He Shall Be Called John

Today is a rather special day on the Church calendar. Today is the solemn feast of the Birth of John the Baptist. The Church only celebrates one other birthday, we call that birthday Christmas.  No other saint is honored by having the day of their birth remembered in a special mass. They have to be content with having the day of their death memorialized by the Church. So we can see that John must be a very special person indeed.  

I remember when I was young, say about ten or eleven, I spent a lot of time with my cousin Skipper. He was actually named after his father as his name was actually Richard and forgive me but I do not know how he came by the nickname Skipper.  For a couple of summers, we hung around together and had a lot of fun.  One incident comes to mind.  We spent all day in our swimming trunks in his backyard playing in a wading pool.  When the water in the pool got too warm we would tip the pool over and refill it with fresh water.  We would get in the pool and cool ourselves down never realizing that the clear water was acting like a lens and focusing the sun on our bodies.  By dinner time we looked like cooked lobsters and when we sat down to dinner, the pain of wearing a shirt and pants was only slightly worse than what his mother cooked for dinner that day, liver and onions, yuck.  Back then we were trained to be polite and when we were guests at someone's house we ate what was put in front of us. Between Skipper and I, we used at least half of a bottle of ketchup. The pain of the sunburn we had collected was intense.  My aunt did not have anything in the house to soothe the pain.  Necessity being the mother of invention, she broke out the Vicks Vapo Rub.  This menthol laced petroleum jelly was just the thing to increase the agony on our young backs and chests. Sometimes you just can't win!

While I had a somewhat close relationship with my cousin, it does not appear Jesus spent any time with His cousin John. To my modern way of thinking, John really appears to be somewhat of an oddball. My gosh, who in their right mind would choose to live in the desert, wearing hair shirts and eating locusts and wild honey?  Come to think of it, locusts and wild honey have to be better than liver and onions.  

Jesus and John, according to the Bible, met only once in their youth and that was before either of them were born.  Mary had received word that she was to be the Mother of God and she went to visit Elizabeth, who was described as a relative to her and had conceived John in her old age as a special gift from God.  (Children were esteemed as gifts back then.) When Mary approached Elizabeth, John, in his mother's womb, recognized the presence of Jesus, the Son of God, in the womb of Mary His mother.  It is written that John stirred in his mother's womb at the presence of Jesus.  One translation used a stronger word and said he danced in his mother's womb.  The fate of these two children was tightly bound together as John would be the one who would announce the coming of the Messiah and prepare the way of the Lord. 

John was a man of great integrity.  He strived to achieve no man's favor and preached repentance and the coming of the kingdom to one and all.  He called the religious leaders of the day, "broods of vipers" and he actually won the admiration of the king of the land, a vain and lustful man named Herod.  Herod made the mistake of choosing for his wife the wife of his brother and John called him out for this adulterous relationship.  Herod did not mind so much, but Herodias, the king's illegitimate wife, was less than forgiving for being called a harlot and whore. Yet, John enjoyed the king's favor and protection but even the king could take only so much abuse. His wife continued wailing and whining against John and to quiet her shrill voice Herod had John arrested and lodged him in his dungeon.  If Herodias thought that the rigors of the dungeon would quiet the pious prophet down she failed to understand what a diet of locusts and wild honey did to the soul of a man. She also failed to understand what the grace of God could do in strengthening one's soul.  John kept his banter against Herod and Herodias up while chained in the charming confines of Herod's dungeon.  Not only did he continue berating the couple but he did so almost right under their love nest.  Herodias could not take much more of this.  She kept asking that John be silenced and buried.  The king, however, had an admiration and perhaps a bit of fear of John. He knew the stories that the priests told about the Messiah, and he wondered if the Messiah was locked up in his jail.  This thought stayed his hand for the moment.  All the while John kept up his preaching against the king and his concubine.  Herodias's soul was black with anger and hate of the Baptist and she could not understand why her husband, who respected no man, tolerated the insolence and insults that John never ceased broadcasting day or night.  Then Herod himself delivered the fate of John into her hands. 

It was the king's birthday, a time when the whole court celebrated with feasting and drinking that made the normal daily debauch pale in comparison.  The wine made the king very merry indeed. It was when he was deep into his cups that Herodias snapped the trap closed that would end the scandal of John's accusations against her and Herod forever.  Her daughter was extremely beautiful and Herod lusted after her young body.  Herodias then announced that as a special gift and tribute to Herod the greatest king of all time that her daughter, Salome, would honor his majesty with a dance. The announcement caused Herod's libido to stir and he watched with amorous wonder as Salome went through her paces.  The dance was designed to capture the lowest parts of Herod's imagination and it succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.  The king, loudly and drunkenly, stood and applauded the performance and then uttered words that he would in the next moment regret for all eternity.  He offered as payment for the dance anything that Salome wanted even up to half of his kingdom.  The courtiers gasped. Salome had in her hands the ticket to a life of independence and great ease, riches beyond what most people could imagine.  They waited silently for what she would ask for.  Then her mother entered and walked up to her brazen daughter.  Herodias smiled at the king and he drunkenly smiled back.  She turned and whispered in her daughter's ear.  The daughter grinned, then chuckled, then she finally laughed and nodded her head, accepting what her mother had said.  She walked closer to the king and bent down, her ample breasts just out of reach. She smiled into his eyes and demanded the head of John the Baptist be brought to her on a silver platter.  The king was shocked. Surely the girl would want gold or silver, or a palace with servants of her own.  Salome once again looked at the king and this time with cold fire in her eyes demanded that he fulfill his promise and to bring her the head of John the Baptist.  The king had no desire to kill John for he still retained some fear of the man.  But, fear of God was something he had never cultivated and he did not want to appear to be weak in front of all of the assembled dignitaries, some of which had the ear of the emperor in Rome, so with bitterness and a pain that the wine could not cover he sent his guard and had John beheaded and the head brought to his wife and slut of a daughter on a silver charger.  After the "gift" was presented, the king weaved his way to bed. His door was locked when Herodias came to check on him and she laughed loudly as she turned and made her way to her chamber. 

There is much to admire about John the Baptist.  He was a man of principles and he knew the difference between right and wrong and was not afraid to tell a person when they were wrong. Yet, John knew his place and he knew that he would need to decrease as his cousin, Jesus, the Messiah would have to increase. He was to be the best man for the bridegroom and he knew his role was to make an exit at the right moment. Today, the Church honors this man by celebrating his birthday which shows that he is held in great esteem by the Church. His unswerving devotion to God and his testimony to righteousness in spite of personal consequences should serve as an example for us.  He was quite bright too, he never ate liver and onions! 

There Is No Small Sin

"Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do so

will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments

will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

When we think of Jesus we most often think of Him as kind, loving, gentle, and meek.  This is good because He is all of these things.  In today's Gospel reading we catch a glimpse of another facet of Jesus.  We see what I call Jesus the Prophet.  Today His words tell us that we are God's children and we are called to obey and he tells us that there are consequences when we disobey and commit sin. 

Sin happens anytime when we place our will above that of God's. Our Church wisely classifies sin into two types which are venial or less serious sin and a mortal sin which is a sin that does just what it says, it destroys the relationship between the person and God.  Praise God that all sin is forgivable through the sacrament of reconciliation which we can use to express our sorrow and receive assurance that we are truly forgiven for what we have done. 

While I agree that there are two types of sin and that every sin, no matter how grave can be forgiven, I want to talk a little about the nature of sin itself.  Father Larry told this story.  He was driving to work one day and a person cuts him off.  He lost his temper and mentioned things about the other driver's ancestry that would have amazed the driver had he been able to hear them.  This act of cussing out the man that offended him was, of course, a venial sin.  He did not know the person in the other car and he did not really mean the things he said so it was not a grave sin.  Now imagine the same circumstances but the other driver happened to be his mother.  He has the same reaction.  The sin would be greater because of the dignity of the person he was sinning against. 

This is why I say that there is no small sin. There are sins that are milder than some but every sin, no matter how small, no matter how venial, is an offense against God and it is no small thing. The wonderful thing about sin is that it always can be forgiven. God is always there with His arms outstretched waiting to hug us back into His family. 

So today, I challenge you to stop and think before you consider committing even the smallest sin and remember who it is you are offending.  I challenge you also if you haven't taken advantage of the Sacrament of  Reconciliation in a while, even if it has been years or decades, to consider swallowing your pride and approach the throne of grace to be received back into God's family.  Sometimes love does mean we have to say that we are sorry. 

Mary and The End Times - Fatima

The year was 1917 and the Blessed mother appeared to three simple shepherd children six times.  The children were Jacinta who was 7 at the time, Francisco age 9, and Lucia age 10.  What our Lady was that they were to warn the world about upcoming tribulations.  They were told that the first world war would end but if we did not change our ways another more terrible war would come. 

The apparitions began not with Mary but with an angel who identified himself as both the Angel of Peace and the Angel of Portugal.  The angel told the children that they mus pray and pray a great deal, "The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy for you.. Offer unceasingly to the Most High prayers and sacrifices."  In the autumn the angel brought them a chalice and bid them to, "Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful man. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God." 

The following spring, May 13, 1917, "a lady clothed in white, brighter than the sun, radiating a light more clear and intense than a crystal cup fill with sparkling water, lit by burning sunlight appeared to them.  Lucia asked what the lady wanted of them and was told that the lady came from heaven and told them to come to this spot on the 13th of each month at the same hour and later she would tell the children who she was and what she wanted. 

On June 13th the Lady told them to pray the rosary every day and once again she told them that she would tell them later what she wanted. 

On July 13th Lucia asked what she wanted the lady told her come on the 13th of next month and the pray the rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace.  Lucia again asked her who she was and if she could perform a miracle so that all present would believe. She asked the to cure some sick people and Mary replied some would be cured and others would not, all must say the rosary to obtain such graces.  She told them to sacrifice themselves for sinners and to say many times this prayer when making a sacrifice, "O Jesus it is for your love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."  Then the first secret of Fatima was revealed to the children.  She opened her hands and rays of light appeared and revealed a scene of poor souls in hell. She then revealed the second secret of Fatima and said to the children that they had seen the horrors of hell and to save poor sinners from going there Jesus wants to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. To do this she asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and to request a communion of reparation of the First Saturdays.   If we do this then Russia would be converted, if we didn't do this then there would be a terrible war, persecution of the Church and Russia would spread her errors throughout the world. The Third Secret was now revealed - more about that later. 

On August 13th the children were in custody and subjected to lengthy interrogations but in spite of this and in spite of being offered a large sum of money held their ground.  On August 19th the children saw Mary again. She told them to continue to pray the Rosary and that that in October there would would be a miracle so that all would believe. 

On September 13th Mary appeared again and told them pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war. 

On October 13, 1917 the sixth and final apparition happened. A crowd estimated at 70,000 found their way to the Cova because of reports that a great miracle would occur.  Rising into the air Mary opened her hands towards the sun. Then to the left of the sun the children saw St. Joseph from the chest up holding the Child Jesus.  They saw Our Lady dressed in blue and white, the colors of Our Lady of the Rosary and Lucia alone saw Our Lord dressed in red as the Divine Redeemer,  

The crowd saw none of this. But, when all of this began it was raining in the cova, Lucile told everyone to close their umbrellas which everyone immediately did.  The rain stopped and all the people were dry as was the formerly muddy ground!  The people looked up into the sky where they could see the sun and they were able to stare at it without hurting their vision.  The sun appeared to spin and dance in the sky and then it appeared to zig zag downward causing many to scream in terror and called out for mercy. 

The "Third Secret of Fatima" was written down by Sister Lucia and eventually made it way to the Vatican.  It was in an envelope that said it should not be opened until 1960.  Since 1960 each pope has had a chance to read the Third Secret and decide if it should be made public. None of the popes had it published.  

Today the Third Secret of Fatima can be read in its entirety (in Portuguese in Sister Lucia's hand if you want to) or in an English version.  The third secret is not much of a secret at all as it turns out.  It is written in an apocalyptic style and is a call for penance.  

Much has been made of this Third Secret of Fatima and why it was held secret until 1960.  It turns out the year 1960 was chosen not by Mary but by Lucia because she thought no one before that date would understand the message.   The third secret features a story of a bishop dressed in white (The Pope) walking through a war torn landscape littered with corpses.  The Pope is praying for the souls of the dead he encounters as he makes his towards a large wooden cross atop a hill.  In a hail of bullets he is mowed down. Is this a vision of things to come or is it a vision of something that has already occurred with the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul the Second or perhaps it encapsules the horrors of the twentieth century?  Lucia herself said she was given the secret but not the interpretation of it.  She said the interpretation was to be made by the Church.  

The Church itself says that the events shown in the Third Secret of Fatima belong to the past.  There is no revelation about the end of the world here.  

In spite of this, the Fatima message remains as important today as it was back in 1917.  We are called by our Blessed Mother to pray, pray, and pray some more.  We are called to make sacrifices and to do penance for our sins.  This message is as fresh today as it will be tomorrow.  The Fatima message is not just for those who came before us but rather is for us today as well. 

When we look at the events that are occurring in our world today we can see that the heart of man (generic - meaning men and women) has not changed so much since that rainy day in 1917.  In fact our hearts may have grown more tepid or in some cases even cold.  The commandments of God are watered down and since Roe v Wade we have gradually declined to where we are today.  Evil is slowly taking over the world and it is only through prayer that we Catholics will be able to slow and God help us, reverse the tide.

Our next destination will be a small town called Garabandal.