fields, I noticed that the old Jesuit missionaries were particularly gentle in their manner and wise in their way of life. I also noticed that almost, if not all of them carried and prayed the rosary. Old as they are, they still turn to Mary and pray and ask for her intercession and protection. Why? Because life in the mission field can be very difficult. And they know that only Mary, their Mother can understand them and help them to continue to live and work in the land they were sent.

Have you seen any priests who are struggling or are facing some crises? Or do you have any complaints against your priests? Pray for them and ask Mary to help them.

What about yourselves? Are you or your loved ones going through hard times or difficulties? Turn to Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help to pray for us and be with us always.

Let us learn from Mary that we could do sacrifices to God by first saying “yes” to Him. And we know that the “yes” we say will come with much joy and sorrow. But we can always turn to Mary for help, guidance and protection as we journey with her in this world. Amen.

The Priesthood of Christ – Sacrifice

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 20 March 2010)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

To continue to journey in the Year of the Priest and in conjunction with the season of Lent, this
week my sharing will be based on the topic “The Priesthood of Christ – Sacrifice” .

In the Old Testament, priests are by definition intermediaries ("those in the middle") between God and humanity, between the spiritual world and the earthly world. They are called to a special holiness and set apart for service which allows them to perform special rites and sacred duties in the temple, as intermediaries.

It is in this capacity that they offer sacrifices to the gods to appease for the sins of the people. These sacrifices had to be offered repeatedly since the human person remained a sinner and it was essentially humankind’s effort to make up with the gods.

The letters to the Hebrews is the specific book in the New Testament that sheds a new light to this old idea of priests. This letter tells us of how Jesus became the new high priest to play the role of the intermediary. Whereas in the past there were many priests who offered sacrifices to the gods, Jesus, in His capacity as God-Man, offered His very self to God for us. This was the greatest sacrifice that Jesus Himself offered to God willingly for our sake and on our behalf. There is no need for any High Priest to repeat this sacrifice to God any longer because Jesus, as fully human and fully divine, in offering Himself as the sacrifice makes it once and for all eternity.

This icon shows Jesus Christ as our Eternal Great High priest and this is seen in the fifteenth century Greek prototype. Here Christ is shown in Latin Rite vestment with a golden pelican over His heart. It is the ancient symbol of self-sacrifice.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or better known as CCC, Christ’s self-sacrifice and His offering of Himself to the Father for our sins is further explained in 2 main aspects :

1) Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father
In article #606 it states :
The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do [his] own will, but the will of him who sent [him]",413 said on coming into the world, "Lord, I have come to do your will, O God." "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."414 From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world"416 expresses his loving communion with the Father. "The Father loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord.

2) "The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
In article #608 it states :
After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".422 By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover.423 Christ's whole life expresses his mission: "to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Now, having heard of the Priesthood of Christ in terms of His Sacrifice offering, perhaps we can ask ourselves how does this relate to our priests today and how do we personally relate to this?

As Christ’s whole life expressed his mission to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many, in the same way, our priests dedicate their whole life to God to as an expression of this same sacrifice of Jesus. They do this by imitating and living-out Christ’s love and sacrifice in their daily lives by their humble service of the people of God and humanity.
Jesus, as the High Priest, offered Himself as a loving sacrifice to the Father. In the similar way our priests continue to bring alive this loving sacrifice at mass. Our priests also show this by their selfless services offered to all especially to the poor, the marginalized, the migrant workers, the sick, dying and infirmed and many other acts of charity.

Each time the priest or any one of us does a loving sacrifice, we identify ourselves with the ever loving sacrifice of Jesus Himself. His priesthood continues to live in us because we allow ourselves to participate in Him. As lay people we too can collaborate in supporting and assisting our priests in these loving services.

Hence, dear brothers and sisters, in conclusion, the CCC states in Article #618

The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the “one mediator btw God and man”
But because of His incarnate divine person HE has in some way united Himself
to every man, ‘the possibility of being made partners ,in a way known to God in the
Paschal Mystery is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to take up his cross and follow him, for ‘Christ also suffered for us, living us an example so that we should follow in His footsteps’.
AMEN.

St. Joseph

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 13 March 2010)

Everything we know about Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture.

We know he was a carpenter, a working man as described in Matthew 13:55 where the Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage.

1) Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce Mary according to the law but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused to adultery could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25).

2) Joseph was man of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife.

When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).

3) We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life.

When Jesus stayed in the Temple, we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son as described in Scripture. (Luke 4:22)

4) He respected God. He followed God's commands in handling the situation with Mary and going to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus' birth. We are told that he took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.

There is much we wish we could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18).

Editor's note: St. Joseph raised Jesus Christ, the High Priest; thus this topic's relevance to the Year for Priests.

Year for Priests: St Maximilian Mary Kolbe (Part 2)

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 6 March 2010)

Last week, we heard about the first episode of the story of St Maximilian Kolbe, a priest from Poland, who was an outstanding promoter of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the modern media of writing, radio and television.

Last week’s episode ended at the point when Father Maximilian and four companions were taken to the Nazi death-camp Auschwitz, and how they were ill-treated.

Now, in order to discourage escapes from prison, Auschwitz had a rule that if a man escaped, ten men would be killed in retaliation. In July 1941 a man from Kolbe's bunker escaped. The dreadful irony of the story is that the escaped prisoner was later found drowned in a camp latrine. But the remaining men of the bunker were led out.

'The fugitive has not been found!' the commandant screamed. 'You will all pay for this. Ten of you will be locked in the starvation bunker without food or water until you die.' The prisoners trembled in terror.

The ten were selected, including Franciszek Gajowniczek. He couldn't help a cry of anguish. 'My poor wife!' he sobbed. 'My poor children! What will they do?' When he uttered this cry of dismay, Maximilian stepped silently forward, took off his cap, and stood before the commandant and said, 'I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.”

Astounded, the icy-faced Nazi commandant asked, “What does this Polish pig want?”
Father Max pointed with his hand to the condemned Franciszek and repeated “I would like to take his place. I am alone in the world. But that man has a family to live for.”
The commandant remained silent for a moment and granted the request.

Gajowniczek later recalled:
“For a long time I felt remorse when I thought of Maximilian. By allowing myself to be saved, I had signed his death warrant. But now, on reflection, I understood that a man like him could not have done otherwise. Perhaps he thought that as a priest his place was beside the condemned men to help them keep hope. In fact he was with them to the last. It was the first and the last time that such an incident happened in the whole history of Auschwitz.”

Father Kolbe was left to starve in Building 13 along with the other victims. Hunger and thirst soon gnawed at the men. Some drank their own urine, others licked moisture on the dank walls. Maximilian Kolbe encouraged the others with prayers, psalms, and meditations on the Passion of Christ. While they moaned, Fr Maximilian comforted them in these words, “These Nazis may hurt our bodies, but they cannot kill our souls. When we die, we shall die pure and peaceful, resigned to God in our hearts.”

After two weeks, only four were alive. The cell was needed for more victims, and the camp executioner came in and injected a lethal dose of cabolic acid into the arm of each of the four dying men. While dying, Fr Maximilian kept praying the ‘Hail Mary…”

The heroism of Father Kolbe went echoing through Auschwitz. In that desert of hatred he had sown love. A survivor Jerzy Bielecki declared that Father Kolbe's death was 'a shock filled with hope, bringing new life and strength ... It was like a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp.'

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was beatified as Confessor by Paul VI in 1970, and canonized as Martyr by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you agree with me that the life of St Maximilian helped you see the person of Christ in a priest, then there is more to the ordained priestly ministry that you should encounter. Come to our Novena of Grace in honour of St Francis Xavier where the theme is an echo of Year for Priests. Come, let us be further infused with God's grace as we encounter Christ in His priests.

Amen.

References:
[1] MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE, APOSTLE OF MARY by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. (http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/KOLBE.htm)

[2] Kolbe, The Saint from Auschwitz (www.auschwitz.dk/kolbe.htm)

Year for Priests: St Maximilian Mary Kolbe (Part 1)

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 27 February 2010)

During this Year for Priests, you have heard about how the vocation of the priesthood is so wonderful and how it is also closely associated with Mary our Mother.

Here is a story, a real story, of a priest and a saint, who had immense devotion to Our Blessed Mother, and was a living example of God’s love, in the life of a priest. His name is Father Maximilian Mary Kolbe.

The story begins in 1894 - Raymond Kolbe was born in Poland. In his childhood Raymond seems to have been normally mischievous but one day, after his mother had scolded him for some mischief or other, her words took effect and brought about a radical change in the child's behaviour.

Later Raymond explained this change: 'That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.' Thus early did the child believe and accept that he was destined for martyrdom.
In 1910 he became a Franciscan, taking the name Maximilian. He was ordained in 1918.
Right after his ordination, he went about his mission:
He is an outstanding promoter of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the modern media of writing, radio and, since his day, television. He published the magazine, "Knight of the Immaculate." The Franciscan Friars built a town called the "Town of the Immaculate," outside of Warsaw. There he began training people with vocations and prospective Religious and Priests, to become apostles of Mary.

The spirituality of St. Maximilian is based directly on this truth: that the Immaculate Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces. That is the first basis of his Marian thinking. If this were not so, Maximilian explains, all our strength and effort in the spiritual life would be in vain. In other words, our spiritual life depends on grace. That's obvious, but it also depends on the grace that we receive through Mary.

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, he knew that the friary would be seized, and sent most of the friars home. He was imprisoned briefly and then released, and returned to the friary, where he and the other friars began to organize a shelter for 3,000 Polish refugees.
Inevitably, the community came under suspicion. Then in May 1941 the friary was closed down and Maximilian and four companions were taken to the death-camp Auschwitz.

Prisoners at Auschwitz were slowly starved, and their pitiful rations were barely enough to sustain a child. When food was brought, everyone struggled to get his place and be sure of a portion. Father Maximilian however, stood aside in spite of the ravages of starvation, and frequently there would be none left for him. At other times he shared his meager ration of soup or bread with others.

In the harshness of the slaughterhouse Father Max maintained the gentleness of Christ. At night he seldom would lie down to rest. He moved from bunk to bunk, saying: 'I am a Catholic priest. Can I do anything for you?'

A prisoner later recalled how he and several others often crawled across the floor at night to be near the bed of Father Kolbe, to make their confessions and ask for consolation. Father Kolbe pleaded with his fellow prisoners to forgive their persecutors and to overcome evil with good. When he was beaten by the guards, he never cried out. Instead, he prayed for his tormentors.

Such was the first episode of the life of a saintly priest. In the next instalment, which I will share with you next week, you will hear very touching moments on how he was martyred.

Amen.

The Role of Mary in the Priestly Vocation

(Outline of Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 30 January 2010)

Luke 1:28

When the angel of the Lord had come to her, he said "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women.”

Then Mary said “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your will.”

John 2:5

His mother said to her servants, "Do whatever He tells you.”

Judith 15: 9-11

You are the glory of Jerusalem, the honour of our people … the hand of the Lord has strengthened You and therefore, You shall be blessed forever.

The Inseparable Link – the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Priesthood (Part II)

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 23 January 2010)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Last week, you have heard about how Mary is linked to the priesthood by the Mystery of the Incarnation. We saw parallels in Mary and the priest’s role in making possible God the Son’s presence in the world for our redemption; in engendering life and being at the service of mankind or life; in their motherhood in the Holy Spirit; in the offering of their lives to God as a worship; and in offering Christ to the Father for the expiation of our sins.

Drawing further from Cardinal Rivera’s text, presented in the second International Encounter of Priests in 1997, we shall now see Mary’s presence in the priest’s pastoral ministry.

The Virgin is an “operative presence” throughout history, especially in the “centre of the pilgrim Church”, where she performs multiple functions: cooperating with the birth of the faithful into the life of grace, showing how to follow Christ, and providing “motherly mediation”. In their pastoral ministry in the life of the Church, priests live out this motherly presence when God’s word, faithfully welcomed and given through preaching and baptism, engenders into new and immortal life the children conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God.

Mary’s spirit of service is shown by the concrete service, i.e. to the Church, that must animate the spiritual existence of every priest, because of his configuration with Jesus Christ, Head and Servant of the Church.

The parallels show how Mary and priests are both committed to the mission of proclaiming, bearing witness to and giving Christ to the world. This is partly why she loves them specially, said Pope Benedict XVI in his General Audience on 12 August 2009. The other reason is that they are more like Jesus, the supreme love of her heart. But Mary’s preferential love for priests is above all due to the special relationship of motherhood existing between them. Nearing His death on the Cross, Jesus entrusted His mother to His beloved disciple and vice versa. The Holy Father pointed out that this beloved disciple prefigures all the people called by the Lord to be the “beloved disciple” and thus also particularly priests. St. John took Jesus’ mother, Mary, “to his own home”; in Greek translation this means that he took Mary into the depths of his being, bringing her into the dynamism of his own entire existence. Because the priest is identified with and sacramentally conformed to Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, every priest can and must feel that he really is a specially beloved son of this loftiest and humblest of Mothers, so said the Pope.

Now, does the priestly nature of Mary’s role in our redemption point to God’s approval of women priests ordination? The answer is no. Why? Because Jesus Christ did not allow it. I quote Pope John Paul II, “…the priest represents Christ himself in his relationship to the Church. Now, this relationship is spousal in nature: Christ is the bridegroom…; the Church is the bride…. Because the relationship between Christ and the Church is validly expressed in sacramental Orders, it is necessary that Christ be represented by a man. The distinction between the sexes is very significant in this case and cannot be disregarded without undermining the sacrament.” (unquote)

He further stated: “Mary was not called to the ministerial priesthood. But the mission she received had no less value than a pastoral ministry; indeed, it was quite superior. She received a maternal mission at the highest level--to be the mother of Jesus Christ, and thus the Mother of God. This mission would broaden into a motherhood for all men and women in the order of grace.” (unquote) Thus Mary showed us that by total obedience to God’s plan for us, which He would assign according to our nature as man or woman, we will bear fruits for His kingdom.



We have seen Mary’s link to the priesthood from the theological and pastoral and spiritual viewpoints. Thus is Mariology, the theology concerned with Mary, crucial in the formation of priests, as Cardinal Rivera stressed. I quote him, “The spirituality that the Church wants in her priests is inspired in the spirituality of Mary.” Such is the importance of our Blessed Mother in the priestly vocation, which we will share with you next week.

Amen.


References:

C., Norbeto Rivera. 9 July 1997. The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life and Ministry of the Priest, Conference of Mons. Norberto Rivera, Yamaussoukro. Retrieved 11 January 2010 from the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_ 19071997_ conri_en.html

Benedict XVI. 12 August 2009. General Audience, Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo. Retrieved 11 November 2009 from the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/ benedict_xvi/ audiences/2009/documents/ hf_ ben-xvi_aud_20090812_en.html

John Paul II. 27 July 1994. General Audience: Women and the Ministerial Priesthood. Retrieved 15 January 2010 from the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/ alpha/data/aud19940727en.html

The Inseparable Link – the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Priesthood

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 16 January 2010)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Indeed, the Blessed Virgin Mary is inseparably linked to the priesthood, by her maternal action and presence. This was evidenced by Pope John Paul II’s wish for the International Encounter of Priests, held in approaching the third millennium, to be profoundly Marian in character, as pointed out by the Archbishop, Primate of Mexico, now Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera.

Last year, in his General Audience before the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the context of the Year for Priests, Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the connexion between Our Lady and the priesthood. He said that this link is deeply rooted in the Mystery of the Incarnation. Mary is truly at the heart of this mystery because by her ‘yes’, God is able to enter the world as man, thus putting into motion God’s plan of salvation. It is through Mary that God the Son was able to give the gift of Himself on the Cross to become Bread for the life of the world. Throughout the centuries, this salvific sacrifice of Christ is made present in an unbloody manner on the altar by the priest, whose ‘yes’ to God’s call enable Christ to continue His saving action in the world today.

In the text The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life and Ministry of the Priest at the Conference of Monsignor Norberto Rivera in 1997, Cardinal Rivera highlighted how the priesthood parallels the Blessed Virgin Mary in many ways.

In the light of the Incarnation, Mary listened to the Word and welcomed it, and the Word became Incarnate in her. Today, priests all over the world are celebrating more than 2000 years of the Word Incarnate in her womb. The seminarian and the priest reflect her listening and welcoming attitude towards the Word when they show due appreciation and love for the Sacred Scriptures and the Liturgy.

Mary, the Virgin Mother, engendered on earth the Son of God without contact with man, but by being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. In carrying out her motherhood at the foot of the cross, Mary is placed by God’s will at the “service” of her children, and even more, of all men. This motherhood, or fruitfulness, is the hidden fruit of the “Virgin mother” in the priestly soul – by “listening to the Word and welcoming it with faith in his heart”, the priest “engenders life and places himself at the service of life”. His celibacy, i.e. virginity consecrated to God, in imitation of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, is the source of this special motherhood in the Holy Spirit.

Mary is also teacher of the spiritual life for every Christian. She is above all the model of worship that makes one’s own life into an offering to God. By her “yes”, Mary showed us how to be converted into obedience to the Father’s will towards and amid one’s own sanctification, and in a special way for priests.

Mary, the “offering Virgin”, offered the Child Jesus to the Lord in the Temple at Jerusalem. At Calvary, Mary, with ardent charity and unshakable faith, stood by Christ engendered by her as He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, offering herself as well to the Eternal Father. In consecrating the bread and wine, Body and Blood of the Lord, during the Eucharistic celebration, the priest paralleled Mary’s offering of the Child Jesus in the Temple, and having consummated the redemption at the foot of the cross, the priest returns it to the Father as an expiatory offering for our sins.

Thus we have seen how Mary is linked to the priesthood from the theological point of view. Next week, we will see her connexion with the priesthood in the pastoral dimension, why our Blessed Mother loves every priest in a special way, and briefly on what all these parallels teach us.

Amen.

The Year for Priests

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 2 Jan 2010)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has inaugurated a special Year for Priests, starting from the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on 19 June 2009. Concluding on the same Solemnity on 11 June 2010, this year is in celebration of the 150th death anniversary of Saint John Mary Vianney, also known as the Curé of Ars, who is the patron saint of parish priests.

This special year is meant to encourage all priests in striving for spiritual perfection so as to enable them to witness more strongly and incisively to the Gospel in today’s world. First and foremost, it is also to help priests and us, the laity, to realise and appreciate the immense and indispensable gift which priests represent for the whole Church and the whole of humanity. As the Holy Father wrote in his letter proclaiming the Year for Priests dated 16 June 2009, “The Curé of Ars was very humble, yet as a priest he was conscious of being an immense gift to his people.” His Holiness quoted the Curé of Ars, “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy”.

And typical of our Holy Fathers who have great devotion to Our Lady, Pope Benedict XVI entrusts the Year for Priests and all the priests of the world to Our Lady, Mother of the Church. Indeed, our Blessed Mother has a very special relationship with priests. She is called the Mother of Priests, Queen of the Clergy, Queen of Apostles, Mother of the Eucharist. She loves us all, but in a special way, she loves the priests, whom she holds closest to her heart as she does her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As Fr. Wolfgang Seitz wrote in his article “Mary and the Priesthood” on the Internet (website of The Work of the Holy Angels), our Blessed Mother’s maternal action and presence is uniquely inseparable from the life of priests. According to him, Pope John Paul II’s theology of the relationship between Mary’s divine motherhood and Christ’s priesthood taught us that to pray for priests means to turn to Mary.

Thus, it is no wonder that all the great priest saints have great devotion to Our Lady. Closest to us are our parish patron, St. Francis Xavier, and St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus which our Parish Pastors belong to. The Curé of Ars himself was greatly devoted to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, and has been known to consecrate his parish to her Immaculate Heart. So too Pope JPII, who often renewed the consecration of himself, the Church and the whole world to Her Immaculate Heart. Marian spirituality is never absent in religious orders of the Catholic Church.

Yesterday, on the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, we presented to you the prayer card Pray for our priests in response to our Holy Father’s call to pray specially for priests in this special year for them. In this coming six months, our Novena sharing will be based on the theme Year for Priests. Through them, we hope to share with you on our Blessed Mother’s relationship with priests, her special role in the priestly vocation, God’s gift of priests to us, about priest saints and Marian spirituality in religious orders. Where possible, we will invite esteemed guest sharers to enlighten on specific topics. With our humble but sincere efforts, we hope that the sharings will bring all of us to a deeper appreciation of God’s awesome gift of Grace to us in priests, who enable Christ to be really present in the world today.

In response to the call made by Pope Benedict XVI, let us pray specially for priests, that they will conform with the image of Christ and be men of truth, men of love, and men of God.

Amen.