Posted on October 4, 2015 View all news
Laudetur Jesus Christus!
Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Praised be Jesus Christ!
I am happy to welcome the Germania Society to Old St. Mary’s for their annual celebratation. I welcome all members of Germania and any guest who may be with us. You are always welcome to Old St. Mary’s, the oldest standing place of worship within the City of Cincinnati and the only Church in these United States that offers a weekly Mass in Latin and German. Willkommen!
St. Francis of Assisi, whose Feast would be today except that today is Sunday, once said: “Let us pay attention, all brothers, to what the Lord says: Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you, for our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose footprints we must follow, called His betrayer ‘friend’ and gave Himself willingly to those who crucified Him. Our friends, then, are all those who unjustly afflict upon us trials and ordeals, shame and injuries, sorrows and torments, martyrdom and death; we must love them greatly for we will possess eternal life because of what they bring upon us.”
If Our Lord has taught us anything, it is that the path to Heaven is the way of suffering and sacrifice. Our world tells us to seek a comfortable life, a life of pleasure. However, the Lord and Creator of this world had no where to lay his head on that Christmas morning, except in an animal trough. The Lord and Redeemer had no pleasure in life, except to know that when he stretched out His hands and His feet on the cross that He was giving to each of us the opportunity to gain eternal life.
It is easy for us to hate our neighbor, it is easy to not treat people with charity, it is easy for us to look gloomy and down all of the time. However, this is the way of the world, and not the way that Christ showed us. We rejoice in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus, and so we should also rejoice in our own crosses, because through them we will gain eternal life.
This is a difficult task to do, however, but if we truly hope to become saints, basking in the eternal rays of Heaven, then this is what we must do. As we remember St. Francis of Assisi today, may we also call to mind his prayer we recite in the Stations of the Cross, “We Adore Thee O Christ and we praise Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Have a Blessed Week ahead!
