Author: Christine Jordan

Dear Friends,

I begin with a very short and simple prayer from the 16^th century.  “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be to me a Jesus.”  “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be to me a Jesus.”  In other words, be my Savior, Jesus.  Be my savior.  This 8 word prayer was the favorite prayer of St. Ralph Sherwin.

St. Ralph was an Oxford University student and scholar, very smart and talented.  Ralph impressed everyone with his intellect, even the Queen (Queen Elizabeth I).  He had a bright and promising future within the English Government or maybe even within the Church of England.  But all of that changed a year after graduation.  He had a profound conversion experience, studying history, and reading the writings of the early Christians he discovered the beauty of the Catholic faith.  He wanted it for himself and so he became a Catholic and as a Catholic he felt drawn to the priesthood.  So in secret he journeyed to France where he could study to be a priest.  You just couldn’t do that in England at that time.  All the Catholic seminaries had been suppressed and destroyed.

Once he was ordained Ralph made his way back to England and he did this in secret.  He came ashore at night disguised as a workman.  Once in England he made his rounds ministering to those who still practiced the Catholic faith.  But after a year of many near misses he was caught and charged with treason.  He was sent to the tower of London.   In prison he was tortured on the rack.  And after one bout on the stretching device he was tossed outside into the snow.  There Queen Elizabeth I was waiting for him.  She admired his talent and intelligence.  So she made a deal with him, if he would recant his Catholic faith she’d make him a Bishop in the Church of England.  He’d have money, power, honor, and comfort.  He refused; that was his last chance.  At his trial he vigorously denied any attempt to raise a rebellion against the Queen.  He’s quoted as saying, “The plain reason of our standing here is religion, not treason!”  He was found guilty and sentenced to be hung and drawn and quartered.   The next day was set for his execution.

As he made his way to the gallows he kissed the bloodied hands of his executioner, forgiving him.  Right before dying the last words out of St. Ralph’s mouth was his favorite prayer.    “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be to me a Jesus!”  These too are our words; they should be the words of everyone.

Recently Bishop Bradley gave us some sobering statistics.  He told us that 58% of Michigan’s residents have no religious affiliation.  They may go to church occasionally maybe at Christmas or Easter, but they don’t have a strong tie with any one religious faith.

From the Gospel we know that the harvest is abundant but that the laborers are few.  And in our second reading St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians speaks of this saying, “I long to depart this life to be with Christ for that is far better.  Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.”  St. Paul remained in the flesh to make the Gospel known, to make Jesus known and loved.  St. Ralph Sherwin remained in the flesh, for a time, for the benefit of others to make the Gospel known, to make Jesus known and loved.  We too remain in the flesh, we remain in the flesh for the benefit of others, to make Jesus known and loved.

“For it was to strengthen our hearts that He came to suffer and die, that he came to be spit upon and crowned with thorns, that he came to be accused of shameful things, that he came to be fastened to the wood of the cross.  All these things he did for us, and we did nothing.  He did them not for himself, but for us.”  “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be to me a Jesus.”  Be my Savior Jesus!

I have a challenge for you this week, reach out to someone to make Our Lord better known and loved.  Invite them to Mass; maybe even teach them St. Ralph’s prayer.  Nothing pleases our Lord more than when this prayer is said with confidence and from the depths of the heart.  Jesus is our Savior; we can’t keep quiet about that.  Ask the Holy Spirit to know the right moment when you should say something to someone.

The Harvest is great but the laborers are few.

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

From a discourse by Saint Andrew of Crete

The cross is Christ’s glory and triumph

We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.

Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.

Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation – very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.

The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.

The cross is Christ’s glory and triumph

We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.

Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.

Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation – very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.

The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.

The cross is Christ’s glory and triumph

We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.

Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.

Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation – very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.

The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.

Dear Friends,

Because Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life that makes all of us, all Christians, truth tellers we live in the truth and we speak the truth.  And because sin is an untruthful behavior we correct it in a spirit of brotherly love, as hard as that sometimes is, pointing out to our brother or sister his or her sins or misdeeds.  Of course this is always done discreetly and in the context of love; but if we can’t do it in love then we keep quiet.

Now thankfully, most of us have an example of loving correction from our own families. When I was growing up, my mom and dad would naturally offer me correction as needed, and sometimes I would complain. Mom or Dad’s response? “Better you hear it from me than someone who doesn’t love you.” That should describe our motivations for correcting someone—because we love them, because we love them we want to show them a weakness before someone can exploit it. Someone who doesn’t love them. Correction in charity is an act of protection, and of shelter. It is a bandage on a wound that keeps infection from seeping in. If that is not why we are correcting someone, then we have no place in offering correction.

There is a story about St. Francis and how he once corrected a whole town’s behavior.  Francis always worked for peace and he once negotiated a treaty between the people of Gubbio, a town about thirty miles north of Assisi, and a wolf that terrorized them.  According to the story, the townspeople of Gubbio were gripped by fear of a huge wolf that had devoured many animals and people.  This wolf was so terrifying that they only ventured outside the city walls if they were armed and protected with shields and helmets, as if going off to war.  But their weaponry was useless:  Even with weapons they were unable to escape the sharp teeth and raging hunger of the wolf, a smart wolf.

The people of Gubbio warned Francis that the wolf would kill him if he went out unarmed to meet it.  But Francis went out the city gates armed only with the Sign of the Cross.  People watched perched on the city walls as the wolf rushed toward Francis, jaws gaping, drool flying, exposing all his teeth.  But the wolf stopped short as Francis made the sign of the cross.  On Francis’ command the wolf closed its jaws, bowed, and lay at his feet.  Then Francis began to lecture the wolf by saying, “Brother Wolf, you have done great harm in this region, and you have committed horrible crimes by destroying God’s creatures without any mercy.  You deserve to be put to death just like the worst robber and murderer.  Everyone is right in crying out against you and complaining, and this whole town is your enemy.  But, Brother Wolf, I want to make peace between you and them, so that they’ll not be harmed by you anymore, and after they have forgiven you all your past crimes, neither man nor dog will pursue you anymore.”

A deal was on the table, and Francis sweetened it by seeing through the wolf’s terrifying and intimidating appearance to the suffering that lay beneath it.  “I promise you,” he said that I will have the people of this town give you food every day as long as you live, so that you’ll never again suffer from hunger, for I know that whatever evil you have been doing was done because of the urge of hunger.   Francis then added, “But, Brother Wolf, since I’m obtaining such a favor for you, I want you to promise me that you will never hurt any animal or man, as long as you live.  Will you promise me that?”

Francis took steps to alleviate the animal’s pain from hunger.  In return, the wolf would avoid acts of violence.  The wolf responded by lifting its paw to Francis in supplication.  After the wolf’s change of heart, it meekly follows the saint inside the city gates.  There Francis preached a sermon in which he calls on the people of Gubbio to repent:  “Dear people, come back to the Lord, and do fitting penance, and God will free you from the wolf in this world and from the devouring fire of hell in the next world.”  It may seem strange to us that Francis called on the people of Gubbio to repent; after all they had been the victims of terror.  But the citizens of Gubbio had sinned; they sinned by failing to love their enemy.  They knew that the wolf was ferocious because of its hunger.  And yet, to their own detriment, they did nothing to ease the wolf’s hunger.  Instead, they resorted to combat, which lead only to more deaths.

The wolf lived out its days going door to door in Gubbio for its food.  “He hurt no one and no one hurt him.”  According to one source, “The people fed the wolf courteously.  And it’s a striking fact that not even a single dog ever barked at this wolf.”  When the wolf died of old age, the people were saddened; they had grown to love their former enemy.

This story of St. Francis and the wolf of Gubbio is more than just an amusing anecdote or the subject of postcards sold in Assisi.  It’s an allegory we can use to look at our own lives.  We can ask ourselves a few questions:  Are there any wolves in our own lives?   Are we a wolf in someone’s life?  Is there anyone we’re at war with who’s in need of forgiveness, is there anyone in need of gentle correction, is there anyone in need of love?

It is this bond of love which St. Paul reminds us, is the source of all our obligations to other people. Paul tells the Romans to “owe nothing to one another except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). When Jesus talks about correction, He does not speak of correcting someone we have no bond with—He says “if your brother sins against you” (Mt. 18:15). If we go about correcting someone mindful of the bond of love, with the mindset that that person is our brother (or sister), that can go a long way towards purifying our intentions. But if our intentions are not loving, then the result of the correction is even worse—the person will still be in sin, but now we will have hurt our own souls as well by acting out of something besides love.

As with any work of mercy—spiritual or corporeal—success will always be mixed. Jesus Himself says in today’s Gospel that there will be times when even the whole Church giving correction will not succeed. But if we can act with love from start to finish, and keep that love alive even when all correction fails, then there is still hope for the future. If the person corrected experiences our love throughout the experience, and knows that we still love them in the end, they might want to come around eventually. If the bonds of love still exist, then there can still be a relationship, there can still be some measure of personal influence on the other. And in the end, we can at least say to God “I have loved and cared about all of Your people, even when that care was not appreciated.”

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Love does no evil to the neighbor.”

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

Dear Friends,

We read today’s gospel in continuity with last week’s gospel.  Last week we heard that Jesus will build his Church on the rock foundation of Peter’s confession; Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Christ the Son of the living God.”  And this Church founded by Christ will be a militant Church, invading the sinful world with the power of God’s grace; the gates of Hell will not prevail.  And today Jesus lays out the cost of doing this; He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, but then be raised on the third day.  He will go to Jerusalem as a bearer of Divine Love; He goes to the capital with a hard and true message.

But as we heard Peter won’t have any of this; he treats Jesus like a little kid in need of instruction.  You know you’re in a bad place spiritually when you begin to tell Jesus what to do.  In a world injured by Original Sin, Divine Love is met with resistance.  The world will try to block it.  But our Lord is always willing to lay down his life in the divine struggle and if we are to be a bearer of that same love then we too will suffer.  Christian life cannot be lived without the Cross; Christian life cannot be lived without suffering love.

St. Jane de Chantal founder of the Visitation Order of Sisters lived in 17^th century France.  Before founding her order, however, she was a wife and mother.  And in her life like all the saints she lived with suffering love.  Jane married a man named Baron Christopher de Chantal.  He was a soldier and courtier in the service King Henry IV.  And even though Jane and Christopher came to love each other dearly, the marriage began with a few problems.  From the outside looking in everything looked fine.  They were rich, they had lots of land and a castle but Christopher had some rough edges and he was a spender with large debts and he was a bit of a ladies man.  Soon after they were married, Christopher conceived a child with his mistress.

Now Jane loved her husband and her response to this affair can tell us a lot about suffering love.  She could have given Christopher the cold shoulder, she could have taken a lover of her own, she had no lack of suitors, she was very beautiful.  She could have given voice to a great anger, venting to everyone she knew.  But she chose a different path, she chose the way of the cross and strengthened by her prayer life and daily Mass, she chose to forgive.  She leaned into that Cross and forgave her husband, even going one step further and taking the illegitimate daughter into their home raising the little girl with her own children.  Instead of making life miserable for her husband, Jane won his heart.  Her forgiveness and kindness, in fact, laid the foundation for a home so happy that Christopher took an early retirement from active service.  He wanted to be with Jane.  He’s recorded as saying worldly splendors paled beside the virtues of his beloved wife.

Soon after retiring Christopher went hunting with a neighbor.  And this neighbor accidently shot Christopher.  It was nine agonizing days before he died.  Now Christopher quickly forgave the neighbor and asked that Jane do the same.  But Jane had a hard time in forgiving this neighbor, she had finally gotten her husband back, their marriage was back on track.  And she just couldn’t do it.  It took her four years before she was able to forgive.  Her spiritual director told her not to seek out this neighbor but if you happen to see him by chance, “I want your heart to be gentle, gracious, and compassionate, even though I know without any doubt that your heart will be distressed, and that your blood will boil.”    After four years Jane was able to forgive the neighbor.  Jane leaned into the Cross and forgave with gentleness, graciousness, and compassion even going so far to be the Godmother of this neighbor’s newborn baby.

Christian life cannot be lived without the Cross; Christian life cannot be lived without suffering love.  Everyone reading this is meant to be a bearer of Divine Love into the world.  That is our mission, to be bearers of Divine Love.  And this always involves suffering because it involves self-denial and self-denial hurts.  It would have been so much easier for Jane to give into anger, revenge, and self-pity.   But instead she leaned into her Crosses and learned charity, forgiveness, magnanimity, gentleness, graciousness, compassion, and much more.  When the cross comes our way we can ask our Lord, “What are you teaching me Lord?  What virtue must I grow in?  Where do I need healing?  What am I to learn from this cross?”  “Is it patience, forgiveness, mercy, fortitude, faith, trust, or is it love?”  Sometimes a cross is such a terrible burden, we ask ourselves, “How can God allow this?”  In those moments pray for help and then reach out for help reach out to a Simon or a Veronica.  Our Lord had help on the Way of the Cross.  Simon of Cyrene carried his cross for a time and Veronica wiped his brow offering some comfort.  Those around us may not even be aware of how much we are hurting and in need of help.  Ask for help, we don’t have to do this alone.  And we too need to be aware of those around us.  Is there someone close by who needs me to be a Simon or a Veronica?

The Cross does not last forever; the Cross is our bridge to Heaven.  At the end of our days when we have laid down our cross our Heavenly Father will meet us and call out to us in the words of the Song of Songs:

“Come then, my love,

My lovely one, come.

For see, winter is past,

The rains are over and gone. 

The flowers appear on the earth,

The season of glad songs has come…

Come then, my love,

My lovely one, come.

Show me your face,

Let me hear your voice;

For your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful (Song of Songs 2:10-4)

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

Dear Friends,

Two of the most memorable words from today’s Gospel are “rock” and “keys.”  “Rock” refers to that unshakable foundation our Lord has given to his Church: the papacy. “Keys” refer to the divinely guaranteed guidance and authority that the papacy will steadily provide about what we should believe and how we should live – faith and morals.  As St Augustine once said: “Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia”, where Peter [the papacy] is, there the Church is.  Where the papacy is, there is the Church.  This is why we call the pope Christ’s Vicar on earth, the visible head of the Church.

There is also a third memorable image in today’s Gospel.  After talking about the rock and the keys, Jesus says that “the gates of the netherworld” will not prevail against his Church. The rock and the keys tell us how the Church is structured, but this phrase tells us what the Church does:  It overthrows the kingdom of the devil, breaking down the gates of evil that closed upon the world after original sin.  The Church is no passive organization, no religious or social club; it has a mission.  Being Catholic means being part of a spiritual army called and strengthened by God to fight and conquer sin and evil, both in our own lives and in the greater society around us.

Today’s gospel is represented by one of our windows; it’s the window back in the northeast corner by the choir loft.  In that window we have the keys given to Peter signifying his guidance and authority in matters of faith and morals.  And up in the heavens is a keyhole reminding us of what is bound (locked) on earth is bound (locked) in heaven and what is loosed (open) on earth is loosed (open) in heaven.  And beneath the Papal coat of arms on the shield is a ship representing the world-wide Catholic Church.  Many times in art the Church is represented by a ship.  The church is even sometimes called the Barque of Peter, where a barque is a type of sailing ship.

I have a story about a ship and this story comes from a saint’s dream.  In May of 1862 St. John Bosco had a dream.  St. John Bosco was a man gifted with many prophetic dreams throughout his life, they came true.  Now in this spring time dream St. John Bosco saw a naval battle, a great ship was in the midst of a ferocious conflict at sea.  This great ship is surrounded by a large enemy fleet that’s bombarding it with cannon balls and bombs, and ramming it with their pointed prows.  A man dressed in white stands at the tip of the ship’s bow attempting to guide it safely to the shore.  On either side of the great ship are two tall pillars through which the ship must pass in order to arrive at shore.  On top of one of the pillars is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the words, “Help of Christians” written below; on the top of the other pillar, which is a much taller and grander pillar, is a large white Communion Host, with the words, “Salvation of the Faithful” beneath it.

Each time an enemy ship succeeds in creating a gash in the side of the great ship a breeze arriving from the two pillars patches up the hole and repairs it.  At one point, according to the text of Bosco’s dream, the captain in white falls down wounded and dies, and from the men in the enemy ships great and riotous cheers erupt.  But it is short-lived because almost immediately, the other men in the great ship elect a new captain, also dressed in white, who rises up to continue to guide the ship to safety.  The battle continues to rage fiercely, but the new captain eventually succeeds in steering the ship between the two pillars, bringing it into port.  As soon as it’s anchored to the two columns all of the enemy ships that had fought against it flee, and in their haste to get away they collide against each other breaking into pieces.  And suddenly, the waters are still and a great calm reigns over the sea.  The gates of hell will not prevail against our Church.

St. John Bosco understood the great ship to be an image of the Church, the captain in white to be a symbol of the pope, and the enemy ships as representing the enemies of the Church, subjecting her to persecution.  The two pillars and the images resting on them represent the protection and help that Heaven provides the pilgrim Church on earth.  Heaven doesn’t forget us!

The Holy Father often asks us to pray for him.  He needs our prayers.  Our Lord has entrusted him with working toward the salvation and pastoral care of every living soul on earth, not just for the Catholics, but for everyone.  He has many people helping him, but there are still some crosses that he alone has to bear.  Let us pray today for the Holy Father, pray for everyone who works with him in the Holy See so that he will safely guide this Great Ship to the Heavenly shores.

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

Dear Friends,

In the middle ages when a young man wanted to join a Benedictine Monastery he’d show up on their doorstep and ask to join the community.  Many times the young man would be turned down and the door would be shut in his face.  If he was persistent, however, he’d sit by the door and wait.  He’d wait in the cold and rain or whatever the weather threw at him.  Maybe a day or so later a brother would open the door and tell him to, “Go away, we have no room.”  But if the young man really wanted to join the community he’d stay right there by the door.  This might go on for quite some time, days or weeks, with a brother opening the door every few days to discourage the young man telling him, “You’re not wanted,” or “You’re unfit for monastic life,” or “Come back next year,” or “We’re not accepting applications right now, thank you for your interest.”  If that young man persisted and stayed by that door eventually he’d be let in to become a novice.  That community of monks knew, by his persistence, that the young man waiting by their door was truly hungry for God.    Many of the young men waiting by the door walked away becoming discouraged by the test.  Only those who were really starving for God were let into the community.  Those starving for God persisted.

In today’s Gospel we see a model of persistence, a model of persistence in prayer.    This Canaanite woman is met with rejection three times before our Lord acquiesces to her request.  She is met first with silence, “Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.”   I’m sure we’ve all had a similar experience.  We’ve asked God for something, something that isn’t trivial or selfish and we are met with silence.  We can identify with this woman.  This woman, however, does not give up she’s not put off by our Lord’s non-response, she continues to call out him.  The disciples say, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”

In the second rejection our Lord tells her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”   The Canaanite woman is not fazed by this rejection.  It’s not her fault she not an Israelite.  So she prostrates herself acknowledging Jesus as Lord saying, “Lord, help me.”  She says something many Israelites are not willing to say.  Again our Lord rejects her, a third time, saying, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”  Again the woman is not put off by the rejection; she is humble not disagreeing with Jesus, saying as, “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from table of their masters.”  I’m sure our Lord had a smile on his face when he heard this clever comeback, telling her, “O woman great is your faith!  Let it be done.”

What do we make of these three rejections and then the granting of her prayer?  Theologians tell us Jesus is testing the woman so she can know how great her faith is.  In this seeming three-fold rejection our Lord is preparing the Canaanite woman to receive the gift, the healing of her daughter.  When we are inspired to persevere in prayer, when prayer is not answered right away, our Lord is giving us time to let our hearts and souls expand in faith and trust so that we are one day able to fully receive the gift. So that we’ll be in a position to properly appreciate what we are given.   Seeming divine resistance strengthens faith, just as resistance training strengthens a muscle.

Not a single one of our prayers is ever lost.  Sooner or later, each will be answered; perhaps not at the time or in the way we imagine, but when and as God wants, in his plans that surpass our understanding.  Our prayers are not always answered as we would want, but the act of expressing them, giving voice to them, always brings us closer to God and attracts a certain grace that we will one day see very clearly and that will fill us with wonder.  What is most important about praying for something is not the something but the connection with God that’s established and developed by means of it.

We look to St. Monica as an example of one who prays well, a woman who established that connection with God.  Her feast day is later this month on August 27^th.  If we go to Mass on that day in the collect we’ll hear, “O God who console the sorrowful and who mercifully accepted the motherly tears of St. Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine.”  Monica prayed over 15 years for the conversion of her son.  St. Augustine in his autobiography wrote that God graciously heard her and did not despise the tears that watered the earth in whatsoever place she prayed.   St. Monica in persisting in this prayer of petition became a saint. Faithfully praying for her son expanded Monica’s heart and soul expanding her humility, her faith, and her trust.  She needed 15 years of expansion and that prayer connection to God bore fruit, she became a saint.  Praying for her son was her path to sanctity.   A prayer connection to God will always bear fruit, both for ourselves and for the people for whom we pray.    Bearing fruit in ways we would never imagine.  So we never give up on prayer, even if God seems to be responding in silence.

My prayer for us today is that we imitate St. Monica; the young would be Benedictine, and the Canaanite woman, always persistently standing outside the door calling to our Lord.  In faith we know the door will open.

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

Dear Friends,

In some of the smaller towns of Italy the celebration of the Assumption begins with two processions.  The first procession begins at the outskirts of town and heads down the main street to the town center.  The people in this procession carry a statue of Mary.  this procession represents Mary on her way to Heaven after her life on earth came to an end.  Now at the very same time the second procession also begins on the outskirts of town but this one begins on the opposite side of town.  This one too heads down the main street making its way to the town center.  The people in this procession carry a statue of Jesus.  This second procession represents Jesus going out to meet his mother as she arrives in Heaven.

The big moment in the celebration comes when the two processions meet under an arch of flowers in the center of town.  When this meeting takes place, both processions stop and the two statues are made to bow to each other three times.  The bowing symbolizes Jesus welcoming his mother at the gates of Heaven.  When the bowing ceremony is over, the people carry the two statues side by side, in a single procession to the parish church.  Jesus is leading his mother to her throne, in Heaven.  When the procession arrives inside the church, the two statues are enthroned in the sanctuary, and the townspeople celebrate the Mass of the Assumption.  This Italian celebration expresses in a simple visual way the profound truth that we celebrate on the Solemnity of the Assumption.  It’s the truth that after Mary’s life on earth, she was taken bodily into Heaven.

On November 1^st 1950 Pope Pius XII made this solemn proclamation, “Mary the Blessed Virgin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory.”  So even though the church has believed and taught this dogma of the Assumption for nearly two millennia it wasn’t solemnly defined until 1950.  When I first learned of this I was kind of surprised, why wait until 1950?  But then I read somewhere that there are two reasons that a Pope will solemnly define a dogma.  First, is its denial if there is a certain group within the church that denies a certain teaching, the pope will solemnly define it.  And in solemnly defining a truth the Pope hopes to end any confusion or contradictions among the faithful. This is how we got the creed, denials to the faith were rebutted and over time truths were defined.  And the second reason a Pope may solemnly define a dogma is the appropriateness of the teaching to a particular age.  Back in 1950 no one was denying the truth of the Assumption of Mary it was, however, the perfect time to define this dogma and proclaim at the same time the sacredness of the human body, how the human body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The year 1950 followed one of the bloodiest decades of our human existence.  Six million Jews were experimented upon, murdered, and cremated within concentrations camps.  They were treated like animals or worse.  Two hundred and forty thousand Japanese, many of them Catholic, were killed after two atomic bombs were dropped. Overall, during World War II around 78 million men, women, and children perished during that horrendous conflict.  Human flesh had seemingly no value, no sacredness.  At that time in history the Church responded by showing what God thinks of human flesh; human flesh is worthy of eternal glory and of union with the Most Blessed Trinity.  Not only does Jesus the Son of God bring his glorified human body to heaven, but he wills that his Mother Mary should be with him as well, in her glorified body and soul.  The two of them, Jesus and Mary together, await all of us the sons and daughters of Mary, the brothers and sisters of Jesus who, professing the resurrection of Jesus and the assumption of Mary, are being prepared for the day of eternal glory.

Today’s world too is in need of a reminder of the Assumption.  Our world of 2020 tells us that human flesh has seemingly no value, no sacredness.  There are wars waged on people in the Middle East and Africa because of their faith.  Our world glamorizes pornography, enslaves young girls in human trafficking, experiments on human embryos, kills the unborn, and in certain parts of the world, U.S. included, the elderly and disabled are euthanized.  We today, are in need of the constant reminder of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption.  We are in need of a reminder of the value and sacredness of the human body.  What happened to Mary will one day happen to each of us.  So let us be preachers of the Assumption and the sacredness of the human body doing so by monitoring the speech we use, the websites we visit and the TV shows we watch.  By carefully evaluating the governmental representatives we elect, practicing all the corporal works of mercy, and by praying, praying for an end of violence, the many forms of violence against the human body.

Although we wait, we believe in the glorification of our body and soul together in heaven.  First Christ, second Mary, and then finally the entire church, or as St. Paul says; “all those who belong to him.”  And this gives us great hope.

Peace and all good,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

Dear Friends,

Thursday August 4^th is the Feast day of St. John Vianney.   He’s the only parish priest ever to be canonized a Saint.  This gives me something to work for.  St. John Vianney lived in the early 19^th century in small remote French village by the name of Ars.  He was ordained a priest at a time when the French Church had been devastated by revolution.  Churches had been destroyed and priests and nuns had been martyred.  People didn’t know their faith and they weren’t going to Mass.  However, all that changed during the forty four years of Vianney’s priesthood.  By the time he died thousands were flocking to Ars every day.  And Vianney would spend up to 16 hours each day in the confessional drawing people closer and closer to our Lord.

Recently I read a book about St. John Vianney and in that book one passage really stood out to me.  This passage was part of a homily in which Vianney has an imaginary conversation with a stranger visiting Ars for the first time.  He begins “At the sight of the church’s steeple you might ask yourself, what’s in there?”  And Vianney would answer, “The body of our Lord.”  And the stranger would ask, “Why is He there?”  And Vianney would answer, “Because a priest has passed by and said the Holy Mass.”  Vianney goes on to say, “And if we really understood the Mass we would die, not of fear, but of love.”  If we really understood the Mass we would die of love.

In today’s Gospel we hear of the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish.  It’s the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospels, and Mark and Matthew even record two instances of this multiplication miracle.  It must be important, very important.  Jesus, “Took…blessed…broke…and gave.”  These are the words of the Eucharistic mystery, the Eucharistic miracle.  These same words (took, blessed, broke, and gave) which describe Jesus’ actions are also the same words used at the Last Supper and they’re the same words used at every Mass where Jesus gives us the totality of His life.

Our first reading from Isaiah tells us, “Thus says the Lord…come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life.”  Listen to his word, listen to the Word made flesh, receive that flesh and have life.  As Vianney said, “If we really understood the Mass we would die, not of fear, but of love.”  And that understanding begins by listening.  I haven’t always been the best listener during Mass.  Maybe some can identify with this.  When I was younger I would sometimes get easily distracted during Mass, maybe staring at the most popular girl in my class, who happened to be sitting in my line of sight across the church, I’d stare and daydream, not paying attention.  And I would do this until her 6’ 10’’ dad looked my way. Or even talking I sometimes talked during Mass.  Once in college, when I first started dating this girl, we’d go to Mass together.  And during one of those first Masses that we attended together, we just talked and talked oblivious to everything.  It must have been really bad because at the sign of peace, the lector came down and told us to be quiet.  She told us we were distracting everyone, the priest especially, we weren’t that quiet, our whispers were not very good whispers.  We were mortified, we never said another word.  I’m thankful to that woman who had the courage to challenge us, to challenge us to be silent and to listen.  To actively listen, listening for the words of the Eucharistic miracle; took, blessed, broke, and gave.

Peace and all good,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley

Dear Friends,

Graham Greene was an English Catholic novelist.  He died in 1991 and almost everything he wrote had a Catholic theme.  He once wrote a short story entitled, “A Hint of an Explanation,” which in summary goes like this.  David is a young boy growing up as a Catholic in a small village in Scotland in which nearly everyone goes to Church.  The exception is a man by the name of Blacker.  He is both the village baker and the village atheist.  He is widely known to detest Catholics and the Catholic Church.

There’s a toy shop in the town and in the window of that toy shop there is a long and beautiful train.  David stops to look at it every day.  Blacker has seen David looking into that window and how he is obviously dying to have that set of trains.

One day Blacker meets David in the street and says that he has a deal to propose.  If David would only pretend to receive communion one Sunday and to put the host in his pocket and later deliver the host to him, he would deliver the train set to his front doorstep the next morning.  “It’s got to be consecrated!  It’s no good if it’s not consecrated,” Blacker said.  “Why do you want the Host?”  David asked.  “Never you mind.  That’s my business,” said Blacker.  Blacker even threatened him with a razor, saying he had a master key to all the houses in town.  If David didn’t help him he’d make him bleed in the middle of the night.

David actually started to do the terrible thing Blacker suggested.  He took the host out of his mouth and placed it in his pocket.  He later wrapped it in a bit of newspaper.  And he spent one terrible day and one terrible sleepless night with what, he was becoming more conscious of by the hour, was the Blessed Sacrament, our Lord himself present in his divinity and present in his betrayed, sacrificed, and risen humanity.

Morning came.  Blacker appeared beneath his bedroom window.  “Have you got it, boy?” “Give it to me” he said, “Quick!” “You shall have the train in the morning.” “You can’t have Him,” “Go away!” yelled David.  “I’ve got the razor,” threatened Blacker.  David reasoned that the only safe place for the Host was inside of him and so he consumed the host, paper and all.

Until that moment David had been bored by Mass and he had received Communion more out of routine than anything else.  It’s just what you did.  But in that moment, with Blacker standing beneath his window, David realized what a treasure he held all wrapped in newspaper.  This was our Lord, this was Jesus.  David found his treasure, he came to his senses, and he was willing to give up something he dearly wanted.  That train set just didn’t matter anymore.

Today’s Gospel invites us to make our Lord and His Kingdom the number one priority in our life.  One way to grow more and more in making Him and His kingdom number one is to spend more time with Him.  Spend more time with Him here in the Church.  He’s in the tabernacle just waiting for a visitor.  Come sit with Him at some point during the week.  The farmer sells all that he has in order to obtain the treasure.  The merchant does the same, selling everything to buy the pearl.  What would you be willing to give up in order to spend extra time with our Lord here present in the tabernacle, the treasure of our Church.

Our Lord’s heart beats with love in the Sacrament of the Altar, and his heart is wounded, sliced open, always ready to receive us, to receive our petitions, our pleas, and our desires.  Go to His Heart wounded by love and present in the most Holy Sacrament.  Be bold and confident in what you ask.  His heart is open and ready to receive you and all your petitions.

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher Ankley

Dear Friends,

A while ago I went to the hospital to see a woman who’s dying.  I went there to anoint her.  When I entered the room I said, “Hello, you’re on our hospital list.”  But she wasn’t hearing so well and she thought I’d said, “You’re on our impossible list.”  She smiled after saying this, but it got me to thinking.  Nobody’s on an impossible list, everything is possible with God.

On July 6^th we celebrated the feast day of Saint Maria Goretti.  You may remember I spoke of her on the 5^th of July.  Maria was born in 1890 in Northern Italy.  She was born into a poor farming family and her father died when she was very young.  Her mom struggled to put food on the table for Maria and her five siblings.  On a hot July day in 1902 Maria sat outside mending a shirt.  A neighborhood boy by the name of Alexander came to the house.  This boy had been in the habit of repeatedly pestering Maria with advances.  She always resisted and told him to go home.  On this day, however, he dragged her into the house and because of her resistance he attacked her with a knife stabbing her repeatedly.

An ambulance brought Maria to the hospital and it was seen at once that she couldn’t possibly live.  In those next few hours Maria showed more concern for her family and the man who attacked her.  She prayed for Alexander and she forgave him, hoping to one day “See him in Heaven”, she said.  The man who killed her was Alexander (Alessandro) Serrenelli.  He was an eighteen year old who was very much addicted to pornography and in his own words said, “My behavior was influenced by pornography and the bad examples of friends which I followed without even thinking, I was not worried and looking back now at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself.”  After being captured and tried, and still being considered a minor, he was sent to prison for thirty years of hard labor.  He began his sentence in an unrepentant rage.  He even attacked a young priest who was sent to see him in his cell.

After three years of hard labor Alexander was finally willing to let a local Bishop visit with him.  He later sent this Bishop a thank-you note and in that note he told the Bishop about a dream he had had.  He wrote that he had dreamt of Maria Goretti and in this dream she had given him a bouquet of white lilies, which in the dream, immediately turned black and disintegrated when he touched them.  This dream marked the beginning of Alexander’s conversion.  Peace began to invade his heart, he began to live a constructive life, and he began to live in repentance.  After twenty seven years of his sentence Alexander was released three years early for good behavior.

After leaving the prison the very first person he visited was Maria’s mom, he asked her to forgive him.  Which she did saying, “If my daughter can forgive you, who am I to withhold forgiveness?”  They went to Mass together and they received the Eucharist together, kneeling side by side at the communion rail.

Alexander eventually became a Third Order Capuchin and spent his remaining days working quietly as a gardener for The Brothers of St. Francis Monastery.  He lived long enough to see Maria Goretti become a canonized saint of our Church and in 1970 he died a peaceful death.

Why have I told this story?  I’ve told it because I think because it’s a story that gives hope, because in the eyes of God nobody is a lost cause.  Nobody’s on the impossible list.  Repentance and conversion are always possible and sometimes they’re even a miraculous.  The Gospel always calls us to repentance and in today’s Gospel we’re called to it twice.  Jesus says, “But I tell you if you do not repent you will all perish as they did!” This call to repentance, however, is also combined with divine patience.  The fig tree is given more time to bear fruit.  We are given more time to bear fruit. God is patient. And with our rationalizations and stubbornness in not wanting to always follow the narrow way or the good path we need a God who is patient.  We are all, at one time or another that non-bearing unproductive fig tree.  But God lavishes us with his grace waiting for us to produce abundant fruit and this fills us great hope because our God is kind and merciful he is quick to bless and slow to punish.    Nobody is on an impossible list.

I want to end with something Alexander wrote just before dying, “I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life.”

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley