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Online GivingHow much is good enough? How much is too much? How do we know when we’ve given all that is required of us? How do we know when we have been generous enough or faithful enough to please the Lord? How do we know we have done enough to avoid sin?
Although God is not sitting up in heaven next to a giant scoreboard keeping a tally of our good and bad deeds, we will be judged at the end of our lives. This weekend’s second reading provokes self-analysis in this regard: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” While this may most often be interpreted as becoming a martyr, we can also think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemani. He sweat drops of blood because His whole being resisted the idea of enduring His Passion and Death.
How does our body react when we sin? Do we give into temptation so often that we don’t even feel a ping to our conscience? Do we instantly regret what we have done and seek forgiveness from the person we have wronged? Do we look for the next available confession time? Do we let our sins pile up one upon the other and only seek the Sacrament when we can no longer stand it?
Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina sheds light on how much our sins hurt His Sacred Heart. If we truly took that to heart, we would flee from sin so much more often. It would become repugnant to us. During the Divine Mercy Novena, we read “bring to me all mankind, especially sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges me” (Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska).
So let us turn away from sin and instead spread love, joy, and truth. Let us set the earth on fire with the blazing love of God! -Tami Urcia, Diocesan Publications
August 21 – MEMORIAL OF SAINT PIUS X (1835-1914)
Presidential vetoes we understand but imagine vetoing a papal election! Yet in the conclave of 1903, the Archbishop of Cracow (a predecessor of Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II) vetoed the leading candidate on the order of the Austro-Hungarian emperor. Instead, the cardinals elected Giuseppe Sarto of Venice as Pius X, the first pope, after a succession of nobles and diplomats, to hail from humble origins. The papacy did not alter his endearing simplicity. Tailors eventually made his cassock cuffs detachable because he absentmindedly wiped his fountain pen on them, forgetting that his old black cassock had been replaced by papal white! Taking as his motto “To restore all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10), Pius condemned the theological innovations called “modernism,” yet dramatically altered the then-common practice whereby people rarely received Communion for fear of unworthiness, mandating early First Communion and urging everyone to frequent reception. Refusing to bless troops assembled in Saint Peter’s Square—“I bless peace, not war!”—he died brokenhearted as World War I engulfed “Christian” Europe despite his peacemaking efforts.
—Peter Scagnelli, Diocesan Publications
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
Long ago, a signet ring was an essential part of the wardrobe of influential people. A letter or document would be sealed with hot wax, and a signet ring pressed into the wax would affirm the origin of the document. In the case of the pope, at least from the 13th century, the ring was used to seal public documents with hot lead, saving the red wax for private letters. The public documents were called bullae (Latin name for the lead stamp), and we still call them “papal bulls.”
It is not surprising that a signet ring is bestowed as part of the inauguration of a pope. The ring is called the Pescatorio, or “Ring of the Fisherman.” It reminds the wearer of his link with Peter, and his responsibility to continue the apostolic ministry of “fishing for human beings.” Until 1842 it functioned as a signet ring. Now, each pope receives a new gold ring at the beginning of his ministry. It goes on the fourth finger of his right hand and bears some fisherman design, as well as the pope’s name in Latin. A custom that endures for the pope is for people being introduced to him to kiss the Pescatorio as a sign of respect for his teaching authority. Another enduring custom is for the ring to be smashed and defaced at the pope’s death, originally a way of preventing counterfeit deathbed documents.
—Rev. James Field, Diocesan Publications
Come and Learn About The Nicene Creed?
The Seven Sisters Apostolate is a Eucharistic association of women who feel called to strengthen the Church by ensuring that a Holy Hour is prayed each day of the week for the sole intention of a specific priest. The initial recipient of these prayers is the pastor, after which subsequent groups are formed for the parochial vicars.