Year IV, Number 17

It says in the Gospel that “from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (Jn 19:27). This statement, the subject of many commentaries since early Christian times, does not simply point out the place where John lived. Beyond the material aspect, it evokes the spiritual dimension of this welcome and of the new bond established between Mary and John.

My dear young people, you are more or less the same age as John and you have the same desire to be with Jesus. Today, it is you whom Jesus expressly asks to receive Mary “into your home” and to welcome her “as one of yours”; to learn from her the one who “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19) that inner disposition to listen and the attitude of humility and generosity that singled her out as God’s first collaborator in the work of salvation. She will discharge her ministry as a mother and train you and mould you until Christ is fully formed in you (cf. Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 15).

This is why I now wish to repeat the motto of my episcopal and pontifical service: “Totus tuus”. Throughout my life I have experienced the loving and forceful presence of the Mother of Our Lord. Mary accompanies me every day in the fulfillment of my mission as Successor of Peter.

Mary is Mother of divine grace, because she is the Mother of the Author of grace. Entrust yourselves to her with complete confidence! You will be radiant with the beauty of Christ. Open up to the breath of the Spirit, and you will become courageous apostles, capable of spreading the fire of charity and the light of truth all around you. In Mary’s school, you will discover the specific commitment that Christ expects of you, and you will learn to put Christ first in your lives, and to direct your thoughts and actions to him.

Dear young people, you know that Christianity is not an opinion nor does it consist of empty words. Christianity is Christ! It is a Person, a Living Person! To meet Jesus, to love him and make him loved: this is the Christian vocation. Mary was given to you to help you enter into a more authentic and more personal relationship with Jesus. Through her example, Mary teaches you to gaze on him with love, for He has loved us first. Through her intercession, she forms in you a disciple’s heart able to listen to her Son, who reveals the face of his Father and the true dignity of the human person.

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

Hello. My question is concerning the careers God calls us to. I’ve been interested in psychology. I really feel for people and would like to help them in that way. But my question is, is the profession of psychology considered wrong by the Catholic Church? I’ve been praying a lot lately for God to grant me the wisdom to see what vocation he wants me to dedicate my life to. I really think I would be a good, helpful psychologist, but I’m not sure if it goes against anything of God or the Church. I’m really worried about this. Also, are there any special prayers that I can use so I can see and hear what God’s trying to tell me more fully in my daily life? Your time and help is greatly appreciated. God bless! Thanks.

- Kevin

A. Dear Kevin,

Like any science, psychology is of itself a good thing, on condition that it is well done. However, much of what is called psychology today is not scientific because it is based on prejudices rather than unbiased examination of the facts. It also tends to shun any knowledge about the human person supplied by philosophy or theology. The consequences can be, and are, pretty disastrous. If you are interested in psychology that is truly scientific and therefore will help you in your faith and allow you to help others in a true way, contact “Institute for the Psychological Sciences”, 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 102, Arlington, VA 22202 (ph: 703 - 416 - 1441, or by e-mail: cips1@erols.com

As regards prayers you can use so as to see and hear more fully what God is trying to tell you in your daily life, there are no “magical” prayers. What matters is your faith - remember when Jesus couldn’t work miracles because the people had no faith? - and your dispositions. However, there are some prayers that help us express our faith; they put the right words in our mouth so that we can make our heart follow them, and they show us how to ask God for what we need. The cardinal rule in prayer was given by Jesus: “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and you will receive everything else.” If you go to Mass and try to live it from beginning to end in the company of Mary, putting your whole heart and mind into each part and prayer, you will change your heart and become ever more open to God, and you will find you live your day differently. Also, pray the rosary, and you will see that your contemplation of the mysteries of Christ’s life will change your heart imperceptibly; plus, Mary’s intercession will get you the graces you need.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I'm a member of St. Vincent de Paul, junior conference. For some time now our group has been undergoing some change. One area that we need to address is that of spirituality. I was given the task to explore and suggest ways to address this topic. Personally, I do have my own struggles where my prayer life is concerned. However, there are those within the group who have admitted to not having much of a prayer life. Another thing is that very often we see a lack of or no balance when it comes to recreation and prayer. Recreation we do a lot of and sometimes give priority to. Thus I suggested that we get ourselves a spiritual director. My question is therefore: how do we go about choosing a spiritual director? What are the characteristics that we should look for? Thanking you for your time, God bless.

- Therese (Vincentian Youth)

A. Dear Therese

It is great to see you and your friends searching to improve, especially in the area of spirituality. You have all done some pretty honest self-examination as well, which surely means you are being led by the Holy Spirit. Don’t worry; after stirring you up like this he is not going to forget about you now and leave you all on your own looking for answers.

So, how can you find a spiritual director? Usually it is a safe bet to look for a priest. He has to be someone you already trust, and, in your case, who seems to love and understand young people. Look for a priest whose preaching really reaches you (substance, but practical and helpful), or one who spends a lot of time hearing confessions, or a chaplain in a school who does a lot of spiritual work with the kids (preaching, teaching, retreats, confessions). What you want is someone prudent and practical, balanced himself, and who has knowledge - although he doesn’t need to be a genius. It usually helps if he is energetic and generally tends to be optimistic, and not afraid of the truth. A priest like this will most probably be busy, but in all likelihood he will find the time to help you if you and your group really want to work. Oh, and he must live close enough for you all to be able to meet up easily enough.

God bless, and looking forward to hearing from you again.

- Fr Anthony

I truly wish Christ's love were something real for you, that you didn't pare him down to a nice idea, a trite cliché, or a pious reflection - but that you really and truly experienced him and came to feel his strength, attraction and sweetness to the point that you could stand up before the world and in all conviction shout out: "Who can separate me from the love of Christ?" (see Rom 8:35).

No matter if you've made a mistake, or are not as intelligent or as gifted as some, or all human support has let you down, Christ will always be there, calling you by name, as he was there by Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday (see Jn 20:16), the disciples of Emmaus whose hopes were shattered (see Lk 24:13...), and the sad apostles who spent their time in the upper room (see Lk 24:36...). Christ ever-present to bring hope, security and joy back to life in our hearts, and to restore meaning to our lives. What good would life be to us if we had not been saved?

Gospel: Mt 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come to you in prayer. I believe that you are my Creator and Redeemer, that you are the Son of God. Do not let me be blinded like the people in Nazareth who did not want to recognize your divinity. Lord, I hope in you. You are the source of true wisdom and power; give me confidence in your grace. Lord, I love you because you are infinitely lovable and because I must love you above all things. I know that if I open my heart to you in faith you will pour in your love. Accept this short time of prayer as a small token of my faith and love.

Petition: Lord, help me to know St. Joseph and the example he sets for me.

1. Simplicity

On May first, we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the worker. The gospels tell us very little about St. Joseph, so therefore we must ponder well the information we have. St Joseph was a carpenter. The people of Nazareth obviously did not regard him or his son as anyone special. They must have lived their lives in Nazareth with a great deal of simplicity going about their business, day in and day out, doing the little things that needed to be done. St. Joseph would not have stood out as anyone important or out of the ordinary. The simplicity of St. Joseph had its foundation in the desire to do the will of God. His one goal in life was to do what God wanted, whether it was in how he kept his household or how he treated his customers or how he carried out the mundane tasks that life brings. We can not imagine him attached to material things or trying to be noticed by others or in competition with his fellow townsmen to be honored or receive special distinction.

2. The Worker

St. Joseph was a worker. He made his living with his hands, crafting the necessities of everyday life. His work was much more than a simple necessity for sustenance. The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, wished to become the son of a carpenter and spend most of his life engaged in manual labor, adds a new dimension to the work of Joseph and to all human work. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, wrote in his Encyclical Laborem Exercens, “The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God himself, his Creator, was given particular prominence by Jesus Christ – the Jesus at whom many of his first listeners in Nazareth ‘were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him?... is not this the carpenter?”’ For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by his deeds the ‘gospel,’ the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to him. Therefore this was also ‘the gospel of work,’ because he who proclaimed it was himself a man of work, a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth.” St. Joseph, together with Jesus, participated in this “gospel of work” seeing in his manual labor a participation in the work of God the Creator.

3. Where does wisdom come from?

Although Christ was God, he was also truly a man, and that means he received his formation from his parents. It was Mary and Joseph who taught him to pray, who taught him the value of human work, and who formed him in the virtues of honesty, sincerity, and perseverance. In the humanity of Jesus we can know the characteristics of his human parents. Christ’s wisdom is a supernatural wisdom, but there is no doubt that it was formed and cultivated by St. Joseph, who must have had many conversations with his son, who must himself have been a person of deep reflection. Like Mary, he would have pondered everything in his heart.

Dialogue: Lord, I want to live my life with simplicity like St. Joseph, content with doing your will, nothing more and nothing less. Teach me the redemptive value of the simple and mundane things in life. Grant me the wisdom and faith that come from an ordinary life well-lived. I do not want to be like the people in Nazareth who could not recognize your divinity because they did not have faith.

Questionnaire:

1. How firmly do I really believe? Do I live my life with simplicity like St. Joseph seeking only to do the will of God?

2. What meaning does my human work have for me? Do I see my work as a participation in the creative work of God?

3. Do I see past the humanity of Christ into the depths of his divinity, or am I like the people of Nazareth, not wanting to recognize that he is more than just “the carpenter’s son”? How frequently and insistently do I ask god for a living, vibrant faith?

For many (in post-World War II Russia), hope came in the sacraments through the daily sacrifice of a priest. He came on foot, on bicycle, maybe on motorcycle if he was blessed enough, and through Holy Orders and a carefully preserved knapsack of sacramentals he brought them the Eucharist and the mercy of Christ. He was a priest that had eighteen villages under his care, four Masses every Sunday, and twenty-eight hours a week of catechism.

Fr Johannes Jenke at forty-three bicycled between twenty-five villages and died in a roadside ditch on the way to celebrating his fourth Sunday Mass. Another priest whose demanding ministry finally sent him to the hospital with a few days to live had one regret: that on his bicycle he could not reach all those in need of the last rites. These itinerant fathers lived in small rusty tin huts. Their tabernacle was a cigar box or desk drawer, and they would sleep, rise, and work in the presence of the Most High. Were they more blessed than their three thousand brother priests who were killed outright by the Nazis and Communists for defending the faith, innocent women, and the sacred places? We’ll only know in heaven.

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

Sacramento, CA, May 13-14, 2003, Young Men's Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Br Robert DeCesare at sgomez@legionaries.org or (916) 716-5506. Price: $15.

Cheshire, CT, May 16-18, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Br Branigan Sherman at vocation@legionaries.org or (800) 420-5409. Price: none.

Cornwall, ONT, May 16-18, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Fr William Slattery at wslattery@legionaries.org or (613) 931-1920. Price: none.

Pasadena, CA, May 18, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-27. Contact Fr Thomas Maher at tmaher@legionaries.org or (626) 792-0447.

Rome, Italy, May 23-30, 2003. Pilgrimage for college-aged men and high school seniors. Contact Karolee Stauduhar at kstauduhar@msn.com or (407) 869-8263.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

Atlanta, GA, May 5, 2003, Young Women's Spiritual Growth Retreat. Ages 17-30. Contact Dorrie Donahue at ddonahue@inteducators.org or (770) 417-1045.

Los Angeles, CA, May 18, 2003, Young Women's Spiritual Growth Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Magdalena Faine at mfaine@inteducators.org or (562) 597-6352.

Washington DC, May 19, 2003, Young Women's Spiritual Growth Retreat. Ages 17-30. Contact Lucy Honnor at lhonnor@inteducators.org or (301) 536-6931.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony McDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. amacdonnell@arcol.org.

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