My child, I love you. Have no fear my little one. What God, the Almighty, has decreed will be fulfilled. Even now, what the Father has decreed approaches. Be at peace. Leave with the peace of God in your heart. Make known to all the directions I have given you, that my children may pass through this danger safely under my mantle of motherly protection.

My child, these events take place for the greater glory of God to fulfill the plans for the triumph of my Immaculate Heart.

My child, I have not abandoned you or the Father forsaken you. See how with great love we continue to instruct you, to lead you in the Way of Holiness. Again, I call to you. I call for your complete and total abandonment to my Immaculate Heart. In this way I can bring you swiftly and safely into the Most Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

My little one, great is the task entrusted to you; great must be your response. Do not be seduced by my adversary. Live your consecration to my Immaculate Heart and through me to our God, to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

My child, my children, Remain with me in constant prayer. How great is the sorrow and suffering of my heart. Pray! Pray! Pray that the Most Hight, even at this late hour, may relent for all my children, especially those who are furthest away, for those who have no one to call out to them or to pray for them. I am your Mother. I love you all with the Immaculate Love of my heart, the very Love of God.

Pray that mankind may heed these warnings. The Divine Justice of the Most High is being poured out upon humanity, upon the world, upon all creation. It is through the outpouring of the Blood of my Son, the blood shed through His mystical body, that the Church will be purified and renewed. Cleansed by the Blood of Jesus, creation will truly reflect the glory of God as was meant to be.

Pray my children. Hear my plea. Heed my call to conversion. Come to the refuge of my Immaculate Heart, under the Mantle of my love. Pray! Fast! Make sacrifices for poor sinners. Gather near to my Son, to Jesus in the Eucharist. I call to all who have faith. Surround Jesus with your adoration. Console Him with your love. Protect and defend Him through the profession of your faith by your presence before Him.

My children, this is the Time of Battle, the Trime of Triumph, the Time of Victory. These are perilous times, dangerous times for many. Have no fear. Remain near to me and to Jesus. Great is the suffering the Church is called to, but ever greater is the glory to God.

My children, I love you. I gather you into my heart. I pray for you. With the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I bless you. Thank you for your great love.

Message Received October 7, 1992

My child, I love you. Recall again today the time of your conversion. Renew your consecration to my Immaculate Heart. Raise your heart and mind to God. Life up your prayer to me. Pray the rosary! This is the weapon that will bind satan! This is the weapon that will defeat error and apostasy! This is the weapon that will conquer evil and sin!

My children, put on my armor, the brown scapular; take up my weapon, the rosary, and in the Light of Faith and with the strength of love, enter into battle, and join in the triumph of my Immaculate Heart, I, the Lady of the Rosary, Mother of God.

Message Received October 13, 1992

My child, I love you. Recall today my presence at Fatima. Though I am eternally present before the Holy Trinity in the Kingdom of God, I am coming to you in these times in an extraordinary way, a substantial way. The request I made of humanity through Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco were to bring mankind to an awareness of the effect of sin in their lives and throughout the whole of creation. Sin affects mankind in time, not only in eternity. It has consequences in man’s relationships with his brother in this life, not only with God for eternity.

I am calling to all my children: Return to God! In an extraordinary and unprecedented way, God allowed the great Miracle of the Sun. Not only as proof of my presence, but even more so, because of the importance of the message conveyed to mankind and its urgency. The message of Fatima has not, as of yet, been fully understood and accepted.

My children Pray! Pray! Pray for your priests whose responsibility it is to shepherd you in these times. Pray for the Church as she ascends Calvary, where the Lord of Host will accept Her immolation for the salvation of souls.

Pray, for poor sinners who lost in the darkness of these times are on the road to perdition, a road that leads to eternal damnation.

Pray, my children, on this anniversary of the Great Miracle of the Sun at Fatima; that I may intervene again in an extraordinary way, that my Immaculate Light may pierce the darkness that surrounds you and brings you to the only true light of Faith and to eternal life with God.

Pray that you may receive the graces necessary to respond to my call.

Pray the rosary! Pray the rosary! Pray the rosary!

Message Received October 24, 1992

My child, I love you. My children, it is as I have told you. You have now entered that period of time, when God will be glorified. During the first seven years of this Mission, you knew the joy of my Heart. During the last seven years the Mission bore the cross in union with my Son. Now in the seven years that follow, the Mission will come to reflect the true glory of God.

My children, listen to me, while there is still time. The events that I have been announcing to this generation are on the verge of being brought to fulfillment. Indeed you are already beginning to experience them.

My dear children, my heart is breaking. My tears flow in torrents at the sufferings you will be called to endure. Accept them with a deep faith. It is only the immolation of souls, souls called to share in the suffering of Jesus, souls called to shed their blood in atonement for the sins of the world, that can satisfy the demands of Divine Justice.

My little one, again I call to you and to all my children, give me your love. I call for you to live your consecration to me and to my Son. I ask for your complete and total abandonment to my Immaculate Heart.

My children, throughout this century, I have been calling to you, pleading for you to amend your lives and return to God. Now I announce to you that time is near completion. Let those who believe in the one true God gather near to Him before all the tabernacles in the world. Let everyone prepare to render an account of their lives to Almighty God. The Hour of Mercy has nearly passed and Divine Justice is fast approaching. In Truth, I tell you, it has already overcome the world.

My little one, offer no resistance; I call for your complete resignation. Go, my child, where I call you, to complete the work entrusted to you. It is not for vain glory but to give glory to God that all things are brought to completion. Have no fear. Everything is in the Hands and Heart of the Most Hight. Be at peace. God in the Peace of God. Thank you for your great Love.

News and Upcoming Events

Requests
- We are asking everyone to join us in praying the Chaplet of St. Michael daily during the month of September. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/chaplet-of-st-michael-the-archangel-386
- We are asking everyone to have masses said for the election in the USA this year, for the victims of war, and for the salvation of souls.
October 7th – We will be having a public rosary on the lot in Lockport, LA where the Cross of Light is located. October 7th is not only the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, but the date celebrated as the beginning of the Miracle of the Rosary Mission.o Rosary will be at 5pm.
- Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ydFxcqkbHRWcBsco6
September 4th – We will begin the St. Louis de Montfort consecration to Jesus through Mary in anticipation of October 7th, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
- Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary: The 33 Day Method of Prayer & Meditation According to St. Louis de Montfort https://a.co/d/0ayx05EP
- True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort https://a.co/d/0aGzrFuw
- The Secret Of The Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort https://a.co/d/0ayk7pMs
Website – We are aiming to complete the section on the Eucharist and Eucharistic Miracles sometime over the next month. Please keep this effort in prayer.
3 Days of Darkness – We are currently working on comprising information on the 3 Days of Darkness and the Great Illumination. Please keep this effort in prayer.

Spotlight

SS. Andrew Kim Tae Gon and Paul Chong Ha-Sang and Companions, September 20th

Image taken from: File:Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The Following is Taken From: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Kim-Dae-gon

“St. Kim Dae-Gŏn (born August 21, 1821, Korea—died September 16, 1846, near Seoul, Korea [now in South Korea]; canonized May 6, 1984; feast day September 20) was the first Korean Catholic priest.

The son of Korean converts to Roman Catholicism, Kim received religious training in the Portuguese colony of Macau and was ordained in Shanghai in 1845 by Bishop Jean Ferréol. Much of his short life was spent traveling between China and his homeland for missionary work. In 1846 he was arrested while trying to explore a new sea route for the entrance of missionaries into Korea. His opposition to Korea’s closed-door policy brought about his imprisonment and execution.

On July 5, 1925, Kim was beatified along with 78 other Korean martyrs. In 1949 the Holy See named him the principal patron of the Roman Catholic clergy in Korea. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984.”

Further Reading: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saints-andrew-kim-taegon-paul-chong-hasang-and-companions/

Prayer: Taken from: https://www.liturgies.net/saints/andrewkimtaegon/andrewkimtaegon.htm

O God, you have created all nations and you are their salvation. In the land of Korea your call to Catholic faith formed a people of adoption, whose growth you nurtured by the blood of Andrew, Paul, and their companions. Through their martyrdom and their intercession grant us strength that we too may remain faithful to your commandments even until death. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Virgin of Hope of Macarena

Website: Brotherhood of the Macarena Official website of the Brotherhood of the Macarena (hermandaddelamacarena.es )

The following has been taken from: Our Lady of Hope | Brotherhood of the Macarena (hermandaddelamacarena.es )

Figure 1https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esperanza_Macarena.jpg

The venerated Image of Our Lady of Hope Macarena is an anonymous carving that has been attributed to various sculptors of the seventeenth century.

Universally known as the Macarena, for making the name of her neighborhood her own, the sweetness and beauty of her face, a true expression of the Hope of Christians, make her, without a doubt, the great devotion not only of the members of this Brotherhood, but of all Sevillians, and one of the great Marian devotions of Spain and of all Christendom. Hundreds of devotees come to pray to him daily and he continuously receives visits from all over the world.

There are dozens of brotherhoods that venerate her as Titular inside and outside our borders and a multitude of reproductions of her Image presides over altars in temples in the most remote places, especially in Latin America.

In the Footsteps of Jesus

The Birth of Mary, September 8th

Liturgical Color: White

September 8th is the celebration of the birth of the Blessed Virgin. As Catholics, we believe God, in His infinite wisdom and in order to redeem humanity from the effect of original sin, preserved Mary from sin at the time of conception. To prepare for God the Son’s incarnation (The Word made flesh), God deemed a perfect vessel, a new ark of the covenant, be created to bear God’s new promise to humanity, Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to us through Mary. It is through Mary we find the safest and surest means of reaching our Lord.

Prayer

Mary, Mother of God, please guide us closer to your son and intercede for us that we may truly aim for perfect holiness and become open to God’s grace to work through us in our daily lives.

O’ Mary, Conceived without Sin, Pray for Us Who Have Recourse to Thee.

The Most Holy Name of Mary, September 12th

Liturgical Color: White

As Catholics, we celebrate the Most Holy Name of Mary on September 12th. It is very fitting that in the same month we celebrate Mary’s birth, we also celebrate the name given to her. The name of Mary represents the new ark of the covenant, the pure vessel of the Son of God made man. It is the name of Mary that strikes terror in demons.

Prayer

Lord, it was through Mary you came to us in flesh. It was through grace she was given her name, the name which exemplifies the purity and holiness of those who cooperate with Your grace along the path to Your most sacred heart.

Mary, please intercede for us and help us reach the path God has called us to follow to reach the level of holiness we are called to reach. Amen.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14th

Liturgical Color: Red

May the Cross of Christ lead us along the path of holiness.

September 14th is celebrated as the Exaltation of the Holy Cross by Catholics around the world.

Homily by St. John Paul II, Sept 14, 1984

Taken from: 14 September 1984, Mass on the feast of the Triumph of the Cross of Christ | John Paul II (vatican.va)

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world. Alleluia.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. As representatives of the People of God in the Archdiocese of Halifax, Cape Breton, all of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, you are united in this acclamation of the liturgy with Archbishop Hayes and your other bishops, and with the Church throughout the world. The Catholic Church celebrates today the feast of the Triumph of the Cross of Christ. Thus the crucified Christ is lifted up by faith in the hearts of all who believe, and he too lifts up those same hearts with a hope that cannot be destroyed. For the Cross is the sign of the Redemption, and in the Redemption is contained the pledge of resurrection and the beginning of new life: the lifting up of human hearts.

At the very beginning of my service in the See of Saint Peter I endeavored to proclaim this truth through the Encyclical "Redemptor Hominis". In this same truth I desire to be united with all of you today in the adoration of the Cross of Christ:

"Never forget the deeds of the Lord" (Ps. 78 (77), 7).

2. To comply with this acclamation of today’s liturgy let us follow attentively the path traced out by these holy words in which the mystery of the Triumph of the Cross is announced to us.

In the first place, the meaning of the Old Testament is contained in these words. According to Saint Augustine, the Old Testament conceals within itself what is fully revealed in the New. Here we have the image of the bronze serpent to which Jesus referred in his conversation with Nicodemus. The Lord himself revealed the meaning of this image, saying: "The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him" (Io. 3, 14-15).

During Israel’s march from Egypt to the Promised Land, God permitted - because of the murmuring of the people - a plague of poisonous snakes, as a result of which many died. When the others understood their sin they asked Moses to intercede before God: "Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from these serpents" (Num. 21, 7).

Moses prayed and received the following order from the Lord: "Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live" (Ibid. 21, 8). Moses obeyed the order. The bronze serpent set upon the standard became salvation from death for anyone who was bitten by the serpents.

In the Book of Genesis the serpent was a symbol of the spirit of evil. But now, by a startling reversal, the bronze serpent lifted up in the desert is a figure of Christ lifted up on the Cross.

The feast of the Triumph of the Cross recalls to our minds, and in a certain sense makes present, the lifting up of Christ on the Cross. This feast is the lifting up of the saving Christ: whoever believes in the Crucified One has eternal life.

The lifting up of Christ on the Cross gives a beginning to the lifting up of humanity through the Cross. And the final measure of this lifting up is eternal life.

3. This Old Testament event is recalled in the central theme of John’s Gospel.

Why are the Cross and the Crucified One the doorway to eternal life?

Because in him - Christ crucified - is manifested to the full the love of God for the world, for man.

In the same conversation with Nicodemus Christ says: "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved" (Io. 3, 16-17).

The salvific lifting up of the Son of God on the Cross has its eternal source in love. This is the love of the Father that sends the Son; he gives his Son for the salvation of the world. And at the same time it is the love of the Son who does not "judge" the world, but gives himself for the love of the Father and for the salvation of the world. Giving himself to the Father through the Sacrifice of the Cross, he gives himself at the same time to the world: to each person and to the whole of humanity.

The Cross contains in itself the mystery of salvation, because, in the Cross, Love is lifted up. This is the lifting up of Love to the supreme point in the history of the world: in the Cross Love is lifted up and the Cross is at the same time lifted up through Love. And from the height of the Cross, love comes down to us. Yes: "The Cross is the most profound condescension of God to man . . . The Cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of man’s existence" (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Dives in Misericordia, 8).

4. To the event of John’s Gospel the Liturgy of today’s feast adds the presentation made by Paul in his Letter to the Philippians. The Apostle speaks of an emptying of Christ through the Cross; and at the same time of Christ’s being lifted up above all things - and this too had its beginning in the same Cross:

"Christ Jesus . . . emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names, so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus, and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2, 6-11).

The Cross is the sign of the deepest humiliation of Christ. In the eyes of the people of that time it was the sign of an infamous death. Free men could not be punished with such a death, only slaves, Christ willingly accepts this death, death on the Cross. Yet this death becomes the beginning of the Resurrection. In the Resurrection the crucified Servant of Yahweh is lifted up: he is lifted up before the whole of creation.

At the same time the Cross is also lifted up. It ceases to be the sign of infamous death and becomes the sign of resurrection, that is, of life. Through the sign of the Cross it is not the servant or the slave who is speaking, but the Lord of all creation.

5. These three elements of today’s Liturgy - the Old Testament, the Christological hymn of Paul and the Gospel of John - form together the great wealth of the mystery of the Triumph of the Cross.

Finding ourselves immersed in this mystery with the Church, which throughout the world celebrates today the Triumph of the Holy Cross, I wish to share in a special way its riches with you, dear brothers and sisters of the Archdiocese of Halifax, dear people of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and all Canada.

Yes, I wish to share with all of you the riches of that Holy Cross - that standard of salvation which was implanted on your soil 450 years ago. Since that time the Cross has triumphed in this land; and, through the collaboration of thousands of Canadians, the liberating and saving message of the Cross has been spread to the ends of the earth.

6. At this time I wish to pay homage to the missionary contribution of the sons and daughters of Canada who have given their lives so "that the Lord’s message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you" (2 Thess. 3, 1). I pay homage to the faith and love that motivated them, and to the power of the Cross that gave them strength to go out and fulfil Christ’s command: "Make disciples of all nations; baptize them in name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matth. 28, 20).

And in paying homage to your missionaries, I pay homage likewise to the communities throughout the world who have embraced their message and marked their graves with the Cross of Christ. The Church is grateful for the hospitality of a final resting place given to the missionaries, whence they await the definitive Triumph of the Holy Cross in the glory of resurrection and eternal life.

I express profound gratitude for the zeal that has characterized the Church in Canada, and I thank you for the prayers and contributions and various activities through which you support the missionary cause. In particular I thank you for your generosity to the mission aid societies of the Holy See.

7. Evangelization remains for all time the sacred heritage of Canada, which has indeed such a proud history of missionary activity at home and abroad. Evangelization must continue to be exercised through personal witness, by preaching hope in the promises of Jesus and by proclaiming fraternal love. It will forever be connected with the implantation and building up of the Church and have a deep relationship with development and liberation as expressions of human advancement. At the centre of the message, however, is an explicit proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ - that salvation brought about on the Cross. In the words of Paul VI: "Evangelization will also always contain - as the foundation, centre and at the same time summit of its dynamism - a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all people, as a gift of God’s grace and mercy" (Pauli VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 27).

The Church in Canada will be herself to the extent that in all her members she proclaims in word and deed the Triumph of the Cross - to the extent that she is at home and abroad an evangelizing Church.

Even as I speak these words there is Another who is speaking to the hearts of young people everywhere. It is the Holy Spirit himself and he is urging each one, as a member of Christ, to embrace and to speak the Good News of God’s love. But to some the Spirit is proposing the command of Jesus in its specific missionary form: Go and make disciples of all nations. Before the whole Church, I, John Paul II, proclaim once again the excelling value of the missionary vocation. And I assure all those called to the priesthood and religious life that our Lord Jesus Christ is ready to accept and make fruitful the special sacrifice of their lives, in celibacy, for the Triumph of the Cross...

Brothers and sisters: "Never forget the deeds of the Lord"! Amen.

Pictures of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem | Architecture Photos (bankfoto.info )

Monthly Moments

Monthly Prayer Intentions

Against Storms
- Hurricane Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us from all harm during this hurricane season. Protect us and protect our homes and property from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us! We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our brother; living and reigning with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen!
Priests and Religious, Especially Pope Francis, the Cardinals, and (Arch)Bishops.
Conversion of Sinners
Politicians and Lawmakers
Those Who Serve Their Country
Those Who Care for the Suffering and Dying

Saint of the Month

St. Gregory the Great, September 3rd

Patron of: Popes and Musicians

The following is taken from: Saint Gregory the Great | Biography, Papacy, Feast Day, Legacy, & Facts | Britannica

“St. Gregory the Great (born c. 540, Rome [Italy]—died March 12, 604, Rome; Western feast day, September 3 [formerly March 12, still observed in the East]) was the pope from 590 to 604, a reformer and excellent administrator, “founder” of the medieval papacy, which exercised both secular and spiritual power. His epithet “the Great” reflects his status as a writer as well as a ruler. As the fourth and final of the traditional Latin Fathers of the Church, Gregory was the first exponent of a truly medieval, sacramental spirituality.”

St. Gregory the Great’s Altar: St. Peter's - Altar of St Gregory the Great (stpetersbasilica.info )

Prayer to St. Gregory the Great: Marian Prayer (liturgies.net )

Mary, you are the vessel and tabernacle containing all Mysteries. You know what the Patriarchs did not know; you experienced what was not revealed to the Angels; you heard what the Prophets did not hear. In short, everything that was hidden from preceding generations was made known to you;even more, most of these wonders depended on you.

Celebration of the Month

Labor Day – September 2nd

Website: History of Labor Day | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov )

Book of the Month

“St. Michael the Archangel”

https://www.sistersofcarmel.com/st-michael-the-archangel-book.php

Apparition of the Month

Apparition of St. Michael

The following has been taken from: Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel, Monte Gargano, Italy (492) (sanctoral.com )

“It is evident from Holy Scripture that God is pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of the heavenly spirits in the dispensations of His providence in this world. The Angels are all pure spirits; by a property of their nature they are immortal, as is every spirit. They have the power of moving or conveying themselves at will from place to place, and such is their activity that it is not easy for us to conceive of it. Among the holy Archangels, Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are particularly distinguished in the Scriptures. Saint Michael, whose name means Who is like unto God?, is the prince of the faithful Angels who opposed Lucifer and his followers in their revolt against God. Since the devil is the sworn enemy of God's holy Church, Saint Michael is given to it by God as its special protector against the demon's assaults and stratagems.

Various apparitions of this powerful Angel have proved the protection of Saint Michael over the Church. We may mention his apparition in Rome, where Saint Gregory the Great saw him in the air sheathing his sword, to signal the cessation of a pestilence and the appeasement of God's wrath. Another apparition to Saint Ausbert, bishop of Avranches in France, led to the construction of Mont-Saint-Michel in the sea, a famous pilgrimage site. May 8th, however, is destined to recall another no less marvelous apparition, occurring near Monte Gargano in the Kingdom of Naples.

In the year 492 a man named Gargan was pasturing his large herds in the countryside. One day a bull fled to the mountain, where at first it could not be found. When its refuge in a cave was discovered, an arrow was shot into the cave, but the arrow returned to wound the one who had sent it. Faced with so mysterious an occurrence, the persons concerned decided to consult the bishop of the region. He ordered three days of fasting and prayers. After three days, the Archangel Saint Michael appeared to the bishop and declared that the cavern where the bull had taken refuge was under his protection, and that God wanted it to be consecrated under his name and in honor of all the Holy Angels.

Accompanied by his clergy and people, the pontiff went to that cavern, which he found already disposed in the form of a church. The divine mysteries were celebrated there, and there arose in this same place a magnificent temple where the divine Power has wrought great miracles. To thank God's adorable goodness for the protection of the holy Archangel, the effect of His merciful Providence, this feast day was instituted by the Church in his honor.

It is said of this special guardian and protector of the Church that, during the final persecution of Antichrist, he will powerfully defend it: At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince who protects the children of thy people. (Dan. 12:1) Compare this text with Chapter 10 of the Apocalypse of Saint John.”

Shrine: St Michael’s Cave • Gibraltar Nature Reserve

Virtue-Habit of the Month

Holy Silence:

We often find ourselves surrounded by distractions – from TV, to video games, etc. While there is nothing innate wrong with such, it is important to take time in silence and listen for God’s voice.

Contrary to what many believe, silence can indeed be very loud. It is through silence we speak loudest. Often through silence we pray best.

Let’s challenge ourselves to spend a small amount of time in silence each day this week.

Recommended Reading:

The Hidden Value of Silence in the Mass by Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/the-hidden-power-of-silence-in-the-mass/?gad_source=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzPHe-9ydiAMVGUT_AR3xOQ9CEAAYBCAAEgLUBvD_BwE
EWTN Article: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/seek-silence-wherever-you-are-9859
Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure (Author), Blessed Claude de la Colombière (Author), Paul Garvin (Prof.) (Translator) https://a.co/d/09iJYshA

Doctrine and Dogma

On the Meaning of Human Suffering: Part 2 of 4

February 11, 1984 by St. John Paul II

Online Link: Click Here

V. SHARERS IN THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST

19. The same Song of the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah leads us, through the following verses, precisely in the direction of this question and answer:

"When he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant. make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors".

One can say that with the Passion of Christ all human suffering has found itself in a new situation. And it is as though Job has foreseen this when he said: "I know that my Redeemer lives ...", and as though he had directed towards it his own suffering, which without the Redemption could not have revealed to him the fullness of its meaning.

In the Cross of Christ not only is the Redemption accomplished through suffering, but also human suffering itself has been redeemed,. Christ, - without any fault of his own - took on himself "the total evil of sin". The experience of this evil determined the incomparable extent of Christ's suffering, which became the price of the Redemption. The Song of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah speaks of this. In later times, the witnesses of the New Covenant, sealed in the Blood of Christ, will speak of this.

These are the words of the Apostle Peter in his First Letter: "You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with the perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot".

And the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Galatians will say: "He gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age"(56), and in the First Letter to the Corinthians: "You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body "(57).

With these and similar words the witnesses of the New Covenant speak of the greatness of the Redemption, accomplished through the suffering of Christ. The Redeemer suffered in place of man and for man. Every man has his own share in the Redemption. Each one is also called to share in that suffering through which the Redemption was accomplished. He is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has also been redeemed. In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ.

20. The texts of the New Testament express this concept in many places. In the Second Letter to the Corinthians the Apostle writes: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh .... knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus"(58).

Saint Paul speaks of various sufferings and, in particular, of those in which the first Christians became sharers "for the sake of Christ ". These sufferings enable the recipients of that Letter to share in the work of the Redemption, accomplished through the suffering and death of the Redeemer. The eloquence of the Cross and death is, however, completed by the eloquence of the Resurrection. Man finds in the Resurrection a completely new light, which helps him to go forward through the thick darkness of humiliations, doubts, hopelessness and persecution. Therefore the Apostle will also write in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: "For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too"(59).

Elsewhere he addresses to his recipients words of encouragement: "May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ"(60). And in the Letter to the Romans he writes: "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship"(61).

The very participation in Christ's suffering finds, in these apostolic expressions, as it were a twofold dimension. If one becomes a sharer in the sufferings of Christ, this happens because Christ has opened his suffering to man, because he himself in his redemptive suffering has become, in a certain sense, a sharer in all human sufferings. Man, discovering through faith the redemptive suffering of Christ, also discovers in it his own sufferings; he rediscovers them, through faith, enriched with a new content and new meaning.

This discovery caused Saint Paul to write particularly strong words in the Letter to the Galatians: "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me"(62). Faith enables the author of these words to know that love which led Christ to the Cross. And if he loved us in this way, suffering and dying, then with this suffering and death of his he lives in the one whom he loved in this way; he lives in the man: in Paul. And living in him-to the degree that Paul, conscious of this through faith, responds to his love with love-Christ also becomes in a particular way united to the man, to Paul, through the Cross. This union caused Paul to write, in the same Letter to the Galatians, other words as well, no less strong: "But far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world"(63).

21. The Cross of Christ throws salvific light, in a most penetrating way, on man's life and in particular on his suffering. For through faith the Cross reaches man together with the Resurrection: the mystery of the Passion is contained in the Paschal Mystery. The witnesses of Christ's Passion are at the same time witnesses of his Resurrection. Paul writes: "That I may know him (Christ) and the power of his Resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead"(64). Truly, the Apostle first experienced the "power of the Resurrection" of Christ, on the road to Damascus, and only later, in this paschal light, reached that " sharing in his sufferings" of which he speaks, for example, in the Letter to the Galatians.

The path of Paul is clearly paschal: sharing in the Cross of Christ comes about through the experience of the Risen One, therefore through a special sharing in the Resurrection. Thus, even in the Apostle's expressions on the subject of suffering there so often appears the motif of glory, which finds its beginning in Christ's Cross.

The witnesses of the Cross and Resurrection were convinced that "through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God"(65). And Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says this: "We ourselves boast of you... for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you are suffering"(66). Thus to share in the sufferings of Christ is, at the same time, to suffer for the Kingdom of God. In the eyes of the just God, before his judgment, those who share in the suffering of Christ become worthy of this Kingdom. Through their sufferings, in a certain sense they repay the infinite price of the Passion and death of Christ, which became the price of our Redemption: at this price the Kingdom of God has been consolidated anew in human history, becoming the definitive prospect of man's earthly existence. Christ has led us into this Kingdom through his suffering. And also through suffering those surrounded by the mystery of Christ's Redemption become mature enough to enter this Kingdom.

22. To the prospect of the Kingdom of God is linked hope in that glory which has its beginning in the Cross of Christ. The Resurrection revealed this glory—eschatological glory—which, in the Cross of Christ, was completely obscured by the immensity of suffering. Those who share in the sufferings of Christ are also called, through their own sufferings, to share in glory. Paul expresses this in various places. To the Romans he writes: " We are ... fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us"(67). In the Second Letter to the Corinthians we read: "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to things that are unseen"(68). The Apostle Peter will express this truth in the following words of his First Letter: "But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed "(69).

The motif of suffering and glory has a strictly evangelical characteristic, which becomes clear by reference to the Cross and the Resurrection. The Resurrection became, first of all, the manifestation of glory, which corresponds to Christ's being lifted up through the Cross. If, in fact, the Cross was to human eyes Christ's emptying of himself, at the same time it was in the eyes of God his being lifted up. On the Cross, Christ attained and fully accomplished his mission: by fulfilling the will of the Father, he at the same time fully realized himself. In weakness he manifested his power, and in humiliation he manifested all his messianic greatness. Are not all the words he uttered during his agony on Golgotha a proof of this greatness, and especially his words concerning the perpetrators of his crucifixion: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do"(70)? To those who share in Christ's sufferings these words present themselves with the power of a supreme example. Suffering is also an invitation to manifest the moral greatness of man, his spiritual maturity. Proof of this has been given, down through the generations, by the martyrs and confessors of Christ, faithful to the words: "And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.

Christ's Resurrection has revealed "the glory of the future age" and, at the same time, has confirmed "the boast of the Cross": the glory that is hidden in the very suffering of Christ and which has been and is often mirrored in human suffering, as an expression of man's spiritual greatness. This glory must be acknowledged not only in the martyrs for the faith but in many others also who, at times, even without belief in Christ, suffer and give their lives for the truth and for a just cause. In the sufferings of all of these people the great dignity of man is strikingly confirmed.

23. Suffering, in fact, is always a trial—at times a very hard one—to which humanity is subjected. The gospel paradox of weakness and strength often speaks to us from the pages of the Letters of Saint Paul, a paradox particularly experienced by the Apostle himself and together with him experienced by all who share Christ's sufferings. Paul writes in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: "I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me"(72). In the Second Letter to Timothy we read: "And therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed"(73). And in the Letter to the Philippians he will even say: "I can do all things in him who strengthens me"(74).

Those who share in Christ's sufferings have before their eyes the Paschal Mystery of the Cross and Resurrection, in which Christ descends, in a first phase, to the ultimate limits of human weakness and impotence: indeed, he dies nailed to the Cross. But if at the same time in this weakness there is accomplished his lifting up, confirmed by the power of the Resurrection, then this means that the weaknesses of all human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ's Cross. In such a concept, to suffer means to become particularly susceptible, particularly open to the working of the salvific powers of God, offered to humanity in Christ. In him God has confirmed his desire to act especially through suffering, which is man's weakness and emptying of self, and he wishes to make his power known precisely in this weakness and emptying of self. This also explains the exhortation in the First Letter of Peter: "Yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God"(75).

In the Letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul deals still more fully with the theme of this "birth of power in weakness", this spiritual tempering of man in the midst of trials and tribulations, which is the particular vocation of those who share in Christ's sufferings. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us"(76).

Suffering as it were contains a special call to the virtue which man must exercise on his own part. And this is the virtue of perseverance in bearing whatever disturbs and causes harm. In doing this, the individual unleashes hope, which maintains in him the conviction that suffering will not get the better of him, that it will not deprive him of his dignity as a human being, a dignity linked to awareness of the meaning of life. And indeed this meaning makes itself known together with the working of God's love, which is the supreme gift of the Holy Spirit. The more he shares in this love, man rediscovers himself more and more fully in suffering: he rediscovers the "soul" which he thought he had "lost"(77) because of suffering.

24. Nevertheless, the Apostle's experiences as a sharer in the sufferings of Christ go even further. In the Letter to the Colossians we read the words which constitute as it were the final stage of the spiritual journey in relation to suffering: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"(78). And in another Letter he asks his readers: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?"(79).

In the Paschal Mystery Christ began the union with man in the community of the Church. The mystery of the Church is expressed in this: that already in the act of Baptism, which brings about a configuration with Christ, and then through his Sacrifice—sacramentally through the Eucharist—the Church is continually being built up spiritually as the Body of Christ. In this Body, Christ wishes to be united with every individual, and in a special way he is united with those who suffer. The words quoted above from the Letter to the Colossians bear witness to the exceptional nature of this union. For, whoever suffers in union with Christ— just as the Apostle Paul bears his "tribulations" in union with Christ— not only receives from Christ that strength already referred to but also "completes" by his suffering "what is lacking in Christ's afflictions". This evangelical outlook especially highlights the truth concerning the creative character of suffering. The sufferings of Christ created the good of the world's redemption. This good in itself is inexhaustible and infinite. No man can add anything to it. But at the same time, in the mystery of the Church as his Body, Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive suffering to all human suffering. In so far as man becomes a sharer in Christ's sufferings—in any part of the world and at any time in history—to that extent he in his own way completes the suffering through which Christ accomplished the Redemption of the world.

Does this mean that the Redemption achieved by Christ is not complete? No. It only means that the Redemption, accomplished through satisfactory love, remains always open to all love expressed in human suffering. In this dimension—the dimension of love—the Redemption which has already been completely accomplished is, in a certain sense, constantly being accomplished. Christ achieved the Redemption completely and to the very limits but at the same time he did not bring it to a close. In this redemptive suffering, through which the Redemption of the world was accomplished, Christ opened himself from the beginning to every human suffering and constantly does so. Yes, it seems to be part of the very essence of Christ's redemptive suffering that this suffering requires to be unceasingly completed.

Thus, with this openness to every human suffering, Christ has accomplished the world's Redemption through his own suffering. For, at the same time, this Redemption, even though it was completely achieved by Christ's suffering, lives on and in its own special way develops in the history of man. It lives and develops as the body of Christ, the Church, and in this dimension every human suffering, by reason of the loving union with Christ, completes the suffering of Christ. It completes that suffering just as the Church completes the redemptive work of Christ. The mystery of the Church—that body which completes in itself also Christ's crucified and risen body—indicates at the same time the space or context in which human sufferings complete the sufferings of Christ. Only within this radius and dimension of the Church as the Body of Christ, which continually develops in space and time, can one think and speak of "what is lacking" in the sufferings of Christ. The Apostle, in fact, makes this clear when he writes of "completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church".

It is precisely the Church, which ceaselessly draws on the infinite resources of the Redemption, introducing it into the life of humanity, which is the dimension in which the redemptive suffering of Christ can be constantly completed by the suffering of man. This also highlights the divine and human nature of the Church. Suffering seems in some way to share in the characteristics of this nature. And for this reason suffering also has a special value in the eyes of the Church. It is something good, before which the Church bows down in reverence with all the depth of her faith in the Redemption. She likewise bows down with all the depth of that faith with which she embraces within herself the inexpressible mystery of the Body of Christ.

VI. THE GOSPEL OF SUFFERING

25. The witnesses of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ have handed on to the Church and to mankind a specific Gospel of suffering. The Redeemer himself wrote this Gospel, above all by his own suffering accepted in love, so that man "should not perish but have eternal life"(80). This suffering, together with the living word of his teaching, became a rich source for all those who shared in Jesus' sufferings among the first generation of his disciples and confessors and among those who have come after them down the centuries.

It is especially consoling to note—and also accurate in accordance with the Gospel and history—that at the side of Christ, in the first and most exalted place, there is always his Mother through the exemplary testimony that she bears by her whole life to this particular Gospel of suffering. In her, the many and intense sufferings were amassed in such an interconnected way that they were not only a proof of her unshakeable faith but also a contribution to the redemption of all. In reality, from the time of her secret conversation with the angel, she began to see in her mission as a mother her "destiny" to share, in a singular and unrepeatable way, in the very mission of her Son. And she very soon received a confirmation of this in the events that accompanied the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and in the solemn words of the aged Simeon, when he spoke of a sharp sword that would pierce her heart. Yet a further confirmation was in the anxieties and privations of the hurried flight into Egypt, caused by the cruel decision of Herod.

And again, after the events of her Son's hidden and public life, events which she must have shared with acute sensitivity, it was on Calvary that Mary's suffering, beside the suffering of Jesus, reached an intensity which can hardly be imagined from a human point of view but which was mysterious and supernaturally fruitful for the redemption of the world. Her ascent of Calvary and her standing at the foot of the Cross together with the Beloved Disciple were a special sort of sharing in the redeeming death of her Son. And the words which she heard from his lips were a kind of solemn handing-over of this Gospel of suffering so that it could be proclaimed to the whole community of believers.

As a witness to her Son's Passion by her presence, and as a sharer in it by her compassion, Mary offered a unique contribution to the Gospel of suffering, by embodying in anticipation the expression of Saint Paul which was quoted at the beginning. She truly has a special title to be able to claim that she "completes in her flesh"—as already in her heart—"what is lacking in Christ's afflictions ".

In the light of the unmatchable example of Christ, reflected with singular clarity in the life of his Mother, the Gospel of suffering, through the experience and words of the Apostles, becomes an inexhaustible source for the ever new generations that succeed one another in the history of the Church. The Gospel of suffering signifies not only the presence of suffering in the Gospel, as one of the themes of the Good News, but also the revelation of the salvific power and salvific significance of suffering in Christ's messianic mission and, subsequently, in the mission and vocation of the Church.

Christ did not conceal from his listeners the need for suffering. He said very clearly: "If any man would come after me... let him take up his cross daily ''(81), and before his disciples he placed demands of a moral nature that can only be fulfilled on condition that they should "deny themselves"(82). The way that leads to the Kingdom of heaven is "hard and narrow", and Christ contrasts it to the "wide and easy" way that "leads to destruction"(83). On various occasions Christ also said that his disciples and confessors would meet with much persecution, something which—as we know—happened not only in the first centuries of the Church's life under the Roman Empire, but also came true in various historical periods and in other parts of the world, and still does even in our own time.

Here are some of Christ's statements on this subject: "They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives"(84).

The Gospel of suffering speaks first in various places of suffering "for Christ", "for the sake of Christ", and it does so with the words of Jesus himself or the words of his Apostles. The Master does not conceal the prospect of suffering from his disciples and followers. On the contrary, he reveals it with all frankness, indicating at the same time the supernatural assistance that will accompany them in the midst of persecutions and tribulations " for his name's sake". These persecutions and tribulations will also be, as it were, a particular proof of likeness to Christ and union with him. "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you...; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you... A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me they will persecute you... But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me"(85). "I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"(86).

This first chapter of the Gospel of suffering, which speaks of persecutions, namely of tribulations experienced because of Christ, contains in itself a special call to courage and fortitude, sustained by the eloquence of the Resurrection. Christ has overcome the world definitively by his Resurrection. Yet, because of the relationship between the Resurrection and his Passion and death, he has at the same time overcome the world by his suffering. Yes, suffering has been singularly present in that victory over the world which was manifested in the Resurrection. Christ retains in his risen body the marks of the wounds of the Cross in his hands, feet and side. Through the Resurrection, he manifests the victorious power of suffering, and he wishes to imbue with the conviction of this power the hearts of those whom he chose as Apostles and those whom he continually chooses and sends forth. The Apostle Paul will say: "All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"(87).

26. While the first great chapter of the Gospel of suffering is written down, as the generations pass, by those who suffer persecutions for Christ's sake, simultaneously another great chapter of this Gospel unfolds through the course of history. This chapter is written by all those who suffer together with Christ, uniting their human sufferings to his salvific suffering. In these people there is fulfilled what the first witnesses of the Passion and Resurrection said and wrote about sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Therefore in those people there is fulfilled the Gospel of suffering, and, at the same time, each of them continues in a certain sense to write it: they write it and proclaim it to the world, they announce it to the world in which they live and to the people of their time.

Down through the centuries and generations it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace. To this grace many saints, such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and others, owe their profound conversion. A result of such a conversion is not only that the individual discovers the salvific meaning of suffering but above all that he becomes a completely new person. He discovers a new dimension, as it were, of his entire life and vocation. This discovery is a particular confirmation of the spiritual greatness which in man surpasses the body in a way that is completely beyond compare. When this body is gravely ill, totally incapacitated, and the person is almost incapable of living and acting, all the more do interior maturity and spiritual greatness become evident, constituting a touching lesson to those who are healthy and normal.

This interior maturity and spiritual greatness in suffering are certainly the result of a particular conversion and cooperation with the grace of the Crucified Redeemer. It is he himself who acts at the heart of human sufferings through his Spirit of truth, through the consoling Spirit. It is he who transforms, in a certain sense, the very substance of the spiritual life, indicating for the person who suffers a place close to himself. It is he—as the interior Master and Guide—who reveals to the suffering brother and sister this wonderful interchange, situated at the very heart of the mystery of the Redemption. Suffering is, in itself, an experience of evil. But Christ has made suffering the firmest basis of the definitive good, namely the good of eternal salvation. By his suffering on the Cross, Christ reached the very roots of evil, of sin and death. He conquered the author of evil, Satan, and his permanent rebellion against the Creator. To the suffering brother or sister Christ discloses and gradually reveals the horizons of the Kingdom of God: the horizons of a world converted to the Creator, of a world free from sin, a world being built on the saving power of love. And slowly but effectively, Christ leads into this world, into this Kingdom of the Father, suffering man, in a certain sense through the very heart of his suffering. For suffering cannot be transformed and changed by a grace from outside, but from within. And Christ through his own salvific suffering is very much present in every human suffering, and can act from within that suffering by the powers of his Spirit of truth, his consoling Spirit.

This is not all: the Divine Redeemer wishes to penetrate the soul of every sufferer through the heart of his holy Mother, the first and the most exalted of all the redeemed. As though by a continuation of that motherhood which by the power of the Holy Spirit had given him life, the dying Christ conferred upon the ever Virgin Mary a new kind of motherhood—spiritual and universal—towards all human beings, so that every individual, during the pilgrimage of faith, might remain, together with her, closely united to him unto the Cross, and so that every form of suffering, given fresh life by the power of this Cross, should become no longer the weakness of man but the power of God.

However, this interior process does not always follow the same pattern. It often begins and is set in motion with great difficulty. Even the very point of departure differs: people react to suffering in different ways. But in general it can be said that almost always the individual enters suffering with a typically human protest and with the question "why". He asks the meaning of his suffering and seeks an answer to this question on the human level. Certainly he often puts this question to God, and to Christ. Furthermore, he cannot help noticing that the one to whom he puts the question is himself suffering and wishes to answer him from the Cross, from the heart of his own suffering. Nevertheless, it often takes time, even a long time, for this answer to begin to be interiorly perceived. For Christ does not answer directly and he does not answer in the abstract this human questioning about the meaning of suffering. Man hears Christ's saving answer as he himself gradually becomes a sharer in the sufferings of Christ.

The answer which comes through this sharing, by way of the interior encounter with the Master, is in itself something more than the mere abstract answer to the question about the meaning of suffering. For it is above all a call. It is a vocation. Christ does not explain in the abstract the reasons for suffering, but before all else he says: "Follow me!". Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world, a salvation achieved through my suffering! Through my Cross. Gradually, as the individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the Cross of Christ, the salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him. He does not discover this meaning at his own human level, but at the level of the suffering of Christ. At the same time, however, from this level of Christ the salvific meaning of suffering descends to man's level and becomes, in a sense, the individual's personal response. It is then that man finds in his suffering interior peace and even spiritual joy.

27. Saint Paul speaks of such joy in the Letter to the Colossians: "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake"(88). A source of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of the uselessness of suffering, a feeling that is sometimes very strongly rooted in human suffering. This feeling not only consumes the person interiorly, but seems to make him a burden to others. The person feels condemned to receive help and assistance from others, and at the same time seems useless to himself. The discovery of the salvific meaning of suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling. Faith in sharing in the suffering of Christ brings with it the interior certainty that the suffering person "completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions"; the certainty that in the spiritual dimension of the work of Redemption he is serving, like Christ, the salvation of his brothers and sisters. Therefore he is carrying out an irreplaceable service. In the Body of Christ, which is ceaselessly born of the Cross of the Redeemer, it is precisely suffering permeated by the spirit of Christ's sacrifice that is the irreplaceable mediator and author of the good things which are indispensable for the world's salvation. It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption. In that "cosmic" struggle between the spiritual powers of good and evil, spoken of in the Letter to the Ephesians(89), human sufferings, united to the redemptive suffering of Christ, constitute a special support for the powers of good, and open the way to the victory of these salvific powers.

And so the Church sees in all Christ's suffering brothers and sisters as it were a multiple subject of his supernatural power. How often is it precisely to them that the pastors of the Church appeal, and precisely from them that they seek help and support! The Gospel of suffering is being written unceasingly, and it speaks unceasingly with the words of this strange paradox: the springs of divine power gush forth precisely in the midst of human weakness. Those who share in the sufferings of Christ preserve in their own sufferings a very special particle of the infinite treasure of the world's Redemption and can share this treasure with others. The more a person is threatened by sin, the heavier the structures of sin which today's world brings with it, the greater is the eloquence which human suffering possesses in itself. And the more the Church feels the need to have recourse to the value of human sufferings for the salvation of the world.

Flashback

This section brings back articles from the original Thy Kingdom Come issues.

Heresies & Heroes

DECEMBER 1995

BY BOB AND PENNY LORD

The Church in the First Century – Part 3 of 4

SIMONIANS

No sooner does one snake slither under a rock, and we breathe a sigh of relief, than another comes back when you least expect it. We just about close one chapter of the history of the Church, the Apostles having squelched the heresies of the Judaizers and the Ebionites, than a magician named Simon Magus, and his followers claim he comes directly from the Divine. Or, in other words, was he saying he was the Christ? John prophesied in Revelations:

"My children, the time is near! You were told the Enemy of Christ would come; and many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know the end is near. These people really did not belong to our fellowship anyone who says that Jesus is not the Messiah. Such a person is an enemy of Christ – he rejects both the Father and the Son."

There are those, today, who reject the male imagery of God the Father, insisting God is a woman. And others who claim to be the Christ."7

Since Simon Magus was the first person to oppose the teachings of the Apostles, he is known as "The Father of Heretics 8". St. Justin tells us, in his writings, that Simon Magus came from Gitta, located somewhere in Samaritan country. He had been baptized a Christian, but we have to wonder if his conversion was sincere. He went to St. Peter and the other Apostles in an attempt to purchase what he considered their magical power. He did not understand their gifts of healing and preaching as coming from the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the Lord was not revealing Himself to Magus, as we read in Scripture, because he knew he would use this knowledge against Him and His Church.

The word "simony" means the selling of sacred things. This comes from Simon Magus and his heresy. The Simonians claimed Simon Magus was the Christ. New Agers today claim that Lord Maitreya is God. And, the interesting thing about those who promote him, is how much they remind us of Simon Magus. Is simony dead? When people like Shirley MacLaine charges large sums of money to learn how to get in touch with the god (you are) waiting inside you, is that not like Simon Magus who desired to buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

They denied that man had free will. They taught that some were born evil and others good. You had no control over your destiny. So, no matter what you did, you were saved or condemned ahead of time, before you were born.

They insisted that the world was not created by God, but by angels. Of course, they had to deny God as Creator. As they were teaching predestination, which certainly precludes a compassionate and forgiving, merciful God, it follows He was not the One Who created the world. Now, if you eliminate God, then who are the angels they are giving credit to?

They believed in the transmigration of souls, that is passing from one body to another at death or, in other words, reincarnation. This heresy of reincarnation stems from the Hindu religion.

They denied the humanity of Jesus. But again, you can see the warped image Lucifer was trying to mold. The Simonians said the world was not created by God; therefore, is there a God? They taught reincarnation, that is a soul returning over and over again, until it is perfected. They would have us believe, since we are predestined to sin, our hope is that eventually we will come back as one of the favored and can do anything we want and still be saved. Naturally, it would follow they would teach Jesus was not human. If He was not human, then He did not take on our sins and die or us. Our only hope is that we are born, by chance, one of the favored, or can keep coming back until we get it right.

The Church fights back!

Simon Magus was so clever, he was able to dupe not only all of Rome into believing he was God, but the Emperor himself. Claudius commissioned a statue of Simon Magus to be erected, inscribed with the words “To the Holy God Simon”.9

Again, His lambs are in danger; the Lord calls His soldiers into combat. Sts. Peter and Paul came upon the scene just as this scourge was reaching epidemic proportions. They were able, as authorities of the church, to correct this deadly deception. But, we do not believe, it was really repressed until Simon Magus, like Satan, needed to show his hoo of Pride. As he claimed he was God, he declared he would rise into Heaven. Some say he was seen, not ascending, but descending on a cloud in a chariot drawn by demons. Guess where he was going?

Sts. Peter and Paul arrived on the scene as this was happening. They did what Jesus had told them; they knelt, turning to their One and True God, and prayed. We know that when two or more are united in prayer, whatsoever they ask will be granted unto them. Did they pray passionately, seeing uninformed souls being misled? We believe in the power of prayer and of Jesus’ promise not to allow a hair on our heads to be destroyed. We also believe that God, in His mercy, watched as the poor boastful, prideful Simon Magus plummeted to earth, and, most likely, beneath to the fires of hell, unequivocally dispelling his divinity. St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and others have written that Simon Magus died in Rome trying to ascend to Heaven.

God exposed Simon Magus before he could do irreparable damage. Was not our first Pope there, our sweet Christ on earth? We would like to have been there to have heard the prayers offered up for those souls about to be lost. Did Saints Peter and Paul, like Jesus and the Prophets before Him, plead, offering themselves as victim-souls? We know Peter and Paul died Martyrs' deaths for the Faith. Whenever we are upset about something in Ministry, we ask how much space we would give it if we were writing a book about the history of our Ministry. The Simonian Heresy is hardly worthy of one small line in the History of the Church. But you will see its false teachings crop up over and over again. The devil is persistent in his focus to have as many souls in hell with him. But God, Who is Almighty, is determined that we be with Him. Who do you vote for?

v 1 Ebionite-comes from the Hebrew word for "poor."(Catholic Encyclopedia-Broderick)

v 2 Catholic Encyclopedia-Broderick

v 3 Acts of the Apostles 15:5

v 4 From the chapter: St. Paul in "Saints and other Powerful Men in the Church."

v 5 From the chapter: St. Paul in "Saints and other Powerful Men in the Church.

Reprinted with permission.

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Thy Kingdom Come - September 2024

Mary’s Message