Pope Saint Pius X

Today’s Second Reading from the Office of Readings is taken from the apostolic constitution Divini afflatu by Pope Saint Pius X. It is a wonderful reading that perhaps reminds every priest of his seminary days when he learned about the Liturgy of the Hours. Nonetheless it never hurts to have reminders. This is true even more so of the more important and beautiful things in life. Therefore, our next posting will be an excerpt from the Second Reading from the Office of Readings for the Memorial of Pope Saint Pius X.

Saint Agnes: Humble, Little Saint

"My grace is sufficient for thee; for in weakness is God's power made evident." This saying of St. Paul, found in his First Letter to the Corinthians, is the theme of this blog. The liturgy from the Memorial of Saint Agnes (January 21) is very illustrative of this. The collect and the prayer from The Liturgy of the Hours reads as follows:

Almighty, eternal God, you choose what the world considers weak to put the worldly power to shame. May we who celebrate the birth of St. Agnes into eternal joy be loyal to the faith she professed. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Furthermore, the First Reading from the Mass of St. Agnes is the wonderful passage on "saint heroism" from First Corinthians (1:26-31). We quote in here in part:

God has chosen the weak things of this world to shame the mighty, that no flesh may glory in His sight.

Please review complete passage for yourself when you can; it will be well worth the time spent. Furthermore, during today's Mass, the priest has the options to use the Preface for the Common of Virgins or the Preface from the Common of Martyrs. The Preface from the Common of Martyrs reads as follows:

Your holy martyr Agnes followed the example of Christ, and gave her life for the glory of your name. Her death reveals your power shining through our human weakness. You choose the weak to make them strong in bearing witness to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. [Actually, there's more, but this is the main part.]

Now we add some thoughts "of our own":

Saint Agnes had consecrated herself to Christ. The Lord Jesus was her divine Spouse. The selfish and powerful of this world tried to make her sin and thus deny Jesus. But God uses His little, humble saints to shame the powerful and the proud, that no flesh may glory in His sight. Saint Agnes, holy virgin ever faithful to Jesus, she is a great martyr who defeated the proud and the powerful of this world. If we humbly rely on God, we will do the same. Each one of us is baptized and thus called to be a saint.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine!

St. Raymond of Penafort

So many of God’s saints, our heroes, were humble persons who—when called upon—brought their talents forth in the service of Christ and his Church. They sought no glory for themselves. Raymond of Penafort was one of these humble heroes.
Having an avid mind, Raymond was a diligent student who became a great teacher. He taught philosophy and did not charge the students any fee, which was quite unusual at the time. He received money from donors and gave most of it to the needy and to the Church.
Raymond became a Dominican priest and served as confessor to Pope Gregory IX.
Saint Raymond of Penafort never used his talents and fame for personal gain and always exhibited a humble faith and preference for a quiet life.

Bold Saint Peter

   From the founding of the Church, when our Lord chose Simon Peter to lead the twelve Apostles, it has been abundantly clear that God chooses those whom the world considers small and weak to shame the mighty and bring His salvation to the world (I Cor. 1:27).  This is evident from the life of the man He chose to be His first vicar, St. Peter.

   St. Peter was the first to give witness to the workings of Divine Providence among the members of His Church.  Overconfident yet easily intimidated, weak, impetuous, and highly excitable, St. Peter was chosen by Christ to lead the Church.  By choosing Simon Peter to be the first pope, our Lord sent a clear and unmistakable message to all people: It is God Incarnate who, despite any and all appearances, is in charge of history and all things, "that no flesh may glory in His sight" (I Cor. 1:29).  All the great things that Peter would do would be God's work, Peter being God's weak and humble instrument.  God would make him strong.

   St. Peter became strong once he received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day.  Immediately, he began interpreting for the multitudes, fearlessly giving witness to Christ as the only Lord and Redeemer, and baptizing the first Christian converts.

   Then, we see St. Peter again acting courageously when he and St. John heal the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Later, when forced to give an account before the Sanhedrin, Peter boldly and incriminatingly tells this august assembly that the crippled man has been healed "by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified (Acts 4:10).

   Finally, after being arrested, Peter is even more bold.  Speaking for all the Apostles, he tells the high priest: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

   How wonderful is God's grace!  Peter was once afraid to suffer for his Master, but now he rejoices to be "accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus" (Acts 5:42).

-Selection by: Charles J. Bak III; published in Composition for Young Catholics (Front Royal, VA: Seton Home Study School, 2005) 43.

    Ultimately, "small hands [do] turn the wheels of the world, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere" (Christopher Tolkien in the introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion).  That's only because those hands and those hearts are guided by God's grace, which more than suffices to animate His small and humble chosen ones.  The mighty of the first century A.D. certainly never expected a poor unknown fisherman to be such a bold and effective leader of the new-born Church.  Indeed, Saint Peter was that---and more!

The Mustard Seed

   Nothing was smaller or more humble in its beginnings than "the kingdom of heaven," the Church: Jesus, its Head and Founder, was born in a stable; he worked for the greater part of thirty years in a carpenter's shop, and for only three years unfolded his mission to a poor people, preaching a doctrine so simple that all, even the unlettered, could understand.  When Jesus left the earth, the Church was established by an insignificant group of twelve men, gathered about a humble woman, Mary: but this first nucleus possessed so powerful a vitality that in a few years it spread into all the countries of the vast Roman Empire.  The Church, from a very tiny seed, sown in the hearts of a Virgin Mother and of poor fishermen, became little by little through the centuries a gigantic tree, extending its branches into all regions of the globe, with peoples of every tongue and nation taking shelter in its shade. (Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.)

   The above meditation can be found in the October 2009 issue of The Magnificat.  It fits in very well with the theme of this blog: the humble beginnings of the Church and God using the small and humble to confound the mighty of this world; "so that no flesh may glory in God's sight" (the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians).  We're starting with the very tiny yet powerfully compact core of the Church, which in a relatively short time expanded to become present in all the known world.

The Saints: God's Heroes--and Ours!

Saint Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaks with great wisdom: "God has chosen the weak of this world to put to shame the mighty [of this world]; that no flesh may glory in His sight" (I Cor. 1:28-29).  There is a veritable multitude of saints in the Bible and in History that fits this descrption.  Such will be the focus of this new blog.