[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

True Love Starts at the Cross

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, May 13, 2012, the Sixth Sunday of Easter | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
• Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
• 1 Jn 4:7-10
• Jn 15:9-17

“Did I read the same encyclical as The New York Times?”

That was the title of a piece I wrote for the Insight Scoop blog shortly after Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (“God Is Love”) was released in late December 2005. America’s most famous newspaper ran a piece stating, “Pope Benedict XVI issued an erudite meditation on love and charity on Wednesday in a long-awaited first encyclical that presented Roman Catholicism's potential for good rather than imposing firm, potentially divisive rules for orthodoxy.” It then expressed evident surprise that the encyclical “did not mention abortion, homosexuality, contraception or divorce, issues that often divide Catholics.”

It spoke volumes about the serious misconceptions that exist about the nature of love and Catholicism. For many outside the Church (and, sadly, some inside the Church), being a loving person and being a serious Catholic are not always compatible; some insist they are completely incompatible. After all, goes the wisdom of the day, Catholicism is so exclusive, has so many rules, is so eager to say, “Don’t do this!” and “Don’t do that!” Doesn’t the Church understand that love is in the eye of the beholder—or, more accurately, in the desire of the beholder?

The Holy Father, of course, is aware of these perspectives. He noted that the word “love” has “become one of the most frequently used and misused of words, a word to which we attach quite different meanings” (par 2). He wrote “to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love” (par 1). In doing so, he drew deeply from 1 John 4 and from the Last Supper Discourse in the Gospel of John (chapters 13-16), from which come today’s Epistle and Gospel readings.

One of Benedict’s essential points is that human love, without a transcendent point of reference, is ultimately incomplete and frustrated. All love comes from the Source of Love, and any attempt—whether intentional or not—to separate love from that Source results in damaging, perverting, and even destroying the love between spouses, family members, friends. Without a vertical, supernatural dimension, love becomes thin and fragile; it begins to crack and crumble under the pressure of everyday life and the ultimate questions that nip at our mental tails.

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you,” Jesus told his disciples as he prepared to demonstrate his love on the altar of the Cross. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This is authentic love. It is not rooted in emotion or sentiment, nor is it concerned with mere appearance and respectability. Jesus’ death on the Cross, wrote Benedict, “is love in its most radical form” (par 12). It shows the world that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Any real definition of love must begin at the foot of the Cross, for to look upon and to really see the One who is an expiation for our sins is to know perfect love—not in an abstract way, but in a real and transforming way.

Jesus speaks of love, but also of commandments. This is befuddling to modern man, for he considers love to be freedom from stricture, liberation from directives. But if there is one thing man needs direction in, it is in knowing how to really love, how to die to oneself and to live for others.

God’s commandments are meant to keep us from embracing falsehoods about love; they guide us through the dangerous straits of fleshly temptations and unruly passions. If man followed God’s commandments, there would be no abortions, homosexuality, contraceptives, or divorce. Those evils exist because fallen creatures have pursued faulty notions of love.

And yet, while we each fail to love, we all desire to fall in love. It starts at the Cross and continues by remaining in the One who is Love.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the May 17, 2009, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Our Lady of Knock

By

Father Mark

 on May 13, 2012 8:15 AM |

 

I am going off to Knock today, having been invited there to address a gathering of Irish priests on the subject of Eucharistic adoration. I ask the readers of Vultus Christi to support me by their prayer, asking the Holy Ghost to inspire my preaching and make it fruitful.

In the Archdeacon's Room at Knock

On the evening of February 5, 2008, whilst on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock, I was privileged to pray in the room where The Venerable Archdeacon Bartholomew Cavanagh, Parish Priest of Knock at the time of the apparition, died on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1897.

The room is now used as the Oratory for the community of Daughters of Charity who conduct Saint Mary's Hostel for pilgrims. Sister Elma, the lovely Daughter of Charity then in charge of Saint Mary's Hostel, told me that, according to tradition, it was in that room that Our Lady came and conversed with the Archdeacon before his death.

A Priest Who Loved Mary

It was believed in the parish of Knock that the Archdeacon was frequently graced with visits of Our Blessed Lady. When questioned about this, the Archdeacon replied that "there were a great many other manifestations of which he would not care to speak." Archdeacon Cavanagh had a consuming desire to promote Our Lady's Cause; he habitually referred to the Blessed Virgin Mary as "The ever Immaculate Mother of God."

Charity Toward the Poor Souls

It is not generally known that the apparition at Knock took place on the evening of the very day when Archdeacon Cavanagh had completed offering one hundred Masses for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, without receiving any stipend from the people. Preaching at Knock in 1882, he said, "We leave all our actions at the disposal of the Blessed Virgin Mary for those holy souls who, when released from purgatory, will never forget us. They will pray constantly for us at the throne of God."

Saint Joseph and Saint John

There are particular graces reserved for priests at Knock. In Saint Joseph and Saint John who appeared there together with the Blessed Virgin, one discovers the models of a priestly holiness that is at once paternal and virginal. These are the two men destined by God from all eternity to live in a sacred intimacy with the Virgin Mary. I have the distinct impression that, at the present time, Our Lady is offering to all her priest sons the special grace of a sacred intimacy with herself.

"A rarely mentioned fact about the shrine of Knock is that the parish church is under the patronage of St. John the Baptist. That makes him a hidden but not insignificant presence at the apparitions and at the shrine today. How fitting that the Lord would choose the church of St. John the Baptist as the site for this wonderful apparition with all that it teaches. At Knock he is again acting as the precursor and herald of the Lamb of God. John the Baptist is the "friend of the Bridegroom", and therefore a friend to Christ the Bridegroom in each priest. How great will be his joy if the shrine of Knock would become a place of priestly renewal." Brother Augustine, O.F.M., Conv.

Intimacy With Mary

Could this not be the means by which Mary desires to purify, sanctify, and renew the priesthood in this age of the Church's life? In the intimacy with Our Blessed Lady represented by Saint Joseph and Saint John there is healing even for the most broken among her priest sons. For those most defiled by sin, in Mary's presence there is purity and the recovery of a spotless innocence. For those who have grown weary and lost the fervour of their youth, in Mary's company there is zeal for souls and apostolic boldness. For those who are depressed, close to Mary there is comfort, and to those who are despondent and anxious, she gives hope and peace. Finally, in the intimacy of Mary there is joy for those who fallen prey to the sadness that weakens the soul and opens it to sin.

Made Pure in the Blood of the Lamb

The Immaculate Virgin Mary presents herself to priests today as she presented herself to Saint Joseph and to Saint John. To Saint Joseph, her chaste spouse, she was the Virgin Bride, and to Saint John, the Beloved Disciple of her Son, she was a Mother. In the acceptance of this grace lies the remedy for the weaknesses and inclinations to sin that have soiled the priesthood and brought it low in the eyes of so many in recent years. The desire of Mary's Immaculate Heart is to purify the priesthood and lift it out of the infamy into which it has fallen, so as to make it shine with a wonderful holiness, and with the purity that comes from the Precious Blood of the Lamb. It is the Lamb in the apparition of Knock that casts the whole event in the light of the mysteries revealed to Saint John on Patmos.

Priests at Knock

It seems to me that Our Lady desires that Knock should become a place of pilgrimage for priests. A dimension of Knock, not yet fully developed, is that it must become a place of healing for priests, a place where Mary can restore them to purity and to holiness of life by drawing them into her company. Knock invites all priests to share their lives with Mary by opening their homes and their hearts to her, and by living every moment in her presence.

At Home With Mary

As Virgin Bride, Mary is the image of the Church. Just as Saint Joseph took his Virgin Bride into his home, so too must every priest welcome Mary and discover in her intimacy the nuptial quality of his dedication to the Church. Just as Saint John, obeying the word of Jesus from the Cross, took Mary into his home, so too must every priest shelter her in the space that is most personal to him. The gift of sacred intimacy with the Blessed Virgin Mary, suggested by the apparition at Knock, may well be among the heavenly secrets reserved by her for this time of trial for the Church.

She will impart this gift to every priest who desires it. She will make herself known as the Virgin Bride who brought joy to Saint Joseph, and as the Mother entrusted to Saint John and to those priests in whom the Johannine grace is renewed in every age.

A Pilgrimage for Priests

It is time, I think, for priests and their bishops to go -- as priests together -- in pilgrimage to Knock. Our Lady's Merciful and Immaculate Heart waits for them there. She is ready to open a wellspring of purity, holiness, and renewal for all priests, beginning with those of Ireland. Our Lady of Knock beckons to all priests. She would have her priest sons wash themselves in the Blood of the Lamb, and unite themselves to her Son, Priest and Victim, in the mystery of His Sacrifice. Yes, Knock is for all people, but I believe that it was, from the beginning, destined to be a place of healing and of abundant graces for priests.

A Radiant Priestly Holiness

As I prayed in Archdeacon Cavanagh's room, I understood that Mary longs to show herself to all priests as Virgin Bride and Mother. In Mary's intimacy we priests will find the holiness desired by Christ for each one of us: a radiant holiness, a holiness to illumine the Church in these last days with the brightness of the Lamb. Knock invites priests to remain in adoration before Mary's Son, the Lamb Who was slain. Knock invites priests to wash themselves in His Precious Blood by seeking absolution from all their sins. Knock invites priests to follow Saint Joseph and Saint John by consecrating themselves to Mary as Virgin Bride and Mother.

No Need to Remain Alone

Our Lady of Knock, praying with uplifted hands, is the Mediatrix of All Graces. She is the New Eve given to Christ the New Adam, and given by Him, from the Cross, to all His priests, those whom He has called to continue His mission of salvation in the world. There is no need for any priest to remain alone. The Virgin Mary's Heart is open to all her priest sons, and she will not refuse, to those who ask for it, a participation in the unique grace given Saint Joseph and Saint John in the beginning.