A prayer from St Augustine

Lord Jesus, let me know myself; and let me know You, and desire nothing else but You.

Let me love myself only if I love you, and do all things for Your sake.

Let me humble myself and exalt You, and think of nothing else but You.

Let me die to myself and live in You, and take whatever happens as coming from You.

Let me forsake myself and walk after You, and ever desire to follow You.

Let me flee from myself and turn to You, so that I may merit to be defended by You.

Let me fear for myself, let me fear You and be among those chosen by You.

Let me distrust myself and trust in You, and ever obey for the love of You.

Let me cleave to nothing but You, and ever be poor because of You.

Look upon me that I may love You.

Call me that I may see You, and forever possess You, for all eternity.

When everything goes wrong......

                  
What to do when things go wrong around you?

There are days when everything you do seems to be going wrong. Projects you plan to do are disrupted by sheer misfortune. An e-mail you sent was taken the wrong way. You overhear untrue negative things said about you. Your favorite teams keeps losing one match after another. Comments from people who should appreciate you, seem to hurt you. etc, etc, etc. What can you do when such things happen? Some suggestions may help......

1.        Accept the present situation.

2.        Stick to the present. Rather than worrying about the future or dwelling on the past, focus on what is actually happening now and what is actually in your power to do now.

3.        Differentiate what you can and what you cannot change.

4.        Take one step, then another. Even if they're just baby steps, keep moving.

5.        Rather than focusing on the worst case, think instead of what else is possible.

6.        Look for the lesson. Challenging situations can often teach us what we have left to learn.

7.        Keep a positive attitude by remaining focused on solutions, skills, and strengths.

8.        Spend time with the people who support you.

9.        Appreciate the things going well, enjoy simple pleasures, and try to find the hidden gifts in the difficult times.

10.     Take care of yourself. Pray.

11.     Treat yourself with love and respect.

12.     Give it the test of time. Ask yourself if this will mean the same thing in one, five, or 10 years.

13.     Move your body, even if it's just walking for 10 minutes.

14.     Laugh. Watch a comedy. Call up a bubbly friend. Consider the stand-up routine version of this situation.

15.     Help someone else in need.

16.     Write. Vent your frustrations about this situation, brainstorm strategies to get out of it, or write about a more positive time in your life.

17.     Find a creative outlet.

18.     Read and reread motivational, inspirational, or encouraging words from others.

19.     Get outdoors and get inspired. Watch the sun rise or set. Listen to the birds. Take it all in to gain perspective.

20.     Give yourself a minute to regroup. Assess damages, sort out what can and cannot be done. Be patient.

Saint Julian

Today my hometown celebrates the feast of Saint Julian, usually culminating with a festive procession with the statue of the saint, crafted out of paper-mache by Carlo Darmanin in 1893. Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, this has been suspended for the second time, as are all feasts all over Malta. Born in Belgium, St Julian was a hunter, mostly hunting deer. One day he saw a big deer who spoke to him, and told him ‘Please do not shoot me – remember that one day you will kill your own parents.’ Fearing this terrible fate of his, Julian left home and wandered around Belgium, not informing his parents of his whereabouts. He got married to his wife Margerita and lived happily in a small town. Distraught and heart-broken, his parents started searching for him, and eventually reached the town where he was living. They found his house and his wife greeted them kindly and since they were tired, she let them sleep in her own bed. Another man, jealous of Julian and his wife, met Julian on his way back from hunting and told him that his wife was sleeping with another man. Furious and disappointed, Julian went inside his house and found the two people sleeping in his bed, and without any thought, took his sword and decapitated them. A bigger surprise greeted him when he went outside and met his wife coming towards home with a big smile to tell him of the good news that his parents were home. Realizing what he had done, Julian cried and cried and was inconsolable. 

He decided there and then to dedicate his life to help the poor and the sick, and even built a hospital to care for the sick in the area where he and his wife lived. He had to redeem himself of the sin of parricide that he had committed. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but still wanted to amend of his mistake and devoted his entire life to help the sick. One day he heard the cry of a sick man, and went out in the middle of the night to save him. He cared for him in his hospital, but all of a sudden the man’s countenance turned very bright and told Julian “your sin has been forgiven.” St Julian is known as the patron saint of hunters and hospitaliers, as well as doctors and nurses and those who care for the sick.

St Augustine and St Monica

The feast of St Augustine is placed just one day after that of his mother St Monica. Spending her entire life praying for his conversion, she certainly deserved to become a Saint herself. Augustine was born in the city of Tagaste, Algeria, in 354 AD to a Christian mother. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. Living as a pagan intellectual, he took a concubine and became a Manichean. Later he converted to Christianity, being baptized by St Ambrose, and became a bishop of Hippo, a Latin Father and Doctor of the Church, and is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. Some of his writings are strictly autobiographical, even though very theological in thought. The Confessions, which is often called the first Western autobiography are still read around the world. His mother prayed for his conversion all her life, and she died just before returning back to Africa, where she was born in Algeria. She had two other children Navigius and Perpetua from her husband Patricius, who was not nice to his wife, although he converted before his death.

As a young man before his conversion, Augustine taught in North Africa, Carthage and Rome. It was only when he arrived in Milan that his life started to change. In the summer of 386, after having read an account of the life of Saint Anthony of the Desert which greatly inspired him, Augustine underwent a profound personal crisis and decided to convert to Catholic Christianity, abandon his career in rhetoric, quit his teaching position in Milan, give up any ideas of marriage, and devote himself entirely to serving God and the practices of priesthood, which included celibacy. Key to this conversion was the voice of an unseen child he heard while in his garden in Milan telling him in a sing-song voice to tolle lege ("take up and read"). He grabbed the nearest text to him, which was Paul's Epistle to the Romans and opened it at random to 13:13-14, which read: "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Ambrose baptized Augustine, along with his son, Adeodatus, on Easter Vigil in 387 in Milan, and soon thereafter in 388 he returned to Africa. In 391 he was ordained a priest and became a famous preacher, while 5 years later he was made bishop of Hippo. Augustine died on August 28, 430. 

30 Ways to be happy

1. Eat nutritious and healthy food.  2. Be kind to others.  3. Do a little exercise daily.  4. Meditate.  5. Be honest.  6. Dream big. 7.  Be patient with those around you. 8.  Judge less. 9.  Smile often. 10.  Love and respect yourself. 11.  Forgive more often and quickly. 12.  Be grateful towards others. 13.  Be positive. 14. Drink plenty of water. 15.  Believe in yourself and your potential. 16.  Have your mind open to new learning. 17.  Be aware of your own needs. 18.  Don’t bring any excuses. 19.  Learn to speak kindly of others. 20.  Listen and understand what others are saying. 21.  Facing fear, have enough faith to help you through. 22.  Do your best in every circumstance. 23.  Be self-disciplined. 24.  Look at the glass always as half-full. 25.  Do not compare yourself to others. 26.  Look at failures and mistakes as opportunities. 27. Recognize who your true friends are. 28.  Be ready to give your opinion. 29.  Try to ignore whatever cannot be changed. 30.  Sleep well and enough. (And one for good luck – I am happy that I am still fairly healthy and busy on turning 69 today!)

Who is Jesus to you?

To the artist, He is what is beautiful.

To the architect, He is the foundation.

To the baker, He is the bread of life.

To the banker, He is a hidden treasure.

To the biologist, He is the life.

To the builder, He is the cornerstone.

To the woodworker, He is the door.

To the doctor, He is the biggest specialist.

To the educator, He is the best teacher.

To the engineer, He is the only solution.

To the flower-seller, He is a bouquet.

To the chef, He is a perfect meal.

To the gardener, He is the most beautiful flower.

To the judge, He is true justice.

To the jeweller, He is the perfect diamond.

To the philosopher, He is the wisdom of God.

To the sculptor, He is a living stone.

To the servant, He is a good Master.

To the theologian, He is the author of faith.

To the sinner, He is forgiveness.

To all men and women, He is their Savior.

To God, He is ‘my beloved Son.’

A Franciscan Blessing

                   
May God bless you with discomfort,

At easy answers, half-truths,

And superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart.

 

May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression,

And exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

 

May God bless you with tears,

To shed for those who suffer pain,

Rejection, hunger and war,

So that you may reach out your hand

To comfort them and to turn their pain to joy.

 

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

St Bartholomew

All that is known of St Bartholomew with certainty is that he is mentioned in the Gospels and Acts as one of the twelve apostles. His name means "son of Tolomai" (or Ptolemy) and scholars believe he is the same as Nathanael mentioned in John’s Gospel, who says he is from Cana and that Jesus called him an "Israelite...incapable of deceit, a person in whom there is no guile." He was a close friend of St Philip, because they are always mentioned together. After the Ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India. Other traditions record him as serving in Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt. Along with St Jude, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Thus both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church. However, it is in Greater Armenia that Bartholomew saw his end where he was flayed or skinned and beheaded by King Astyages. The famous Last Judgment painting by Michelangelo shows St Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin. The face of the skin is recognizable as Michelangelo's, as if the artist wanted to show how much he suffered under Pope Julius, who wanted the Last Judgment finished sooner.

Of the many miracles performed by St. Bartholomew before and after his death, two very popular ones are known by the townsfolk of the small island of Lipari, off the coast of Italy. When St. Bartholomew's body was found off the shore, the Bishop ordered many men to take the body to the Cathedral. When this failed due to its extreme weight, the Bishop then sent out the children. The children easily brought the body ashore.
The people of the island of Lipari celebrate his feast day annually. The tradition of the people was to take the solid silver and gold statue from inside the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew and carry it through the town. On one occasion, when taking the statue down the hill towards the town during a procession, it suddenly got very heavy and had to be set down. They managed to lift it but had to put it down a few more times. Within seconds, walls further downhill collapsed. If the statue had been able to be lifted, all of the townspeople would have been killed.
During World War II, the Italian Fascist regime looked for ways to finance their activities. The order was given to take the silver statue of the Saint and melt it down. The statue was weighed, and it was found to be only several ounces. It was returned to its place in the Cathedral of Lipari. In reality, the statue is made from many pounds of silver and it is considered a miracle that it was not melted down.

‘We are burning’

I thought this brief essay by Maltese journalist Anna Maria Galea in the 'Times of Malta,' which was featured last Sunday, August 15, entitled ‘We are burning,’ hits the nail on the head on the present situation with global warming. I share with you the salient points:

It’s sobering to think that while my grandparents battled the infernal fires of World War II, my generation have a very different kind of explosion on their hands. Our parents bought us the ‘Save the Whale’ T-shirts, plonk­ed us in front of the television to the soothing sounds of David Attenborough telling us that we were decimating the only planet that we can inhabit, and booked us into school activities detailing the finer points of ozone layer thinning. Yet even now, many of that generation have done precious little to reverse their great-grandchildren’s fate. No wonder everyone under 35 has anxiety. The images from the past few weeks have been heart-breaking. An old Greek woman crying out in anguish as her house burns down, a woman dressed in combat gear with a bottle of water in her pocket almost casually looking on as an inferno rages in Turkey. Beaches burning in Catania. Fires in Oregon and California. Floods and destruction in Germany. Rain fell in parts of Greenland for the first time in history! Apocalyptic images out of films that almost look computer-generated. And true to our short-sighted selves, we continue to fiddle while the world burns. Just like Nero did when Rome was burning.

It was almost comical to see the climate change naysayers come out last week as if they weren’t living on this smouldering piece of rock like the rest of us. As if they are somehow impervious to heat. I didn’t need the UN secretary-gene­ral to say that the IPCC Working Group 1 Report is a code red for humanity. Now I’m not saying that Malta, given its size, was ever going to be able to make a huge impact on the bigger picture even if we were all to become ultra environmentally conscious. If the climate continues to take this trajectory, Malta will become a veritable desert in just a couple of generations. And for all those whose parents didn’t prop them in front of the television to watch scientific docu­mentaries, the more we build and overbuild and the more we continue to chop down trees and fill everything with concrete, the hotter we make our land and the more we acce­lerate our desertification.

We are in a state of global emergency, and it is the job of the people in power to ensure that we do whatever small bit we can to at the very least slow this process down and give the earth, and ourselves, time to heal. We need to educate people to use resources differently. We need to stop living on this planet as if we have another one to go to; we don’t.

Mary, Queen of Heaven

Mary the Queen of Heaven or the Queenship of Mary, is a Catholic feast day, created by Pope Pius XII on October 11, 1954, The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month but Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22, one week after the feast of the Assumption. Assumed into heaven, Mary is with Jesus Christ, her divine son. Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood of Jesus Christ, her only son, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation. In a way we can say that many feasts of Mary parallel those of Jesus. We have His Ascension and her Assumption, we have his suffering on Good Friday, and her feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. We have his birthday on Christmas and her birthday on September 8. We have his conception in Mary's womb on March 25, and her conception in St Anne’s womb on December 8.Most of the images and paintings of Mary portray her with the child Jesus and others with St Joseph. Yet there is quite a portfolio of paintings that has Mary being crowned. Accentuating the positive, it is better to see Mary being crowned with angels around her, instead of seeing her suffer under the cross of Jesus, and yet both are important to emphasize, because one would not have been possible without the other. 

 The prayer mostly associated with her role as Queen is: 

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 

It is said that when St Bernard heard these words being sung in a church, he uttered the words: O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! And his words were then added to this prayer.

Pope St Pius X

Saint Pius X was born on June 2, 1835, his name being Giuseppe Sarto. He was one of 11 children, and though poor, his parents valued education, and Giuseppe walked 3 miles to school each day. Pius X was a fervent reformer of Church practices and regulations such as the Canon Law, his most important reform, which for the first time codified Church law in a central fashion. He was a pastoral pope, encouraging personal piety and a life-style reflecting Christian values. Pope Pius X was a Marian Pope and also the only Pope in the 20th century with extensive pastoral experience at the Parish level and pastoral concerns permeated his papacy. The Catechism of Pope Pius X is short and direct. His teachings were considered equally down to earth and practical. He favored the use of modern language in Catechesis. Frequent communion was a lasting innovation of Pius X, because before his time, people could only receive communion once a month and, on special occasions, on Sunday. He was also instrumental in introducing the custom of First Holy Communion for young children. Like his predecessor, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) Pius opposed modernism, a school of thought, which claimed that Catholic dogma itself should be modernized and blended with 19th Century philosophies. Personally Pius combined within himself a strong sense of compassion, benevolence, poverty, but also stubbornness, and a certain stiffness. He wanted to be pastor and was the only Pope in the 20th century who gave Sunday sermons every week. His charity was extraordinary, filling the Vatican with refugees from the 1908 Messina quake, long before the Italian government began to act on its own. He rejected any kind of favors for his family, his brother remained a postal clerk, his favorite nephew stayed on as village priest, and his three sisters lived together close to poverty in Rome.  He often referred to his own humble origins, taking up the causes of poor people. “I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor." Considered a holy person by many, public veneration of Pope Pius X began soon after his death. He died August 20, 1914 and was canonized in 1954, after his body was exhumed and displayed under a side-altar where priests can celebrate Mass, many of which I was lucky to serve as an altar boy in 1966.

St Bernard and the Blessed Mother

We celebrate today the feast of Saint Bernard, (1090-1153) the primary builder of the Cistercian Monastic order. He was also very devoted to the Blessed Mother having written various prayers in her honor. The above painting by Juan de las Roelas from 1611, seems strange for some people, but it reflects the nurturing instinct that Mary had on St Bernard. Mary is seen squeezing her breast to feed Bernard with her maternal milk, showing herself as a spiritual provider of food as any mother would see that her children are fed, physically and spiritually.

This is one of the prayers written by St Bernard.
O you, whoever you are, who feel in the tidal wave of this world you are nearer to being tossed about among the squalls and gales than treading on dry land, if you do not want to fall apart in the tempest, do not avert your eyes from the brightness of the star, Mary, Your Mother. When the wind of temptation blows up within you, when you strike upon the rock of tribulation, gaze up at the Star, call out to Mary, Your Mother. When you are being tossed about by the waves of pride, or ambition, slander or jealousy, gaze up at the Star, Mary, Your Mother. When rage or greed or fleshly desires are battering against the protective shield of your soul, gaze up at Mary, Your Mother. When the immensity of your sins weighs you down and you are bewildered by your heavy conscience, when the terrifying thought of judgement appals you, and you begin to lose heart in the gulf of sadness and despair, think of Mary, Your Mother.
Keep her name on your lips, Keep her in your heart. Follow the example of her life and you will obtain the favor of her prayer. Following in her footsteps, you will not go astray. Asking for help, you will not fall into despair: thinking of her you will not err. While she keeps hold of your hand, you will not fall or stumble. With her protecting you, you will not be afraid. With her leading you, you will not tire. Enjoying her protection, you will reach the goal. Her kindness will see you through the end.

2021- The coldest summer

One of the headlines in a local newspaper was very thought-provoking, and they are probably 100 % right! It said ‘This is the coldest summer you will ever experience for the rest of your life!’ Since we are experiencing one heat-wave after another (three of them so far in Malta), they are preparing us for much warmer temperatures in the future. And so we have to appreciate this summer, which could very well be the coolest one for the next few centuries. Let us do our part. I did mine - I stopped driving, I do more walking, use less plastic and always pray for rain and respect towards ecology and nature. 

The lazy bird

The king was given two beautiful, colorful birds. He placed them in the garden of his palace, and while one of them flew back and forth and sang beautiful songs, the other one just stayed on a branch and hardly moved at all. The king asked some experts in ornithology to see what he can do to make the other bird move around and chirp his day away. Nothing happened. The king even offered a sum of money to anyone who could somehow move the bird from his branch. Still nothing happened and the bird remained as frozen as an icicle. Finally a farmer showed up and told the king he could easily move the bird. All of a sudden the bird was flying around and singing his merry life away. But before the king gave the money he had promised to the farmer, he asked him what he did to make the bird fly. The farmer said: ‘It was very easy, your Majesty – I just cut off the branch on which he was resting.’ So many of us resemble that lazy bird. We feel comfortable with our easy going life. We commit sin, we hurt other people, we cause pain on the vulnerable, and we stay attached to our life, and to the selfish lifestyle with no desire to change and improve our relationship with the Lord. It’s only when we get dis-attached to our comfort zone that we can really fly, and do wonderful, productive and enriching projects with our lives. It is only when we let go of our old self, that we can discover beautiful ventures ahead of us. Like the lazy bird who shared joy and beauty after he left the branch on which he rested.

The other side of Messi

                  
Lionel Messi just got a new contract with the French team Paris Saint Germain, after playing for 17 years with Barcelona in Spain. He is a true goal machine as he scores frequently and often inventive goals, 700 of them so far. Another side of Messi which people may not know about is his generosity in paying the breakfast for 15,000 children in Mozambique, precisely in 40 different schools. Thanks to his generosity, the children are also attending school, because otherwise, many of them would skip classes altogether. The coordinator of this project is Fr Juan Gabriel Arias, an Argentinian priest who has been serving at a parish of St Benedict in Magundze, 150 miles from the capital city Maputo. He went there 3 years ago, and stayed for good.

Fr Tancred Sultana – RIP

Another of my classmates was called to eternal life on Sunday July 18. He was actually preparing to start serving in a parish in Gibraltar for a few weeks, as he usually does every summer. Our prayers go out to his family and the community of Hamrun, where he grew up and where he served for the past years. His funeral will be held today at Hamrun parish. I have known Tancred since 1970 when we started our journey to the priesthood at the Seminary in Floriana. We were ordained together with 12 other classmates on June 19, 1977. 

Anniversary Mass 2017 - Fr Tancred is second on the right, next to me.

Incidentally, just a month ago, we celebrated our 44th anniversary with a Mass at my chapel in Hilltop Gardens and then enjoyed lunch together, our first meeting in 18 months, since Covid-19 started. Tancred worked at the Chancery for many years, as well as the office of the Marriage Tribunal. During our last Mass together he recalled how much he enjoyed visiting the elderly in his parish at Hamrun when he was newly-ordained, spending good quality time talking to the elderly, who were often alone and lonely. He is the second classmate to pass away after Fr Teddy Cumbo from Luqa parish died on January 14, 2018.

The Assumption of Mary

The Assumption mosaic at the Rosary chapel in Lourdes

A mid-summer solemnity is the one we celebrate today - that of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother, a dogma of faith that was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on November 1st, 1950. In his encyclical “Munificentissimus Deus” the Pope solemnly declared “we pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma, that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” More than half the parishes in Malta are dedicated to the Blessed Mother, 10 of them precisely to the Assumption, and today, normally processions are held in each of them. However this year, as was the case last year, they have been suspended because of the coronavirus. The interior celebrations are held just the same with the churches decorated in their best outfit. Among the most priceless paintings of the Assumption of Mary is the above mosaic in the Chapel of the Rosary in Lourdes, one of 20 that depict the mysteries of the Rosary, 15 of them done over 100 years ago, while the last 5 of the Luminous mysteries crafted 10 years ago.

St Maximilian Kolbe

Maximilian was born in January 1894 in Poland and was one of 5 sons to his devout parents. He contracted tuberculosis and, though he recovered, he remained frail all his life. In 1907 Kolbe and his elder brother Francis decided to join the Conventual Franciscans. During his time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Popes St. Pius X and Benedict XV in Rome and was inspired to organize the Militia Immaculata, or Army of Mary, to work for conversion of sinners and the enemies of the Catholic Church through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. The Immaculata friars utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing catechetical and devotional leaflets, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million. After receiving a doctorate in theology, he spread the Movement through a magazine entitled "The Knight of the Immaculata" and helped form a community of 800 men.
Maximilian went to Japan where he built a monastery and then on to India where he furthered the Movement. In 1936 he returned home because of ill health. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, he was imprisoned and released for a time. He provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary in Niepokalanów. He was also active as a radio amateur, with Polish call letters SP3RN, vilifying Nazi activities through his reports. On February 17, 1941 he was arrested again by the German Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison, and on May 25 was transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner #16670. In July 1941 a man from Kolbe's barracks vanished, prompting the deputy camp commander to pick 10 men from the same barracks to be starved to death in Block 13 (notorious for torture), in order to deter further escape attempts. One of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe volunteered to take his place. The guards accepted this move, and Francizek was spared and eventually lived until the late 1990s. During the time in the cell St Maximilian led the men in songs and prayer. After three weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe and three others were still alive. Finally he was murdered with an injection of carbolic acid. Father Kolbe was beatified as a confessor by Pope Paul VI in 1971 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982 in the presence of Franciszek Gajowniczek and his family.

Carlo Acutis stained glass

The church of San Giuseppe in Molfetta, Italy, has already installed the first stained glass window depicting Blessed Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old beatified last year on October 10, 2020 by Pope Francis. His image—in jeans and sneakers—clashes with the traditional stained glass windows to which we are accustomed, and shows that holiness is closer to us than we think. The window depicts the 15-year-old Carlo walking in jeans, sneakers, a red windbreaker and a backpack. He smiles, and his expression shows joy and approachability. He is instantly recognizable to those who are familiar with the photos of the young man which have become ubiquitous on Catholic internet. We’ve never seen anything like it: the image of a contemporary adolescent, a blessed who transmitted the Gospel through social networks. The church of San Giuseppe of Molfetta has four side chapels. The church contains images of saints and blesseds who have incarnated the Salesian message, which were commissioned to an Italian artist, Maria Bonaduce. The windows of the chapels on the left represent three saints: St. Philip Neri, St. Francis de Sales, and St. John Bosco. The chapels on the right depict three Italian blesseds: Carlo Acutis, Chiara Badano and Pier Giorgo Frassati. In the image Acutis carries a laptop computer, his tool for giving testimony. He is illuminated by the Eucharist that guides him like a sun. This young Italian died in 2006 of acute leukaemia.  During his life, Carlo Acutis was a great fan of video games, and created a website where he promoted Eucharistic miracles. In the midst of today’s mindset that invites us to worry only about ourselves and encourages us to satisfy all our desires, whatever they may be, Acutis says that “happiness is looking towards God and sadness is looking only towards oneself.”

Beating heatwaves

As the entire world is baking with one heat-wave after another, maybe these 3 photos from my years in Baker City, Oregon can help alleviate some of the discomfort many are experiencing right now, and pray for a little relief. I'll guarantee that our prayers for some cooler weather will be answered, unfortunately, 6 months from now. But in the meantime, I hope that looking at these photos will bring you some temporary relief, besides finding a fan or an air-conditioned room, and drinking plenty of water.

St Clare

Clare was a beautiful Italian noblewoman who became the Foundress of an order of nuns now called "Poor Clares." She was born July 16, 1194, as Chiara Offreduccio. When she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach, her heart burned with a great desire to imitate Francis and to live a poor humble life for Jesus. So one evening, she ran away from home, and in a little chapel outside Assisi, gave herself to God. St. Francis cut off her hair and gave her a rough brown habit to wear, tied with a plain cord around her waist. Her parents tried in every way to make her return home, but Clare would not. Soon her sister Agnes joined her, as well as other young women who wanted to be brides of Jesus, and live without any money. St. Clare and her sisters wore no shoes, ate no meat, lived in a poor house, and kept silent most of the time. Yet they were very happy, because Our Lord was close to them all the time. Once, He saved them from a great danger in answer to St. Clare's prayer. An army of rough soldiers came to attack Assisi and they planned to raid the convent first. Although very sick, St. Clare had herself carried to the wall and right there, where the enemies could see it, she had the Blessed Sacrament placed. Then on her knees, she begged God to save the Sisters. "O Lord, protect these Sisters whom I cannot protect now," she prayed. A voice seemed to answer: "I will keep them always in My care." At the same time a sudden fright struck the attackers and they fled as fast as they could. St. Clare was sick and suffered great pains for many years, but she said that no pain could trouble her. She died on August 11, 1253.  Many stories and allegorical tales have been created with St Francis and St Clare, including the popular movie and phrase “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.” But the fact is that both St Clare and St Francis laid a foundation for what to become one of the most influential orders of priests, friars and sisters, the Franciscans. Many other Orders splintered from the original Franciscans, but the foundation of each group remained always a life of poverty and good Christian example, a life detached from the materialism of this world. How much we can learn from them in this age of materialism and consumerism!

St Lawrence

Fresco of St Lawrence helping the poor, by Fra Angelico

Saint Lawrence was one of seven deacons in Rome who were in charge of giving help to the poor and the needy. When a persecution broke out, Pope St. Sixtus was condemned to death. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed him weeping, "Father, where are you going without your deacon?" he said. "I am not leaving you, my son," answered the Pope. "in three days you will follow me." Full of joy, Lawrence gave to the poor the rest of the money he had on hand and even sold expensive vessels, chalices and candlesticks to have more to give away. The Prefect of Rome, a greedy pagan, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. So he ordered Lawrence to bring the Church's treasure to him. The Saint said he would, in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people supported by the Church and lined them all up. When he showed them to the Prefect, he said: "This is the Church's treasure!" In great anger, the Prefect condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The Saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little, but Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames. In fact, he even joked, "Turn me over," he said to the judge. "I'm done on this side!" And just before he died, he said, "It's cooked enough now." Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic faith might spread all over the world. After that, he went to receive the martyr's reward. St Lawrence is one of thousands of martyrs who were mercilessly killed by the ruthless Emperors in the first 300 years of Christianity. Others were crucified, sent to the lions, beheaded, burned, tied to a tree and arrows shot at them, others were skinned or had parts of their body taken out or cut off. With St Stephen he is the patron saint of deacons.

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942)

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was a German-Jewish philosopher, nun, a martyr and a highly unusual saint of the Catholic Church. Born into an observant Jewish family in Breslau, a German province of Prussia on October 12, 1891, she was named Edith and her family name was Stein. Edith was a very gifted child who enjoyed learning. She greatly admired her mother's strong faith; however, by her teenage years Stein had become an atheist. In 1916, she received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Göttingen, and soon afterwards became a member of the faculty in Freiburg.
While Stein had earlier contacts with Catholicism, it was her reading of the autobiography of the mystic St. Teresa of Ávila on a holiday in Göttingen in 1921 that caused her conversion. She was eventually baptized on January 1, 1922, gave up her job at Freiburg and started to teach at a Dominican girls' school in Speyer from 1922 to 1932. In a letter to Pope Pius XI, she denounced the Nazi regime and asked the Pope to openly denounce the regime "to put a stop to this abuse of Christ's name.” Although she never received an answer, in 1937, Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical written in German, "Mit Brennender Sorge," in which he criticized Nazism, and condemned anti-semitism. I’m sure her letter had some influence on this.

As Edith Stein, before she became a Carmelite.

She entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery Our Lady of Peace at Cologne in 1933 and took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Although she moved from Germany to the Netherlands to avoid Nazi persecution, in 1942 she was not safe there. The Dutch Bishops had a public statement read in all the churches of the country in July 1942, condemning Nazi racism. In a retaliatory response a few weeks later, the Reichskomissar ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts, who had previously been spared. Sr. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a convert, were captured and shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they were gassed on August 9, 1942 when Edith was only 50. Edith Stein was canonized as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross by Pope John Paul II in 1998; however, she is also often referred to as "Saint Edith Stein".