Loving God and Neighbor

“May it be done to me according to Your word.” Luke 1:38

“His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever He tells you.” John 2:5

            The greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) tells us how we can make our way to heaven.  Love accomplishes and overcomes all things.

            In the first Joyful mystery of the rosary, the Annunciation, we meditate on the words of Mother Mary, “May it be done to me according to Your word.”  She is teaching us love, obedience and humility.  Because she loved God, she was able to be obedient and humble and we were able to have a savior who would redeem us.  I love meditating on this verse and in fact, making it my prayer.  I also want to be the handmaid of the Lord, though I fall so far short of what our Blessed Mother did.  She, who was full of grace, did not have sin in her.  I find myself repeatedly going to the confessional to beg mercy of our Lord and ask Him to lift me up again and again.

            Immediately upon finding out her cousin, Elizabeth, is also with child, she journeys to visit.  She spent 3 months with Elizabeth, helping her to prepare for the coming of John the Baptist.  Love of neighbor. 

            This isn’t the only time Mary shows us how to love our neighbor.  In the second Luminous mystery of the rosary, “The Wedding at Cana”, Mary tells Jesus there is no more wine.  She then very simply turns to the servants and tells them to do whatever He tells them to do.  She knows running out of wine at a wedding can be very embarrassing to the hosts and she wants to avoid that, so she simply turns to her Son.  Her command to the servants is also a command to us.  We should, at all times, do whatever He tells us. 

            My spiritual director once told me that the only correct answer when God asks something of us is Yes!  If we’ve even heard Him talking to us, that is not usually our first response.  We tend to think of ourselves and how what He wants is going to interfere with what we want for our lives, as if we know best.

           At times I can be impressed with myself for listening to what God tells me to do, being obedient to His holy will for me.  Unfortunately, the pride of sin is no help to my salvation.  It also dawns on me that it is not the things I’ve done for God I’ll have to answer for, but the things I did not do (in the Confiteor we pray, “…in what I have done and in what I have failed to do…”).

            Each night before bed I pray, “The Prayer for Daily Neglects” (I won’t put the whole prayer here, it’s on page 16 of The Pieta Prayer Book) and in essence, I am asking God to expiate all the sins I have committed each day and during all my life, to purify the good I have done badly each day and to supply for the good I ought to have done, but neglected to do.  Unlike Mary, I am not full of grace. 

            “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” That is my prayer, my daily prayer.  What I also pray for is holy hearing so I know what God is asking of me.  Then I pray for obedience and humility and an increase in faith, hope and charity.  No wonder we are told to pray without ceasing.

           “Do whatever He tells you.”  Definitely easier said than done, but not impossible!  What does He tell us?  Love God with all your hearts, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

            Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Francis Xavier.  He certainly taught us love of Christ and love of neighbor.  So did Blessed Mother Teresa, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. John Vianney and in fact, all the saints.  With the help of all these beautiful saints and our Blessed Mother, we can learn to love God and love neighbor, just as Jesus taught us.

Black Friday

This week is the last week in Ordinary Time and next week, Advent begins.  What a beautiful time of year it is!  Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, a feast instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI to honor Christ’s Kingship.    He was trying to combat secularism which was overtaking us, even a century ago.

This Thursday of course we celebrate Thanksgiving.  A time to reflect on all the gifts we have received from our Lord, our lives, our families, homes, cars, jobs, etc.  It is also a time to pray in thanksgiving for all those wonderful graces and blessings we have received.

So in the midst of this celebration of Christ the King, Thanksgiving and in anticipation of the Advent season, we have what has commonly been called Black Friday.  What is Black Friday?  Some say it is the largest shopping day of the year (and has been since 2003), some say it is the day most retailers get out of the “red” and into the “black” on their ledgers, I say it’s a shame.

This is a day which seems to be solely dedicated to obtaining “stuff.”  I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t need anymore “stuff.”  In fact, I’ve been slowly getting rid of “stuff” and certainly not with the intent to replace it, but to just simplify.  To rid my life of things I no longer need, use or desire.  I’ve discovered that there is no tangible thing on earth I can take with me when I die and that most of the things I do have, really aren’t of value to anyone except me.  Except my books maybe, I do like my books! Hey, no one’s perfect!

Black Friday has gotten so out of hand that it has actually started on Thursday for some retailers.  Thanksgiving!  We can’t even be thankful for one whole day without rushing out to obtain more stuff!  What could you possibly need so badly that you must go out for it on Thanksgiving, when you should be spending time with family and friends?

Aside from obtaining more “stuff” I can’t figure out what is appealing about Black Friday.  Keep in mind, I don’t like to shop even on a good day, but this day seems to be crazy.  People are cranky because they’ve gotten up before the crack of dawn to get to the stores, they are bound and determined to obtain the item for which they cannot live without, no matter the consequences in some cases and many people have been injured.  There has even been a death contributed to Black Friday, when a store employee was unlocking the doors he was trampled. 

So we celebrate the beautiful Feast of Christ the King and then a mere 5 days later we forget our Lord in order to pursue things of this world.  Things that will mean nothing to anyone in 100 years or even 50 or 10 or 5 or maybe not even in 1 year.

I’m not saying you cannot buy Christmas gifts and enjoy the beautiful season leading up to the birth of our King; but let us remember the spirit in which these gifts should be given, received and enjoyed.  Let us also remember those who are less fortunate.

Matthew 25:31-46 says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

As we celebrate the Advent season, visiting family and friends, buying gifts and other items and preparing for the arrival of Christ the King let us remember what St. Matthew teaches us. 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food.” 

Donate to a food pantry;

Serve a meal at the mission;
Purchase scrip and leave it at the rectory so the priests can donate as the need arises;
Help someone in line at the grocery store who needs extra help making their purchases;
Say a prayer for someone, or better yet, with someone because they need spiritual food too.

“I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.”

Each day show your love of others in new ways by giving your children and spouse a blessing when they wake up and before bed;
Give more hugs, not just to your family, but to your friends and even strangers, if you are so moved.

“A stranger and you welcomed me.”
Smile at people and look them in the eye.  Say “hello” to them or “Merry Christmas” or “God bless you.”
Shake hands with people.

“Naked and you clothed me.”

Take your children’s old coats, hats, gloves, etc. to a local elementary school for children who are without.

Go through your closet and get rid of those things you are not wearing.  Donate them to St. Vincent de Paul or Goodwill.  If you haven’t worn something in a year, you probably never will.

“Ill and you cared for me.”

Do you have neighbors who might need your help? 

Everyone knows someone with cancer or some other debilitating illness, help them.  Take a meal, help them vacuum and dust.

Take a bowl of soup or a handmade card.

“In prison and you visited me.”

Go to a nursing home and talk to the residents.  They hunger and thirst for attention.  Say a prayer with them, let them visit with your children.  Let the children make small crafts and pass them out.

Find out who the homebound members of your parish are and see if you can visit.

Visit Jesus, who waits for you in the tabernacle day and night.

Use your imagination.  When Christmas day arrives, Jesus’ birthday, what gifts (spiritual and corporal works of mercy) are you going to offer Him?  May the Holy Spirit guide you in all you do.

Remember, to whom much is given, much will be expected.

Avoiding Purgatory

The word purgatory is not found in sacred scripture, so how can we be certain it exists?  Well, because the doctrine is found in scripture.  Jesus refers to the sinner who “will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt 12:32) which suggests that one can be freed after death of the consequences of their sins.  In 1 Cor 3:15 St. Paul tells us, “He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”  If this is true, and we must believe scripture is, then the loss suffered would not be hell because you cannot be saved from there and it cannot be heaven because there is no suffering, or fires, in heaven.

2 Maccabees 12:43-45 says, "In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the dead to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.”

Purgatory is also part of the Jewish tradition, even if that is not the word they use for it.  Orthodox Jews today recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for 11 months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified.

St. Augustine said that, “temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death and by others both now and then; but all of them before the last and strictest judgment.” And his mother, St. Monica, asked her son to remember her soul in his Masses. This would make no sense if she thought her soul would not benefit from his prayers.

So the question is, can you avoid purgatory? Yes.  According to Fr. Paul O’Sullivan in his booklet, “How to Avoid Purgatory”, he says that many make no serious effort to avoid purgatory and that a great number of souls go to purgatory simply because they’ve never been told how to avoid it.  Avoiding it is the best course of action; but certainly not the easiest.

The reason why purgatory is necessary for some is that we have committed sins and have not yet made satisfaction for them.  If our souls are stained with sin, we must be purified before we can behold the beatific vision.  Purgatory is our purification and it is by no means a picnic, but it is a promise of heaven, even if one must continue to wait to attain it.  In purgatory there is hope of heaven, but just because there is hope in purgatory does not mean we should desire it.  We should, at all times, desire and strive for heaven and ask our Heavenly Father for just that.  We should desire to make reparation for our sins while we are still on earth so as to avoid purgatory altogether.

It is interesting to me that so many assume they must spend time in purgatory and yet, when a loved one dies, they assume they’ve gone straight to heaven.  While this is a very charitable thought, it lends itself entirely to a lack of charity because then we do not pray for their poor souls.  It does no harm to assume they’ve gone to purgatory and to pray for them, because in the glorious event they’ve gone to heaven (whether or not they passed through purgatory), God will apply the prayers to someone else in need.  There is no such thing as a wasted prayer.

Never let anyone convince you that you are being presumptuous in asserting that you can go straight to heaven.  Unless of course you assume heaven will be given to you without any effort on your part.  We can avoid purgatory, yes, but it requires much effort, by way of prayer, fasting, almsgiving and penance and without a doubt, suffering.  We must strive to live holy lives or avoiding purgatory will, in fact, become unavoidable.

There are many means in which this can happen, again, by avoiding sin completely, but surely by frequent and good confessions, by doing reparation for sin while on earth (remember, you cannot gain merit once you’ve died), Jesus made a promise for Divine Mercy Sunday, under certain obligations of course, to wipe out any temporal punishment due to sin and there is always the Apostolic Pardon.  You can also ask St. Joseph to intercede on your behalf for a holy, happy death.

My good friend St. Therese of Lisieux had a great teaching on purgatory and how to avoid it.  She said you, “should not fear purgatory because of the suffering there, but should instead ask that you not deserve to go there in order to please God.”  She even said it offends God if we don’t trust enough that we can get to heaven after dying.

A sister in the convent did not like St. Therese teaching that purgatory could be avoided and confronted her.  She would not listen to St. Therese at all and St. Therese finally responded, “My sister, if you look for the justice of God, you will get it.  The soul will receive from God exactly what she desires.”  About a year after that conversation the sister died and St. Therese dreamed of her and heard, “You were right, I am now delivered up to the full justice of God, but it is my fault, if I had listened to you, I would not be here now.”

God desires us to be in heaven with Him.  As St. Therese says, “He does not put us here on earth, where we are tested and are suffering after the fall, only to let us suffer again – and much worse, in purgatory.  Everyone receives enough graces in order to go straight to God after passing the trials on earth.  However, purgatory is an emergency entry to heaven for those who have wasted their time on earth.  What God considered the exception, became the rule and the rule – to go straight to heaven – became the exception.”

Mystics throughout history say that the least suffering in purgatory is much greater than the greatest suffering on earth.  Why?  Because on earth we receive God’s infinite mercy but in purgatory, we are receiving His justice.  God cannot desire useless sufferings for us. 

At the moment of our death, we already have our place in heaven.  There is no growing in grace once we’ve died, so we miss nothing by avoiding purgatory.

St. John says in 1 John 4:17-18 “In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect loves casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment and he who fears is not perfected in love.

Trusting in God is enough.  He can do ALL things.  Even after a “messed up” life, God can still take one straight to Heaven if the dying person only has trust.  Remember St. Ditmas, the good thief crucified next to Jesus on Calvary, he went straight to heaven!

Here is a quick list on some ways to avoid purgatory…..

1.      Ask God if you can go straight to heaven.  Pray this every day of your life.
2.      Ask the saints to intercede on your behalf and assist you in avoiding purgatory;
3.      Remove the cause for going to purgatory, which is sin;
4.      Do penance.  When our Lady appears to us she continually asks for reparation for sins.
5.      Bear patiently what cannot be avoided; namely, suffering – whether physical, emotional, spiritual or mentally.  These sorrows, as Fr. Paul O’Sulllivan says, “are in truth, God’s greatest graces.”
6.      Confession, communion and Holy Mass.  Confession applies the Most Precious Blood of Christ to our souls, wipes out our sins and gives us strength to avoid future sin.  Holy communion likewise helps us to sin no more and pardons the sins we have committed.  (although this would be venial sins, because one should not receive our Lord in the state of mortal sin). Assisting at daily Mass applies oceans of graces obtained by the sacrifice of Calvary to our own souls, each and every time we go.  Jesus visited Zaccheus but once and in that one visit he obtained complete pardon of all his sins.  So how is it possible that the same God of goodness and sweetness can come, not into our house, but into our very hearts in Holy Communion and not give us the same and even greater graces that Zaccheus received?
7.      Another way to avoid purgatory is to forgive all those who have injured or offended you.   Just as we forgive others, God will forgive us.
8.      Perfectly resign yourself by offering your death to God.
9.      Indulgences, partial or plenary, are remissions before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven (CCC 1471).
10.  Divine Mercy Sunday, as I mentioned earlier, is another way to avoid purgatory.  As with indulgences, there are stipulations, such as confession and receiving Holy Communion. 

We must remember that heaven is not going to be handed to us, we must strive to live holy lives at all times.  We must have the desire to avoid purgatory and be willing to undergo the trials and sufferings that will surely come our way.