ABVM PARISH COMMUNITY

  LOVE IN MARRIAGE AS A MODEL FOR ALL In the Gospels Jesus is asked which is the greatest of the Commandments.   The answer, of course, is that one must love the Lord thy God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength, and one’s neighbor as oneself.   Jesus tells the disciples at the Last Supper that if they love him, they must keep his commandments, especially his new commandment, which is to love one another as he has loved them.   These are inspiring words, but when we speak of love it needs to be specified.   Love of the Father, love of Jesus, and love of neighbor must be expressed in concrete acts.   Feelings and emotions are involved in all love, but true love goes beyond them.   Feelings and emotions are fickle, but love is steadfast and unending.   Such love is expressed not in how I feel but in what I do.   Jesus taught his disciples: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.   Greater love...

  ABRAHAM, OUR FATHER IN FAITH The Old Testament reading for Mass today relates part of the mysterious encounter of Abraham with three “visitors” as he sat at the entrance of his tent in Mamre on a hot afternoon.   Abraham shows them hospitality and prepares a meal for them.   After they eat, one of them says to Abraham that his wife Sarah will bear a son, although she is beyond child-bearing years.   God keeps the promise he made to Abraham when he called him to leave his own country and kindred to wander in a land he did not know.   And I will make of you a great nation…and by you all the families of the earth will bless themselves (Gen 12:2-3). Who were these three men?   Christian iconography sees in them the Persons of the Holy Trinity.   This encounter is a theophany, an appearance of God in the Old Testament.   Interestingly, in the original Hebrew language the three men are sometimes addressed in the singular form by Abraham, and somet...

  MARTYRS OF CONSCIENCE On June 22 the Church’s Calendar of Saints commemorates the sixteenth century martyrdom of two prominent Englishmen who refused to accept the validity of the king’s divorce and remarriage, as well as his claim to be the temporal head of the Church in England (and thus his power to declare his marriage to Catherine of Aragon as null and void).   They did not openly oppose the king or foment rebellion against him, but they would not obey the order to sign the oath of supremacy since their Catholic conscience would not permit it.   King Henry VIII had them arrested.   Saint John Fisher was a leading intellectual in his day, the first administrator of the University of Cambridge, and the longtime bishop of the humble diocese of Rochester.   He had a reputation as an excellent preacher and wrote works in defense of the Catholic faith against the errors of Martin Luther.   Many of his sermons can be read today with great spiritual prof...

  WISDOM FROM THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY Carved on memorial blocks in the walls of the Washington Monument are some Bible verses, including “Search the Scriptures” (John 5:39), “The memory of the just is blessed” (Proverbs 10:7), and “Holiness to the Lord” (Exodus 28:26).  There is also a prayer: “May heaven to this Union continue its beneficence” and a statement of national faith which is found on many federal and state buildings across the country, including in the chambers of both houses of Congress: “In God We Trust.”  The very capstone of the Washington Monument is inscribed with the Latin inscription Laus Deo , meani ng “Praise God.” It is fitting that religious sentiments are inscribed in the structure that honors George Washington since he, along with the other Founding Fathers of the United States, believed that a vibrant belief in God was essential to the well-being of the nation.  This was one of the points he made in his 1796 letter to the people of the Un...

  STATEMENT BY ARCHBISHOP NELSON PEREZ ON THE RULING AGAINST ROE VS WADE I am grateful to the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States for their willingness to hear  Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , and for their opinion, which affirms the deep value inherent to every human life.­ As Catholics, we believe that life is God’s most precious gift and that we share a responsibility to uphold its beauty and sanctity from conception to natural death. In addition to being strong advocates for the unborn, this responsibility extends to caring for the hungry, the poor, the sick, the immigrant, the elderly, the oppressed, and any of our brothers and sisters who are marginalized. In short, to be truly pro-life means to recognize the presence of God in everyone and to care for them accordingly. The Church’s strong commitment to protecting and preserving human life is a holistic one. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is one of the largest private providers o...

  THE COMMON GOOD AND RULE OF LAW The Catholic Church teaches that “It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society.”  (I rely in this article on teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1897-1917.)  There are three necessary elements which must exist for the promotion of the common good: 1 – Respect for the fundamental, inalienable rights of human persons; 2 – Access to culture and what is needed for social well-being (i.e., food, clothing, education, the right to establish a family, etc.); 3 – Peace and security.        The authority of the state exists to promote the common good.  It is necessary because of the nature of human beings, who cannot create a society without it.  A society falls into chaos when there is no legitimate authority to which the people owe respect and obedience.  This authority must be rightly constituted and use morally licit means to enforce ...

  DIVINE AND HUMAN PATERNITY Jesus told his disciples, “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven” (Matt 23:9).  Just like when he said that if your hand causes you to sin, “cut it off,” here Jesus is exaggerating to make a point (cf. Matt 5:30).  All fatherhood is from God.  Human fatherhood is grounded in God’s Fatherhood.  The First Person of the Holy Trinity has always been Father, the Second Person has always been the Father’s Son, and the Third Person has always been the bond of love between the Father and the Son, a bond so great that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son.  God is One, and at the same time relational, which is why human beings who are created in his image and likeness are born into families. The Holy Trinity is an eternal procession of divine Persons.  Jesus said to a crowd, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God” (Jn 8:42).  Lat...