We must understand them to make them happy

January 28-29, 2017
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Father Michael Rua, the first successor of Don Bosco, used to reminisce about the times he came into contact with Don Bosco when he was still a young boy in the primary grades of the De La Salle Brothers School. This is what he used to say:

“I remember when Don Bosco used to come to celebrate Mass and to preach. As soon as he entered the chapel, it seemed as if an electric shock had gone through the whole congregation. Boys jumped up, ran out of their places, surrounded him and were not happy until they had kissed his hand. He took a long time to get to the sacristy. On these occasions our good educators could not prevent that apparent disorder, so tolerated it. When other priests came, even if they were holy or famous, such a scene was never witnessed.

Then at evening when it was announced that among those hearing Confessions was Don Bosco the other priests were left unemployed because all the lads wanted to confess their secrets to him. The reason for this enthusiasm for Don Bosco was the conviction that he was really interested in the welfare of their souls.

• Don Bosco manifested his comprehension and understanding in the Confessional in a very special way. Here hearts were opened to him like flowers before the first rays of the sun, and so youngsters rushed his confessional. ‘Sorrow, when not expressed, kills.’ This affirmation is true also for young people. Their sufferings, although judged to be trivial by adults, are really not so because they are proportionate to their age: to poison a baby only a small dose is required! In fact pain has a greater effect on a young child than on adults. Children, as much as adults, need to confide in someone who understands them. Don Bosco, who was forever cracking jokes and was detached and mortified in so many ways, took a very serious view of any problem troubling any young person.

• St. Augustine drily remarks upon the preoccupations of adults: “For adults, the worries of children are mere games and the games of adults are serious business.” For Don Bosco, on the contrary, the problems of young people are more important than the business affairs of grownups. For this reason he welcomed a little child in the same way as he would welcome a Minister of the Crown. The saintly educator did not treat a boy in an off-handed manner but spoke to him as an equal; he involved himself in his problems; he interested himself in his situation.

• The inventor of the Preventive System, Don Bosco was more interested in preserving than in curing. He was more interested in keeping boys out of mischief than in rescuing adults from the results of their follies. So Confession became a Pascal Feast both for Don Bosco, who had such an admiration for the wonders of Grace, and for the boys who felt that he completely understood them.

• The little penitents, on the level of consciousness, experienced God’s pardon and, at the level of the unconscious, experienced the loving care of the Heavenly Father. If Don Bosco was so good, how wonderful the Lord must be! For his little penitents, Don Bosco was an example of the Goodness of God.

• Don Bosco was a saint in a continuous attitude of listening: He listened to the boys attentively so as to be able to understand the state of their souls, their nature, their aspirations, their vocation, and listened attentively to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. So he used to say: “I have always gone ahead as circumstances suggested and the Holy Spirit inspired me.” Don Bosco was a marvellous ‘go-between’ the boy and the Holy Spirit.

• Another reason for his fascination stemmed from the breadth of his humanity. Don Bosco worked at developing the child at all levels. He stimulated the growth of the whole child.

He did not neglect any one component of human life, from gymnastics to mystics. He rejoiced when the boys went into ecstacy before the Blessed Sacrament, as he rejoiced when he saw them enjoying their meals with a heart appetite or speeding through the playground like arrows. Don Bosco hated only one thing: sin. He admired life especially as he saw it bubbling forth in young people and looked with the eyes of God at the Creator at work when, having completed each sector, He saw that it was good.

Let us educate as Don Bosco did Fr.Adolph L’Arco S.D.B.

Saint Francis de Sales: Feast Day Jan. 24, Introduction to the Devout Life

January 21-22, 2017
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life
2nd Part, Chapter 21: How we ought to communicate: [receive communion]

"Prepare yourself for Holy Communion the evening before retire a little earlier, that you may rise sooner in the morning. Should you awake in the night, raise your heart to God immediately and make some ardent aspirations by which you soul may be adorned for the reception of her Spouse. Being awake while you were asleep, He prepares a thousand graces and favours for you, if on your part you are disposed to receive them. In the morning rise up with great joy for the happiness you hope for...  ...full of faith, hope and charity, receive Him, in whom, by whom, and for whom you believe, hope and love. O Philothea, represent to yourself that as the bee, after gathering from the flowers the dew of heaven and the choicest juice of the earth, reduces them into honey and carries it into her hive, so the priest, having taken from the altar the Saviour of the world, the true Son of God, who, as the dew, is descended from heaven, and the true Son of Virgin, who, as a flower is sprung from the earth of our humanity, puts Him as delicious food into your mouth and into your body. After you have received Him, excite your heart to do homage to the King of your salvation. Converse with Him concerning your internal affairs. Consider that He has taken up his abode within you possibly can and conduct yourself in such as manner as to make it appear by all your actions that God is with you....

Your great intention in communicating should be to advance, to strengthen, and to console yourself in the love of God. you must receive through love hat which loves alone caused to be given to you. No, you cannot consider our Saviour in an action more full of love or more tender than this. In it, He abases Himself, if we may so express it, and changes Himself most intimately to the heart

If worldly people ask you why you communicate so often, tell them it is to learn to love God, to purify yourself from your imperfections, to be delivered from your miseries, to be comforted in your afflictions, and to be supported in your weaknesses. Tell them that two classes ought to communicate frequently: the perfect, because, being well disposed, they would be greatly to blame not to approach the source and fountain of perfection, and the imperfect, to the end that they may be able justly to aspire to perfection; the strong, lest they should become weak, and the weak, that they may become strong; the sick, that they may be restored to health, and the healthy, lest they should fall into sickness; that for your part, being imperfect, weak and sick, you have need to communicate frequently with Him who is your perfection, your strength, and your physician. Tell them that those who have not many worldly affairs to look after ought to communicate often because they have leisure; that those who have not many worldly affairs to look after ought to communicate often, for he who labours much and is burdened with troubles ought to eat solid food, and that frequently. Tell them that you receive the Holy Sacrament in order to learn to receive it well; for one hardly performs an action will which he does not often practice.

Communicate frequently, Philothea, and as frequently as you can with the advice of your spiritual father. And, believe me, as hares in our mountains become white in winter, because they neither see nor eat anything but snow, so, by adoring and eating beauty, purity, and goodness itself, in this Divine Sacrament, you will become altogether fair, altogether good, and altogether pure."

Saint Francis de Sales: Feast Day Jan. 24





 

January 14-15, 2017

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Born:   21 Aug 1567. Château de Sales, France
Died:   28 Dec 1622. Lyon, France
Education:   University of Padua. University of Paris. Lycée Louis-le-Grand
Parents:   Francois de Sales (Father). Francoise de Sionnz (Mother)
Founded:   Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary

Francis was destined by this father to be a lawyer so that the young man could eventually take his elder's place as a senator from the province of Savoy in France. For this reason Francis was sent to Padua to study law. After receiving his doctorate, he returned home and, in due time, told his parents he wished to enter the priesthood. His father strongly opposed Francis in this, and only after much patient persuasiveness on the part of the gentle Francis did his father finally consent. Francis was ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a centre for the Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable success.

At 35, he becomes bishop of Geneva. While administering his diocese, he continued to preach, hear confessions, and catechize the children. His gentle character was a great asset in winning souls. He practiced his own axiom, "A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar."

Besides his two well-known books, The Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God, he wrote many pamphlets and carried on a vast correspondence. For his writings, he has been named patron of the Catholic Press. His writings, filled with this characteristics gentle spirit, are addressed to lay people. He wants to make them understand that they too are called to be saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to Devout Life: "It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman.... It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world."

In spite of his busy and comparatively short life, he had time to collaborate with another saint, Jane Frances de Chantal, in the work of establishing the Sisters of the Visitation. These women were to practice the virtues exemplified in Mary's visit to Elizabeth: humility, piety, and mutual charity. they at first engaged to a limited degree in works of mercy for the poor and the sick. Today, while some communities conduct schools, others live a strictly contemplative life. 

Francis de Sales took seriously the words of Christ, "Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart." As he said himself, it took him 20 years to conquer his quick temper, but no one ever suspected he had such as problem, so overflowing with good nature and kindness was his usual manner of acting. His perennial meekness and sunny disposition won for him the title of "Gentleman Saint."

Eileen O'Connor 1892 - 1921

January 7-8, 2017
Epiphany of the Lord


Eily Rosaline (Eileen) O'Connor (1892-1921), religious was born on 19 Feb 1892 at Richmond, Melbourne, eldest of four children of Irish parents Charles Fergus O'Connor, clerk, and his wife Annie,  née Kilgallim. She died on 10 January 1921 of chronic tuberculosis of the spine and exhaustion.

 

Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor co-founder, Eileen O'Connor, was permanently crippled by a fall that broke her spine when aged three. Despite many operations, she was permanently crippled and suffered acute pain throughout her short life.

With limited education and no formal theological formation, Eileen embodied a distinctive spirituality marked by a devotion to Our Lady and her own willingness to bear a lifetime of pain and suffering. Her beautiful spirit inspired people to seek her guidance and prayers. She listened to them, understood their problems and gave wise advice. 

The plight of the sick poor was especially close to Eileen, whose family had been plunged into precarious financial circumstances following the death of her father in 1911.

In 1915, Eileen O'Connor spent several months traveling throughout France, Ireland, and Italy, including a memorable audience with Pope Benedict XV, before returning to Australia. Despite her growing disabilities and constant pain, Eileen continued to guide the work of the fledgling society from her bed.

She died on 10 January 1921, aged just 28, at Our Lady's Home, Coogee, trusting 'the work' to her constant companion, Theresa (Cissie) McLaughlin.

A SAINT IN WAITING?

Every morning for almost 16 years, the community at Our Lady's Home walked to nearby Randwick cemetery to recite the rosary at Eileen's graveside.

In 1936, the community gained permission to re-inter Eileen's casket in her former bedroom, which had been converted into a chapel. Mr. W. J. Dixon of Darlinghurst Funeral Directors later made this statement about the events of that day:

After the exhumation at the cemetery, the unopened casket was taken to our Funeral Chapel at 347 Anzac Parade, KKingsford where a large number of Our Lady's Nurses for the poor awaited us. The Nurses asked me to open the sealed lead casket and remove the inner pine lid.

This was done, and I was startled to see Eileen O'Connor lying there as though asleep in her simple blue gown, her hair lying naturally down each side of her face, and her hands joined on her breast. The skin appeared slightly dark and the eyes seemed a little sunken, but, not having the good fortune to know her in life, I could not know if this was natural.

Our Lady's Nurses then gathered around the open casket and appeared not in the least surprised at seeing the "Little Mother" as they last saw her 16 years earlier. The Nurses rested rosary beads on the Little Mother's hand for a few seconds. 

A prayer for Eileen O'Connor's beatification received approbation by His Eminence Cardinal Norman Gilroy in 1962:  

O God, Who raised up your servant Eileen to enrich Your Church with a New Congregation devoted to the spiritual and corporal assistance of the sick and dying poor, grant that through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she may be honoured with the privilege of Beatification by Our Holy Mother the Church. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

In 1974, congregational leader Sister May McGahey wrote to His Eminence Cardinal James Freeman asking for approval to instigate proceedings for beatification. His Eminence Cardinal Edward Clancy gave permission for the preliminaries to proceed to a diocesan process in 1990.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - Jan. 1

December 31, 2016 - January 1, 2017 - Happy New Year
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

We celebrated the liturgical feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 1st, which is the Octave of Christmas. Only Christmas and Easter enjoy the privilege of an octave, which is an eight-day extension of the feast. The honoring of Mary as the Mother of God can be traced back to the Council of Ephesus in 431. By the 7th century, January 1st was observed as a celebration of the maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the 13th century, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ had come to replace the feast honoring Mary; however in 1751, after a push in Portugal for an official feast day celebrating Mary's divine maternity, Pope Benedict XIV allowed Portugal's churches to devote a feast to Mary on the fist Sunday in May. Eventually, the feast extended to other countries, and in 1914 began to be observed on October 11. In 1931, Pope Pius XI extended the feast to the entire church, and in 1974, Pope Paul VI removed the feast of the Circumcision of Christ from the liturgical calendar and replaced it with the fest of the "Solemnity of ary, Mother of God", bringing Mary's feast day back to the fist day of the year. 

The feast is a celebration of Mary's motherhood of Jesus. The title "Mother of God" is a western derivation from the Greek Theotokos, which means "God-bearer". On this day, we are reminded of the role that the Blessed Virgin played in the plan of our salvation. Through the Holy Spirit, God the Father prepared Mary to be the dwelling place where His Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. Christ's birth was made possible by mary's fiat, or sanctioning of God's plan with her words, "Be it done to me according to thy word". Calling mary "Mother of God" is the highest honor we can give to her. Just as Christmas honors Jesus as the "Prince of Peace", the Solemnity of mary, Mother of God honors Mary as the "Queen of Peach". New Year's Day is also designated as the "World Day of Peace", further acknowledging the role of Mary in our hearts and in our world.