THE THREE R'S

Sometimes we don't see things unless they are pointed out.

Millions of Catholics go to Mass every Sunday; sometimes more often than that. They hear the prayers over and over again. I don't blame them if they never noticed that there is often a pattern to these prayers. Some things just need to be pointed out.

Take, for example, the opening prayer at Mass, called the Collect. It's the first time at Mass (in the Ordinary Form) that the priest says, "Let us pray," and then proceeds to say a prayer.

All Collects have some sort of address; a way we call out to God. Most of the time, it's to God the Father. These addresses are usually short, sometimes one word!

All Collects also have a conclusion and, since most Collects are addressed to the Father, the conclusion is often a reference to Christ in unity with the Holy Spirit.

But besides the opening address and the conclusion, many Collects have a three-part structure or pattern.  We can call this pattern the Three R's, because the three parts are words starting with R.

First comes a RECALL; a remembering of some truth about God or something that God has already done in the past. A more traditional way of calling it is "acknowledgement." The purpose of this recall is to understand that the God we are speaking to in our prayer is a good God, a powerful God, a merciful God, who has shown these things to us in the past. The Collect can become specific about a characteristic of God, or a specific thing He has done for us in the past. If God has done good things for us in the past, then we have every reason to believe fervently that He can and will give us good things today.

Next comes the REQUEST. Many times the request is spiritual in nature. That God pour out His mercy; that God help us to love Him above all things; that God fill us with holy joy. There are times in the rest of Mass that we ask for earthly or material blessings, and at times even the Collect asks for them. But the Collects make the spiritual connection with God most important because, by being united to God, the creator of both the material and the spiritual, blessings of all kinds come to us, including the material, but especially the ones that last forever. The traditional word for this part of the Collect is the petition.

Finally comes the RESULT; what happens after the blessing we requested is given to us by God. The gifts of God produce results. One good thing leads to another. This the nature of goodness. It spills over; it spreads itself. In traditional terminology, the result is called the aspiration (something hoped for).

Let's take a look at two examples of the Three R's at work in the Collect.

First, we see that this prayer is addressed to God the Father and so we're not surprised that it concludes stating that we pray through God the Son.

We recall in this prayer that God is the giver of every good gift. Therefore we have confidence that we are going to the right person seeking good things. He is also the God of might; He has the power to give good gifts. The address also contains something we should recall.

Next comes the request. We ask God to put a certain type of love into our hearts. It's a love for God's name. Why do we ask that? What will be the benefit of loving God's name?

We find the answer in the result of that request. We will deepen our sense of reverence for God. He will increase and develop in us what is good, and He will keep safe from all threat and harm the good which He has nurtured in us. This Collect is from the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

And now, from the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, another Collect.

Here, we address God the Father once again, as the Almighty and Ever-living God. And the Collect concludes in the name of God the Son, in union with the Holy Spirit.

Then we recall that the Father has given us the Holy Spirit who taught us to call God our Father. Since it was God Himself, in the person of God the Holy Spirit, who taught us to call God our Father, we have no hesitation in calling God our Father. This was revolutionary. People in the past had no fear calling God "Lord," "God," "King" and other such grand names. But to call this Almighty God who created us, before whom we are but tiny, insignificant creatures, "Father" is to make us His children, not merely His creatures! How could man dare to be so bold, as to claim such an intimate relationship with God!

But the believer has the courage to make that claim, because Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit, who made us the adopted children of God, enabling us to cry out, "Abba! Father!"

If, then, God is so good as to adopt us as His beloved children, being for us not only creator and ruler, but also a loving and merciful Father, then we can move on, after recalling this, to make a request.

That request is for God to perfect in us the spirit of adoption as His sons and daughters. We were made His adopted children in baptism. That was the beginning. But children grow. They develop, they mature. And so we ask God to do this in us.

Why? What is the result hoped for? The aspiration? The result we hope for is to inherit what God has promised His obedient children; life eternal.

So this is the pattern, but it is not the rule for every single Collect, all the time.

In some Collects, the order is changed, as when the request comes first! But some mention of God who is addressed in the prayer is made, even if not at the very beginning.

In some Collects, no result connected with the request is mentioned.

But the Three R's is a pattern, in some form, for many of the Collects.

THE THREE R'S IN THE TRADITIONAL MASS

Just so that we can see that the pattern of the Three R's is an old one, such that it appears often in the Traditional Latin Mass, whose prayers go back in some cases 1500 years ago, let's look at the Collect for the 2nd Sunday of Lent in the 1962 Missal.

Here we see, once again, an absolutely simple and straightforward address. "O God." At the end, the prayer is concluded in the name of the Son of God.

Next comes the recall. We recall that God knows that we humans have no power from ourselves. We know it, and God knows it. That's key. Because if we have no power in ourselves, then God surely has to come to the rescue. And that motivates us, then, to make the Request. We ask of the one person who has the power - God.

In older language, "to keep" also meant "to protect, to preserve, to guard" and many similar things. We say that a clean, maintained house is "well-kept." So the request is that God keep both our bodies and souls, the outer and the inner, protected and safe.

What is the result, if God does protect us? Harm of the body (troubles or adversities) and harm of the soul (evil thoughts) won't come to us.

JESUS AS FATHER

JESUS AS FATHER

In Spain, Italy, Portugal, and in many countries where Spain used to rule and where its missionaries spread the Catholic faith, it is usual to come across images of Our Lord calling Him "Our Father." In Spanish, "Nuestro Padre."

Many Catholics are curious about this, because we have all been taught that Jesus is the Son, not the Father. Every Catholic begins prayer saying, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." We know there is one God, but three distinct persons, each of them fully God. But the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and neither the Father nor the Son is the Holy Spirit. They are three distinct persons, but one God and each of the three persons is fully God. The mystery of the Trinity!

So if the Son is not the Father, why is it a tradition in many Catholic countries to call Jesus "Our Father?"

The simplest, shortest and fastest answer is to say : Jesus is not the person of the Father in the Holy Trinity, but Jesus is like a father to us, and He is like the Father in the Holy Trinity.

Just one example of a Chamorro hymn called Jesus "my Father."

Jesus Tatå-ho mames.
Jesus my sweet Father.

JESUS IS LIKE THE FATHER

We have heard the saying, "Like father, like son." This simple saying is profoundly true when it comes to Jesus and His Father.

In John 14:8, the Apostle Philip asked Jesus to show them God the Father. Jesus replied, "Have I been so long a time with you, and you do not know me? Philip, he who sees me sees the Father also. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?'"

It is not that Jesus is Himself the Father, but that Jesus is so perfectly like His Father that "to see the son is to see the father." We say this even of human sons and fathers who look so much alike, and even more when the son has the same personality as the father. When it comes to Jesus, Jesus is so obedient to His Father, doing and saying nothing except what the Father asks Him to say and do, that "to see the son is to see the father."

Is the Father merciful? He is, and we see it in the merciful acts of Jesus. Is the Father a provider? He is, and we see it in the way Jesus fed the hungry. Is the Father all-powerful? He is, and we see it in the power Jesus had over the wind, the sea, the demons and diseases. Is God a Father? He is, and we see it in the way Jesus is fatherly to us.

Several times in the Bible, Jesus shares the same titles as God the Father. This is because both Jesus and His Father are one and the same God. The Father is called a Rock in Isaiah 44:9; Jesus is called a Rock in 1 Corinthians 10:4. The Father is called a Shepherd in Ezekiel 34:11-16; Jesus calls Himself a Shepherd in John 10:11. Both the Father and the Son are Rock and Shepherd in their own ways. In similar fashion, the Son is like the Father in that He truly resembles the Father in what He says and does.

And so, in Isaiah 9:6, the Messiah who is to come in the future was called by the prophet the Eternal Father. The Messiah, born in human flesh, is Eternal Father. And He is called so not merely by a human prophet, but by God the Holy Spirit, who inspired the prophet. God Himself calls Jesus "the Eternal Father." Not that Jesus is the person of God the Father, but that He is like God the Father.

JESUS IS LIKE A FATHER TO US

When the Son of God took on human flesh and human nature, He became our brother, since He became like us in all things but sin. And yet, this brother of ours calls us "children" and "His children." How can a brother call his brothers and sisters His "children?" He can, because He is our brother by sharing in our human nature, but He is a spiritual father to us as God and as founder of the Church to which we belong. He is both a brother and a father to us.

In Matthew 9:2 and Mark 2:4, Jesus called a paralyzed man, "my son." Here, Jesus is clearly calling Himself a father to this paralyzed man, and He acts like a father. What loving father would not want to cure a paralyzed son? And more than cure him of his physical condition, Jesus forgives his sins, something only God can do.

In John 13:33, Jesus calls His own Apostles, "little children," at the Last Supper. As the perfect image of His Father, Jesus revealed the Father and the truths of God to the Apostles, "the little children (Matthew 11:25 and Luke 10:21)."

And, lest we forget, Jesus is as much our father as is God the Father in that all creation was made by Him (John 1:3). All three persons of the Trinity were involved in creating the universe, but as the Son is the Word of God, when the Father thought (Word) of a tree, that tree came into existence because of that Word! And so on with all creation!

Besides being involved in our first creation, Jesus is also part of our re-creation, our second birth. Just as we have a first human father in the First Adam, who brought us death through his disobedience, you and I are born again through the obedience of the Second Adam, Christ, who is our father in salvation. That is why he is like a father to us because we are reborn through His blood; we are made members of His Body, the Church, of which He is the head, like a father.

What loving father would not die in order to save his child? And this is precisely what Christ did. He showed Himself to be the best father we could have, by dying to save us.

So, although Jesus is not the person of God the Father, He is like God the Father, and He is like a father to us. In that way, we can call Jesus "our Father," always keeping in mind that He is the Son of God the Father.

In the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Jesus is called Father of the World to Come, another version of "Eternal Father." In the same Litany, Jesus is called Father of the Poor. Jesus is like a father to us. Notice Jesus is also called an angel, even though Jesus is not literally an angel, which is a created spirit whereas Jesus is God who is not created but who is instead the creator of all things. But Jesus is like an angel, the word "angel" meaning "messenger." God the Father sent Jesus as a messenger to the world teaching us God's truth (great counsel).

WHEN GOD PUNISHES

"Erat latro"

"He was a thief"

Lazzaro Pisani's depiction of the Good Thief is not just art; it is a catechesis.

The Good Thief accuses and condemns himself, holding the sign of his crime above his head. The sign describes who he was. A thief. Christ, hanging on the cross next to him, opens a door to what the Good Thief can be. A saint. "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)

The story of the Good Thief (San Dimas, in Chamorro and Spanish), is a clear explanation of the way God is both just and merciful; God punishes, yet forgives the sinner who repents.

Many times, God's punishment is the very means He uses to move the sinner to repent.

By striking the less important (our temporary, earthly life), God tries to save the more important (our immortal soul). By punishing the earthly, God tries to get us to heaven.

God punishes. Dimas is put on a cross to die for his crimes. He is a thief (Mt 27:38) and, according to ancient tradition, a murderer. God used the civil powers to punish Dimas. Saint Paul teaches that the civil government can be God's instrument, punishing evil. (Romans 13:1-4)

If we do not punish and correct ourselves, someone else will. It is helpful for us who are punished to see God's hand in this.

In the Old Testament, God even used pagan kingdoms to punish the Chosen People, Israel, when Israel went astray. Assyria was God's instrument in punishing unfaithful Israel. (2 Kings 17:18-20) (Isaiah 10:5-6)

When God punishes us, what are we to do?

If God is the one punishing and correcting us, can we oppose that and expect to win?

The only wise thing to do is to submit, as Christ, who was innocent of all sin, submitted to punishment for our sake.

Because "For whom the Lord loveth, He chastiseth." (Proverbs 3:12) "He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." (Hebrews 12:6)

If we allow God's heavy hand to bend us low, God Himself will lift us up after we have been purified. "Be humbled in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:10)

The Good Thief was punished. But, in the end, he was right where he should have been. Next to his Savior. Dimas' punishment placed him exactly where he could obtain paradise.

There are only two kinds of punishment given out by God.

The first is the eternal punishment of hell. Out of that, no good for the soul is possible.

The second is the temporary punishment on earth and in Purgatory. Out of these, God can accomplish much good in the punished souls on earth, and God definitely accomplishes a good thing in the punished souls in Purgatory.

Since you and I are reading this while still on earth, isn't the wise choice to allow God to accomplish the good He is trying to achieve when we feel the heavy hand of His justice? It is His way of opening a door to His gentle hand of mercy.

By giving us a little less than what we deserve (condemnation), God is trying to give us, if we allow Him, an abundance of what we do not deserve at all (mercy).

TITLES AND AUTHORITY

Luke 4:31-37

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,  and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

AUTHORITY

The Scripture passage above has one main teaching purpose - to show that Jesus had authority. 

What is authority?

It is the ability to command things - and be obeyed! Many people, even with titles, bark orders and no one obeys. Not much authority there.

Authority also means the ability to get things done. The man needed to be freed from demons, and, in the end, he was indeed freed from demons. Jesus gets things done. Demons obey Him.

TITLES

It strikes me how less concerned the Lord is with titles.

For many Jews, Jesus enjoyed no titles. He was not a Jewish priest or levite; not a scribe, not a member of the Sanhedrin. He was the son of a carpenter from Nazareth. Not even worth mentioning.

Even when someone in the Gospel story above wants to throw out a title, "the Holy One of God," Jesus tells them, the demons, to shut up.

Someone once called Jesus "good teacher," (Luke 18:19) and Jesus questions the man, "Why do you call me 'good?'" Jesus isn't all that moved by the mere mention of titles. He wants to make sure we understand what we're saying when we call Him by a title.

"You call me teacher and lord, and rightly so," Jesus tells the Apostles (John 13:13), but do you understand what you're saying when you call me those things? If the teacher bends down and washes feet, then so must you, the student.

The Lord even warned us that getting His title(s) right doesn't mean we get saved in the end. "Not everyone who calls me 'lord, lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 7:21)" What will save us? "Doing the will of my Father." 

Titles are not the Lord's focus. What title can we even given the Lord? Is it we who name Him? Or rather is it God who names us? Does man name God? Or does God name us, giving us His own name Christ-ian, just as He changed Abram's name, Jacob's name and Simon's name. What do we call Him but titles that He Himself has given us. "I am who am." "I am the Good Shepherd." "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

Jesus is fine with titles. He even informs us which titles we are to use. But His focus is on getting things done (saving us) and in gaining our obedience to His authority, because it is an authority that saves us.

And isn't it true that we know a few people who have few or no titles at all, but who have great authority? People respect them, listen carefully to their advice, follow their example? That is authority.

ST CLARE'S STRUGGLES WITH THE POPE

Clare of Offreduccio, a noble maiden of Assisi, was attracted to the poor life of Francis of Assisi, a member of the town's merchant class who divested himself of all material goods to live in imitation of Christ.

Like Saint Francis, Saint Clare attracted followers. In those days, there were no "sisters" as we know them today; women who forsake marriage in order to live in community, pray and do all kinds of ministry : to teach, attend to the sick, shelter orphans and so on. That kind of sisterhood came later. In Clare's day, only one kind of female religious life was possible : the monastery. Behind the monastic walls, nuns were to pray; for their own spiritual life, for the needs of the Church and the world.

So Saint Clare and her religious sisters did so. From Assisi, numerous monasteries following Clare and Francis opened all over Europe. Her own blood sister Agnes was sent to lead the monastery in Prague, in the present-day Czech Republic.

There had been monastic nuns in the Church for hundreds of years. Why would Saint Clare's nuns run into trouble?

They ran into trouble with Rome because Saint Clare's nuns were different.

Every other monastery of nuns that came before Saint Clare lived on endowments. Many of the women becoming nuns came from wealthy families. Ordinarily, if one of their daughters married, her family gave the groom a dowry, a sum of wealth for the upkeep of the bride after marriage.

With the daughters entering convents, that dowry went to the monastery. Thus, the nuns could focus on their religious life and not worry about paying the bills. When the more recent development of working sisters came along, their livelihood was supported by the income of their work running schools, hospitals and so on.

Following the ideals of Saint Francis, Saint Clare refused to accept dowries from her nuns. They were to live on charity alone. Of course, this was a risk! What if donations were meager! How could the nuns farm or do other work to earn income? Doing this would jeopardize their focus on prayer and the hidden life, separate from the world. Bishops were afraid that they would end up having to look for food and other necessities for hungry nuns. These were the days of widespread epidemics and periodic droughts and pestilence. Wars, also, interfered with agriculture as armies marched through the countryside. A ready supply of food was not always reliable in those days. When the farmers themselves were poor, who would feed the nuns?

Thus Rome insisted that the Poor Clares, as they came to be called, accept dowries. This would provide financial security to the nuns, and neither Rome nor the local bishop, nor the area farmers would have to worry about providing for the nuns.

Saint Clare struggled for many years against this. It was completely contrary to the ideals of Saint Francis, whose Rule of Life had been approved by Rome. Approved for the friars, who went among the people and who were able to live on charity as well as their own work, but not for the nuns, who lived in the cloister and who could not work or go among the people. Rome said it had never been done before, that nuns should live off charity. Saint Clare thus termed it the "Privilege of Poverty;" the privilege of being the only nuns in the Church who would decline dowries and live off people's generosity, even at the risk of lean times when people could be less generous.

Clare and her sister Agnes even resorted to worldly politics to help them get what they needed from Rome. The Pope at the time was also a political ruler, owning a large part of central Italy directly under his secular rule called the Papal States. Thus, the Pope needed political alliances with different kingdoms against other rulers who had plans on conquering the Papal States. Rome needed an alliance with Prague, and Saint Agnes in Prague did her best to open doors for that to come true.

Finally, only two days before her death, Rome gave Saint Clare what she always wanted. Rome approved a Rule just for the Poor Clares, and this Rule had poverty at its very core. From then on, the Poor Clares were granted the Privilege of Poverty.

The story shows that Rome doesn't always understand right away nor moves at the speed we would like. Clare obeyed Rome; but continuing to ask for what one has been denied is not disobedience. We need to persist and never give up in asking, just as Saint Clare did. In the end, God's will is done. Even if it happens just two days before we die.

SPANISH DEATH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Today's funeral announcements in our local newspapers are certainly very positive, but sometimes in a way that poses a problem for those with a Catholic perspective.

Phrases such as "now rejoicing in heaven," applied to the deceased, if taken literally and not as a hopeful plea, take away the need for any prayers for the dead. If the deceased is certainly in heaven, all the official church prayers in the funeral liturgy are meaningless. Those prayers ask for mercy for the deceased; they ask that God give the deceased a share in eternal life. No need for that if we know for sure the deceased is in heaven.

I think, in many cases, families making funeral arrangements just follow a trend that was started sometime ago without realizing the theological implications.

Despite rampant secularization, Spain has a hard time shedding old, Catholic customs. And it shows in many of their funeral announcements which are thoroughly Catholic in their wording.

Take for example, Soledad's announcement above. The underlined phrase means, "Having received the holy sacraments." These sacraments would have been the Anointing of the Sick, and possibly also confession and Holy Communion had she been conscious and able to confess and receive communion.

In Ignacio's announcement, the family "requests a prayer for his soul" from the readers. (See underlined sentence.)

And Wenceslao's announcement (see underlined) says, "He died in a Christian way in Madrid."

This means that he died with the sacraments.

When my mother passed, I included the phrase that she died, "having received the consolation of the sacraments."

What a great example it would be if more of us followed this Catholic custom, still practiced by many Spaniards, to emphasize the value of the sacraments and to ask others to pray for the soul of the deceased.

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. 

(2 Maccabees 12:46)

HOLY SOULS? OR POOR SOULS?

Angels taking some souls in Purgatory to Heaven

Yes, even Popes, bishops, priest, monks and friars pass through its cleansing flames

One of our friary volunteers was writing out the intentions before Mass and she asked me, "Holy Souls, or Poor Souls?"

I said, "Why?"  She said, "The person giving this intention wrote down 'Holy Souls." I never heard of that. Just 'Poor Souls in Purgatory.'"

She is Chamorro, so I reminded her, "Do you remember that sometimes in Chamorro we say 'Animas benditas giya Putgatorio?' Those words 'animas benditas' mean 'blessed, or holy, souls.'" I went on to explain it further :

The souls in Purgatory are holy. They are holy because they died in sanctifying grace, otherwise, they would never have made it as far as Purgatory! Sanctifying grace is the grace that makes us holy; it sanctifies us. They died in this grace, as friends of God. Their mortal sins had been forgiven.

But because of venial sins, spiritual imperfections or incomplete satisfaction for forgiven sins, they are undergoing now a process of purification (purgation). It is a painful process, and those souls can do nothing for themselves to bring relief. Those souls are "poor." They lack the power to alleviate their suffering. They are also "poor" in the common sense that we use when talking about people for whom we have pity.

But this painful process of purification, which consists in the delay of heaven, which causes them terrible pain (the saints tell us that the pains of purgatory are more intense than those of earth), is making them perfectly holy, such that when they are perfectly cleansed, they are now able to see God face to face, which is heaven.

The souls in Purgatory are holy, because they are being made perfectly holy. The souls in hell also suffer, but their pain does not make them holy. Theirs is the pain of condemnation, not purification. Theirs is the pain of the spiritually dead. The pain of the souls in Purgatory is the pain of the spiritually alive, who are being treated, as a spiritual patient. Their pain is medicinal, making them spiritually perfect, healthy and whole.

The souls in Purgatory are holy, because they are on the way to heaven. There is no way they can NOT go to heaven. That sentence has already been pronounced by God, and when our souls leave our bodies in death, we die either in the state of sanctifying grace, or we die in the state of mortal sin. There is no change in this from the moment we die. So, those souls in Purgatory are definitely going to heaven. They are holy. But the delay of heaven is sheer torture for them, especially now that they realize that many saints did not pass through Purgatory but went straight to heaven when they died. They understand that they, too, could have been saints, but did not give their spiritual life their 100%. So they suffer the regret of not becoming saints while on earth.

Knowing all this, how could we not pity the Poor and Holy Souls? How could we not shudder at the thought of our own future suffering in Purgatory, if we do not give our spiritual life our 100%? We all have crosses. A sure way of gaining much merit and reducing our time in Purgatory (if we end up not by-passing it altogether), is to accept our crosses and follow Jesus, as satisfaction for sin.

Let us also pray and sacrifice for the Holy Souls, for they will pray for us before God in Heaven. That, too, will help us reduce our time in Purgatory, or, if we cooperate with God's graces, make us saints here on earth so that heaven will be ours the moment we die.

The Spanish mural above says, at the bottom :

"Have compassion on me,

at least you my friends."

For more information :

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2N.HTM

THE HOLY NAME OF MARY

The universal Church calls it the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Spaniards, and those they influenced, also call it, at times, the Sweet Name of Mary.

Spain was the first to ask and receive, in 1513, the Pope's permission to celebrate a feast in honor of her name. The diocese to observe it first was Cuenca, and the date chosen for it was September 12. But historical events would help make it a universal observance.

In 1683, or 170 years later, the Catholic Poles and Austrians were fighting against the Muslim Turks, menacing Europe. The Polish king John Sobieski prepared himself for war by going to daily Mass and receiving communion. At stake was the great city of Vienna.

The Catholic and Muslim forces were to do battle on September 13, but the Turks were hemming in on the city so much that Sobieski had to strike on the 12th, the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, even though they were outnumbered vastly by the Turks.

After a full day of fighting, the Christians held the Turks back.  As the Turks were exhausted, Sobieski let loose the largest cavalry charge in history. Eighteen thousand men on horses descended from the hills onto the tired and dispirited Turks. The Turkish line was broken and then the Turks gave up. Just a few hours later, Sobieski was in the deserted battle tent of the Turkish commander.

As the Turks were giving up as the day ended, a cloud passed over the crescent moon (symbol of the Muslims) and hid it from view. It was an ominous sign.

King John Sobieski sends word to the Pope : "I came, I saw, God conquered."

The victory was credited to the Holy Name of Mary, whose feast it was that same day. Therefore, Rome extended the feast, till then mainly a Spanish devotion, to the whole Catholic world.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The name "Mary" is derived from the Hebrew name Miriam. The only woman so-called in the Old Testament is the sister of Moses. Scholars disagree as to the meaning of Miriam. By the time of Jesus, the name became very popular (notice the number of different Marys in the Gospels) and had been altered a bit to Mariam when the Jews dropped Hebrew and began to speak Aramaic, a close cousin, as their language of daily life.

Among the many explanations offered for the past (almost) 2000 years as to the meaning of the name "Mary," or "Miriam," one very highly favored by the Church Fathers is "Lady," as in "mistress," a lady of power and status. This would make sense in view of the fact that her Son is King.

But its meaning becomes even clearer when one remembers that Mary is the New Eve; she replaces the old Eve. If you look at the Marian symbol above, you see the phrase "Ave Maria." "Hail Mary." If you read "Ave" backward, it spells "Eva." Mary reverses the sin of Eve (Eva). Eve rebelled and Mary obeyed. Eve brought death into the world, Mary brought Life into the world, Jesus the Savior.

Eve was supposed to be Queen, as Adam was King. After all, they were the first humans. But, when they sinned, they lost the dominion God wanted them to have. Instead, the woman became subject to the man, and the man had to fight the earth, as it were, for it to produce food. Because we are sinners, we became slaves; slaves to our rebellious passions. But Mary changed all that. By giving us our King, men and women can become kings and queens again, over their own selves first of all. Slaves have been set free, and can follow the will of God now, through the grace of Christ. Mary is Lady, as Christ is King.

ON GUAM - SOMETHING SPECIAL

For us on Guam, this feast means something very special to us because our Cathedral has as its patroness the Dulce Nombre de Maria, the Sweet Name of Mary, after the Spanish fashion. Not only is this church our Cathedral, it was the first Catholic church built in the Marianas. It was named by Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores. The image of Our Lady of Camarin is here.

GONE AND BACK AGAIN

Did you notice that the Agaña Cathedral is celebrating the feast of the Dulce Nombre de Maria back around September 12, as opposed to near September 8, as it has been doing for many years? Why the shift?

If you look above at the General Roman Calendar of the early 1970s, you will see nothing for September 12. In 1969, Rome took away the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. The feeling at the time was that it was a duplication of the feast of the Birth of Mary, which was just a few days before. Obviously, Mary would have gotten her name around the time of her birth.

So what were we to do, if we had a cathedral named after the name of Mary? The decision was made then to celebrate it as close to September 8th as possible, since the devotion to her holy name was absorbed into the feast of her birthday.

But then...

...in 2002, St Pope John Paul II restored the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary on the calendar, and on September 12, but as an Optional Memorial. An optional memorial is something up to the priest to observe or not, when he says Mass that day. But, it's good enough for us! The decision has been made, it seems, to celebrate Dulce Nombre back on September 12 or as close to it as possible, since we normally celebrate feasts on Guam on the Saturday closest the actual day.

This is how September 12 looked like in the good old days....

From the 1962 Missal. It was a 3rd class feast. There was nothing optional about it! The priest had to observe it, unless something of higher precedence coincides, such as a Sunday.

THE WANDERING JESUS

SINAJAÑA 1967

As far back as I can remember, my family has been responsible for one of the three Lånchon Kotpus in our parish of Saint Jude in Sinajaña.

A Lånchon Kotpus (Corpus Ranch) is the outdoor temporary altar, or station, set up to receive the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament during the Corpus Christi procession. Corpus Christi is an annual feast commemorating our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The Latin phrase means "The Body of Christ."  The bread and wine at Mass are substantially changed into the Lord's true Body and Blood, though the appearance of bread and wine remain.

We process with the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of the village, not only to publicly express our faith, but also as a kind of symbolism of our pilgrim journey on earth, like the wandering Hebrews in the Old Testament, freed from Egyptian slavery but still a ways off from the Promised Land. The followers of Christ have also been set free from sin and death, but must still travel through life till we reach heaven's doors.

As the Hebrews received bread (manna) from heaven and water from the rock, the Lord feeds us with His Body and Blood. We remember this as we carry Him with us in our procession.

Låncho at the home of Ruperto Aguon Villagomez in Sinajaña

1960s

CORPUS IN THE 60s

Chamorro custom, molded by the Spanish missionaries for three centuries, is to have no less than three outdoor stations or Låncho. When the procession arrives at a Låncho, the priest sets the monstrance - the golden metallic and highly ornamented container in which the Sacred Host is placed - on the altar inside the Låncho for adoration lasting a few minutes.

These Låncho were almost always, according to tradition, in one of the homes of the village. Although my auntie Chong (Asuncion Perez Torres), my grandmother's sister, was chief of operations for one of these Låncho, the Låncho was not at our home. Our home in the 1960s did not have a suitable place for the Låncho. Usually, one wanted a home with a carport or a nice entrance to serve as a Låncho.

There was a house on the far end of the baseball field in the middle of Sinajaña. A road circled the whole community complex in those days. Urban Renewal in the early 1970s did away with that road and the house was also demolished and the land became uninhabitable with the new configuration. This house, pictured above, was owned by Ruperto Aguon Villagomez and family.

But all the fabric and other things needed for the Låncho were stored at our house. When Corpus Christi neared, everything came out of storage to be ironed and aired out. The statue of the Sacred Heart we used for our Låncho belonged to the Capuchin Friary and we would retrieve it just a day or two before the feast to dust off.

CORPUS IN THE 70s AND 80s

SINAJAÑA 1982

While Urban Renewal necessitated the demolition of many homes, it also required the building of new ones. My grand aunt built a new home in a new location, across the street from the public elementary school and very close to the church.

Our new home had a nice one-car carport which could easily be converted into a Låncho. My uncle Ning (my mom's brother) would build the frames and then the ladies would take over.

Our theme never changed : the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We continued to borrow the same statue from the Friary.

My Auntie Chong continued with her usual retinue of helpers : from the Bonño and Kaila clans especially.

This is the house, built in the early 70s, where my grandmother lived (and died) with her single sisters Asuncion and Rita. I also grew up in this house. The carport was converted into the Lånchon Kotpus every year till the late 80s, early 90s. This became the second home for the Låncho since the demolition of the old house by the baseball field.

CORPUS IN THE 90s

When my auntie Chong died in 1984, my mother stepped up and more or less kept the tradition going, but the artistic side of things fell on some others. Danny Toves, I remember, was very involved for some years. Terry Sablan (Akangkang), too. My Uncle Ning continued to be on the team. Members of the Kaila family, too. At times, Tan Kai Balentin donated flowers.

At some point, I don't remember when, it was decided to move our Låncho to yet a third location. But it was just next door, at the home built in the late 40s by Uncle Ben Reyes and Auntie Ana, my grandmother's sister. After both had died, it became Uncle Ning's house. It had a carport, too, with a nice driveway.

That house was destroyed in 1997 by Typhoon Paka, so Uncle Ning built the new one you can see in the pic above. He didn't build a carport but decided to put a canopy up for his car instead. The Låncho continued in this area, but under a similar canopy.

TODAY

When my mother died in 2005, Terry Sablan filled the spot. Of course, many hands helped as well. The Låncho continued in the same spot at Uncle Ning's house.

Then Uncle Ning passed away last year. The future of the house lay in mystery. Recently, it was bought by people we don't know. So, Sinajaña Mayor Robert Hofmann, a good friend and relative, offered to transfer the Låncho to yet a fourth location - the Veterans Park right in front of the church.

It was and still is, though, a continuation of the Kitå'an Lånchon Kotpus of Auntie Chong. The theme is the same, the Sacred Heart. The old Friary statue has been lost, and the design changes a little year by year. But it is still the same Låncho, even after four locations.

The Wandering Jesus, I call it. "Foxes have lairs and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head," Jesus said once. It is almost a parable of the way the world treats Jesus.

But there will always be a group, no matter how small, of dedicated believers who will always assure that the Lord has His place, even if it changes four times in sixty years.

DEDICATED TO MY GRAND AUNT

ASUNCIÓN PÉREZ TORRES

Tan Chong Kitå'an

who for around thirty years, year after year, dedicated her time, talent and money to giving Jesus a suitable place for adoration at Corpus Christi.  I pray she is now adoring Him in heaven.

A HOUSE BLESSING; OR TWO

At least once every two months, I get requests from people to come bless their homes; not because it's a new home (that happens, too), but because of noises, shadows and movements they can't explain and which disturb them, some more than others.

These past two weeks, I've had two requests for this, a little more than usual.

The first one, around two weeks ago, was at an older house in a very crowded neighborhood.  The owners have moved out to a new home and are planning to rent the old one out. But, while they lived there some years ago, some residents had weird feelings of a presence, heard things and saw shadows.

I went and blessed the home. Since no one lives there at the moment, while a renter is being found, I have no idea what, if anything, is going on now.

Today, however, was an interesting experience.

This home is in a very secluded area, with a huge banyan tree (trongkon nunu) about 200 yards from the house.  The perimeter of the property is surrounded by exposed limestone rocks.  Locals consider both the banyan tree and exposed coral rock areas of spirit habitation.

Two houses are on the property.  The owner is trying to rent out the first one, closest to the road.  Behind that house is one already rented out for some time.  It's in this second house that the residents are reporting some experiences.

The owner met me at a rendezvous point so I could follow him to the two houses, located in a rural area hard to find.  We parked, got out and went to the first house, which is presently unoccupied.  As the owner was turning the key to open the door, he said his arms felt tingly and I observed he had goose bumps and the hair of his forearm was standing up.

We entered the house, which was vacant of furnishing and there was a certain feeling to the place.  I didn't hear, smell or see anything, but I began to feel mildly uneasy.  Then again, it could simply be the power of suggestion.

After blessing that house, we went over to the second house.  This house was visibly occupied, with many possessions scattered outside.  A man and a little boy, about 6 or 7 years old, appeared from behind the garage. The man told me it was his wife who experienced things the most, and that she had gone to the store momentarily.

But he told me that they had never seen anything, but had heard the noise of children playing, and it wasn't their three children or anyone else. "They say they feel things, Father," he said, "but I try to just block it out of my mind."  "Usual for a man," I said to myself.

The little boy motioned to his dad to bend down and listen to what he had to say, which he whispered to his dad, cupping his dad's ear.

The dad bent up straight and told the boy, "Tell Father what you said."

The boy said that he saw dark circles on his mother's foot.  "Did the circles hurt your mom?" I asked.  He said, "No."

Just then, the mother drove into the property.  She parked by the garage, only the back half of the vehicle visible to me from my angle.

She didn't exit the car immediately, which had me concerned.  Some people get very apprehensive when a priest comes to the home, even if they are the ones who called him over.  The husband called to her, "Why are you crying?"  "Oh, boy," I said to myself, fearing even more now.

The woman got out of the car and answered, "Because I'm happy."

As soon as I heard that, my fears were relieved and I blurted out, "Because your house is getting blessed!"

She approached me, wiping away her tears, "Yes."

"Come over here," I said to her reassuringly.  "Tell me all about it," I said with no taint of anxiety or fear about the whole situation.

She confirmed what the husband said.  She saw nothing.  But she had strong sensations at times that there was someone in the house.  Not just the noise of children playing; but an adult presence.  She didn't know enough to say if it was a malignant presence or just dark and mysterious.  She did know she was uneasy about it.

She also confirmed that she did have dark circles on her feet awhile back.

I said, "OK, let's begin."

I explained that, if there were demons having a little fun scaring the family, they hate prayers said in the Latin language.  This, dear readers, I caution you,  is not official Catholic teaching.  You are free to put that idea aside.  But it is what we have learned from reputable, official exorcists (Fr Maginot in Indiana; Fr Amorth in Rome).

Fr Gabriel Amorth

Christ, presumably, expelled demons using Aramaic.  Latin was once the language of the very persecutors of the Faith.  Exorcisms have been done successfully in other languages.  Greek is an ancient language of the Church, and the earliest books of the New Testament are all in Greek.

But Latin has become, in time, a sacred language.  Precisely because it is not used by anyone anymore, except for a small group of academics, besides the Church, it has acquired a sacred function.  Perhaps this is why Satanists also use Latin in their black masses.  Satan mimics what is real, not what is false.

So while the demons are bound to take orders in the name of God no matter what language, the experience of these exorcists is that Latin is often the most effective language to use, though not the only one. Whatever may increase my chances of battling the demons, I will use!

After saying the prayers, blessing a house, adding the prayer to St Michael, I begin sprinkling the front door of the house, front side and back.  I recite the Pater Noster, Ave Maria and Gloria Patri while sprinkling all the rooms, all the doors and all the windows.  When possible, I ask the father of the house to follow me with a lit candle.  I also sprinkle the outside of the house, making sure to sprinkle all the doors and windows, and the four corners of the property.

For such a big lot, with two houses on it, I used up my entire bottle of holy water.

The holy water I use is also water that is blessed in Latin, using the old formula wherein salt that is exorcised and blessed is added to the water, which is also exorcised and blessed.

I made sure to bless the banyan tree and the coral rocks.  As far as I know, God created both of them and belong to Him.

Finally, I blessed the father, mother and two children.  A third son was at grandma's so I told the one boy present, "You're standing in for your brother," and he got a double dose of holy water.

I told the family to pray every day and every night as a family; to keep peace and avoid all bitterness and impurity.  I asked them to go to confession frequently and Mass when obligated by God's commandment. To pray before their family altar (which they have).  Negativity in our hearts, I told them, can be an open door to the demons.  Their "noses" take them to what smells like them.

I reminded them that it is possible that what they are experiencing could be signs from souls in Purgatory who need our prayers.  "There are no 'lost souls,'" I told them.  "God knows where every single soul is.  He judged them and sentenced them."  But, I said, God can allow a soul in Purgatory to give people signs that they are in need of Masses and prayer.  "The Mass," I told them, "is the greatest prayer, because it was the one said by Jesus, not just with words, but also with His own blood."  Padre Pio, I told them, saw many souls from Purgatory, either asking for his prayers or thanking him for his prayers.

Finally, I said demons can sometimes masquerade as human souls.  Once again, Padre Pio sometimes saw visions of saints and holy people, only to command them to praise Jesus, at which they vanished, leaving behind the stench of sulphur.  In reality, those were demons playing tricks on Padre Pio.

Above all, I told them to fear God, and no one else, not even spirits.  "Even the demons tremble in fear before God," I told them.

The mother, especially, seemed so relieved.  She asked me, "Is there anything I can give you?"  I said, "No."  "Anything?  Water?"  I said, "No, thanks."

"But," I said, "I did notice a large, old, black and white photo in a frame of two older people.  Who are they?"

"My grandma and grandpa," she said.

"What family?"  I asked.  She gave me the names.

I said, "Maybe I could borrow the photo, scan it and return it.  I do family histories."

She said I could.

I don't know what to make of these experiences and I don't claim to be able to know.  I am no mystic; I have no unusual powers.  It could be purely subjective experiences; the wind; natural sounds from sources residents are not aware of.  Or, it could be pesky demons trying to scare us; or poor souls in need of our prayers.

What I do know is that these blessings bring comfort.

I always tell them, "If these things bothering you continue, call me again.  Sometimes more than one blessing is needed."

So far, in 24 years, no one has called me back.  So far.  We shall see.

JOKE OF THE DAY : THE 1ST EASTER WAS ABOUT A PAGAN GODDESS

This bit of silliness is so lacking in evidence, based on a weak coincidence, that it really is a bad joke.  But since huge numbers of people are easily influenced by this kind of garbage, let's take it apart, bit by bit :

EASTER : You mean the annual feast of Christians celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? 

WAS ORIGINALLY : You mean the first time (originally) that Christians got together for a feast called Easter, it had nothing to do with Christ, but was instead a feast to celebrate the Babylonian/Assyrian sex and fertility goddess Ishtar?  If this is true, how could these Christians have been Christians at all?  What made them Christians in the first place if the Easter they were celebrating was a feast of Ishtar?

What evidence is there that the early Christian worshipped Ishtar?  Do we have religious art in the catacombs depicting early Christian worship of Ishtar?  Early Christian writings talking about early Christian worship of Ishtar?  No?

Funny, because we have early Christian art depicting and writings talking about the worship of Christ, and His rising from the dead.  Long before Constantine.

No, the evidence is clear that, from the beginning of Christianity, Christians believed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  Early Christianity had nothing to do with Ishtar.

AFTER CONSTANTINE DECIDED TO CHRISTIANIZE THE EMPIRE : He allowed Christians to worship freely; to worship Christ, and celebrate His resurrection - something Christians had been doing for almost 300 years already by the time of Constantine.

EASTER WAS CHANGED TO REPRESENT JESUS : What's the proof of this statement?  Can we find an official document showing us that Constantine said, "I am changing Easter."  None?

The statement is that Constantine "changed" Easter; he didn't "invent" Easter.  So there was an Easter prior to Constantine.  What was this Easter?  The worship of Ishtar?  By whom?  By Christians?  That doesn't make sense.

Oh, by other people?  The pagans?  Then why "change" Easter?  What is there "to change" if Christians had already been celebrating the resurrection of Jesus?  The poster would make a whole lot more sense if it claimed that Constantine prohibited the worship of Ishtar, and compelled everyone to observe the Easter of Christians.  But Constantine did neither, as well!  What he did do was allow Christians, and any others who worshipped differently,  to practice their religion with freedom.  Edict of Milan, in the year 313.

Later emperors - not Constantine - waged a war against pagan worship in the Empire.  But there was never a question of changing a pagan feast called Easter from the worship of Ishtar to the celebration of Christ's resurrection.  Christians have been honoring that resurrection from the beginning.

ISHTAR - EASTER

The whole idea in this poster is based on a flimsy coincidence between the name of Ishtar and the Christian feast Easter.

It's a flimsy coincidence because "Easter" is merely the common (not official) English name of the feast.  Constantine never called Easter "Easter."   Constantine was not English.  The Greek and Roman Christians during the time of Constantine called Easter "Pascha," as the Greeks do today and as it is still known in Latin in the Roman Church.

Again, it's clear there is no connection between a pagan goddess from Babylonia/Assyria, and an old English word "Easter," many miles away, with the Greek and Roman lands lying in between.

The official name of this feast, no matter the language, is the "Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord."

 

OTHER UNPROVEN CLAIMS

That Ishtar is (or was) pronounced Easter.  Scholars have studied the Babylonian writing system pretty well, and they all say Ishtar sounds like, well, Ishtar.

That eggs and bunnies were her symbols.  From ancient art depicting Ishtar, we can actually say what were her symbols, and eggs and bunnies never appear among them.

Eggs and bunnies are symbols of fertility, which means life.  Christ rose from the dead.  No surprise then, that Christians, in an informal and unofficial way, used earthly, known symbols of life and fertility to express their understanding of the Easter event.

Ancient Christians used different symbols to represent the resurrection of Jesus (and of ours, one day).  The peacock was one such symbol.  Folk belief was that the skin of the peacock never decays.  The peacock sheds its feathers once a year, only to grow more beautiful ones.  Christians saw this as a kind of resurrection - falling away only to bring forth a more glorious life.