4 March 2013 3rd Week of Lent -- Monday Learning to see the good in others Charity makes the heart find room in it for all men, even those who don’t understand us or who fail to respond to our love. With the Lord beside us no one will be our enemy. We will learn not to judge the covert personal intentions of others. The few external signs we see often do not reflect their true motives. “Although you might see something bad, do not instantly judge your neighbour", advises St Bernard, "but, rather, excuse him interiorly. Excuse the intention if you are unable to excuse the action. Consider it as done in ignorance, or unawares, or through weakness. If the matter is so weighty that you cannot possibly overlook it, then try to believe the following and say to yourself: the temptation must have been very strong!” (St Augustine, “Sermon 40 on the Song of Songs”) Our Lady will teach us, if we ask her, how to forgive -- in Cana, Mary does not deplore or criticize the lack of wine, ‘but helps find a solution to the need’ -- and to struggle to cultivate in our personal lives these very virtues which, on occasion, may seem to us to be lacking in others. We will then be in an excellent position to offer a helping hand to them. Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:132 Necessity and manner of doing penance God imposes penance as a duty. This command is formal and universal. Except you do penance, you shall perish not ‘perhaps’ or ‘probably’; but simply, ‘you shall all perish’. Why? Because we are sinners! After losing baptismal innocence our only road to heaven is penance. Again, why? The flesh, ever rebelling against the spirit, inclines us towards sin. Thus, “If by the spirit you mortify ... the flesh, you shall live” (Rom 8:13). We are then obliged to do penance proportioned to the number and gravity of our sins (Council of Trent); and to do it always, but especially during Lent. Whatever our age or vigor, we can do penance in some way. The desert Fathers, eminent for their penance, did it mainly in ‘fasting, vigils’, and ‘austerities’. On fasting, we can observe it at least partly. We can limit our ordinary food with due discretion to what is absolutely necessary. Or mortify our taste by habitually avoiding treats. Eating less of what we enjoy; more of what we don’t. We are not obliged to break our sleep to keep vigil in the oratory. But always rise quickly from sleep -- the heroic minute. Let us at least watch in our mental prayers, and in all spiritual activities, ‘never’ yielding to sleep or spiritual torpor. This can be a very painful struggle. An article of faith is, what we have not atoned for in life by penance will be expiated by the fire of purgatory. Therefore, as St Augustine says, ‘do penance, or burn’. We can choose. To habitually kneel or sit without a comfortable support; to pass through public places without ever satisfying our curiosity, is to do penance; and, if continuous, can become a severe one. Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp91-3 Docility in spiritual direction Faith in the means God gives us works miracles. On one occasion Our Lord asked a cripple to do something which the man knew, from vast experience, he could not do: to stretch out his withered hand. But again, docility, the sign of an operative faith, made the miracle possible. “And the man stretched out his hand, and it was restored ...” (Mt 12:13) At times we, too will be asked to do things we think we are incapable of. They will become possible if we allow the grace of God to act within us -- a grace which comes to us as a result of docility in spiritual direction. Our Lord asks us not to seek mere earthly supports which would inevitably lead us to pessimism. He asks us for supernatural trust, for us to be supernaturally realists -- to count on Him, ie, being aware that Jesus Christ continues to influence our lives. Ten docile lepers are cured. Jesus simply tells them: “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Lk 17:14). On another occasion Our Lord has compassion on a man born blind. St John vividly relates the incident: Jesus spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. The beggar did not doubt. So he went and washed, and came back able to see.” (Jn 9:6-7) Blindness, defects, weaknesses -- are faults that have a remedy. By ourselves, we are helpless; Jesus Christ is all-powerful. The water of that pool was still water, and the clay remained clay. But the blind man recovered his sight with a deeper, living faith in the Lord. “I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he remade it into another vessel ... Like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.” (Jer 18:1-7) With availability and docility, we will allow ourselves to be reworked and reshaped by God as often as is necessary. This could be the resolution we make in our prayer today, a resolution we will bring to fruition with the help of Our Lady. Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, "In Conversation with God", 2:124-6 St Casimir The son of King Casimir IV and Queen Elizabeth, monarchs of Poland and Lithuania. He had a great love for the Eucharist and for the Virgin Mary. Patron saint of Poland. (Fr James Socias, et al [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, p1487) He died of lingering tuberculosis at twenty-four years of age. (Rev H Hoever, “Lives of the Saints”) Lourdes: The fifteenth apparition ‘Thursday’, the last of the fifteen meetings promised by the Lady. Word of the apparitions had spread all over France. Commissioner Jacomet, after a minute inspection of the grotto yesterday and this morning, had stationed an impressive contingent of police on the spot. The crowd was estimated at eight- to ten-thousand. After attending mass for a deceased relative at 6:30 A.M., Bernadette left for the grotto. Two gendarmes helped her through the crowd, her cousin Jeanne Vedere beside her. At the third ‘Ave, Maria’ of the second mystery, she fell into ecstasy which lasted about an hour. Bernadette received no special revelation. Feeling very sad, she went home but remained calm and collected. That afternoon she told Father Peyramale that she had again asked the Lady’s identity and make the roses bloom. “Aquero” just smiled and insisted on the chapel. Peyramale was adamant -- if she wanted the chapel she would have to say who she is and provide the funds. Bernadette remained tranquil. She had fulfilled her promise; her fifteen appointments were over. Ref: G Menotti, “Lourdes”, p12 • Our Lady de la Garde, in Aragon, so called for having preserved from death a child who had fallen into a well, in the year 1221.—(Bzovinus, year 1221.) “Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar (http://www.bethlehemobserver.com) • Our Lady of Guard (de la Guard). Aragon, Spain/Marseille, France. 1221. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm) • Our Lady de la Guard, Marseille, France (1221). (http://www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html) • Our Lady of Guard (Arragon, Spain). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)